The 15 most-followed PLU blogs

I think it’s quite obvious that Google’s Blogger is the most popular blog platform of choice for Pinoy PLUs. (I think LiveJournal held that throne several years ago.) And since I’ve noticed that most PLU blogs have decided to include Blogger’s Followers widget in their sidebar, I thought, why not see which Pinoy PLU blogs have the most following?

After quite a while going through blogrolls and other blog lists, I have come up with the following list of the 15 most-followed PLU blogs. The number that follows the name of the blog is the number of followers that blog has (as of this post’s publishing date). I’m actually a bit surprised with which blogs came out on the list.

1. Miong21 - 327
2. Tristan Tales - 244
3. Ako si Aris - 229
4. The McVie Show - 223
5. wandering commuter - 205
6. Discreet Manila - 204
7. Soul Jacker - 202
8. The Bakla Review - 186
9. citybuoy - 181
10. Corporate Closet - 179
11. Misterhubs - 175
12. Mandaya Moore - 174
13. Living The Expectations - 173
14. An Artist's Orgasm - 168
15. the instant pancit canton life - 145

Note that I have no intention of regularly updating this list. This is just me satisfying my curiosity. But if you think that I have missed a blog or two, just tell me in the comments and I might consider making corrections to the list. Anyway, the only criteria is that the blog must be powered by Blogger, must have a PLU theme, is by or for Pinoys, and that the Followers widget is installed.

So, what do you think of the list? Do you think these blogs deserve their following?

California’s Proposition 8 overturned!

I was saddened to hear last year that Californians voted to adopt Proposition 8, or the ballot that amends the State Constitution to “Eliminate Right of Same-Sex Couples to Marry,” in last year’s election. Since that election, various legal actions have taken place and the next milestone happened on May 25 when the California Supreme Court unfortunately upheld Prop 8 but thankfully said that existing same-sex marriages were still valid.

Well, the latest volley in this struggle for same-sex marriage in California occurred this past week. Bypassing the state level, U.S. Federal Judge Vaughn R. Walker overturned Prop 8 saying that it was unconstitutional with respect to the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution, notably the Equal Protection Clause. While this is good news, the judge chose to stay his ruling (meaning, California can’t issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples just yet) until the ruling is appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals. Whatever the decision in the Court of Appeals, the case will definitely go to the U.S. Supreme Court.

This is the first time that the same-sex legal debate within California spilled out to the national level. It’s a certainty that whatever happens in this California-initiated same-sex debate (which started when San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples back in 2004) will greatly affect the course of same-sex marriages in the United States and the world. I’m looking forward to seeing the results of within the next few years.

Of course, none of this remotely matters here in the Philippines. But I’m guessing it’s all just a matter of time. Why? I’ve read the interesting idea that our great-grandparent’s generation were sexist (discriminating against women) and our grandparent’s generation were racist (discriminating against non-white people, notably blacks). This idea was extended to say that our parent’s generation were homophobic. Generations are increasingly becoming more liberal and so I’d like to think that societal acceptance of homosexuality is really just a matter of time.

So where should gay guys stare at?

Bizarre, indeed:

A rather bizarre study carried out by German researchers suggests that staring at women’s breasts is good for men’s health and increases their life expectancy.

According to Dr. Karen Weatherby, a gerontologist and author of the study, gawking at women’s breasts is a healthy practice, almost at par with an intense exercise regime, that prolongs the lifespan of a man by five years.—“Stare at boobs for longer life: Study”, TheMedGuru

So, where should gay guys stare at in order to have longer lifespans as well? The crotch would be one obvious choice. And I guess that’s why we should have more of those male beauty pageants, gogo boys in clubs, and frontal nudity in indie films!

(But if we were to go with more modest options, I’m quite particular to nice big arms. Guys wearing tight-fitting shirts with bulging biceps are quite a turn-on for me. Hehehe.)

Cruising inside the moviehouse

Before the advent of the Internet, I guess one of the more popular venues for cruising were moviehouses. Well, cinemas are still popular up till now but I think the many more ways of finding guys to hook up with has put a damper on this illicit use of the movie theaters.

Nowadays, many people think that moviehouse cruising mostly happens in run-down cinemas in Cubao or Recto showing bold films and with dirt cheap tickets. I guess the most notorious of these is Alta Theater in Cubao, which has been raided by the police several times. The most illustrative gay indie film showing this particular gay subculture of seeking sex in run-down theaters would have to be S.R.O., which was screened earlier this year.

That said, cruising in more mainstream cinemas is still quite possible. The following are some tips and tricks that I have observed and learned by reading stories and articles.

• Older and mid-end moviehouses that are large and have separate sections for orchestra and balcony tend to have a greater proportion of cruising men and the cruising usually happens in the orchestra. Unlike these older theaters, the newer high-end cinemas like Greenbelt 3 tend to be small (thus easily scannable by authorities) and have a steep seating arrangement, which makes illicit acts among the row seats much more visible to people behind. Besides, if cruising is your primary aim, older cinemas have cheaper tickets.

• Cinemas with their own CRs inside the theater provide more opportunities. In this case, the restroom form of cruising also applies and this seems instinctual to most PLUs. Just go to the CR once in a while during the movie and scope out the other men. You can be sure that most of them are cruisers.

• In terms of films, unpopular movies, non-GP movies especially those rated R-18, and movies in their 2nd to the 4th week of screening are more cruisy. There are less people in the moviehouse which makes it conducive for naughty activities.

• How about if the movie screening is a gay indie? It depends. If you are very discreet, skip the gay films. On the other hand, you are guaranteed that the movie audience would mostly be PLU, thus giving you more choices. Then again, many people would be on the lookout for cruisers and that might crimp your style especially if you don’t want to grab too much attention.

• A good sign that men are cruising is if they are standing at the back aisle despite there being plenty of vacant seats. If you fancy one of them, standing beside them is a sure sign that you are interested.

• If you prefer a more discreet way, then sitting by the outer aisles is an option. Take note that sitting with 1-2 seats between you and the aisle is a sign that you are inviting someone to sit beside you. The problem is, if you don’t like the person who will sit beside you, moving to another location would be awkward.

• Men watching the movie alone is also a good sign that they are cruising.

Anyway, I have only ever had two encounters in the cinema and only one of them was consumated. The first time was while I was watching this foreign film titled Fierce People (not really noteworthy) in Robinsons Galleria. There were quite a few people in the cinema and I was seated at the back row and when this guy sat beside me. I knew he wanted some action and since the movie was quite boring, I let the guy have his way with me, ending up with him licking my nipples and then giving me some oral action. I then jacked myself off for him and I didn’t even have to reciprocate. Hehehe.

The second time was when I was watching this gay indie film (I forgot which) also in Galleria. Like the first time, this guy sat beside me and then eventually started groping me. I didn’t find him attractive at all and because I didn’t want to change seats, I just got my bag and put it on my lap to discourage him.

Those were my only “touching” encounters in the cinema. Why so little? Well, there are a few reasons why. One, I go to the cinema to watch a movie, dammit, and not to have sex, which is just a distraction. Two, I have better ways of hooking up. And three, I’m not really a fan of risky public sex.

How about you? Got any stories or tips and tricks to share about cruising inside the cinema?