One thing I like about the Obama campaign is that they seem ready to hit back almost immediately after an attack, unlike the Kerry campaign. Sarah Palin tried to link Obama with former Weathermen member Bill Ayers and this morning the Obama campaign launched www.KeatingEconomics.com and the news shows were filled with talking heads the day before promising that they would be hitting back if McCain didn't stop the negative attacks. The video on McCain-Keating will be available at 9 AM PST... Read Full Story

[Top photo, music critic Hugh Shirley; Bottom photo, barihunk Christopher Maltman] Christopher Maltman is asked about being mentioned on the Barihunks site by Hugh Shirley on the MusicalCriticism site at www.musicalcriticism.com. Shirley, by the way, would fit right in amongst our operatic beefcake - see top photo. Here is part of what the Canadian barihunk had to say: I mention the fact that when searching online for information about the Salzburg Don Giovanni, the first result was was a... Read Full Story

I was thrilled to return from my vacation and find a number of readers had sent me pictures of Teddy Tahu Rhodes from the recent Billy Budd at Opera Australia and a screen shot of an interview that he did with ABC News Australia. Read Full Story

Finally a new picture of Teddy Bare from Billy Budd, courtesy of the New Zealand Herald. That paper also ran this fun quote from our beloved barihunk Teddy Tahu Rhodes: He is relaxed about the headlines about his good looks. If it improves his marketability, then good. "We can be politically correct and say casting is not about that, but ..."He hastens to add it's ultimately about the voice, but in an increasingly mobile world if a director has to choose between two singers of the same level... Read Full Story

The center picture is the latest hot photo of The Hot Pole Mariusz Kwiecien singing his signature role of Don Giovanni in London. The top photo is allegedly from Canada. The article accompanying the center photo has Kwiecien quoted as saying that he did an "uncomfortable" photo shoot with the Polish version of Cosmoplitan magazine. I googled like crazy, but couldn't find the photo. I even tried the Polish sites and was that an adventure. What some people will do to get a photo of a Hot... Read Full Story

[Click image to enlarge] If you don't think that this election is going to be close, then take a look at the daily tracking poll. There are only between 4-5% of people who are undecided. This race is going down to the wire! Read Full Story

[Photo of Gavin Newsom by Michael Colbruno] Gavin Newsom crossed the Bay to pay a visit to the Alameda County Democratic Party's Unity Dinner. The appearance is significant because it's in former Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown's back yard and both men are likely to be running for Governor. Newsom received an enthusiastic reception from the 300 guests. Bill Lockyer was the emcee and he was the only other potential gubernatorial candidate in attendance. I couldn't help think about the fact that... Read Full Story

Another video has been posted of the Hot Pole Mariusz Kwiecien singing in his disco see-through shirt from a performance of L'elisir d'amore in Amsterdam in 2002. To hear how his voice has grown, listen to him sing the duet with Juan Diego Flores on the latter's new CD. Read Full Story

How could Barihunks pass up the opportunity to mention the latest Hot Pole competition? It's not what it sounds like, as it was actually a singing competition. In the men's division, the top three prizes went to baritones, all of whom could make a claim to being barihunks. However, the Hot Pole winner by far is Jaroslaw Kitala, who is every bit as gorgeous as Mariusz Kwiecien, who regularly graces these pages. Kitala won second prize in the 14th Ada Sari International Vocal Art Festival in... Read Full Story

Congratulations to Tzipi Livni and to Israel for electing a female Prime Minister. We're not evolved enough yet at your big, old ally, the United States of America, to elect a woman to lead our nation. I hope that you succeed and I love you for not eating meat! A female, vegetarian, head-of-state! You go girl! Read Full Story