Can you find Comfort & Joy’s art in Leo Herrera‘s amazing new video?

Decode the clips at http://www.homochic.com/

The world scandalized James Broughton, so he, in turn, scandalized it.   Years before the Beats arrived in San Francisco, the city exploded with artistic expressions – painting, theatre, film, poetry.  And at its center was the groundbreaking filmmaker and poet James Broughton. From the beginning,  Broughton’s work celebrated the erotic and the whimsical, promoting a free-spirited embrace of the senses.  Broughton believed that “Everyone should be allowed to ‘follow your own weird,’” and he pushed the boundaries of the permissible.  According to Armistead Maupin, “He had a way of getting at the serious by focusing on the silly, and that’s very seductive; because it creeps up on you.” 

Comfort & Joy is very excited to co-present “Big Joy: the Adventures of James Broughton” at the Castro Theatre on Saturday, June 22nd as part of the Frameline37 Film Festival. 
A glorious celebration of art as liberation, Big Joy is brimming with the sheer giddy pleasure of being alive in this world.

“A wonderful movie that every independent spirit should see and be inspired by.”
~ Justin Vivian Bond

BIG JOY is getting some great audience responses and fabulous reviews:

“A revealing portrait of a man who helped to broaden our ideas of what films could accomplish” ~ The Hollywood Reporter

“Big Joy: the Adventures of James Broughton does its subject justice by eliciting the pure joy that unfettered artistic creation and sexuality can be at their best. Stephen Silha and Eric Slade’s portrait of an artist joins the ranks of top notch documentaries about pivotal artists from the sexual revolution.” ~ Edge Media Network

“Like the glorious life it chronicles, Big Joy is awash in humor, introspection, transformative journeys and unbridled sexuality.The movie is frequently hilarious, radiates happiness and is almost universally upbeat.See the exquisite Big Joy, and lose yourself in the beauty of James Broughton’s adventure.”   ~ Slackerwood

“Not a documentary. It’s a celebration.” ~ Comics Bulletin

* WHAT: SF Premiere of Big Joy: The Adventures of James Broughton
* WHEN: Castro Theatre, San Francisco
* WHEN: 4pm, Saturday, June 22nd
* TICKETS: Available online here, or at the Frameline37 Box Office located inside Johnston Tax Group at 2327 Market at Noe Streets.

There are many wonderful films screening at Frameline37 in addition to Big Joy.

We highly recommend checking out “Meet the Beavers” ~ a new documentary about Comfort & Joy’s longtime playa neighbors at Camp Beaverton, screening at the Roxie on Sunday, June 23rd.  Watch the trailer here.

We also love everything about Lewd & Lascivious (formerly titled The Last Dance Raid), which is playing right before Big Joy at 1:30pm on Saturday, June 22nd.  This documentary tells the unlikely true story of straight ministers rallying with the queer community to abolish police brutality in 1960′s San Francisco.

Then, after these Saturday afternoon screenings, meet the people behind both Big Joy and Lewd & Lascivious  at a special joint filmmaker reception at Cafe Flore from 6-8pm, followed by an afterparty hosted by the pop-up Faetopia community space next door from 8-10pm.

Faetopia is a pop-up queer arts, ecology, theater and community center that runs June 21st – June 28th 2013 in San Francisco. Together, over one hundred artists and collaborators will create a visionary space for the queer community in the long vacant Tower Records space, next to Cafe Flore at 2286 Market St (near Noe St). During the day, Faetopia will host workshops, meditation, teach-ins, heart circles, erotic playshops, and more. At night, the arts reign supreme with theater, burlesque, live music, queer cinema, and, of course, plenty of drag.

Faetopia creates new realities – ones where queers are truly appreciated for their unique gifts. To create these new realities, we are starting a revolution within the queer community itself! This revolution will start in our hearts – when we recognize ourselves as beautiful, divine, unique, queers – and ripple out through the whole of the Bay Area queer scene and then the rest of the world.  There are many ways to participate & get involved!

What knowledge, skills, ritual, and passions do you want to share?  Register your events here!  We welcome workshops to playshops, heart circles to sex circles, forums and discussions and readings, oh my!
And, you can sign up your art for exhibition here! We are focused on showing local queer artists, especially those who haven’t had much exposure. Queer Revolution Now! is the theme of Faetopia 2013, so artwork that reflects this is greatly appreciated, but worry not, arts submissions do not need to fit the theme.

For more information, visit the Faetopia Facebook Group or www.faetopia.com

So, you’re coming to Burning Man for Cargo Cult & thinking about camping in Comfort & Joy Village for the first time. You must have a lot of questions. We’re curious about you, too!

Let’s start a conversation. We’ll tell you some things about us, and then you can tell us some things about you.

Comfort & Joy’s Epic Pride Weekend “Afterglow” Party Returns for 2013 in a NEW SOMA VENUE! Address to be anounced via Infoline & Email on the Day of Event.

Afterglow Cabaret Room hosted by ULTRA.

WHAT: Pink Saturday Afterglow 2013
WHEN: 10pm Saturday, June 29th to 10am Sunday, June 30th
WHERE: RSVP for Private SOMA Location
FACEBOOK: Event Page
This is a 21+ event.

Check out photos by Dot from the last Touch Party (May 24, 2013) on Facebook.

Please message Dot on Facebook if there are any photos that you do NOT want shared, and he will remove them immediately.

We are very excited to welcome Allen Craig to the TOUCH dancefloor on Friday, May 24th.  Probably best know for his work with Yerba Buena Discos and Moulton Music, Allen Craig is an underground workhorse.  Even though he remains an elusive name, thanks to the DJ’s of the world, underground house fanatics will likely recognize a dozen of his songs, even if they never knew who was behind them.  He is also half of the San Francisco duo The SyntheTigers, where he unleashes his obsession with all things disco alongside friend and compatriot Sergio Fedasz.

Joining Allen are DJs BUS STATION JOHN (The Tubesteak Connection), M*J*R (Big Ass Amazingly Awesome Homoesexual Sheep) and J. MAXIMILIAN  (Mirrorball).

COME EARLY for our “Dimestore Diamonds” cabaret, hosted by RENATO

Performing with ANNA CONDA + EMPRESS JUPITER KNOWS: Catch it!

Dress to Impress / Dance + Undress…Costume / Drag / Playa / Fetishwear encouraged.

Clothing Optional Costume Check Available.

OUR PRIVATE VENUE has over 2500 square feet of luxurious, colorful and comfortable themed environments and saucy playspaces in a central San Francisco location. Our intimate dancefloor comes complete with a brass dance pole, cabaret stage, top-shelf sound system, beautiful plant-filled outdoor patio, several private lounges and plenty of space to circulate, flirt & enjoy.

WHAT: A Private Party Touch Experience
WHEN: 9pm to 4am, Friday May 24
WHERE: RSVP for Address
INFO: http://touch.eventbrite.com

NIGHT FEVER ~ this Thursday May 16th at Madrone!
9pm ~ 2am // 500 Divisadero @ Fell St, San Francisco

This Week :: ROBIN SIMMONS (Odyssey) & SERGIO FEDASZ (The SyntheTigers | Go BANG!)

$5 after 10 | 20% of the door will be donated to COMFORT & JOY

The Big-Ass Amazingly Awesome Homosexual Sheep project known as BAAAHS will be part mutant vehicle, part penetrable sculpture, part socio-political statement, and part gay disco.

From head to tail the art car will be 40-feet long and two levels. He will be a cuddly sheep on the outside with a chill den on the inside. The only entrance will be through his rear end.

His party side (the port or driver side) will contain a large sound system and a DJ platform, hidden by his fluffy exterior. His business side (the starboard or passenger side) houses generators, ventilation, passage between levels, and the exit. From all directions, he looks like a big adorable huggable sheep roaming the pastures of the Playa.

Debuting at Burningman 2013, we think it will be the largest ‘out’ and ‘gay’ art car ever brought to Burningman. While queer and gay burners contribute to large projects all over the Playa, we don’t know of another queer mutant vehicle project of this size and scale.

Donations made via BAAAHS Kickstarter will go toward amping up the sound system, sourcing the custom slide getting folks into the interior of the sheep, materials for the mirror ball sheep heart, and additional funds will go towards fuel and rent for our space at NIMBY in West Oakland—birthplace of some for the most infamous and celebrated mutant vehicles and art projects.

The BAAAHS Shepherds are a group of long-time burners, a few with upwards of 12-13 years of experience, committed to creating and bringing the largest queer mutant vehicle to the playa. They are a pool of talented artists, engineers, architects, sound designers, lighting designers, builders, business mavens, and all around huggable guys.

Collectively over the years, the Shepherds have contribute to some of the most unique burner experiences on and off the PLAYA, including:

• Christian Williams helped build and organize camps such as M*A*S*Hcara and JiffyLube to Technophobia and Club Fierce.
• John Major, one of the major contributors to Comfort & Joy and founder of Glow Worm (2000), Kursk (2001), Black Rock Refinery (2002), Automatic Subconscious (2003-2006), The Hive Village, and the Firefly Arts Collective & Regional Burn
• Jerrod Littlejohn and Tally Duke Floyd, co-founded the Tea Baggers Ball and are longtime members of Full-Serve/Self-Serve, co-creators of Green Gary’s Robot Lounge, Unicorn Rest-Stop, The-Future-of-Greek-Art-is-Black-Velvet Camp, and Camp Nagel
• Jacob Sperber, co-founder of Honey Sound System, longtime DJ for Comfort & Joy’s Honey Dusted Party
• Everett Wayne, two years of bringing the Tigger Truck to the playa

Get more info (and find out how to volunteer) at http://www.baaahs.org/

Check out photos by Dot from the great party/fundraiser at SupperClub on April 20, 2013.

• Facebook Photo Gallery

As always, contact Dot (via PhotoByDot@yahoo.com) if there are any photos of you that you would like to be removed for any reason, or if you want any photos of you to be tagged in Facebook so they show up on your own timeline.