Worth Reading

Check out this Shakesville post by Shark Fu (aka Angry Black Bitch). I was going to call it "amazing" but that is so not the right word. "Powerful" is trite and insufficient.

Years later, I met a young woman at the local shelter where I volunteer who was pregnant as the result of a gang rape. She was an out lesbian and her attackers had bragged that they were going to fuck her straight.

As we faced each other in rocking chairs she sighed and wondered out loud… “Why did this happen? What difference does my being a lesbian make to them?”

What difference?

And that hand was around my neck again.

When we are portrayed as diseased and in need of a cure.

Gasping for breath...fighting for air.

When those who equate our love to pedophilia are given the honor of speaking the word of God before the nation while we fight for our history to be acknowledged.

Heart racing...so fast, how can it beat that fast?

When laws are passed by our neighbors to deny us parenting rights, housing rights or employment rights...when we are so intolerable no one should be forced to endure our company and no child should be entrusted to our care.

The bruises that take so long to fade.

When a man is beaten to death in front of his brother…when a lesbian is gang raped.

When those who would deny us equality are lifted up…

…and the masses cheer as heaven is dragged down into the gutter.

It makes all the difference in the world.

And the struggle continues...

"Poetic" and "inspiring" come to mind. But it's not fiction.

Things J'Adore: Blossom Dearie

I was going nuts the other day - one of those agitated moods the origin of which you can't quite identify. I'm sure work stress had nothing to do with it. Anyway, I bought a few Blossom Dearie albums on iTunes and voila! - Problem solved. Relaxation and calm arrived - sophistication and fabulousness quotient increased markedly - mood elevated.



Here's a nice montage of images of this American treasure, via YouTube. It was posted by "Johnxxx20000", who also provides a good summary of her career.



If you think you've never heard Blossom Dearie, you may be wrong - she lent her distinctive voice to a few of the Schoolhouse Rock videos.

Here's Stephen Holden in the NYT:

She remains the definitive interpreter, at once fey and tough, of the pop-jazz satirist Dave Frishberg, as astute and unforgiving a social critic as exists. The songs -- her own and other people's -- date from all periods of a career remarkable for its longevity and for Ms. Dearie's stubborn independence and sly wit, which have never gone stale.

Stubborn independence and sly wit! Gotta love those.

Although I stopped subscribing to the William Kristol/Maureen Dowd-employing NYT about a year ago, I would still see adverts for her appearances at Danny's Skylight Room. I wonder if she's still performing--if so I must see her before it's too late. Perhaps in January, when I'm in NYC . . .

----------

UPDATE 12/30/2008

Dearest Blossom: I did not mean to call you a "thing"! You are anything but a thing. You are sublime. I must be more careful with such labels.

Advance Australia's Fairest: LaMinogue

Here's the utterly fabulous video for Kylie Minogue's "The One".

Love the 1940s looks . . . and the guy in the swimmers isn't bad either. I believe this version of the song bears the glorious touch of a Freemasons remix - it's a bit more upbeat than the single available on iTunes.



Kylie's triumphant return in full pop diva force after her battle with breast cancer is inspiring and, I'm sure, a total delight to her legions of devoted fans in Australia and worldwide . . . including moi. She radiates confident feminine elegance and beauty without an iota of skank. Brava!

(h/t Daily Martini.)

----------

Why can't YouTube and Blogger get along? Am I supposed to have to re-size the goddamn embed??? I'm not writing code here . . .

----------

UPDATE 12/28/2008 2:19PM

This gorgeous video was directed by Ben Ib. Hrmmm - I think I'll become a music video director. Sounds and looks very cool. Where do I start?

Dear Barack Part II

May I direct you to David Ehrenstein's December 23 Molotov cocktail entitled "Black is the New White"?

. . . now that we’ve witnessed the ascendancy of an African-American to the White House, an achievement civil rights–era blacks could only daydream of, Obama has gone on to betray the aspirations of another group of disenfranchised citizens. Warrengate (I just love a “gate,” don’t you?) is a clear signal that Obama is going to “make sure” (his ever-ready mantra) that the LBGT community knows its place. In other words, Barack Obama is neither a “visionary” leader nor a slick politician but simply an all-too-typical African-American heterosexual — clueless as to the history of the culture that bore him and blithely indifferent to those who anted up what a very important gay black American named James Baldwin called “The Price of the Ticket.”

The piece also contains a brilliant vivisection of the vile Jasmyne Cannick.

I thought Dibgy, not Atrios, coined the term "The Village" to describe the insular, out-of-touch, presumptuous, self-aggrandizing, idiotic thinking of Washington "insiders" and their media whores. Either way, this quote is perfection:

For “the Village,” as überblogger Atrios calls the mainstream media, “being antigay is perfectly acceptable, and nothing pleases the Villagers more than punching hippies in the face, so it’s a two-fer.”

So true.

Dear Barack

Dear Barack:

Nice start!

You really suck for inviting Anti-Gay Muppet Rick Warren to give the invocation at your Inauguration. (There really shouldn't be any cult-like behavior at this government ceremony, but wev. That's another issue.)

Yes, you and Biden are exponentially better than Angry Crazy John and Moose Mess, and I know that according to typically out-of-touch Beltway thinking and the standard Democratic M.O. of shitting on its DFH base, I'm supposed to be a good gay libtard and get over it for the sake of "reaching across the aisle" (as if!) and "dialogue*" (spare me!), but guess what? I'm not going to, and neither are many, many other people. This isn't cool, and it won't be forgotten.

Thanks a lot.

Hugs,

Marc

----------

* Is "dialogue" about whether African-Americans are entitled to the same rights as everyone else required? Is that open for debate? Are there many, "equally valid" viewpoints on the matter? Is there even a question? Just wondering.

Advance, Australia Fair

Via the fabulous John of eMackinations comes this story of an Australian pol with the guts that no US politihack could ever muster here in our Christian* Theocracy.


photo: eMackinations

Pope should celebrate natural diversity, says Brown

Media Release | Spokesperson Bob Brown
Wednesday 24th December 2008

Pope Benedict's pre-Christmas tirade against homosexuals would have been better directed against enforced celibacy, Australian Greens Leader Senator Bob Brown said today.

"Homosexuality is a necessary niche of nature's grand diversity, and the Pope should honour it rather than imply disdain for the Creator."

"However, enforced celibacy was cooked up against the order of nature, causes much unnecessary heartache, and is something the Pope can fix," said Senator Brown.

"Why not celebrate Christmas with a papal decree ended enforced celibacy instead of playing Scrooge to millions of happy homosexuals?"

The Pope should have made his announcement in Sydney in July, Senator Brown said.

"However, I am in total agreement with his Holiness over protecting forests. Pope Benedict is spot on there," he concluded.

See?!?!?!? Teh gays have declared war on Christmas! (Bob Brown is an out politician.)

I adore Australia - I have been there four times and cannot wait to return. It's a nation that's roughly the size of the U.S. mainland, with the population of California, and fabulousness beyond measure. I'm certainly no expert - my journeys to Aust. are the equivalent of an Aussie visiting New York/LA/Chicago** combined (Sydney), Napa/Sonoma (Barossa Valley), Yellowstone (Cradle Mountain-Lake St. Clair National Park, Tazmania) below,



Portsmouth, NH (Hobart, Tazmania), Minneapolis (Adelaide), and Kauai (Kangaroo Island). Not sure if my comparisons are 100% sound - feel free to correct/contribute as you see fit. Regardless, I certainly can't claim to have seen anything near most of the country.

It's fascinating that you can still see the distinctly English features in the population, even with the dilution of several generations. The people are delightful (generalizing, I know). They're friendly, fit, and not loud. [Ignore the ones with the maple leaf insignias on their T-shirts, backpacks, baseball caps, socks, visors, beach towels, tattoos, pacemakers, IUDS, etc. etc. - they're not Americans and don't you forget it Canadians.] Oy, and the men - ZOMFG.

My favorite 24 hours thus far on Earth occurred in Australia. On my first visit, several dear friends and a couple of new ones and I took a monumental day trip to the magnificent Blue Mountains. (I have an award-worthy photo of the Katoomba train station that I will add once I can locate and scan it.) Back in Sydney, after a brief rest and a late dinner, we set out for a legendary night on the town. Reader JLD will recall our fun times at the Phoenix on Oxford Street!

Sidebar: The Banana Republic of Australia is a store called Marc's. It's fun to have all kinds of clothes and accessories with my name (spelled the way my parents chose) on it. Too bad I no longer fit into anything from there. I fit into the pants that I bought there in a spasm of high expectations for about a week many many months ago.

(Sorry, didn't mean to go all Oprah on you there.)

----------
* - or Judeo-Christian Theocracy if Jewish votes are at stake.

** - largest city / media/entertainment centre, I mean center / ethnic neighborhoods and realness

Douche Out!

I just saw something so douchey, you're not going to believe it. If only I'd had the time to get a pic . . .

A guy in the valet parking area of my new home, the W Scottsdale, had the Louis Vuitton motif shaved into his buzzcut-esque hair.

I'm baffled. Why?? Was he serious? If not serious, then still why? Humor? Arch commentary on consumerism and labels? (He didn't look that smart, but one must not judge . . . but he still didn't look that smart.)

And wait a minute! What I initially began as a "let's laugh at the douchebag" post is causing me to examine some pre-conceived sociocultural notions. I hate when that happens.

- He was a white guy, wearing the white guy uni of untucked shirt, expensive jeans, and gay shoes. Would it have been less douchey if he had been a black guy? My first answer is yes, but what does that mean?

- I am assuming he was a straight guy, because he gave off that vibe and he was with a girl (in the twentysomething girl uni of boobie shirt, long skinny jeans, and heels--even here in the Arizona "winter"). Would it have been less douchey if he had been a gay guy? Would I be praising his creativity and humor? Hrmmmmm . . .

- Finally, what if this had occurred in Chicago, instead of Scottsdale? What then?

I cannot guarantee that the my reaction would have been the same. Again, hrmmmm . . .

Pre-Blog Friends

Yes, so here I am saying that Jim and I should meet, and as he reported on his blog yesterday, we already have.

I'm embarrassed to report that he had to remind me of our meeting, which I think occurred in early 2005. Yes, kittens, it was Manhunt-generated. (That would be the now déclassé, McCain-loving Quisling-owned Manhunt, of course. No link.) We e-cruised each other for weeks with lots of interesting back and forth and then finally met for dinner. Alas, no physical connection, and Jim confirmed that fortunately we each handled it OK. [No ignore-him-till-he-goes-away thing, thankfully.]

I recall that time as an unpleasant one . . . I spent much of 2004 being absolutely gaga over a guy, but it was so not meant to be. After I finally got it through my sex- and adoration-addled brain that he just wasn't that into me (on election night 2004 of all the horrible nights for that to happen), I spent several months (twelve or more?) in a rather bleak period of self-anesthetization . . . random, unsatisfying Manhunt hookups and too much booze. Ah, the glamour of city living. I was a veritable Samantha Jones . . . right?! As those anti-meth ads in NYC a few years ago (that showed a guy alone in his apartment, wasted, cruising for sex online) read: "Just Another Night on the A List"! [Thankfully my addictive personality has not been in contact with that particular scourge.]

As I told Jim, I certainly don't mean to cast our meeting in such a negative light. It was a rare respectable, enjoyable encounter amidst all that gloom. Too bad there was no physical spark, which yes, can be the catalyst for so much more. [Or, like lighter fluid, it can lead to a burst of flame that quickly disappears.]

Anyway, what a coincidence, no? People always say what a small gay community Chicago (and probably every other city) has. I disagree. (Small as in "it's a small world", yes.) I'm sure it's not small in real numbers, however - it's just that like attracts like, and so it's often 1-2 degrees of separation at most. We do a fair amount of self-selecting, and thus two fabulous, smart, interesting, totally HOT guys encountered each other electronically in the winter of 2005.

Things I Love: Siouxsie and the Banshees - "Kiss Them For Me"

Knowing that this song is an homage of sorts to Jayne Mansfield is not a requirement for loving it ever since it appeared.

Bear Down, Chicago Bears

un-rookie-ish rookie Matt Forte, RB, #22

Bear down, Chicago Bears, make every play clear the way to victory;
Bear down, Chicago Bears, put up a fight with a might so fearlessly.
We'll never forget the way you thrilled the nation with your T-formation.
Bear down, Chicago Bears, and let them know why you're wearing the crown.
You're the pride and joy of Illinois, Chicago Bears, bear down.

I love that "nation" is rhymed with "T-formation".

I also love that I'm observing the progress of tonight's Monday Night Football game against the Packers from the relative warmth of Arizona. It must be crazy cold at Soldier Field.

Packers 14, Bears 3 at the moment. Stupid Packers.

Even though I grew up in Wisconsin, I've been anti-Pack ever since Reggie White opened his fat mouth in support of the ex-gay movement. It's totally irrational, I know - I'm sure not every Bear is a big fan of teh gays, but to my knowledge none has taken out an obnoxious full-page ad like churchy asshole Reggie White did. Yes, I'm speaking ill of the dead - play it as it lays.

----------

UPDATE 12/22/08 11:18PM

Go Bears!

How studly is Robbie Gould? It's cool that his father is a former professional soccer player and he is a kicker. Genetics, I guess.

To quote the great Miss Sandra: Robbie, call me, I am listed!

Go G-Men!

My Favorite Holiday

My favorite holiday, New Year's Eve, is approaching.

Granted, it's "amateur night" for many people, and it can be a pain to be out and about, but I just love it. When I was young, it seemed like my parents were always up to something big on NYE. Now, its non-religious nature and seriously festive party atmosphere are highly appealing to me. I love the reflective, reckoning aspect of NYE. It's a time to start anew, attack whatever struggles you're waging with enhanced vigor, honor the great things in your life, and dive back in.

Thus, in the spirit of honoring the great things in my life, I would like to recognize all the great things here in my blogosphere.

First up is of course David Dust, King of the DustBunnies. Without him, I'd be an e-nothing! I consider him my BlogDaddy for showing me how much fun it all can be. His White Meat Mondays are a fantastic wake-up call each Monday morning (schwing), his BravoTV reviews are required reading, and the residents of his blogosphere are absolutely delightful. His blog is a happy, supportive, sexy and fun place. If it were a party I'd never want to leave. Well done, David! I hope that 2009 is the year that we DustBunnies meet in person.

I must also give a big shout-out to my fellow Chicagoans Dan and Jim - we must convene a gathering of the Chicago DustBunnies, and soon . . . you two already know each other in the flesh, but I owe both of you a few (dozen) drinks. Thank you for your early e-support and linkage. Maybe once Jim gets his AbFab DVDs back, we could meet for a joint viewing. Or rendezvous somewhere up in Andersonville. Or both!

I thank everyone who has read and commented on this blog - age-old friends and new ones from around the blogosphere. I was talking about this endeavor with my dear friend John the other night, and I wondered how and if it is different from a very (perhaps too?) public Dear Diary type thing? We didn't quite answer that question, but I don't think that's a problem.

Of course there are the giants of my blogosphere - JMG, Ms. McEwan of Shakesville, Glennzilla, HRH Digby et co., Jockohomo, Eric L, ReporterCub, frogponder (my first follower!) and even St. Andrew of The Atlantic with all his gay Catholic sturm und drang [sorry, too lazy to make those all non-obscure names links--see sidebar] . . . everyone to whom I've linked and whose own blogs I've read/viewed and commented on has made me a more vibrant thinker and inspired me to write about things that interest and affect me--something I really enjoy doing. (OK so maybe White Meat Monday doesn't make me a "more vibrant thinker", but who the hell cares?!)

To All To Whom This Weblog Comes - Happy Solstice!

Ah, The Luxury of Air Travel

NOT a good day to be traveling.

The check-in area of Terminal One at O'Hare looked like Ellis Island on a bad day . . . or perhaps Saigon, April 1975. (Note to City of Chicago/United Airlines/whoever the fuck is responsible for the disorganized mess that is Terminal One when it's busy: All y'all might want to figure out a better way to handle crowds before the IOC shows up to take a look at things.)

Dear Entitled, Obnoxious, Oblivious Families: WTF is in those 8 overstuffed suitcases on the carts with which you are blocking everyone's way? Are you off to visit Nana, or are you emigrating?? And why must you use the double-wide stroller even though there's only one kid in it??

On board, before I'd even sat down, I was of course asked by the woman next to me if was traveling alone and if I'd mind moving to a window seat so she could sit next to her husband. NO FUCKING WAY, LADY. I PICKED THE AISLE SEAT AND I WANT IT. IF YOU CAN'T STAND TO BE APART FROM YOUR HUSBAND FOR 3.5 HOURS, TOUGH LUCK. BUY YOUR TICKETS SOONER NEXT TIME. Yes, all caps!

Here is a photo of my "breakfast" in "First class":



Mmmmmmmm . . . what a feast.

The pilot, in an unusually frank announcement, told us how the ovens on the 757 had not been fixed even though they had known about the maintenance problem since yesterday - thus we did not get our delicious hot breakfast in First. I know, BOO-f-ing-HOO - it's ludicrous (Ludicris?) to expect any food on a plane, but given that I didn't have time to eat anything due to the ridiculous check-in and "security" lines (Hey TSA, how about opening all the scanners?? Or would that interfere with someone's break time?), I was at least expecting something more than a fruit plate. We were delayed by 30 minutes while we allegedly waited for additional cold breakfast items (cereal, yogurt, etc.) - that is kind of obnoxious in itself, and even more so considering they never showed up.

Again, I know, poor, poor me. Just kvetching.

To be fair, the FAs did give us some of the snack boxes free of charge if we wanted. That must be such a hard job. (Flight attendant, not handing out snack boxes.) The FAs themselves are certainly not all angels, and many very often have a HUGE chip on their shoulder, but DAMN, middle-aged white guys can be fucking entitled and obnoxious sometimes. (Newsflash!) Their wives can be just as bad . . . I'm talkin' to YOU, woman in the boarding area today who refused to check her two too-big, overstuffed carry-on items when asked to do so by the gate agent. Beyotch. I overheard the gate agent make a good point: When someone from the airline asks you to do something, you don't get to argue about it. Such is the mindset of Americans, 2008. Me, me, me. bstewart23 captured it perfectly:

I fucking hate this season. People in general — and people in Toronto, in particular — have all of their Asshole Dials (Stupidity, Laziness, Ineptitude, Meanness and Selfishness) set at “11″ and the shitty weather — in Toronto, at least — only makes it worse. I fucking hate it.

Substitute "Chicago" (or any city for that matter) for "Toronto"* and there you have it. I know I myself have never acted out while flying, but I have seen others behave badly. ;)

And finally, Dear White Trash Family on the rental car bus: Could you possibly tell your 2-year old brat to use her inside voice? It's great that she's learned to identify cacti and to shout "cactus!" over and over and over and over again, but the rest of us do not necessarily wish to share in the precious wonder of her discovering the world around her during our journey to the Phoenix airport's rental car facility (which I believe is in another county).

Bah, humbug!

Scrooge, singing off.

----------

(I know Toronto is not in the U.S. - and yes I was using "Americans" above to refer to residents of the USA. Get over and deal with it, rest of North and South America. What are we supposed to be, United Statsians? USAers?)

Why Blagojevich Is "Bad for Obama": Because We Say He Is!

Man oh man alive, I f-ing hate the myopic Beltway Media (or as Digby has brilliantly renamed them, the Kewl Kidz, a reference to their small-minded, insecure, high school popularity contest mentality) with a throbbing purple passion.

I was on my way over to msnbc.com to catch up on all the Rachel I've missed when I saw this caption:

Newsweek: Why Blagojevich bad for Obama

Clicking through that misleading inaccurate titilating link, I was led to Howard Fineman's latest turd. With all the unnamed sources and gossipy "insider" speculation being thrown about, I thought I had landed on Page Six in error. I did manage to make it to the vomitorious end:

Still, however justifiable the silence and caution, Emanuel (and, by extension, Obama) could pay a price for both as the Chicago mess simmers on. Emanuel already has blown up at members of the Chicago press corps—a newspaper reporter and a cameraman. Obama's transition team, eager to show its openness and focus on naming cabinet nominees, has been forced to spend day after day dealing with the Blago story. There's too much focus on Emanuel, whose naturally abrasive personality clashes with his boss's cool demeanor.

And Republicans are now piling on Emanuel—and are likely to continue to do so. At this point, there seems little doubt that Emanuel will survive, and will take his place on Jan. 20 as chief of staff in the Oval Office. But he is already a bigger story than is good for either him or his boss—and delay, however legally justified, just makes it bigger. We'll know more next week—-at least those of us who are paying attention.

Did you get that? "At least those of us who are paying attention." Oh, the sanctimony.

"Obama's transition team . . . has been forced to spend day after day dealing with the Blago story."

Forced? Really? Forced by whom?? The cretinous Washington press corps, of course.

It really is enough to make one want to bang head on table. Here's more Digby on the matter:

Eight years of relentless harassment and character assassination, during which time the village media felt that Clinton and then Gore were "getting away with too much" because none of the endless GOP generated scandals ever came to anything, and so they had to take him down. Then, in order to "prove" they weren't just childish scandal mongers after destroying Al Gore, they went the other way and laid on their backs and let Bush walk all over them as he oversaw the destruction of the country. Now, in order to once again "prove" they aren't lapdogs, they are going to pick up right where they left off eight years ago, asking endless questions about inconsequential nonsense and breathlessly speculating about what the inconsequential nonsense might mean until a whole lot of people think there must be something to it or these people wouldn't be talking about it so much.

Gosh durn lirul media.

Le Bel Age

bstewart23 has a melancholy but wonderful post up about good times with friends in the early 1990s. In addition, the lovely John of eMackinations is honoring "the good old days of cheap booze, dirty boys and nasty sex. The way life was meant to be . . ." I love it.

That got me thinking about this masterpiece:



Not sure what the goofy cover shot has to do with anything, but wev, c'est les 80s!*

Thank you to Videobuff for putting that up on YouTube. I believe that cover of the Odyssey song "Use It Up Wear It Out" was the gay national anthem in 1991 - or was it 1992? Ah - many fun times in Chicago and Boston . . .

Again, get with it, iTunes!!!

----------

UPDATE 12/18/08 1:58PM

* - Correction; Ce n'est pas les 80s. C'est les 90s. Duh.

UPDATE 1/29/09 12:09AM

"This video has been removed due to terms of use violation"???

Fuck you, YouTube, and fuck you whatever entity was hassling YouTube regarding the terms of use. Jesus H. Christ . . . Hrmmm - instead of listening to this song for free, I could either:

a.) Wait until I get home and then dig through my boxes of cassette tapes (Google it if you don't know what those are) or

b.) Buy a rare copy on amazon.com for $75

I'm sure the party whose terms of use agreement was being violated by this video being on YouTube was just raking in the $$$$ before the free version apppeared . . . NOT. Fuck you, you selfish fucks. Way to hasten your material into obscurity.

Oh, and by the way, betches . . . FUCK YOU.

I LOVE This Song

. . . and it's still not on iTunes:



It's "Right on Track" by Breakfast Club. I saw the lead singer (the HOT Dan Gilroy) interviewed on the Today Show in 1987 and have been madly in love with him ever since. Check out his goofy hat, sexy attitude [0:32 - OMG], and his combination white-boy/early hip-hop dance moves which are so adorable I can't stand it (and ignore everything else--especially the back-up singers dressed as chickens . . . except maybe his brother Ed on guitar, also in a hat and also not bad in the video).

Unbeknownst to me at the time, some of the lyrics presaged more than a few of my late, late nights 10+ years later on the dance floor at Charlie's . . .

Hey, I've been trying
to get your attention
Yeah, and I'm very very close
to thinkin' of a way
Hey, I could be big and tough
and other funny stuff
but you just keep lookin' the other way
. . .
How far away can you go
and still be dancing with me?
Would you mind -
stay in the vicinity?
I might be faring badly
but I would gladly
take you back

There must be some kind of bad connection
yeah, 'cause this music does not sound the way it did
I gotta get up and back
'cause I've been off track
and that may be just why you disappeared
But now I've got you in the corner of my eye
and I've got one more move I can try

[No, Marc, actually you don't . . . it's time to go home, you drunk fool!!]

OMG I love love love when he moves out to the left (our left, not his) for a while and slides to the right for a while. He can make a move that knocks me out - any time.

BONUS factoid: I did not know until this minute that Madonna was a member of the group briefly (several years before this song came out of course) and otherwise connected - thanks, Wikipedia. Oh and Jody Watley: love ya girl, but no way should you have beaten out Dan & Co. for best new artist at the Grammys in 1988. Tsk.

[Confidential to the YouTube commenter who called them "a bunch uh (sic) idiots" . . . don't make me hafta cut a bitch.]

Yes, It's a Broccoli Kitten Post

How excellent is Broccoli Kitten?



I first read about him on Shakesville, where one of the commenters linked to this hilarious counterpoint featuring the doggiest doggy ever. That post led me to VideoGum for the first time for more Broccoli Kitten (same video), and I have been LOLing my ass off about this commentary ever since:

With nearly half a million views in less than a week, the broccoli-loving kitten known imaginatively as "Broccoli Kitten" is hands-down the Kitten Of The Week. But what's BK's real talent, other than that cute little noise he makes?

And why is he named "Captain Pugwash"? Did he lick a pug while they were both on some sort of small-animal boat toy? And do people really get together and sit on the floor with cats (a gecko was also mentioned) and paparazzi them while saying new-agey things like "I told Anna last night that the photos [that are taken] when I'm with her or thinking about her seem to be much cuter than average." Get out of my morning kitten video, Shirley MacLaine! Also, as evidenced by the YouTube related videos section, LOTS of kittens like broccoli. Stop being famous just for being famous, Captain Pugwash, if that is your real military rank.

OMFG . . . Get out of my morning kitten video, Shirley MacLaine!!

I think it's so funny because I thought the same thing . . . I was all "Shut up, woman with affected speech pattern, who cares about you and the geckos, and stop talking during Broccoli Kitten's star turn!!!"

"Did he lick a pug while they were both on some sort of small-animal boat toy?"

Well, did he?!?

(btw I think that's what I look like when I get home from Whole Foods with a bag of Frontera lime with sea salt tortilla chips and Chef Earl's salsa.)

Glenn's on Rachel*, and I'm In The Only Hotel Without MSNBC

I acutely felt Dan's pain a few weeks ago when he was in a hotel without Bravo on a Wednesday night.

I have found a hotel with Bravo! Ladies and Gentlemen, I present . . . the fabulous W Scottsdale.



Built from the ground up, this is not a converted old-school hotel with rooms the size of those you remember from your college dorm.




photos 2 and 3 by iPhone, trying its best

Surprisingly, the staff have no attitude [except maybe bowhead Lincoln Park Trixie wannabe Jessica in the Living Room bar last night . . . confidential to Jessica: Maybe if you spent less time talking to your skanky friend in the stupid Anne Hathaway "Devil Wears Prada" hat (thanks Rich) and more time managing your bar, you'd notice that you're out of picks on which to put the olives for the martinis before making your customers wait for you to try to find, run in back to look for, and call someone about (but never procure) said picks]. Most are unusually delightful, and either they are the best actors/fakers in the world, or they actually, uh, like their jobs?

But where was I? Oh yes . . . they have Bravo. Yes, Bravo. But no MSNBC. Odd.

Glenn Greenwald was on Rachel and I'm at the only hotel on the planet with Bravo and without MSNBC. Can't have everything, can we?

----------

* - Glenn Greenwald was on The Rachel Maddow Show last night. Don't get any ideas! Those two are not getting together . . . unless I'm involved - !

Camille Says What Needs to be Said

Few things guarantee a shitstorm in the comments section of gay-authored blogs (e.g. JMG) like a quote from Camille Paglia. It's a given that bitchy ad hominem attacks on her appearance or intelligence or both will ensue. JMG readers reserve similar vitriol for Andrew Sullivan.

I've been a huge fan of hers since I first read her book of essays, Vamps and Tramps. She has an encyclopedic knowledge of world history and the origins and context of all things cultural. It's easy to cherry-pick and get worked up about seemingly inflammatory quotes from her writings, but in the end I always come down as pro-Paglia.

Although I titled this blog Echo Chamber as a reference to my practice of avoiding exposure to noxious right-wing news sources, I recognize the danger of such an approach. Critical thinking is a rare commodity, and when Camille says or writes something with which I disagree, it's a safe way to do some critical thinking. If we can't stand some questioning from someone on "our side" (she's a lesbian), how can we engage the rabid Xtianist right?

I'm glad she's returned to Salon, and part of the teaser for her latest post caught my eye last night:

Plus: Avoiding the Muslim issue on Mumbai, and anti-Proposition 8 activists threaten to set back gay rights.

I'm still processing her thoughts on the anti-Proposition 8 "activists", but I knew instantly that she was right on the money on the other part:

Meanwhile, an area where too many in the mainstream media have been oddly AWOL is in the response to the attack on Mumbai, India, two weeks ago by a squad of Pakistan-based terrorists, who killed nearly 200 people. Reaction in the U.S. was somewhat muted because the protracted standoff occurred over the Thanksgiving holiday, when many Americans were traveling or absorbed in family business. But I was troubled by a persistent soft-pedaling of the identification of the attackers as Muslims--as if the mere reporting of that fact would be offensive and politically incorrect.

Because seven years have passed since 9/11 without another attack on native soil, many Americans, particularly urban professionals, seem to have been lulled into a false feeling of security. But jihadism as a world movement -- even if its membership is a tiny fraction of young Muslim men -- will continue to pose a serious threat to every open democratic society over the next century and more. Anyone who has studied ancient history knows that great civilizations, from Egypt and Persia to Rome and Byzantium, broke down in stages separated in some cases by many superficially tranquil decades. Because of the unprecedented fragility of our intertwined power grid and complex transportation system, the technological West is highly vulnerable to sabotage and chaos.

The tragic fate of so many innocent victims in Mumbai deserves our pity. But what should live in special infamy was the ruthless execution of the Lubavitcher rabbi, Gavriel Holtzberg, and his lovely wife, Rivka, who was 5 months pregnant. These were two idealistic young people of obvious warmth and humanity, who sought only to serve. The rescue by their Indian nanny of their orphaned 2-year-old son, Moshe, crying and smeared with his parents' blood, is already legendary. Was this zeroing in on the Chabad Jewish Center in Mumbai about Israel, or was it simply a gruesome eruption of the medieval tradition of anti-Semitism? Why have Muslim organizations, very quick to protest insulting cartoons, been mostly silent about the atrocities in Mumbai?

The slaughter of the Holtzbergs and other Jews at Chabad House should be a wake-up call to Western liberals who believe that jihadism can be defeated through reason and happy talk. Only other Muslims can launch the stringent internal reform necessary to stomp this barbaric extremism out.

I myself have become an avowed equal opportunity anti-religionist. All religions need to go away, but here in 2008 we ignore the unique malevolence of Islamism at our peril. Yes, most religions have engaged in barbaric acts throughout history, but I don't see many Lutherans out there beheading people on videotape and flying 767s into buildings. To paraphrase Sam Harris, it's as though hordes of depraved fanatics are pouring out of the 14th century. They are without question a threat to all those who value true freedom (not Bush's bullshit talking point/PR version) and reason.

To say that this is a delicate subject is an understatement - religion is the ultimate get-out-of-jail-free card here in the U.S. Note how our own version of the Taliban, the Christianists, can say or do anything with impunity. No statement is too outrageous, no lie lie too great for them. However, true to form, the media sheep were afraid to even report that the murderers were Muslims, lest they offend anyone . . . or start a riot throughout much of the Muslim world.

On an unrelated note, of course Camille kept me up too late last night with links to the excellent blog by Mark Simpson and her list of "musical interludes by colorfully suffering divas, an ever-shrinking class in this era of bland celebutards." Who doesn't love a colorfully suffering diva?

----------

UPDATE 12/11/2008 4:40PM

Embarrassing misspelling of "horde" corrected.

Way to Go, Blago!

photo: Chicago Scene
Blagojevich [R] with local Chicago celebutante Billy Deck Dec

Here's Illinois Governor (and graduate of the illustrious Pepperdine law school) Rod Blagojevich on his close ties with President-Elect Barack Obama:

They're not willing to give me anything except appreciation. Fuck them.

I'm guessing at the deleted expletive of course . . . would "screw them" or "darn them" have been deleted?

Stay classy, Rod!

From Susan Saulny's piece in the NYT:

Little in Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich’s background prepared the people of Illinois for the man who was revealed in the criminal complaint that dropped like a bombshell here on Tuesday. Delusional, narcissistic, vengeful and profane, Mr. Blagojevich as portrayed by federal prosecutors shocked even his most ardent detractors.

“I almost fell over,” said Cindi Canary, executive director of the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform and a frequent critic of the governor. “I was speechless and sickened. In all of the millions of indictments I’ve read over the last years, I can’t remember anything as vile as this.”

Mike Jacobs, a Democratic state senator and former friend of the governor, suggested that Mr. Blagojevich may have lost his grip on reality.

“I’m not sure he’s playing with a full deck anymore,” Mr. Jacobs said. “I think he brought a lot of this on himself. He’s so gifted, but so flawed in a number of fundamental areas. It’s like he dared the feds to come get him.”

Oh honey . . . Give us residents of Flyoverland some credit. Little in his background prepared the people of Illinois?? WTF? What Illinois is she talking about? Even people who voted for him knew he was a schmuck – the lesser of two corrupt evils (and not a Republican).

. . . and what's with the "gifted?" crap? Let’s not get (any more) carried away here. Gifted – snort. Mozart was gifted. Michael Jordan is gifted. (Every obnoxious UHB couple thinks their child is "gifted".) Rod is married to Dick Mell's daughter.

Last night at a Dulles Red Carpet Club I was being held hostage to Wolf Blitzer and “The Situation Room”. (I'm getting into credibility gap territory here, but did Wolf always have such a nails-on-chalkboard voice? Does he think he’s developing a unique, David Brinkley-esque style of speech? Cuz he’s, like, totally not.) Natch, Blago was Topic A, and true to contemporary traditional media form, we had to hear from both a Democratic talking head as well as a Republican strategist (aka Rat Fucker) . . . you know, balance and all. What on Earth could a Republican strategist possibly add to the discussion? If you’ve got to have “balance”, how about, I don’t know, a former Republican AG or Governor or someone from Blago’s (Republican felon) predecessor’s administration, or someone besides a D-List Karl Rove Wannabe who’s just going to barf up all the Rat Fuckers’ talking points and “questions” about how this hurts Obama.

----------

UPDATE 12/10/2008 8:44AM

Via JMG, this hilarious (and now removed from the site, of course) eBay item:



Not sure about the "barely used" part, but wev.

Girl Fight!

Somewhere a straight guy is getting a little bit turned on by this . . .



That hilarious, too-funny-not-to-repost photo was blatantly ripped off from DavidDust. See his post for the story on the ugly Mattel vs. MGA battle. I have no strong opinions on dolls, but I'm certainly no fan of the obnoxious, ubiquitous Skank Ho look that the Bratz dolls epitomize, and I really like the success story of its foreign-born creator, so I see Mattel as the bad guy in this fight.

Dear United Airlines "EasyUpdate" Computer:

If you so much as think of calling my cell phone tonight and leaving a voice mail with a "flight update message" telling me that my flight back to Chicago is delayed, I will go off on you.

And do not get me started on what I will do to you if you keep calling me every 45 minutes about additional delays - the way you did Monday night. That was not cool.

While I'm at it, tell your friends at United "Express" to get their act together - it was so awesome how all those employees were clearing out at quitting time on Monday night while us annoying passengers waited and waited and waited and waited in the Terminal of the Damned (which the City of Chicago insists on benignly calling Terminal 2 at O'Hare). It was even more awesome how once we finally boarded the plane for our 8:08PM flight (at 11:30PM) there were no employees around to load the carry-on luggage that was sitting on the jetbridge. Nice touch. The extra hour spent enjoying the luxurious comfort of the Canadair RegionalJet was heavenly--practically Emirates-esque. 88 degrees F is such a comfortable cabin environment.

Hugs,

Marc

----------

Ooh - the tiny United logo looks bad on the black background. Wev. Too lazy to fix it. "Add Image" FAIL by me.

----------

UPDATE 12/5/2008 9:54PM

Hey Broheim: Guess you got my message . . . thanks for making it all work out tonight.

Two Ends of the Conservative Continuum

Here we have Andrew Sullivan (Magdalen College, Oxford, and Harvard's Kennedy School of Government - is that anything like the Helms School of Government at Liberty U.?) on Sarah Palin, (Hawaii Pacific College, 1 semester, North Idaho Community College, 2 semesters, U. of Idaho, MatSu Community College, 1 term, U of Idaho, 3 semesters):

No wonder this beauty pageant contestant who once claimed she smelled of fish and longed to meet Ivana Trump, doesn't want to leave the stage (or go back to Alaska which she pretends to govern).

And it's all perfectly fine if your goal is to provide a bimbo hood ornament for horny old white male voters. Just please don't tell me any of this has anything to do with a serious political party.

Can't say I've always been a fan of Mr. "Fifth Column", but I'm loving his reactions to Palin. How much trouble do horny old white male voters cause? Certainly way more than they're worth.

Am I Too Old To Be a Senate Page?

How hot is Sherrod Brown (D, OH)?



That pic (from his website) doesn't do him justice. He's on Rachel right now and he's super-fine. Many extra points for the gravelly voice. Woof.

STFU Dubya!

Damn, I didn't think Dubya could possibly get any more annoying.

I was wrong.

Every time I hear him or one of his lackeys reciting the talking points of his Rove-engineered legacy enhancement bullshit, I want to vomit blood and die of dehydration . . . instead of just plain vomit the way I have for the past 8 years whenever he opened his smarmy, smirking piehole.

Be sure to watch Rachel's takedown of his latest televised lie session. Seems his years in the White House were "fun" and "fabulous", and he's going to miss waking up each morning and reading the incident reports from Afghanistan and Iraq . . . you know, as Rachel astutely points out, the wars he started.

Go Away Already!!

Fucking Bush.



Instead of doing the right thing and resigning (and taking Dastardly Dick with him), he's sticking around, being his revolting dim-witted self. [Did you see him setting new records for cluelessness and lack of insight in his interview with Charlie?]

I just saw a clip of him wearing a red ribbon in "honor" of World AIDS Day. Not to get too prickly (moi?) over a symbol, but how dare that putz (no, putz is way too generous; make that shit-encrusted asshole*) wear a red ribbon?! Here's Mr. Sullivan on the matter:

Yesterday, the president and Christianist Rick Warren had a conversation about HIV and AIDS. As the epidemic continues in this country - still largely among men who have sex with men, especially black men who have sex with men - neither Warren nor Bush could mention homosexuality, or the role that homophobia plays in fueling the epidemic among African-Americans. To leave out combating the stigma of homosexuality from a discussion of preventing HIV transmission is like leaving water temperature out of a discussion of hurricanes. The president deserves praise for helping many people in Africa to overcome this disease. But because he cannot address homophobia and cannot even say the word 'gay' in public or address this issue directly, his legacy in America is actually an increase in HIV transmission.

Rick Warren?? Was Jesse Helms unvailable? Oh yeah, fortunately he finally did something good and died on July 4 of this year.

[Yes, I said it. The world is a better place because he's dead. I really don't care how sad it made his family - how could they love such a hideous person? The amount of ugliness and evil he brought to the cosmos defies description.]

Sidebar: Yesterday at O'Hare I saw some guy in the "security" line with a "HSOG" sticker on his laptop. That would be the Helms School of Government . . . at Liberty University. They named the school of government after that thing??? And someone was advertising that they went there? (As if the "Liberty University" part weren't embarrassing enough.) I was so stunned that I forgot to remove my laptop from my briefcase during my TSA Security Theater performance . . . despite having a Thousands Standing Around cast member shouting the screening guidelines at those of us in line the entire time we were standing there.

But getting back to Dubya - let me just say, as someone who knew all along that he was a lying liar and that all of the "intelligence" on Iraq was flawed: Told ya! To quote the unknown commenter described earlier, "I knew Bush was pure murder when I laid eyes on his psychopath, lying ass in 2000." Everyone happy now? At least we didn't have to listen to Mr. Smartypants Al Gore sighing. At least there were no blowjobs in the Oval Office!
__________
*For those who say that Bush is still President and thus deserves a modicum of respect, play at as it lays. The man has disgraced the office (and the rule of law . . . oh, and the nation, btw) more than ten billion blowjobs ever could.

Whining Lying Babies

The perpetual victimization kabuki of the Xtianist drama queens would be laughable if it weren't so pernicious and dangerous.

Via JMG comes word that a Becket Fund-sponsored NYT ad is on the way decrying the gay community's "campaign of violence" since the passage of Prop 8.

The childishness of the Xtianists' reasoning is infuriating but effective. The Dark Ages of Bush II have shown us that no statement, no matter how false, is too outrageous if you just repeat it often enough and with enough histrionics.

A few days ago I was led to this maudlin Thanksgiving-inspired paean by the always tragic KLo via a link at Sadly, No! Excerpt:


photo: Sadly, No!

I’m grateful that there are people like my friend Maggie Gallagher, who heads the National Organization for Marriage, and fights the good fight for the traditional idea of family, despite viciously unfair enemies and defeatist colleagues.

I’m grateful to live in a country where, although there are people who may run to TV news cameras bearing hateful, anti-Mormon signs and call in threats to Mormon temples because many of the Latter-day faithful supported the proposition, there are also those who will fight for religious liberty, like the folks at the Becket Fund. There are politicians who will speak in its defense, like Mitt Romney. He may get attacked unfairly, in some cases because he is Mormon, but he has a genuine moral core and ethical calling that sets him above petty criticism.

Tsk . . . it's all so unfair! Why do libruls hate fairness? Oh, those viciously unfair enemies of the "traditional idea of family"! Those unfair attacks on Romney! Curse the whiners who run to the New York Times TV news cameras bearing full-page ads hateful signs!

As Joe says,

I'd imagine the Beckett Fund ad may also include Christine "They Beat Me With My Own Bible" Cloud and the Styrofoam Cross Lady. Both of those of those stories are admittedly bad PR for the gay community, but they are petty NOTHING incidents compared to the thousands of violent attacks committed every year against LGBT people, many (if not most) of which were fostered by the Christianist right. "Yes, I kicked his ass, but the Bible told me to do it." Once again, the religious right is playing the victimized martyr when it is they who are the aggressors.

Honestly, who is doing the "hating"? I want absolutely nothing to do with these cult members, and nothing, I repeat nothing I do will impact their superstition-addled lives. If Xtianist men want to have sex with other men on the DL while enjoying the benefits of the sacred institution of heterosexual marriage, go right ahead. Just leave us the fuck alone, and grow up already - you're a complete embarrassment to the nation you claim to revere. (Don't expect any "discretion" for DL hypocrites, though.)

"Campaign of violence" . . . please. We didn't ask to replace Communists as the Xtianist-dominated right's demonized "other". If there had been no Prop 8, there would have been no anti-Prop 8 demonstrations. Fair enough?