Milwaukee police have charged five men with the murder of trans rapper Evon Young, known as Yung LT.

The artist’s mother reported him missing on Jan 2 after he failed to show up at work.

Young’s roommate, Billy Griffin, initially told police he saw the 22-year-old rapper enter an unknown vehicle on New Year’s Day. Upon further investigation, police learned members of Griffin’s former gang coerced him into assisting in Young's murder.

The gang members said that if Griffin helped kill the singer, he could rejoin their ranks. Police say Griffin, Ashanti McAlister, Victor Stewart, Ron Allen and Devin Seaberry suffocated, strangled and beat Young before shooting him three times.

Authorities say the gang believed Young was genetically male and his trans identity played no part in his death.

Yung LT, "Room Full"

University of Ottawa PhD candidate Heather Armstrong wants to know why you have sex. Take her survey and learn something about yourself.

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Why do people have sex? Past research has identified 237 different reasons why people have sex! The most common reasons are pure attraction to another person, experiencing physical pleasure, expressing love, feeling desired, increasing intimacy, curiousity, to celebrate a special occasion, and because the opportunity was there. However, reasons also include things like getting revenge on someone, getting rid of a headache, or giving someone an STI.

The motivations for why people do anything, including have sex, can shine light on their actual behaviours. One of the biggest sexual and relationship complaints is that sexual desire and frequency fades as the relationship progresses. Well why is this? Understanding why people have sex can help people have a better understanding of things like sexual desire, satisfaction, and frequency. It can also increase understanding of why people may be engaging in higher risk sexual behaviours.

The vast majority of research in this area has been done with straight individuals. Now, researchers at the University of Ottawa want to know the reasons women give for having sex with female partners too. They are seeking female participants to complete an anonymous and confidential online survey. As long as you are 18 years of age or older, you can participate!

To take the survey, or for more information, please visit http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/motivationsforsex.

You may also contact the researcher, Heather Armstrong, at heather.armstrong@uottawa.ca if you have any questions or would like any more information.

Bywords Quarterly Journal, which has published and supported local writers for a decade, is asking Ottawa’s poetic philanthropists to support Cornerstone housing for women at their annual Bywords Warms the Night event.

The Sunday, Jan 27 launch of Bywords issue 10-4 will feature readings by Acadian poet Dominique Bernier-Cormier, JC Bouchard, Heather Davidson, Cassandra Nykyforak, Catherine Ruth Taylor and crime writer cb forrest. Music by singer/songwriter Jill Zmud follows the prose.

When the hat makes the rounds, a donation to Cornerstone will net donors a copy of Bywords’ latest issue.

“It is important that Bywords be involved in community outreach,” selector Pamela Mosher says. “Whether it’s the readers, the writers or the selection committee, we’re all part of that same community. It is important that we do not just sit at home in our bubbles."

The 30-year-old Cornerstone organization provides supportive housing and acts as an emergency shelter for homeless women.

“Primarily, women come to us because they have no other alternatives,” says Carol Sollows, manager of finance and administration.

“We like to use our tagline ‘choose hope,’ Sollows says. “Knowing that people are supporting us, we will be able to help more homeless women in the Ottawa area. We appreciate their generosity and support.”

Bywords Warms the Night

Sun, Jan 27

5-6pm

The Manx Pub

370 Elgin St

Jill Zmud, "East of the Line"

Drag-king collective Capital Kings celebrate their first anniversary tonight at The Lookout, and troupe leader Randy Marshall says he’s surprised as anyone that the gender-bending group is still intact.

There have been several exits from the group, though, which now comprises Marshall, Frank N Beans, Miles Zinya, Jak Ammer, Karter Banger Zinya and Johnny B Gud. Marshall says the new members have revitalized the group.

He says an additional boost came when their performance night switched from Sundays to Friday nights.

“We’re right before the lesbian night, from nine to 11. It is a lot different now. We can pack the bar once the second set is done,” he says. “We get a lot more exposure this way.”

Aside from tonight’s anniversary show, the Capital Kings’ “drag king idol” competition will wrap up Feb 1, with the winner becoming a permanent member of the group.

“At the finals we will do a duet with the competitors. We are mentoring them this time around, and we chose which song we will do with them,” Marshall explains. “Max Power and I are doing 'Getting Jiiggy with It.' It should be hilarious.”

Although the Capital Kings are here to stay, Centretown Pub recently chose to discontinue its drag night. Marshall says that if Ottawa’s drag queens put more effort into their performances, then the community would be more willing to support them.

“Personally, I find that a lot of the queens don’t put enough time and effort into it. There’s a couple of them, but nobody really practises. There are a handful of them who are really good and can get an audience to come out,” he says. “But if you don’t have an audience and you’re doing this every week and no one is coming, I don’t blame them for not wanting a drag night.”

Watch the Capital Kings put effort into every performance Friday nights at The Lookout.

To stay informed on all of the Capital Kings' performances, join their Facebook group. 

Derek Hille photo 

Known for its taxidermy and kid-friendly atmosphere, the Canadian Museum of Nature will transform into an adult-oriented oasis with Nature Nocturne, beginning Friday, Jan 25.

DJ T-Dot will commandeer the museum’s glass tower to entertain nocturnal partiers as they sip drinks, nibble on food-truck-style eats or interact with art installations.

“We’re taking the museum you know during the day and twisting it into a fun, comfortable, social environment for adults,” organizer Cynthia Iburg says.

Artists appearing at the debut event include projection junkies The Luminartists; Heart Beat Girl, who will encourage attendees to contribute to a collective work of art; and fibre artist Greta Grip, displaying functioning, knitted QR codes.

Classical guitarist Chris Milne will pick up the party in the mammal gallery, while over in the ballroom, three members of the museum’s botany team will regale with tales of their Arctic expeditions.

"[The botany team will] . . . set up their field equipment in the ballroom,” Iburg says. “They will talk to people over drinks about what it’s really like to be a research scientist on the rapids in the Arctic and explore paths that are virtually unknown. This is something Ottawa has never seen.”

Nature Nocturne

Fri, Jan 25

8pm-midnight

240 McLeod St

$20

Visit the Canadian Museum of Nature’s site for future dates

Entertainer, philanthropist and Ottawa drag grandmother Zelda Marshall is taking part in CBC’s Human Library project Saturday, Jan 26.

The project traces its roots to Denmark, where a group of students staged the first human library in an attempt to dispel widely held stereotypes. Interested “readers” can “check out” human books for 20 minutes at a time and engage in one-on-one conversations.

Marshall will appear at the Kanata-Hazeldean branch of the Ottawa Public Library, located at 50 Castlefrank Dr.

For a full list of locations and “books,” visit the OPL site.

Listen to Marshall’s pre-interview below.

Fresh off a strong hosting performance on Saturday Night Live, Jennifer Lawrence is expected to be the golden girl at this year’s Oscars as the best actress front-runner for Silver Linings Playbook. But it is Lawrence’s role as Katniss Everdeen, the girl with the golden arrow in The Hunger Games, that has legions of fans counting down to the November release of Catching Fire.

If you’re a “tribute,” as fans of The Hunger Games series are called, who needs some on-screen violence to tide you over, here are three other fight-to-the-death movies you can check out:

Battle Royale

Hunger Games author Suzanne Collins drew heavy criticism for supposedly plagiarizing a Japanese novel called Battle Royale. The story is about a class of high-school students kidnapped by government forces and set free on an island where they must fight each other until one teen remains. If a lone victor does not emerge after three days, the listening devices around each student’s neck will explode. The film is bleak. Several students opt for suicide rather than killing their classmates, but Kinji Fukasaku’s 2000 thriller also features moments of comedy (each student is given a weapon; some receive guns, while one gets a saucepan lid). Battle Royale stars Chiaki Kuriyama, who Quentin Tarantino would later cast as the sadistic Gogo Yubari in Kill Bill: Volume 1 based on this performance.

Series 7

Most readers would likely remember Series 7 star Brooke Smith as lesbian doctor Erica Hahn on Grey’s Anatomy or as the girl on the receiving end of the famous line “It rubs the lotion on its skin or else it gets the hose again” in The Silence of the Lambs. In 2001’s Series 7, Smith portrays Dawn Lagarto, a pregnant woman who is the reigning champion of The Contenders, a reality show where contestants are selected by lottery to off each other in any way possible. Easily my favourite of these three fight-to-the-death films, Series 7 is graphic and hilarious. Unfortunately, I couldn’t locate a YouTube clip that accurately displays Smith’s dynamite performance. Series 7 also stars Nurse Jackie’s Merritt Wever in an early role.

Slashers

Slashers is terrible and not in the so-bad-it's-good way. It’s just bad. There are lots of independent films that make up for their low budgets with engaging dialogue, and this is not one of them. There are plenty of holes to fill, but the dialogue filling those holes is meaningless. This Canadian flick from 2001 follows a group of Americans trying to survive on a Japanese game show where losing means you die. If you are not a fan of terrible cinema, there are some breasts and laughable special effects to keep you interested.

Boy Scout camp leader Derek Nance has released a YouTube video in which he reveals he is gay and encourages other gay members of the organization to follow his lead.

Part of the Mataguay Scout Ranch for 10 years, Nance worked his way up from outdoor skills instructor to the camp’s program director. While Nance is “out” to his friends and family, he had hidden his sexuality from his co-workers due to the Boy Scouts of America’s anti-gay policy. The 102-year-old organization reaffirmed this discriminatory policy last summer when the BSA’s spokesperson, Deron Smith, said being anti-gay was “absolutely the best policy.”

Nance says Tim Griffin, a former Scout who was fired last year for being gay, was the catalyst for his personal admission.

In the video below, Nance says, "The only way we will change the Boy Scouts' discriminatory policies is if those of us who are on the front lines representing them to thousands of Scouts every single summer start engaging in some open dialogue on this issue. Lawsuits by the ACLU or confidential reviews by the Boy Scouts are not going to change policies. The first step to coming to an agreement on this issue is to drop the old pretenses and stereotypes and to start actually talking."

While watching my favourite make-fun-of-morons show, The Soup, I saw a clip that astounded me.

There is an affliction called postorgasmic illness syndrome (POIS), which purportedly causes one in 100 men to suffer debilitating illness after ejaculating.

How have I never heard of this? I would imagine if this illness is as widespread as many sites claim, there would be ads for POIS support groups covering light poles in every city. While I doubt it affects as many men as claimed, a little research uncovered this forum on Naked Science.

So, to the sufferers of POIS, I say, I feel for you; just don’t let anyone literally feel you unless you want to be sick.

Ludicrously awesome clothes, dirty punks at CBGB and Zack Morris brick phones. These are all things you would find in New York City circa 1984. This is the setting for the Sex and the City prequel The Carrie Diaries, which premiered earlier this week.

If you are hoping for a carbon copy of the landmark HBO show where four straight women acted liked gay men, as Patty or Selma once said on The Simpsons, then you will be disappointed.

That’s not to say there isn’t a hint of SATC flavour in this new series that is based on Candace Bushnell’s books of the same name. Luckily, the CW was smart enough to get Bushnell on board as a producer. Yet the main producers of TCD are also responsible for the melodramatic drivel that is Gossip Girl. TCD is, put simply, a blend of the producers’ original series. It has SATC’s trademark, insightful voiceovers and its girl-against-the-world charm, but it is weighed down by badly presented teenaged drama.

AnnaSophia Robb plays the titular character first created by Sarah Jessica Parker. Robb’s teenaged Carrie is spunky, likeable and, in case you don’t buy this new girl as Ms Bradshaw, she has SJP’s flowing curls.

Having lost her mother sometime before the point at which the show starts, Carrie copes with the stigma of being known as the girl with a dead mom at her suburban high school. Carrie has somewhat nerdy friends who she relies on, each with their own drama. The most interesting of her friends is a teen boy struggling with his sexuality; what would a SATC show be without a gay male character? At home, her younger sister can’t deal with their mother’s loss and their father is aloof. There’s also a romantic story line that is cliché and so saccharine you may want to visit the dentist after watching.

Where the debut episode gets interesting is when Carrie accepts an internship in the big city. Her innovative, DIY fashion sense catches the eye of a kleptomaniac stylist and Carrie is thrown into the bourgeois world of NYC artists.

The show closes with Carrie writing for the very first time. Of course, there is no MacBook and she doesn’t look away in deep thought while smoking a cigarette, as was the case in the original series.

While it may be imperfect, much like SJP’s interestingly different face, I think I may grow to enjoy the series as more episodes air. TCD is fresh, enjoyable and an original alternative to making another laboured SATC movie.

If the writers drop the teen drama (and yes, I understand it is on the CW, the mother ship of teen drama) and add more queer characters, it may hook more fans of the original.