1.ADDICTED
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2.TEAMM8
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3.James Tudor
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4.2eros
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5.BonBon
Colours Trunk
Pink
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Available at HommeUnderwear.com

“We created Homme because we believe that today’s men want to dress in a way that makes them feel sexy,” says Sandra. Because one of their main objectives is to carry brands that are not currently offered in Atlanta’s conventional retail market and that are sold exclusively through Homme, the shopper can feel sexy with a very-one-of-a-kind twist.

Little is private when it comes to Robear Chinosi’s private life. At least, that will be the case once all the episodes of NY INK air on TLC. In its second season, the show focuses on the love lives of its cast members who work at the Soho tattoo parlor, the Wooster St. Social Club, where Robear serves as manager. Fenuxe spoke with the hunky Brooklyn native about his love for fashion and tattoos. Of course, we asked him about his feelings on love as well. Below you’ll find a few highlights from our chat with Robear.

NY Ink's Robear

Fenuxe: What do you love about tattoos?
Robear: They’re a permanent adornment of fine art on your body. I use my body as a canvas to decorate. I only get tattooed when I’m inspired or motivated or something moves me. I don’t get a tattoo just to get a tattoo. Tattoos represent a timeline of milestones in my life when things were good, bad or different. I marked my body according to how I was feeling at the time. I can look at my arms, my back, my chest, my belly, my legs and take myself back to the place where I was emotionally, mentally and physically at the tattoo shop getting it done.

Fenuxe: How’s the whole dating thing going for you?
Robear: I’m a single gay guy living in New York. I work 12-14 hours a day at the tattoo shop, and I also go to school at night. I never really made time for love or a social life. It was always very secondary to me. Dating in general is very hard. I live in the best city in the whole world but I think it’s either feast or famine.

Fenuxe: On a first date, what turns you off?
Robear: When men talk too much about their ex-boyfriends or how bitter they are. It’s a rough scene. Long-term relationships in the gay and straight worlds are hard to find regardless. It turns me off if they talk about an ex-boyfriend because that usually is an indicator they’re not over them; so how could you possibly want to start something new? Or if they talk too much about themselves or what they have or what they do or how much money they make. Things like that do not impress me. Also if the guy is overly aggressive. I’m in my thirties, and I’m not out there to hook up or have one-night stands. So if the guy is talking really fresh it could be a turn off. I’d rather have substance. Hooking up is empty.

Fenuxe: What do you find romantic?
Robear: I’m a low-key kind of guy. I’m not really into the clubs and bars anymore. Romance to me can be as simple as cooking each other dinner, hanging out, cuddling on the couch watching a movie. I don’t have to be in a fancy restaurant. I don’t have to be on a horse carriage ride in Manhattan. It’s just the small things.

Fenuxe: Do you believe in love?
Robear: I consider love a luxury. It’s not necessarily a necessity because I’m a whole person without something else. Ideally I’d like to be with someone to complement me and vice versa. If it happens, it happens. If not I’ll just go along with my career and my philanthropy and my education. I see a lot of people in relationships because there’s a sense of familiarity and they’re comfortable with each other and there are financial bonds. I look at those relationships—and it’s not that they’re loveless but that passion has faded and I never want to be in that because I’m the type of person who needs stimulation constantly. I’d rather be single and focus on my career than be with the wrong person.

Fenuxe: What do you look for in a guy?
Robear: I just need him to make me laugh. I love a guy who has a sense of humor because I’m usually the funny one. If you can make me laugh that’s a major turn on to me.

Robear from NY Ink

In fact, last year the veteran dancer portrayed a high school student in the locally filmed “Footloose.” With a flash of his genial smile he said, “I’m 48.”

Maybe all the dancing kept him young or maybe it’s simply amazing genes. Possibly it was all his close contact with Cher. He first met the ageless gay icon while auditioning for her music video “I Found Someone.”

“I danced my ass off, and that night I got a call from the choreographer’s assistant who said, ‘Cher wants you at her house tomorrow.”

The next day he was dirty dancing with the diva in her wicker-covered kitchen. After that rehearsal he filmed the video and spent nearly 20 years on tour with her.

“I grew up on stage with Cher,” he said. “That was a good long run. She took me around the world.”

Before Cher, he danced on the final season of the TV series “Fame,” which was one of his goals when he moved to LA in 1984. Shortly after relocating to the West Coast, Bubba landed a touring gig with another of his idols—Mitzi Gaynor. Eventually Bubba toured with Porno for Pyros and Jane’s Addiction, where the rock ’n’ roll lifestyle finally snagged him.

“I was a raging drunk on tour,” he said. “I was partying way too much. There were alcohol and drugs and debauchery everywhere. That’s just the way you went about your business. It really was an alternate universe. You’re kind of like in this bubble that moves from city to city.”

Many gigs and years later, Bubba—now eight years sober—continues building his impressive resume. He will be seen dancing on the film “Rock of Ages,” starring Tom Cruise, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Alec Baldwin and Mary J. Blige. It is tentatively set for release in June 2012. Recently he choreographed three numbers in the show “27” at Atlanta’s Fabrefaction Theater. The show was based on the music of Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix and Amy Winehouse, who all died at age 27. He is currently in talks to choreograph a Broadway show in China this year.

Yet with all his success, Bubba has found himself in a unique position.

“I just started my first normal job, which is weird,” he said. “I’m working as a receptionist at a hair salon. I’ve never had a job outside of dance.”

About a year ago he quit as artistic director of Dance 101 off Briarcliff Road. The job required more than he was willing to offer, although he continues to teach a class there.
“It was a tough choice,” he said. “It was a great salary but I’d have to give up me and my creativity and freelancing. I want to get back to why I danced in the first place. I never danced to make money. Dance made me a lot of money but I never wanted to do it to make money. However, I found myself dancing to make money. It kind of chipped away at the passion aspect of it.”

That passion arose at the age of 10 after his sister started taking acrobatics. Her backbends and cartwheels piqued his interest, and Bubba soon enrolled in a dance class in a strip mall in Daleville, Alabama.

“I was the only boy in the studio so I got my classes for free.”

He soaked up various forms of dance, all while studying karate. Like many gay boys growing up in the Deep South, Bubba attracted slurs like “sissy” and “fag,” but he always brushed them off.

“I was taking karate so I knew if you got too close I could kick your ass and then run away,” he said.

When it came to his family, Bubba did not want for acceptance and support.

“My parents were incredible,” he said. “They loved me. They’d go to dance recitals and then go to karate tournaments. They never expected me to do whatever everyone else did. Maybe that’s what made it OK for me to be different and not do what the other boys were doing.”

His family brought Bubba to Atlanta. He originally moved here from LA in 2004 to have easier access to them. He ping ponged back and forth over the years between gigs and tours and finally settled here around 2007 when he accepted the Dance 101 job.

Maybe “settled” isn’t the right word. Bubba remains torn between the city near his Alabama relatives and the city full of connections. Long-time friends within LA’s dance community continue to ask Bubba why he stays in Atlanta when his family would only be a flight away if he moved.

“I still ponder that every day,” he admitted. “I want to make sure that if I move it’s for the right reasons. I like the low-key aspect of living in Atlanta. But if I’m going to be here I need to transition into another career.”
While Atlanta offers some gigs, it doesn’t quite provide the same dance opportunities as LA. If Bubba remains here, he must choose a career path away from dance. One thing is clear: he wants to dance for the love it. Dancing to pay bills doesn’t appeal to him, which poses an internal conflict.

“I’m in idle position right now,” he said. “For right now I’m here. I do want to figure out what I’m going to do for the rest of my life. I don’t necessarily want it to be dance. Although, I’ll always dance. I have a vision of me croaking on stage. If I did a leap and croaked in midair and dropped, I wouldn’t mind that.”

Until then, the handsome man with tattoos and kind eyes answers phones at a Buckhead salon. He spends too much time at the Ansley Starbucks, eats a lot of sushi and enjoys going to the movies. But mostly he thinks about dance.

From your experience at MISTER, do you think Atlanta’s gay community is being responsible when it comes to HIV prevention?
The real challenge isn’t so much lack of responsibility as it is lack of knowledge that the Atlanta gay community has in regards to HIV and safer sex practices. Many men think they are being safe when, in fact, they are at a high risk of contracting HIV. This is especially true with men that are in “monogamous” relationships. In a recent CDC study, a scary finding suggests that men in monogamous partnerships are more likely to contract HIV than single gay men. Men in relationships tend to discontinue consistent condom usage because they assume exclusivity with one another. One or both partners might stray but be afraid to admit it. Meanwhile, they have unknowingly introduced HIV or another STD into the relationship.
 
What are your thoughts on staying healthy for those already infected?
Safer sex doesn’t stop once you are infected. With a weakened immune system, other STDs such as syphilis or hepatitis-B can be much harder to treat. We also encourage those infected to stay on top of their health. It is especially important for them to continue regular check-ups to monitor how the virus is affecting them.  In December 2011, the CDC reported that only 51 percent of those aware of their HIV positive status receive ongoing medical care and treatment, and perhaps more profound, a study published in Health Psychology estimates that about 80 percent of young gay men who are HIV-positive don’t know their status because they’ve not been tested since their exposure. 
 
How often should sexually active people get tested?
It is recommended by the CDC that all gay and bisexual men get tested at least annually, and more often for sexually active men.  MISTER recommends if you are sexually active with less than five sex partners a year you should test every six months, and if you have more than five different sex partners in a year you should be testing every three months.

AID Atlanta
AID Atlanta, located at 1605 Peachtree Street Northeast, offers free rapid testing Monday through Thursday from noon to 7 p.m. A variety of interesting programs are available through AID Atlanta, including One Night Stand, a monthly meeting at 7 p.m. where guys into “no strings attached” discuss various topics; Coffee Talk, sessions held in coffee hotspots and are focused on introducing men to AID Atlanta’s Gay Outreach; and Tongues United, an online chat group for participants who wish to maintain their confidentiality. For more information regarding AID Atlanta’s HIV Testing Program, please call 800-551-2728 or (404) 870-7775 or visit www.aidatlanta.org.

1. Basis
Ever been accused of not having a heart? Well, this little gadget not only will prove naysayers wrong but it allows you to see how your vital organ responds to interesting moments in the day with special sensors monitoring your heart rate. It also calculates the calories you burn and enables you to see how sleep patterns and activities play into your overall wellness.
$199
www.mybasis.com

2. TuneSTREAM II Bluetooth Stereo Headphones
Possess the powers of a super robot with these digital quality wireless audio headphones, which give you the ability to control track, volume, play/pause and answer cellphone calls. And, just like a Transformer, they collapse for portability and storage.
$79.99
www.scosche.com

3. Abs Workouts Free by Feel Free Apps
Make room next to Grindr and Scruff for this personal e-trainer app, which features abdominal exercises and animations. You can also design your own workouts and search for foods that fight abdominal fat.
Free

4. Calorie Counter & Diet Tracker by MyFitnessPal
This nifty app offers more than 1.1 million foods in its database. You have mobile access to your MyFitnessPal.com account, allowing you to log food and exercise information from anywhere.
Free

5. Gaiam Ergonomic Balance Ball Chair
It may look like a prop from “Star Trek” but it will help strengthen your core muscles and improve your spinal alignment, even while you sit on your ass.
$79.99
www.target.com

6. Honey
According to a variety of studies, this sticky sweet stuff offers a variety of advantages. It helps boost energy and steady blood-sugar levels. Honey also has higher levels of antioxidants compared to other sweeteners, can lower “bad cholesterol” and can reduce levels of C-reactive protein.
$2.49 for 8 ounces
Your neighborhood grocer

7. Nike SportBand
With a quick glance at your wrist you can track your distance, time, pace and calories burned while wearing this modernly stylish band.
$59
www.nike.com

Update your look for under $100

Get a haircut. Hairstyles need to be updated. Some guys in 1985 got a cut and thought, “This is perfect.” And they’ve kept it for 25 years. For $15 you can get a new, stylish haircut.

Buy a new belt. So many men will wear a belt until it is long past its prime and effectiveness. Belts wear out. About every two years I recommend tossing out the belt you’ve been consistently wearing and getting a new one.

Buy a health club membership. Your body is your clothes hanger.

Invest in a shoe shine sponge or polish. Take care of the shoes you have. Replace the laces and shine them up.

Tailor your favorite shirt. It will cost you about $15. Even if you’re buying a fitted shirt off the rack it’s better than a standard-cut shirt but you’re still going to have extra room and bagging if you have a nice body underneath. If you have a big belly you can still get a shirt tailored because there are areas they can modify in order to get you into a shirt with a great fit.

Have an extra $100?

Treat yourself to a great pair of jeans. A lot of men wear jeans too long or haven’t tried on a bunch of different pairs. You can find a pair of nice fitting, great looking jeans for under $50. Jeans are one of the most versatile pair of pants you can own. Also, Levis has done a great job of rebranding itself. There aren’t just the 501 jeans anymore. There are a lot of different cuts and a variety of styles.

Invest in a black sports coat. One of my go-to places when I’m trying to save money is JC Penny, which offers sports coats and blazers that are literally $50.

Stumped on where to shop?
Try these:

K&G: You can find great items at reasonable prices. I’m sure you can find purple alligator shoes there, but you can also find a lot of stuff that is fashion-forward and style appropriate for the average guy.

Macy’s: They have a bunch of different price points. There’s always a sale going on. You can find some great items at some really good prices.

T.J. Maxx and Marshalls: Don’t be afraid to go into discount stores. If you see a great thrift store, go in and take a look. You can find jackets and sports coats for $4 or $5. Never buy shoes at a thrift store though. That’s the one thing I don’t think you should skimp on.

By: Dino Thompson-Sarmiento

YOU KNOW IT’S happened to you – you are at the gym on an off night, your usual work out pals aren’t with you and you find yourself surrounded by all the straight boys, so you “butch” it up (after all you are the only one whose gym shorts match your sneakers, iphone case & water bottle).

From the speakers “Dirt Road Anthem” by Jason Aldean is filling the room. You hustle to finish your routine so you can get to Joe’s on Juniper’s Trivia night when to your surprise your hips are sashaying wildly, you’ve thrown your arms up in the air and have cat walked around the gym twice before you realized what you are doing – and then you hear it – the music has changed – it’s your anthem screaming from the speakers

YES! It’s Gloria Gaynor belting out “I Will Survive”! This epic song will forever live in our hearts as it reflects to so many of us our struggles to survive – through sexuality, alcoholism, drugs, AIDS, relationships, acceptance, love, sexual abuse, success, aging, eating disorders, depression and so on…the following interview takes us through 30 years of survival within the lives of two beautiful men and what they have experienced together.

Celebrated artist, Steve Bogdanoff & his partner of 30 years, Sotheby’s realtor, Arthur (Art) Stern share their personal struggles and long lived relationship in hopes of helping and assuring folks that it does get better. They survived and so will you.

This lasting romance began in West Hollywood in 1981 with Steve, a cute 21 year old Jewish boy dancing a top a speaker in swim trunks at the “Mother Lode” club and Art, a tall, handsome 23 year old wasp from outside Boston.

Tell me about the early 80’s and what it was like to deal with what was first known as GRIDS (Gay Related Immune Deficiency Syndrome) later AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) How did this contribute to your relationship?
Art: It was new; we didn’t know what it was exactly. My friend who took me to the club where I met Steve contracted it and passed. Many folks died, we were scared – we both believed in monogamy but we had a sexual life before we met and we learned of the incubation period, so for a time we lived in fear. We were lucky, we were ok. Our relationship wasn’t changed by AIDS but we did actively begin to support the AIDS walk (thinking it would be a couple of years while the cure was found) and here we are decades later still supporting this important cause.

Share with us your battle with alcohol & drugs
Steve: I experimented with drugs but it was alcohol that I loved. It started at the age of 5 when my biological father would give me beer before he would molest me. I grew up in an abusive home. Later on in my teens, I would find ways of getting the alcohol even if I had to steal it. I knew well before I met Art that I had a problem and I then started needing alcohol to be comfortable in the gay environment as well.

How did you deal with the abuse?
Steve:Alcohol was my best friend but I also went through a period of hurting myself. I would tighten belts around me until the point of extreme pain; I developed the eating disorder anorexia, but it was alcohol that would numb the pain.

Art did you realize what was happening?
Art: I guess I didn’t want to see it, I didn’t recognize what was happening. I grew up in a happy home. It was the typical “Leave it to Beaver” family.

I thought we were having fun when we drank. What opened my eyes were the black outs. Within the first 2-3 years it became chronic. We moved from Southern California to New Orleans and things got worse.

Steve: I literally would disappear for hours and had no idea where I had been. I ended up in the emergency room once with a broken tail bone. I even had a DUI in Laguna Beach once but that didn’t stop me from drinking.

What finally was the breaking point?
Steve: I rescued an abused dog from a crack house. I named him “Crackers”. (Laughter) realizing that being in and out of black outs wasn’t the best scene for this animal I had just rescued. I attended my first AA meeting. I was sober for about 30 days and I conveniently convinced myself I wasn’t one of “them”. The drinking got so intense after I quit AA that I wanted to die, I was suicidal. I then got help and on September 2, 1994 I began my life. My best life.

How did you stay sober in New Orleans of all places?
Steve: It wasn’t easy at first. I recall a bar not too far from where we lived in the French Quarter that would take your “chips” from the AA meetings and cash them in for free drinks. However, every morning when opening up my art gallery I would see all those lost souls walking around in an alcohol infused daze from the night before and I didn’t want to be that person anymore. I finally recognized that alcoholism is a progressive disease; I needed it every day. I chose a better life for me. I could never go back. “You can’t turn a pickle back into a cucumber” (Laughter).

Then you faced yet another challenge called “Katrina”, tell me about that.
Art: We had been in New Orleans 12 years and nothing had ever happened in relation to hurricanes. They always seem to veer off. The day before Katrina, I remember Steve wanting to stay. I felt like we needed to evacuate. The deal was if Mayor Nagin advised for evacuation and the category was upgraded to a 5, we would leave. Both factors came into play and we drove to a place south of Memphis.

Steve: After the devastation we realized we couldn’t go back. Arts family home was empty in Marblehead, Mass. We ended living there for 9 1/2 weeks. I suffered severe post traumatic stress disorder from being forced from my home (my safe place) it triggered childhood traumas. I eventually headed to New Orleans desperate to see how our home and art gallery had faired and to save my $7000.00 sub zero refrigerator. I purchased a gas mask and trekked into the devastation. My home and gallery were fine. I did save the sub zero fridge despite the coffin-flies and rotting food. The smell in New Orleans was strange. The scene was surreal as military were everywhere, thousands of lives and homes destroyed, chaos was the theme.

Steve, you are an internationally recognized artist because of your fresco secco-style artworks, your most notable print entitled “Vive la Nouvelle-Orléans” became a symbol for the strength and resiliency of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina destroyed much of the city, and a portion of the proceeds from the sale helped raise funds to re-build the Louisiana SPCA which was severely damaged by the storm. Tell me where folks can find your unique artwork.
Steve: Most of my art is found in private collections around the world but I do have a website at www.bogdanoff.com. My gallery is no longer in New Orleans as we now live in Santa Fe, New Mexico, considered one of the leading cities in the art world, and one of the least for natural disasters.

Finally, Steve and Art what would you like to share with our readers regarding surviving being gay, surviving life.
Art: Get out of where you are if it’s harmful or negative. Go where you can find love and affirmation. We survived all of our trials because we loved each other. As time goes on it does get better. We respected each other, gave each other space to grow, make mistakes and heal. We never settled but found comfort. Remember to keep open lines of communication.

Steve: I echo Art’s words. By comfort we mean it is safe, it is positive, it is home.

I also would like to share that I believe in marriage and equality for all. No one should be left to feel like a second class citizen. It does get better and one day the LGBT community will enjoy full rights.

With that in mind, we want to give a little shout out to the FitBit , a product we mentioned in our July 14th issue (page 18). Over the last couple of weeks the Fenuxe staff has been using the nifty little device to keep track of how much we are walking each day, how many calories we are burning, how well we are sleeping and even how hard we are exercising.

The coolest thing about the device is the web-based interface. The interface allows you to set your goals for how many steps you want to walk each day or how many calories you need to burn to reach your fitness goals. The device then interacts with your computer and tracks your progress with fun graphs and pie charts. The computer interface also includes a long list of pre-loaded food items which allows for easy entry of all the food and drink you consumed throughout the day.

Move over Far Side, Ansel Adams, and Nascar!  Richie Arpino is back with an even more steamy, sultry and seductive calendar to rock our socks off for 2012.  Yumm.  If you aren’t familiar, become acquainted this year.  Each new calendar year brings forth a new installment by celebrity stylist and photographer Richie Arpino.  Fenuxe is proud to say we’ve gotten our hands on one of this year’s first copies and my, my, my, this year is the best.

All proceeds from calendar sales go directly to local AIDS and cancer foundations.  Aprino says he really believes in providing something beautiful for the community while also giving back in a unique and creative way.

This year’s calendar marks Arpino’s sixth edition.  The theme for this year is North versus South.  The explanation?  He shot six hunks from New York and six studs from Atlanta.  There is definitely a little something in there for everyone!  This edition also has a very special significance for Arpino.  A message on the final page reads, “This calendar is dedicated to my mom, who lost her battle with cancer last year.”

The calendar features not only our very own May 5^th cover model Christian Velella of Caliber Models, but also Bravo’s A-list star Rodiney Santiago and Project Runway’s Jack Mackenroth.  Great job boys!