Temperamental

World, Hold On

2006-07-17T19:45:52Z

Well, I got back from my vacation in one piece.

This year's trip to Serbia was great, as expected. I'm a little jet-lagged and still trying to find the words for my trip. I'll have full details soon (hopefully later this week).

One note: if you ever get the offer to go to Exit, Serbia's answer to England's music festivals, you should definitely go. It was the best time I've ever had. It didn't hurt that we got VIP treatment as well. ;)

Terror Alert Indicator Watch 2.0

2006-06-13T20:33:33Z

Ooo … so nice and shiny. DHS has redesigned their ~~logo~~ Terror Alert graphic from its once so Pride-friendly glory. Oh, and you don't hear much about it these days, do you?

I bet you'll hear about it as the elections roll closer this November. Then again, it can't be used to help Bush get re-elected (THANK GOD!), so I doubt it'll have as much usefulness as it once did. In fact, given 1–2 years from now, it probably won't even exist.

Quote of the Day

2006-06-13T19:48:46Z

"Straight Acting" is exactly what the term describes- an act. Most straight acting people I've met are very poor actors.

— "Rey", over at Joe.My.God.

The quote is in reference to the discussion caused by Joe's original post, "Watching the Defectives", a missive he issued at all those "straight-acting" gays who say that Pride parades hurt our community by only showing the extremes.

I've complained about this very same thing in the past and have recently come to believe that my thoughts about Pride being too freaky for me were wrong. Someone I talked to this past weekend at Midsommarfest said the smartest thing about the parades, "It's a parade, since when are parades normal?"

It wasn't the "straight-acting" queers who secured the status we have today, as much as they'd like to believe it (I used to be one; hey, it's what fratboys like to hear). It was all the people who had (or used to have) the balls to be themselves; the bull dykes, the drag queens, the trannies, the bears, the over-the-top nellies.

It also says volumes that my sister, who just came out to me this year, values what Pride is to want to come to it. Pride is not a "freakshow". It's a time for all of us to join in solidarity and enjoy our company. It shows that we're not afraid to let the traditional media stereotype us, because in reality we know exactly who we are.

On top of that, I'd like to say to everyone "Happy Pride!"

(Photo courtesy of Evolutionary Girls Club.)

Fox News vs. Westboro Baptist Church

2006-06-13T17:18:07Z

I think this is the only time in my life I will ever have something to say that is positive about Fox News.

Watch Fox anchorwoman Julie Banderas take down Shirley Phelps-Roger, of the hateful bigots ofWestboro Baptist Church, about going to soldiers' funerals and protesting them.

As much as I despise Fox News, this is exactly what someone needed to do to those Christianist freaks.

(Hat tip to Towleroad.)

And Now For Some Good News

2006-06-12T19:41:30Z

Not that I'm a huge Kylie fan, but this is great news:

Kylie joins Dannii on stage
Cameron Adams
12jun06

KYLIE Minogue has made her first concert appearance since her cancer diagnosis.

Kylie joined sister Dannii on stage at a London nightclub on Saturday night.

Dannii had just finished a half-hour set to promote her new best-of album when she welcomed her sister on stage, prompting a thunderous ovation.

Kylie was visibly moved by the reception from the mainly gay audience.

"I couldn't let this occasion go by without coming here to support my sister," Kylie said.

The sisters performed a brief duet of Dannii's hit Jump to the Beat.

"I was doing my best to stop the tears," Dannii said after the show.

Melbourne music industry identity Molly Meldrum was at the show. "I've never been to a club that was so hot, but when Kylie got on stage with Dannii it was like the heating had been turned on full," he said.

"I'd been in Munich for the World Cup the day before and that was loud, but the noise when Kylie and Dannii got on stage almost upstaged the World Cup."

For what I would give for this to have been two months ago when I was at G-A-Y.

Update: The video quality is terrible, but the point is to hear how the crowd reacted when she came onstage. Wow.

... Just Keep On Coming

2006-06-11T17:12:34Z

This is truly despicable. As if Pride month atrocities couldn't get any worse:

3 Arrested in Attack on Singer on East Side
By KAREEM FAHIM
Published: June 11, 2006

A Manhattan singer was taunted and beaten early yesterday by a group of young men who shouted anti-gay slurs and then broke his jaw as he walked in the East Village, the police and the singer's publicist said. During the attack, the singer said, no bystanders came to his aid.

The singer, Kevin Aviance, 38, who has recorded a number of popular dance songs, underwent surgery for a broken jaw at Beth Israel Medical Center last night, said his publicist, Len Evans, who said he talked with Mr. Aviance after the beating.

Two 20-year-old men and a 16-year-old boy were arrested in connection with the beating last night. The men, Akino George of Townsend Avenue in the Bronx and Sears Jarell of Newark, and the 16-year-old, who lives within blocks of where the police said the attack took place, were charged with first degree assault as a hate crime, the police said.

According to Mr. Aviance, Mr. Evans said, he was heading to his Chelsea home about 1 a.m. yesterday after leaving Phoenix, a bar on East 13th Street, where he had been relaxing with friends. As he walked on East 14th Street near First Avenue, Mr. Evans said, Mr. Aviance was approached by six or seven young men who shouted anti-gay slurs and threw objects at him, including a spray can that one of them had fished out of a trash bin.

One of the young men punched Mr. Aviance, and the others attacked him.

More.

Besides the Republicans leading the charge to margianilize us to the American Taliban trying to force us back into the closet, I may lose my mind, come July.

I'm seriously glad I'm going on vacation soon (granted, Serbia is NOT the most gay friendly country) to get up out of this mess.

God Sticks it to Pat Robertson

2006-06-08T22:57:20Z

It looks like Pat Robertson and the American Taliban has finally pissed God off but good.

He decided to give Gay Pride Month a spectacular thumbs up, in the form of a wondrous ice halo seen over the Washington/Idaho border.

From God to Pat: [Nelson Muntz]Ha ha![/Nelson Muntz]

(Courtesy of Towleroad.)

Ever Had that Feeling?

2006-06-08T16:11:42Z

Well, it's true.

And the Hits...

2006-06-07T21:27:41Z

Like Andy says, a visual metaphor for what conservative wingnuts would like to see happen to gay people:

I don't think I'll ever be shopping at Macy's or Bloomingdales again, unless they correct this little mistake.

Inclusiveness and diversity, my ass. Apparently it's only okay to say you celebrate "inclusiveness and diversity", but not actually do it.

Sounds like they're trying to pass the buck, in the face of tolerance of intolerance, like a lot of other people, nowadays.

What the fuck is with doing all of this shit during Pride month? I think we're seeing the emergence of a disturbing trend here. People attending Pride this year: keep your wits about you. I have a feeling something bad may happen this year.

Shoot an email to Macy's letting them know they fucked up and that we won't tolerate intolerance in Chicago:

Christine Stewart
Customer Service Specialist
Macy's
Y000cds@macys.com

Marry Me, Jon Stewart

2006-06-07T21:10:25Z

There's a reason I love this man. It's because he knows when to stop bullshitting and really let some asshole have it.

Exhibit 1: Bill Bennett, of the infamous "You could abort every black baby in this country, and the crime rate would go down", was on The Daily Show last night to shill his new book (which Jon politely and ever so rightly ignored). They got into a discussion about gay marriage and the new political push to use it as a tool to drive the fundamentalists and bigots to the polls in November. Bennett was defending his position against gay marriage using the distorted examples of what could happen if gay marriage was allowed and how the institute of marriage would suffer if gays were allowed to enter into it (gee, that 50+% divorce rate has nothing to do with threatening the "institute" of marriage). You could clearly see Stewart was not going to let this blowhard come on his show and spew these lies, so he launched into him, using his calm, sarcastic tone to drive home how fucking stupid Bennett sounded.

You should definitely watch the clip of it, which is over on Crooks and Liars.

(Via Towleroad and AmericaBlog.)

FU GWB

2006-06-05T18:08:36Z

I want to take a minute to personally send a big "Fuck you" out to George W. Bush and the Republican chumps in Congress for being the spineless fucking cretins that they have shown themselves to be. Fuck you for pandering to your homophobic, racist, asshole bigot voting base, you dickless wonders. We all know you have a snowball's chance in hell this coming midterm to keep the power structure status quo, but you're willing to fucking sell your souls in order to keep your jobs. Well, fuck you. I'm going to do everything I can to make sure your out-of-touch and juvenile asses get handed to you in November.

To George W. Bush, I'm personally sending you a giant bag of pretzels. Dickhead.

(Image copyright Duane Keiser.)

Let Me Tell You 'Bout Hard Work

2006-06-03T05:27:24Z

If you haven't seen Pink's live rendition of this song yet, you should definitely take note of it now.

Serbia

2006-06-03T04:27:12Z

This is one of my favorite pictures from last year's trip to Serbia. It's of Ivan and his dad, Miodrag (who is nicknamed Mijat).

The reason I bring it up is because Ivan left today for vacation. Which means three whole weeks without him. After being sick recently and depending on him so much, it was hard to see him walk through the security checkpoint and out of my sight. That said, it's also a relief that he's getting some respite from everything here. He's had it very hard for the past 1.5 months. He had to pack, move, and unpack our new apartment by himself, while also worrying about me while I was in the hospital. He has also been very patient with my whining as I recover from my surgery. Knowing that he's a little under 5,000 miles away is fairly disconcerting after how much I've needed him since I got home.

I'll have to keep myself busy over the next three weeks so I don't get depressed. It's going to be tough with him not being in my easy reach.

Dedication

2006-06-01T21:09:12Z

I would like to dedicate this video to all the "not gay" fratboys I made out with in college.

PS. NSFW!!!

1 Dead in Attic

2006-06-01T19:06:06Z

The next book I will be reading will be 1 Dead in Attic by Chris Rose, a columnist from The New Orleans' Times-Picayune. The book is a compilation of columns written by Rose in the months post-Katrina. For more about 1 Dead in Attic you can go to Rose's website, http://www.chrisrosebooks.com.

The title and the cover alone make me want to cry.

PS. For extra reinforcement of what the Gulf Coast area and New Orleans suffered, watch this video taken this past March. So much for Bush's photo-ops and empty promises to rebuild.

(Video courtesy of Scout Prime via Firedoglake.)

Sure You Are, Fuckwit

2006-05-31T21:25:00Z

Bush "troubled" by reports of Iraq killings

May 31, 2006

By NEDRA PICKLER, Associated Press

WASHINGTON-- President Bush said Wednesday he was troubled by allegations that U.S. Marines had killed unarmed Iraqi civilians and that, "If in fact laws were broken, there will be punishment."

It was Bush's first public comment on allegations that Marines killed about two dozen unarmed Iraqis in the western city of Haditha last November.

Bush said he had discussed Haditha with Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. "He's a proud Marine. And nobody is more concerned about these allegations than the Marine Corps. The Marine Corps is full of honorable people who understand the rules of war."

"If in fact these allegations are true," Bush said, "the Marine Corps will work hard to make sure that that culture--that proud culture--will be reinforced. And that those who violated the law, if they did, will be punished."

The president was asked about the Iraq allegations during an Oval Office photo opportunity with the president of Rwanda, Paul Kagame.

"I am troubled by the initial news stories," Bush said. "I'm mindful that there's a thorough investigation going on. If in fact, laws were broken, there will be punishment."

More.

PS. Does anyone else think that the name "Nedra Pickler" sounds straight out of Harry Potter?

PPS. Bush might be troubled, but I doubt this is the first he's heard about this. Remember, he said he learned about the destruction wrought by Hurricane Katrina only after the media reported on it. Bullshit.

Disturbing

2006-05-30T16:16:41Z

Is anyone else really disturbed by this picture:

I found this picture in a diary from Daily Kos entitled "Six Flags over Jesus". I definitely recommend reading it, to find out what the American Taliban is doing to people who have been sucked in to the fundamental Christianist movement.

30 Seconds to Mars

2006-05-21T06:00:54Z

Jared Leto is totally hot.

Who knew he could rock, too?

Reuters Sends Cheney a Message

2006-03-10T21:28:48Z

Via AmericaBlog via Attytood.

All I can say is .

Battlestar Galactica

2006-02-11T22:00:36Z

I just sobbed my way through another episode of Battlestar Galactica (and no, it's not the cheesed out '70s version!)

This show absolutely rocks my world. If you haven't seen it you, I definitely recommend that you go to iTunes and download the mini series. Once you watch that, I can guarantee you'll be hooked. The show is an intimate look at humanity and what makes us tick.

Guess the Aliens Won't Be Welcomed With Open Arms

2006-02-10T17:39:59Z

Some enterprising youth in Billingley, Yorkshire (that's England, for those of you who are geographically challenged) decided to send a message to belligerent space invaders:

Here's a Friday poser for you: you're a member of a highly-advanced alien civilisation and have just travelled to Earth in your hyperdrive-powered craft intending to enjoy a long-weekend break. The trouble is, you can't decide whether to: a) nip over to rural Idaho, abduct a farmhand and anally probe him before modifying his DNA and dumping him back on the highway; or b) pop down to Billingley in Yorkshire and leave a cryptic message for humanity in a corn field:

Too funny.

Ugh

2006-02-03T16:33:40Z

I have a massive headache right now. It may be because I got four hours of sleep last night.

I hate it when I feel all night-owly. I need a nap.

You're Not Fooling Anyone Colin

2006-02-03T03:08:22Z

Sorry Colin, but even my grandmother could see that your "leaked" sex tape is completely staged.

In fact, I would go so far as to say that you paid that girl to have sex with you. Understand this: just because you fucked a girl, doesn't make you any less gay.

PS. You are hung like a horse, though, and afflicted with the Irish curse. Good on ya.

Destroying Jason Apuzzo (Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Liberal Hollywood)

2006-02-02T22:19:36Z

Too. Fucking. Funny.

Who is Jason Apuzzo, you ask?

JASON APUZZO is a writer/director living in Los Angeles, currently with several film projects in development. He is also the Co-Founder and Co-Director of the Liberty Film Festival, Hollywood’s first conservative film festival. He also edits LIBERTAS, the premier weblog for conservative thought on film. Jason writes a weekly ‘Hollywood Confidential’ column for Newsmax, a biweekly Hollywood column for Townhall.com, and has appeared on CNN, Fox News, Bravo and numerous radio talk shows such as The Laura Ingraham Show, The Michael Reagan Show and The Larry Elder Show to discuss contemporary film. Jason graduated from the USC School of Cinema-TV in 2001 with an MFA in Production. Prior to USC, Jason received his Ph.D. in Germanic Literature from Stanford University, and a BA in Philosophy from Yale University.

I.e., he's a right-wing hack trying to cut it as a film director. He doesn't understand the concept that Hollywood is in the movie business to make money.

Two Patriots Ejected From State of the Union Address

2006-02-01T17:15:46Z

Cindy Sheehan was invited to the State of the Union address last night. After she took off her coat she was arrested and rushed out of the chamber.

Apparently, it's not okay to question King George before he gives a speech.

There's a poll up on MSNBC asking whether her free speech was violated. You know what to do.

UPDATE: Ms. Sheehan tells her side of the story.

UPDATE 2: A Republican congressman's wife, Beverly Young, was escorted out of the chamber as well:

The wife of a powerful Republican congressman was also asked to leave.

Beverly Young, wife of Rep. C.W. Bill Young of Florida chairman of the House Defense Appropriations subcommittee was removed from the gallery because she was wearing a T-shirt that read, "Support the Troops — Defending Our Freedom."

She was sitting about six rows from first lady Laura Bush and asked to leave. She argued with police in the hallway outside the House chamber.

"They said I was protesting," she told the St. Petersburg Times. "I said, "Read my shirt, it is not a protest.' They said, 'We consider that a protest.' I said, 'Then you are an idiot.'"

By different accounts, she was abusive towards the Capitol police, yet she wasn't arrested. This is a pretty disturbing piece of news, at least to me. From denying protestors from entering events Bush is speaking at because of their political views or handpicking pro-Bush audiences, dissent is becoming more and more persecuted. Remember:

Without debate, without criticism, no administration and no country can succeed — and no republic can survive
— John F. Kennedy

UPDATE 3: Cindy Sheehan and Beverly Young have a lot in common, they both care for our troops deeply. I think if they were to get together in one room and talk to each other, they could form a powerful coalition to help stop this stupid war and bring our troops home. Beverly Young loves the troops dearly, as show by this St. Petersburg Times' article:

This is not how congressional wives are supposed to act.

They are not supposed to curse at Pentagon officials, write angry letters to President Bush or say that members of Congress take bribes.

But Beverly Young, the wife of Rep. C.W. Bill Young of Indian Shores, doesn't play by those rules. Spend a day with her visiting wounded Marines at the National Naval Medical Center and you'll hear a few expletives. When she sees a photograph of a former hospital official, Beverly says: "See this b----? If she were here, I'd deck her."

But mostly what you hear from Beverly is compassion for the Marines who lie in the surgical ward, wincing from their injuries. Many have had arms or legs amputated. She holds their hands and tells each of them, "We love you, Marine."

She asks one if he needs chewing tobacco or whiskey. She slips $200 to the fiancee of another.

She spends several days a week at the hospital, often bringing pizzas or DVDs. When the Marines have no family, Beverly spends hours in their rooms like a surrogate mother. One Marine says that when he was overmedicated with painkillers, she saved his life by cursing in his ear like a drill instructor.

Laws have been changed thanks to Beverly. She prodded her husband to create a nationwide registry for bone marrow donors. When she discovered the military charged wounded soldiers for hospital meals, she raised such a fuss Congress repealed the law.

Says Marine Brig. Gen. John Kelly: "She can be a royal pain in the a-- - but only to people who don't care about the troops."

In essence, she's a force to be reckoned with. Kudos to Mrs. Young.