Lika Starr

[Image Source: Hunk du Jour]

Hunk du Jour is a website that has made a success serving up hot guys every day since January, 2006. The site is operated by HDJ Media, LLC and it’s founder who goes by Chris M. The site’s name is French for “Hunk of the Day.” With nearly 4 million visitors since it began it has become a popular site for gay men to get their daily fix of hotness. Thousands of websites across the globe feature the site’s daily hunk on their own pages, including the one you are reading now. The site also features profiles and interviews of some of the hottest men in the world.

In the wee morning hours today a reader here posted a comment on this site’s Restroom Wall. bb125 said, “haha obama is hunk of the day! fabulous!!!” At first we were clueless to what he was speaking of. Since we proudly display the Hunk du Jour photo we decided to head over to Chris’ site and see if we missed something. There it was, a beautiful photo of Barack Obama gracing the pages of the site. The title: “Barack Obama, Hunk of our Future”

According to RSS records the photo was replaced with a new hunk of the day after only approximately two hours. The way this works is when Chris writes a new blog post, the current photo attached to that post becomes the new Hunk of the Day and is distributed via a script install on the sites that choose to display the site’s badge.

At LikaStarr.com we like Hunk du Jour so much that we display it’s banner as so many other sites do. I would like to personally congratulate Chris, not only for his site’s success but also for making the statement that he did by posting Obama’s photo.

As much as we appreciate his hard work we’re left with a few questions about his thoughts behind the Hunk of our Future. I’ve sent a message to Chris hoping he’ll answer… Stay tuned, we’ll update!

Chris was kind enough to respond with some great answers. In retrospect, I wish I had thought to ask him if he thinks Obama is sexy. Ya know, with the whole “Hunk” thing and all. Personally, I think Obama is up there with with JFK on the hotness level especially after being forced to look at Bush for 8 years!

We would like to thank Chris for his time. Ok, on to the interview…

Hi there, Lika! Thanks for reading, and thanks for writing. It’s unusual that I am the subject of questions, and not the one asking them — but I’ll do my best.

Lika: It’s obvious that you support Barack Obama. What were your thoughts behind displaying Obama’s photo and naming him Hunk of our Future?

Chris: My personal politics line up with that of the Democratic party, and with the convention ramping up to its climax I made good on a promise I made to a friend of mine that we’d feature Barack Obama. It’s my personal belief that he would be a great leader for our country. He inspires my faith in public service again.

Lika: Why was it only displayed for two hours as the current post?

Chris: The reasons are only technical, influenced by the automatic nature of our “Hunk of the Day” posts.

I wrote the post last night after going out to dinner with my partner and both of our families, so it was published sometime after 9:00 PM Pacific time. Our “Hunk of the Day” blog posts get added automatically at midnight, so the badge would have only showed Barack Obama’s image for under three hours last night.

There are many occasions where I’d like a gentlemen to be featured in our site badges for a longer period of time (for example, when we have a longer-form interview that takes a lot of time and effort) — but it all happens automatically behind the scenes and so I tend to just let it run as-designed.

Lika: We noticed that comments are disabled for the post on Barack. Is there a particular reason why you chose to not allow comments?

Chris: Hunk du Jour is obviously FAR from a political blog. I think folks looking for political debate are just better served in a different venue, so it’s just a matter of not trying to be something we aren’t. Towleroad has had some amazing coverage of the DNC (I’ve been watching YouTube videos there today) and I think is an excellent place for discussion.

Lika: Do you feel the gay community has come to terms with Hillary’s loss and will fully support and back Barack Obama now that he is the Democratic nominee for president?

Chris: I can’t speak for the gay community, but I think that the level of debate and activity that the primary season brought us can only be considered a good thing. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama’s campaigns brought an amazing amount of energy and participation, making so many people more politically aware. I’d just encourage everyone to get informed about the candidates — the time is now.

Lika: Have you received any feedback about your post “Barack Obama, Hunk of our Future?” If so, were they good or bad? Can you share a couple of examples?

Chris: Your feedback is the first, so there aren’t really any examples! I’m not planting a flag in the ground for the gay community, I’d just like him to be President of the United States.

Lika: Is there anything else you would like to add?

Chris: I’m truly appreciative of everyone who includes our “Hunk of the Moment” on their web sites, or the “Hunk of the Day” on their Facebook pages. Please register to vote, and learn as much as you can about the people and issues in ALL of the political contests — not just the presidential one!