Saturday, February 16, 2008

Totally Gay For America

Labels:


Friday, February 15, 2008

HIV Vaccine May Never Come

Caltech's Nobel winning biologist David Baltimore, who won the prize for his 1975 discovery of an enzyme later proven to be part of HIV's reproductive mechanism, said yesterday that science is no closer to creating an effective vaccine for HIV than they were 25 years ago and that a vaccine may never be found.
When HIV was linked to Aids in the early 1980s scientists were convinced a vaccine would be around the corner. Baltimore said: "We've been working on that vaccine since then and we are no closer to a vaccine now than we were then."

He led a panel of experts in 1986 which concluded that, given the complexity of the problem, an Aids vaccine was at least 10 years away. "I still think an Aids vaccine is 10 years away," he said.

He added: "You are quite within bounds to ask, if it's been 10 years away for 20 years, does that mean it's really never going to happen? There are people saying it will never happen."

The latest disappointment came last year, after a trial of a promising vaccine by the pharmaceutical company Merck was halted when some recipients were left more prone to HIV.

A cure will surely arrive before any vaccine does.

Labels: , ,


Less Than A Feeling

Turns out the rock band Boston isn't very happy with the Huckabee campaign's appropriation of their biggest hit.
The chief songwriter and founder of the band Boston has more than a feeling that he's being ripped off by Mike Huckabee.

In a letter to the Republican presidential hopeful, Tom Scholz complains that Huckabee is using his 1970s smash hit song "More Than a Feeling" without his permission. A former member of the band, Barry Goudreau, has appeared with Huckabee at campaign events, and they have played the song with Huckabee's band, Capitol Offense.

Scholz, who said Goudreau left the band more than 25 years ago after a three-year stint, objects to the implication that the band and one of its members has endorsed Huckabee's candidacy.

"Boston has never endorsed a political candidate, and with all due respect, would not start by endorsing a candidate who is the polar opposite of most everything Boston stands for," wrote Scholz, adding that he is supporting Democratic Sen. Barack Obama. "By using my song, and my band's name Boston, you have taken something of mine and used it to promote ideas to which I am opposed. In other words, I think I've been ripped off, dude!"
Reportedly both Celine Dion and U2 are happy that the Clinton and Obama campaigns are using their tunes.

Labels: , ,


Help Me, Obi Wan Pelosi

Labels: , , ,


Lawrence King Donation Fund

Please consider sending a donation to the Ventura County Rainbow Alliance in memory of Lawrence King, a flamboyant, effeminate gay kid who was murdered for having the courage to be exactly the person he was.

The above link will take you to a PayPal donation page where you can make a tax-deductible contribution with a mere click of your wrist. Among the many services the Ventura County Rainbow Alliance offers is an after-school drop-in program where LGBT youth can interact with their peers in a safe environment.

If you'd prefer to donate by check, contributions may be sent to: Ventura County Rainbow Alliance, 4567 Telephone Road, Suite 100,Ventura, CA 93003 (Fed tax # 77-0332688).

Labels: , , , ,


Maryland AG Endorses Gay Marriage

Saying acceptance of gay marriage was "inevitable," Maryland Attorney General Doug Gansler has become the first statewide-elected official there to endorse marriage equality legislation. Gansler accuses lawmakers of lacking the "political courage" to approve the legislation this year, saying "It’s wrong to discriminate against people, particularly because they think differently or because of their sexuality or because of their gender. And that’s what we’re doing here."

The Republican-lead dissenters on the issue spewed the usual crapola, with the suitably-named Kathleen Crank saying, "This lifestyle is devastating to those in it and devastating to those around them. In every other area, we work to prevent unhealthy behavior, not sanction it with the force of law." Republicans on the committee considering the legislation say that to approve marriage equality they'd also have to legalize polygamy, incest, and statutory rape. Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley (D) supports civil unions only.

Labels: , , ,


How To Influence $uperdelegates

Well, ain't this peachy:
Many of the superdelegates who could well decide the Democratic presidential nominee have already been plied with campaign contributions by Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, a new study shows.

"While it would be unseemly for the candidates to hand out thousands of dollars to primary voters, or to the delegates pledged to represent the will of those voters, elected officials serving as superdelegates have received about $890,000 from Obama and Clinton in the form of campaign contributions over the last three years," the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics reported today.

About half the 800 superdelegates -- elected officials, party leaders, and others -- have committed to either Clinton or Obama, though they can change their minds until the convention.

Obama's political action committee has doled out more than $694,000 to superdelegates since 2005, the study found, and of the 81 who had announced their support for Obama, 34 had received donations totaling $228,000.

Clinton's political action committee has distributed about $195,000 to superdelegates, and only 13 of the 109 who had announced for her have received money, totaling about $95,000.
I bet we hear a lot more about this.

Labels: ,


Me And My Rhythm Box


Here's an art film flashback from 1982, sent to me by a friend who shares my love for Liquid Sky, which is just about the best/worst movie ever. This bit is where Paula E. Shepard (the only one in the movie who could really act, even though she never acted again) does her big performance art piece at the East Village new wave club where much of the movie is set.

How can you not love a movie in which microscopic aliens become addicted to the chemical created in the human brain at the moment of orgasm and must kill the coming human in order to harvest said chemical? And you've got to love the sex scene between the male and female leads, who, by the way, are played by the same actress.

By the late 80's my friends and I had every word of Liquid Sky memorized. "Sometimes my brain is a pain in the ass."

Labels: , , ,


More Comedy From The CWA

And the hits keep coming from the Concerned Women of America, who've now got their merkins in a knot because the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force bestowed an honor called the "Leather Leadership Award" to Guy Baldwin at last week's Creating Change conference. From the NGLTF's site:
Baldwin is a Los Angeles-based psychotherapist, author and activist on behalf of “erotically uncommon people.” Baldwin may be best known for his monthly essays which appeared in Drummer Magazine and were collected in his 1993 book, Ties That Bind. Baldwin is a former titleholder, having served in 1989 as Mister National Leather Association and also as the 11th International Mr. Leather. In 1987, Baldwin launched the DSM Project to mobilize mental health professionals worldwide to press for changes to the official clinical definitions that had long been used to label leather people, gay and otherwise, as pathological.
The CWA responds:
Slavery Advocate Honored with Support from the DNC

The Democratic National Committee has put its support behind the honoring of Guy Baldwin, a sado-masochism advocate, by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. Matt Barber, CWA’s Policy Director for Cultural Issues, and Peter LaBarbera, President of Americans for Truth, condemn this action which occurred during Black History Month.

Don't you love how the CWA pretends they can't parse the difference between sex-slaves and literal slavery? "Slavery Advocate Honored" wins the 2008 Bullshit Headline Award. So far.

(Via - Dan Savage.)

Labels: , , , ,


Lawrence King Killing "Premeditated",

Ventura County, California prosecutors have declared that the shooting of Lawrence King by 14 year-old Brandon McInerney (left) was a premeditated hate crime.
McInerney's family was in a Ventura courtroom Thursday as the adolescent was brought into a holding chamber to face charges. His arraignment was delayed to give his attorney time to review the police investigation before entering a plea.

McInerney was charged with premeditated murder with enhancements of use of a firearm and a hate crime. Because he is a minor, McInerney will remain in Juvenile Hall and be taken to the Ventura courtroom for court appearances, Fox said. He is being held in lieu of $770,000 bail. If convicted, McInerney could face 50 years to life. The hate crime enhancement would add another one to three years to his sentence.
McInerney turned 14 only three weeks ago, passing the California legal cut-off age for being charged as an adult.

UPDATE:

There will be a memorial vigil for Lawrence King tonight at 7pm at The Art Barn in Ventura, CA. A memorial donation fund has been set up:


Ventura County Rainbow Alliance
4567 Telephone Road, Suite 100
Ventura, CA 93003
Fed tax # 77-0332688

Labels: , , , ,


HD-DVD, We Hardly Knew Ye

Looks like the final nail is in the HD-DVD coffin:
HD DVD's pulse has been steadily getting weaker since the Warner blow, and now Hollywood Reporter is saying that Toshiba is getting ready to put it down following the Netflix and Best Buy shutouts. The official Toshiba word is that they're going to keep breathing, though they're going to "study the market impact and the value proposition for consumers." Honestly, our BS detector is doing that spinny compass thing. Toshiba has been remarkably defiant in pushing HD DVD forward, but the cold reality is that their situation is never going to get better than it already is, despite the $2.7 million Super Bowl ad, massive price cuts and valiantly fighting a brutal, expensive war of attrition against a massively stacked deck. So if they aren't thinking about quitting, maybe it's time they do, as much as it pains us to say it.
Oh well. At least my brand-new HD player has an iPod dock. That's something, I guess. Dammit.

Labels:


Broadway Friday

- The fourth annual ABC Daytime Salutes Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS benefit will take place Sunday, March 2nd at Town Hall. All My Children star and Dancing With The Stars contestant Cameron Mathison will host. A large cast of soap stars will participate with special appearances by Barbara Walters, Whoopi Goldberg and Elisabeth Hasselbeck. Get tickets here.

- The cast recording of the Tony-winning musical Jersey Boys has been certified gold.

- 60's comedy classic Boeing, Boeing will open on Broadway this spring at the Longacre Theatre. The cast includes Christine Baranski, Mark Rylance and Bradley Whitford. Previews begin April 19th. Matthew Warchus will direct.

- Tony winner Sutton Foster will star as Fiona in the Broadway version of Shrek, set to open December 14th. Foster currently stars as Inga in Young Frankenstein. Christopher Sieber, a member of the original cast of Monty Python's Spamalot, will play the evil Lord Farquaad and Kecia Lewis-Evans will play the Dragon. Casting for Shrek and Donkey has not been announced. An out-of-town tryout of Shrek begins in Seattle in August.

- An Off-Broadway take on the City Center's Encore! series will begin next fall in the East Village and will be staged in a no-set, concert style. The first two Off-Broadway shows to be covered will be Promenade and Iphigenia in Concert.

- Saying "We don't laugh at sad people," the director of Spamalot has changed a line of the Diva's Lament number that poked fun at Britney Spears. The new target: Posh Spice. The request for the change came from director Mike Nichols. The line has now been changed in the Broadway and road productions of the show.

- David Groh, who gained fame as Joe on the sitcom Rhoda and later appeared on Broadway in Neil Simon's Chapter Two and in Twilight of the Golds, died of kidney cancer on Tuesday in Los Angeles. He was 68. As I recall, every time David Groh was in the scene your humble narrator became quite tingley.

Labels:


Thursday, February 14, 2008

Attempted Murder, Hates Crimes Charged In Lawrence King Shooting

Prosecutors in Oxnard, California have charged a 14 year-old boy with attempted murder (with a hate-crime enhancement) and use of a firearm in the case of Lawrence King (pictured, at unknown age), the 15 year-old gay youth shot in his 8th grade classroom yesterday. Despite reports late yesterday that King had died, he is brain-dead and remains on a ventilator pending a decision on harvesting his organs for donation. (The erroneous story I linked yesterday has been removed by the San Francisco Chronicle.)
Prosecutors planned to seek to have the 14-year-old tried as an adult and expected the charges to be upgraded when victim Lawrence King was taken off the ventilator for organ donation, said Ventura County Senior Deputy District Attorney Maeve Fox.

"It is inevitable that this is going to become a murder case," she said. Fox said she could not discuss the facts behind the allegation of a hate crime because those details of the case have not been publicly disclosed.

Oxnard police have not specified a motive but said there appeared to be a personal dispute between the two. Several classmates have said King would wear feminine attire. King sometimes came to school wearing makeup and high heels, eighth-grader Nicholas Cortez, 14, told The Associated Press.

Another eighth-grader, Michael Sweeney, said King's appearance was "freaking the guys out," the Los Angeles Times reported Thursday. "He would come to school in high-heeled boots, makeup, jewelry and painted nails — the whole thing," Sweeney told the Times.

King was shot in the head Tuesday morning during a class at E.O. Green Junior High in Oxnard, police said. More than 20 other students were in the room at the time.

Police said a handgun was used in the attack and the 14-year-old was quickly arrested near the school. King was pronounced brain dead at St. John's Regional Medical Center on Wednesday, Ventura County Senior Deputy Medical Examiner Craig Stevens said. Doctors planned to remove some of his organs for donation Thursday, Stevens said.

"I think that's what he would have wanted," King's father, Greg King, told the Ventura County Star. Lawrence King had been under the care of the county foster care system and lived at Casa Pacifica, a nearby center for abused and neglected children, said Steve Elson, the facility's chief executive.

"We're are all stunned and it's just an unspeakable tragedy," Elson said Wednesday. "This is a very big traumatic experience for all of us."
The Gay-Straight Alliance Network, the Transgender Law Center, and Equality California have issued a joint statement decrying King's shooting. "With young people coming out at younger ages, our schools -- especially our junior highs and middle schools -- need to be proactive about teaching respect for diversity based on sexual orientation and gender identity," said Carolyn Laub, executive director of Gay-Straight Alliance Network. "The tragic death of Lawrence King is a wake-up call for our schools to better protect students from harassment at school. As a society, we can prevent this kind of violence from happening."

Labels: , , ,


AFA: Don't Say 'OHMIGOD!'
(ohmigodjoemigodohmigod)

Jeremy at Good As You tipped me that the American Family Association is pissed at TVLand for the title of their new feature, the OHMIGOD! That's So 80's Weekend.

I'm guessing they'd also have an issue with the title of this here website thingy. Maybe the content too. A little.

Labels: , , , , ,


The Frank / Foreman Feud Continues

Outgoing NGLTF head Matt Foreman appeared on Michelangelo Signorile's show yesterday to take a parting shot at Rep. Barney Frank over the ENDA vote.
"Of the many things I've loved about being in the Task Force," says Foreman, "is that, you know, we're a progressive organization, and we're proud of it, and that we have a history of speaking the truth and seeing the world in a bigger way than just a 'gay-specific,' 'me-first-all-the-time' attitude that affects so much of our movement."

"I think what really happened," says Foreman of Congress' handling of employment discrimination protections for LGBT people, "is [Speaker Nancy Pelosi's] people said 'Look, Congress has a terrible reputation right now, they're not delivering for any progressive causes... What do we have to do to deliver to our progressive allies?' That means labor and health and environment and gays. And, so, I mean, I don't know this for a fact, but I would bet my life that this is what happened: They went to Barney Frank and said 'What do we need to pass ENDA?'"

"Representative Frank," continues Foreman, "who has always been pretty squeamish on the trans issue, and I guess I can say these things because I am leaving my job..."

"That's what we hoped you'd do," Signorile says to Foreman.

Foreman goes on: "...You know, said 'Look the best way to pass ENDA, and the easiest way is to -- let's take out gender identity,' and I don't think the Speaker's people thought this through--didn't think it through--and then they said 'OK, let's do it'."
Go to PageOneQ for audio clips of the interview. A spokesman for Frank called the idea that Frank is "squeamish" on the trans issue "absurd." Barney Frank will appear on the Signorile show today at 3:30pm EST to personally respond. Tune into SiriusOutQ to listen.

Labels: , , , ,


Madonna's New Flick Panned By Critics

The critics are feasting on Madonna's directorial debut, Filth & Wisdom:
"Madonna has been a terrible actor in many, many films and now -- fiercely aspirational as ever -- she has graduated to being a terrible director," he wrote. "She has made a movie so incredibly bad that Berlin festivalgoers were staggering around yesterday in a state of clinical shock."

"Filth & Wisdom" follows three oddball flatmates in London chasing dreams of fame and fulfillment while doing unsavory jobs to make ends meet. Its main character, A.K., is played by Ukrainian Eugene Hutz, and the music from his real-life punk band Gogol Bordello is used extensively throughout.

Madonna told reporters the basic point of the story was to explore the "duality" of life, between "light and dark," "right and wrong," and that the filth and wisdom of the title were not so very far apart. "The message in ... Madonna's first outing as feature film director ... is that all of us can find peace of mind if we just get in touch with our inner slut," wrote Bennett.

The 49-year-old singer said this week she planned to make more movies in the future, and she is unlikely to be too bothered by what the critics say. Asked on the red carpet whether she would read the reviews, she replied: "I'll just let my managers tell me what they say. I don't want to read it myself."
Madonna's 11th studio album is due April 28th. While I'm not a fan, I'm not not a fan, either. As good as Confessions On A Dance Floor was, I'm actually looking forward to the new record.

Triads, Trios, Thruples, Quads

From a Washington Post story on polyamory:
I have a love whose name is Johnny

He is dating my best friend Bonnie

The audience members at the annual Poly Living convention -- think hippies, retired science teachers, a high quotient of male ponytails -- are singing, in round, what might be the only song ever written about polyamory.

She lives with her sweetheart Jen

And Jen's husband whose name is Glenn

It's a lifestyle that has been alternatively misidentified as Swinging, Wife Swapping and Really Greedy.

Now they raise their kids together

And are happy more than ever.

Polyamory isn't about sex, polys tell you. It is about love. It is about loving your primary partner enough to love that they have a new secondary partner, even when their New Relationship Energy with that person leaves you, briefly, out in the cold. It's about loving yourself enough to acknowledge that your needs cannot be met by one loving person. It's about loving love enough to embrace it in unexpected form -- like maybe in the form of your primary's new secondary! -- in which case you may all form a triad and live happily together.

That kind of love.

And so some 100 people, a small fraction of the 15,000 polys on the mailing list of convention sponsor Loving More, have gathered at a Holiday Inn off the Pennsylvania Turnpike for two days of seminars with such titles as "Hap-Poly Ever After: Long-Term Poly Partnership" and "Kids and Poly Relationships: A Human Relations Primer About Melding All Your Loves."

As I've mentioned here many times, my ex is now in a poly-LTR. They're not for me, but he's happy, so I'm happy for him.

Labels: ,


Broward County Protects T-Folk

Yay for my hometown some place I lived for a number of years:
Broward County Florida voted to pass transgender protections yesterday. It is now illegal to discriminate against transgender people in housing, the workplace, and in public accommodations like hotels and restaurants.

The protections voted in by country commissioners are an expansion of Broward’s 1995 human rights ordinance, which protected gays and lesbians. The commissioners approved the amendment unanimously. It was sponsored by Ken Keechl, Broward County’s first openly gay commissioner.

According to the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, 13 states and 96 communities currently offer some form of protection to transgender people.

Labels: , , ,


Ethics Panel Tells Larry Craig:
We Know You Did It

A bipartisan Senate ethics panel admonished Sen. Larry Craig yesterday, telling him that they believe he did the crime of which he was accused and that he'd improperly attempted to use his Senate position to evade charges.
The six members of the committee - three Democrats and three Republicans - told Craig they believed he "committed the offense to which you pled guilty" and that "you entered your plea knowingly, voluntarily and intelligently."

The panel also admonished Craig for showing the arresting officer a business card that identified him as a U.S. senator. Craig has been reported to have told the officer at the time, "What do you think about that?"

The committee wrote, "You knew or should have known that a reasonable person in the position of the arresting officer could view your action and statement as an improper attempt by you to use your position and status ... to receive special and favorable treatment."
Aside from this "letter of admonition", no further action is planned against Craig. The matter is essentially over. His guilty plea will stand and he will blithely continue to work against the rights of LGBT Americans. It was a bullshit charge to begin with, but man - how I enjoyed seeing him suffer all the same.

Labels: ,


Food Is Love

The worst kind of mixed-marriage:
Sharing meals has always been an important courtship ritual and a metaphor for love. But in an age when many people define themselves by what they will eat and what they won’t, dietary differences can put a strain on a romantic relationship. The culinary camps have become so balkanized that some factions consider interdietary dating taboo.

No-holds-barred carnivores, for example, may share the view of Anthony Bourdain, who wrote in his book “Kitchen Confidential” that “vegetarians, and their Hezbollah-like splinter faction, the vegans ... are the enemy of everything good and decent in the human spirit.”

Returning the compliment, many vegetarians say they cannot date anyone who eats meat. Vegans, who avoid eating not just animals but animal-derived products, take it further, shivering at the thought of kissing someone who has even sipped honey-sweetened tea.
Have you ever not dated somebody because of their dietary restrictions?

Labels: ,


HomoQuotable - Camille Paglia

"This disarray among Republicans, which may depress voter turnout or even spawn a protest splinter party, offers a fantastic opening to Democrats, if the party can only seize it. The galvanizing energy aroused by Barack Obama's thrilling coast-to-coast victories gives Democrats a clear shot at regaining the White House. However, the three-faced Hillary, that queen of triangulation, would be a nice big gift to Republicans, who are itching to romp all over the Clintons' 20-volume encyclopedia of tawdry scandals.

"John McCain's courage under torture during the Vietnam War deserves everyone's gratitude and respect. But as a national candidate, the stumpy, uptight McCain is a lemon. Oy, that weaselly voice and those dated locutions and stilted intonations. Who needs a weird old coot with a short fuse in the White House? This isn't a smart game plan for the war on terror." - Camille Paglia, in a typically wide-ranging Salon.com article that also covers Suzanne Pleshette, Star Wars, and Susan Sontag.

Labels: ,


Open Thread Thursday

Why do fools fall in love?

Labels:


Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Lawrence King, 15

A sad update to the California shooting:
A 15-year-old boy who was shot in the head at school died Wednesday, a police spokesman said. Eighth-grader Lawrence King, who was shot Tuesday during a class at E.O. Green Junior High, died at St. John's Regional Medical Center, David Keith said.

An unidentified 14-year-old classmate arrested near the school after the shooting had been booked for investigation of attempted murder. He now could face charges of murder and use of a firearm in commission of murder, said Ventura County District Attorney Greg Totten.

Police have not alleged a motive for the shooting, but said there appeared to have been "bad blood" between the teens. Police said a handgun was used in the attack, which occurred with more than 20 other students in the room.

King's death was announced as his classmates finished their first day of school after the shooting. About three-quarters of the junior high's 1,150 students body showed up Wednesday for school, where psychologists held counseling sessions, Hueneme School District Superintendent Jerry Dannenberg said. The school is in Ventura County, northwest of Los Angeles.
I will follow this story closely and report on how the shooter is charged.

Labels: , , , ,


PhoboQuotable- Matt Barber

"Ultimately, the homosexual lobby’s primary objective is to radically redefine our foundational institutions of legitimate marriage and the nuclear family by unraveling God’s natural design for human sexuality. In so doing, they hope to elevate their own spiritual and biological counterfeit and establish a sexually androgynous society wherein natural distinctions between male and female are dissolved.

[snip]

"With the aid of a willing mainstream media and a like-minded Hollywood, societal desensitization has been largely achieved. Blockbusters like Tom Hanks’ Philadelphia, the late Heath Ledger’s Brokeback Mountain, and television programs like Will and Grace and Ellen represent a modern-day fairy tale, creating a dishonest and sympathetic portrayal of a lifestyle which is emotionally, spiritually and physically sterile. And let's not forget HBO's Oz, which features many gratuitous shots of Chris Meloni's sweet, sweet can. My friends, when even a God-fearing man like myself cannot resist pulling out my cock and stroking along to Meloni's rock-hard man-cakes, the Sodomites have truly won." - Concerned Women Of America spokescloset Matt Barber, in a Townhall.com piece in which he quotes from decades-old gay activism documents and point-by-point dissects the goals of the "gay agenda."

Labels: , , , , ,


Love, TransAmerican Style

Last night I watched the first episode of Love, TransAmerican Style, LOGO's new reality show in which transgender actress and activist Calpurnia Addams must choose a beau from group of male suitors. Addams first came into the national spotlight in 1999 when American soldier Barry Winchell was murdered by a fellow GI after his relationship with Addams became known. The incident was made into the Showtime movie Soldier's Girl.

All of the usual reality show conventions are used on Love, TransAmerican Style - the weekly culling of a contestant, the hidden cameras, and the group house where the competitors live and argue with other. The show even does a take on The Bachelor's rose ceremony, in which Addams feeds a piece of chocolate to those that survive the elimination.

Most of the suitors are hotties with ripped bods, a couple of the others - not so much. The big twist is that one of them, Jim, is a pre-operative transgender man, a secret he reveals immediately to Addams, but not to the other men, some of whom immediately begin taunting Jim for his non-macho ways. The biggest yahoo of the group is a handsome young guy who displayed some homophobia when the men had to dance for Addams wearing slave costumes and g-strings. Hate him.

As much as I generally loathe reality shows, the series raises some fascinating issues. When Jim reveals himself as a transgender man, Addams muses to the camera about her own possible hypocrisy in being unattracted to another transgender person. After the g-string dance, Jim privately mentions his relief in finding a slave skirt among the costumes, as he doesn't yet have the equipment to fill out a banana-thong.

The first man eliminated had bragged about his long history of exclusively dating transgender women, something none of the others appear to have done. But Addams wasn't too pleased to learn that he'd also run his own "tranny porn" website and he did not get a piece of chocolate. As he was sent packing, he petulantly tossed out that he preferred pre-operative transgender women anyway, because "then you get the best of both worlds." Asshole.

Next week Addams meets the parents of the men vying for her love. That should prove as interesting as the first show. But I can't shake the vague feeling that this show is somewhat exploitive of transgender folk. None of contestants are being "fooled", and this sort of visibility can certain make transgender people seem less "alien" to others. But still, I'm a little uncomfortable and I can't say exactly why. What say you, T-people?

Labels: , , , ,


Numero Uno

Who's a sweet, sweet doggie? Uno, the first beagle to ever win Westminster, that's who. Uno's well-chosen stage name is K-Run's Park Me In First. My childhood dog was a beagle. I've always had a soft spot for hounds. Ah-ooo!

Labels: ,


Shot For Acting Nelly

A 15 year-old high school student in Oxnard, California is it critical condition today after being shot by a classmate who taunted him for his feminine mannerisms and for wearing make-up.
A student at an Oxnard junior high school shot another classmate Tuesday in front of two dozen other students who were settling into their first-period English class, police said.

The 15-year-old victim was rushed to St. John's Regional Medical Center, where he was initially listed in critical condition. By day's end, his condition was described as improving.

"He's gone from very critical to a little bit better," said Oxnard police spokesman David Keith. "He's actually communicating with personnel at the hospital."

The boy's alleged assailant ran from the E.O. Green Junior High School and was apprehended nearby a few minutes later by Oxnard and Port Hueneme police officers.

The shooting was not gang-related, said Keith, who added that the school had not been a particular trouble spot before.

"It looked like it was personal between the two of them," he said, declining to elaborate.

Some students said the victim, whose name was not disclosed, sometimes wore makeup and feminine jewelry and had declared himself gay. They said he was frequently taunted by other boys and had been involved in an argument with the alleged shooter, an eighth-grader who also was not named, and others Monday.

During the lunchtime argument, one of the boys shouted at Tuesday's victim, "You better watch your back," said one student who witnessed the encounter.
I'm standing by for the Freepers to announce that the kid had it coming. Yeah, SB777, giving those damn queer kids "special rights." To be shot.

Labels: , , ,


Twisted Knickers

Time Square's famous Naked Cowboy, the guitar-playing singer that performs for tourists in his tighty-whities, is suing M&M Mars for $6M for depicting him on their store's Jumbotron as an M&M character.
"All I've got is my underwear. It's the most brilliant thing that's ever been created from a marketing perspective. You can't stop it," said Burck, 37, who said he filed suit on the advice of lawyers and trademark experts.

Labels: , , ,


Australia Says "Sorry"

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd read a 361-word apology to the aboriginal people of Australia today for his country's history of forced assimilation, a policy which removed aborigine children from their homes and gave them to white parents.
Based on the premise that "full-blood" Aborigines were a race headed for extinction, up to 100,000 mixed-race children were taken from their parents between 1910 and 1970. The children, some of them babies, were often snatched from sobbing mothers by policemen or government officials.
Rudd described the national mea culpa as "removing a stain from the soul of Australia". Local press describes the apology as similar to that given by the United States to Japanese-Americans for their forced internment during World War II.

Rudd's predecessor, the Bush-lackey John Howard, had refused to apologize for the snatched children, saying Australia had "no need to atone for past injustices."

Labels: , ,


Goodbye 90 Day Jane

For about a week I've been following the internet hullabaloo about 90 Day Jane, the woman who announced that she would count down the number of days to her suicide with daily blog posts.
I am going to kill myself in 90 days. What else should i say? This blog is not a cry for help or even to get attention. It's simply a public record of my last 90 days in existence. I'm not depressed and nothing extremely horrible has lead me to this decision. But, does it really have to? I mean, as an atheist I feel life has no greater purpose. My generation has had no great depression, no great war and our biggest obstacle is beating Halo 3. So, if I feel like saying “game over”, why can’t I? Anyway, I hope you enjoy my thoughts as the clock runs out. Also, if blogspot takes this down before i’m gone just go to www.90dayjane.com. Please don’t attempt to “help” me. If you want to truly help, please send me ideas on how to do the deed. thx-Jane
The blog garnered massive attention and "Jane" reflected so in her posts, talking about media companies that wanted her story. Like most, I was pretty sure it's all some viral marketing scheme, a goth version of LonelyGirl15. But the comments were hilarious. An example: "Can you make it nine day Jane? Seriously. Attention whore. But either way, before you die, can you post pix of your clam?"

Anyway, just when things were getting very interesting, Jane pulled the plug yesterday in a post called "Day 0: The Resolve":
My closeness to this project must have made art seem like reality to many people. That is not a reaction that I expected nor can I morally justify. This is why my project, 90DayJane, will be taken down in the next few hours. 90DayJane was meant to mirror the tragic figure, Christine Chubbuck. Newscaster Christine Chubbuck committed suicide in 1974 by shooting herself in the head live on air. She was very vocal about her depression to those around her and gave every indication of her exact intentions leading up to the event. Sadly, no one reacted or helped Christine and those left behind could only ask “why”. Her story both inspired and terrified me because I can truly empathize with her rage and even her isolation. I wondered how Christine’s life and subsequent suicide would would play out in our time. Would the internet be yet another place of isolation to her or an escape?
Ah, interesting. For those too young to remember TV anchor Christine Chubbuck, her live on-the-air suicide in Sarasota, Florida was one of the most shocking stories of 1974. Just a few years later her story was part of my journalism course work at UCF.

90 Day Jane is already taken down. So what did Jane's experiment teach us? That even a woman threatening imminent suicide will be asked for pics of her clam? Anything else? Anything? I don't think so. Oh well, at least now we've got her copycat, 90 Day Joe.

Labels: , ,


Daily Show To Get Funny Again

Our long national reality show nightmare is officially over.
LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Striking Hollywood writers are going back to work. The Writers Guild of America said its members voted Tuesday to end their devastating, three-month strike that brought the entertainment industry to a standstill.

Writers will be back on the job Wednesday after voting in Beverly Hills and New York.

"At the end of the day, everybody won," Leslie Moonves, chief executive officer of CBS Corp., told The Associated Press. "It was a fair deal and one that the companies can live with, and it recognizes the large contribution that writers have made to the industry."

Moonves was among the media executives who helped broker a deal after talks between the guild and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents studios, collapsed in acrimony in December.

Residuals for TV shows and movies distributed online was the most contentious issue in the bitter dispute involving the 12,000-member union and the world's largest media companies and other producers.

Under a tentative contract approved Sunday by the union's board of directors, writers would get a maximum flat fee of about $1,200 for streamed programs in the deal's first two years and then get 2 percent of a distributor's gross in year three.
The CEOs of Fox and Disney lead the strike resolution team. Because we need more episodes of Hannah Montana, STAT!

Labels: , ,


Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Obama Threepeat

The seemingly unstoppable Obama Express rolled to victory in the DC, Maryland, and Virginia primaries - each won by a massive margin. Obama leaves today's primaries with eight straight wins and more delegates than Hillary for the first time since the campaign began. In Virginia, Obama got more votes that McCain, Huckabee, and Ron Paul combined.

Today Hillary's deputy campaign manager followed his former boss Patti Solis Doyle out the door "out of respect" to new Clinton campaign manager Maggie Williams. Meanwhile, the nattering nabobs are complaining that Clinton has failed to offer Obama the traditional congratulations on his last two victories, a nicety that heretofore had been standard practice.

Labels: , ,


HomoQuotable - Evan Wolfson

"Phrases such as "gay marriage" or "same-sex marriage" imply that same-sex couples are asking for something other than marriage. They imply that same-sex couples deserve something different or lesser than the security, protections, safety-net, and respect that married couples cherish. And they play into the right-wing's fear-mongering that gay people are a threat to marriage, that equality and inclusion would somehow unacceptably "redefine" the law (in a country dedicated to those very values), and that "Defense of Marriage" is the answer to committed couples seeking to participate in a precious institution.

[snip]

"Much as we want people to understand that the words gay and marriage do belong together, we don't want “gay marriage.” It's the freedom to marry that matters – for all of us – and the way to secure it is by talking to others. And it's the personal ask – each one of us raising our voice and not just assuming that those around us are there, or can't get there – that makes all the difference. Turn to the people in your life now, and say, "Happy Freedom to Marry Week!" - Freedom To Marry head Evan Wolfson, pleading for a change in terminology. This is Freedom To Marry Week and today was Freedom To Marry Day.

While Wolfson and others have been asking for an end to the usage of "gay marriage" and "same-sex marriage" for a long time, I haven't seen much of a response in the popular vernacular and only occasionally use "marriage equality" on this here website thingy. Wolfson's point, however, is well-taken.

Labels: , , , ,


Israel Grants Adoption Rights To Gays

On Sunday Israel's attorney general granted to full adoption rights to that country's gay couples. Before his ruling, gay couples could only adopt if one partner was the biological parent of the child.
“I welcome the decision,” said Welfare Minister Isaac Herzog. “There is no reason why same-sex couples who meet the criteria for adoption should not be able to join the process of adoption and of parenthood. We must adapt to the spirit of the times and the changes that are afoot.”

Israel has moved quickly on gay civil rights since the Knesset decriminalized homosexuality in 1988. There have been no restrictions on gays serving in the military since 1993. In 2000, the age of consent for gays was lowered to 16, to match the legal age for consensual sex for heterosexuals.

Gay couples are given most federal rights in Israel, although gay marriages (which are only religious marriages in Israel) are not permitted. Gay marriages performed abroad, however, are recognized as of 2006. Private companies as well as the public sector are required to give gay employees the same benefits as straight employees.
According to Wikipedia, adoptions by same-sex couples are explicitly banned in these U.S. states: Florida, Michigan, Mississippi, and Utah. Eight other states have murky laws in place that make it unclear whether such adoptions are legal. In the rest of the country, adoptions are either explicitly allowed or there are no laws that ban the practice. Only Florida bans LGBT individuals from adopting.

Labels: , ,


Gay Man Is Youngest Superdelegate

Jason Rae, 21, is the nation's youngest superdelegate. He's also openly gay and a former Victory Fund intern. The Victory Fund works to elect openly LGBT candidates in all levels of government.
A junior at Marquette University, he has been courted by both Democratic candidates, including a breakfast with Chelsea Clinton and phone calls from both her parents. Obama’s camp has also been calling.

“They haven’t been pressing me in any sense,” he told CBS News. “They’ve just been talking to me like an average voter. The same thing that happens when candidates go to Iowa and New Hampshire and court votes there. It’s the same thing with superdelegates.”

Victory Fund vice president Denis Dison said Jason’s newfound celebrity (he’s already appeared on national television multiple times in the past 24 hours) helps draw attention to the power of electoral politics: “Jason’s work for the Victory Fund, and now his star turn as superdelegate, shows the gay community has a lot to offer in terms of political leadership. Who’d have thought a 21 year-old gay man would be at the center of the fight for the Democratic nomination?”
Who would have thought it, indeed.

Labels: , , ,


Swag Tuesday

Today's Swag Tuesday giftie is Bang Crunch, the new short story collection from gay Canadian author Neil Smith, now available from Random House.
In Neil Smith’s nine stories, average people find themselves in decidedly unusual situations, as the mundane and the fantastic collide. A woman mourning the loss of her husband finds solace in talking to his ashes, entombed in a curling stone. The title story zeroes in on a girl with Fred Hoyle syndrome, whose age expands and contracts like the universe. The members of a support group for people with benign tumors begin to suspect that their meekness has caused their medical woes. Bang Crunch creates an extraordinary world inhabited by all-too-human characters, and heralds the arrival of a literary talent with an unfailing, exacting concern for the profundities of our lives.
Smith will host a reading and signing of Bang Crunch on Friday, Feb.15th at 7:30pm at the West Village Barnes & Noble and on Sunday, Feb.17th at 7pm at KGB bar in the East Village. Enter to win a copy of Bang Crunch by commenting on this post. Please remember to leave your email address. Publicists: if you'd like to take part in Swag Tuesday on JMG, please email me.

Labels:


Diluting The Homophobosphere

Using the above headline, today Manhattan media and gossip site Gawker "executed" four of its regular commenters for using homophobic language. The move was prompted by a recent Advocate article on what that magazine dubbed the "homophobosphere", which they define as "an environment created by antigay postings on Internet blogs that spreads hate, produces fear, and is still protected by free speech." YouTube gay sensation Chris Crocker posted a clip several days ago addressing the article (audio NSFW):

Aside from the odd Freeper troll, we don't have much of a problem with homophobes here on JMG. But with a weekly comment volume sometimes in the thousands, I'll reluctantly confess that I don't read all of the threads and sometimes some crummy shit or personal attacks get posted. But usually by the time those instances are brought to my attention, the offending party has been well dealt with by you good people.

Still, on occasion I am disappointed by the general tone of the discourse here and have contemplated a number of remedies, none of which satisfy me. Other than the rare banning of a persistent asshat now and then, I allow even the most ugly comments to remain. The last thing I want is for this place to become a PC echo chamber, hence the regular HomoQuotable postings from folks outside of the mainstream of the LGBT movement.

To my mind, registered commenters or comment moderation would stifle the very thing that makes JMG the vibrant and funky (if often contentious) place that it is. So please, pull back on the ad hominems and the name calling, at least among yourselves. That's all we really need here, isn't it?

Labels: , , , ,


Gay-Bashing Pic Wins 2007
World Press Photo Award

A photo of Hungarian gay-bashing victims has won second place in the World Press Photo Of The Year 2007 Awards. The couple was photographed in Budapest by Zsolt Szigetváry as they awaited medical attention. First prize went to a photo of an American serviceman resting in his bunker in Afghanistan. Here's a gallery of other winners.

(Via - Jockohomo.)

Labels: , , ,


Texas & Ohio Are "Must Wins" For Clinton

It would have been unthinkable just a few weeks ago, but Hillary Clinton's advisers are now saying that the upcoming Ohio and Texas primaries are "must wins" for Clinton to stay in the campaign.
“She has to win both Ohio and Texas comfortably, or she’s out,” said one superdelegate who has endorsed Mrs. Clinton, and who spoke on condition of anonymity to share a candid assessment. “The campaign is starting to come to terms with that.” Campaign advisers, also speaking privately in order to speak plainly, confirmed this view.

Several Clinton superdelegates, whose votes could help decide the nomination, said Monday that they were wavering in the face of Mr. Obama’s momentum after victories in Washington State, Nebraska, Louisiana and Maine last weekend.

Some said that they, like the hundreds of uncommitted superdelegates still at stake, might ultimately “go with the flow,” in the words of one, and support the candidate who appears to show the most strength in the primaries to come.
Clinton's fundraising is now doing very well and is on pace to raise $25M this month, perhaps spurred by supporters panicked by her own "loan" of $5M to her campaign. The campaign plans to deploy Bill Clinton to rally voters in both Ohio and Texas.

Arizona Marriage Fight Reignites

In 2006, Arizona became the first state to ever vote down a proposed constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. But yesterday, 16 out of 30 of Arizona's state senators backed a new bill to put the issue back on the ballot yet again. The bill was also introduced in the state house. With both chambers' approval, the bill will be on the November ballot.

Unlike the 2006 ballot issue, the new bill does not contain language that would prohibit government recognition of domestic partners or civil unions. It was that additional language that opponents focused on in the successful bid to vote down the 2006 ballot measure.

Labels: , ,


Monday, February 11, 2008

john. he. is. / No, You Can't


You do know that there's going to a million of these, right? OK, one more.

Labels: , , ,


Irony Explosion

Mike Huckabee is accusing the Washington state Republican Party of stealing that state's caucus by declaring John McCain the winner before all the votes were counted. Calling a winner brought the caucus to an end.

BWAH HAH HAH.
The [Huckabee] campaign will be pursuing a full investigation, including sending in lawyers to join those already on the scene in the state, officials told FOX News.

Washington State Republican Party Chairman Luke Esser announced late Saturday that McCain had won the 2008 Republican caucuses in the state with 87.2 percent of precincts reporting. McCain had 25.5 percent over Huckabee’s 23.7 percent in that race.

Esser issued a statement congratulating McCain on a “hard-fought win,” and Huckabee on a “strong second-place finish.”

Ed Rollins, Huckabee campaign chairman, directly challenged Esser’s move, saying the count was incomplete because the other 12.8 percent of precincts could tip the scales since McCain was beating Huckabee by only a couple hundred votes.

“The chairman showed very bad judgment in stopping the voting last night when announcing John McCain had won, when there was less than a 200-vote margin between the two candidates,” Rollins told FOX News in an exclusive interview. “You never announce a vote, in my 40 years of politics, I have never know anybody to announce a vote count before the vote is counted.”
Huckabee also says he's not about to become McCain's running mate: "I’m not going to be asked. I think it’s pretty evident that there would be a whole lot of people on the list long, long before me, and one of them would say ‘yes'."

In more Republican hilarity, over on Free Republic every page has this message on the top: "Primary Voters: Vote against McCain! Vote for deadlock! Vote anyone but McCain!"

Labels: , , ,


Valentine's Day: Love Beats AIDS

Embiggen the photo above or go here to learn about a fun Broadway event this Valentine's Day in NYC:
LIFEbeat - The Music Industry Fights AIDS is joining forces with Borders for Love Beats AIDS, a special discount promotion taking place on Valentine's Day ONLY in all New York City Borders stores. Borders will match the discount amount dollar-for-dollar with a donation to help fund LIFEbeat's nationwide Youth HIV Prevention and Education programs.

Check out the coupon or log on to www.beataidsnow.com for more information on the program including a complete schedule of celebrity signings & performances including: Gary “Baba Booey” Dell’Abate and the gang from the Howard Stern show, Idina Menzel, Suzanne Vega, Orfeh & Andy Karl from Broadway’s Legally Blonde, Betty Buckley and more…
The amount saved by your 10% discount is the amount Borders donates to LIFEBeat. Plus you get a free show from Idina Menzel, Suzanne Vega, and Betty Buckley.

Labels: , , , ,


Hillary To Washington Blade:
I Talk About Gay Rights All The Time

In an interview with Washington Blade editor Kevin Naff, Hillary Clinton refuted claims that Barack Obama speaks publicly about gay rights more than she does.

Clinton: "I talk about gay issues frequently. I’ve been a longtime friend of the gay community — I’ve been talking about these issues since 1999 when I first ran for Senate and went on record as the first major candidate to say we’re going to repeal ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.’ I talk about ending discrimination all the time.”

As for speaking about gay rights to non-gay audiences: "I find it ironic since Sen. Obama had his gospel tour with [Donnie] McClurkin that he and his supporters would take credit for that."

The interview covers a lot of ground, mostly rehashing familiar Clinton positions on gay marriage, immigration reform, and ENDA. It closes with Clinton vowing to the be the first president to march in gay pride parade.

Labels: , , ,


S&M Club Patron On Life Support

New York's tabloids are having a field day with this story:
A leather-loving submissive was clinging to life yesterday after a freak accident at a Midtown bondage club cut off oxygen to his brain, law-enforcement sources said. A dominatrix at The Nutcracker Suite on East 33rd Street called 911 at about 1:30 a.m. after finding the hooded man turning blue in a dungeon room as he hung by his arms. He was also wearing nipple clamps, a dog collar and women's high-heeled shoes, and his hands were cuffed behind his back, sources said.

The man was rushed to St. Vincent's Hospital, where he was put on a respirator, sources said. It was believed he had suffered brain damage due to lack of oxygen. In keeping with the secretive nature of the S&M scene, the man was carrying no identification and only signed the name "Roger" in the pain palace's guest registry. But sources said he was a regular at the club. Cops were using his MetroCard to try to track his movements and identify him.

His particular fetish was to have himself trussed up and left alone. The mistress he was working with, Taki Noriko, 30, of Williamsburg, told police that she elevated him just enough to cause discomfort but that his feet were still on the floor.

"It was an accident," Noriko told The Post. She said that she checked on him every 20 minutes. At first, he was fine, but when she went in a second time, she found that his foot had slipped out of the shoe and was turning blue. Police took Noriko, several other whip-toting mistresses and the club's manager in for questioning, but no charges were filed.

One woman was arrested on an outstanding and unrelated warrant. Cops removed several bags of evidence from the club, including one labeled "1 [one] black leather restraint." While S&M activities are not illegal, the state penal code seems to leave open the possibility that those involved could be charged with assault - or even manslaughter if the man were to die - if a grand jury were to rule they acted recklessly.

The club, which is tucked away in a suite in a nondescript Midtown office building near the Empire State Building, has operated for more than a decade and is a well-known masochist mecca among devotees of the bondage scene. The erotic emporium was once featured in a 15-minute documentary called "Paradise Bound," which screened at the Sundance Festival in 1996.

"It's a lot more common than you think. It's lawyers, doctors, athletes, everybody," co-owner Robert Fluty said in the film. Fluty could not be reached for comment, and messages left on the club's voice mail were not returned. On its Web site, the club lists candle-wax dripping, electrostimulation, bondage, role play and flogging among its services. Sessions cost $185 dollars an hour and are by appointment only. Rooms are thematic and feature floor-to-ceiling mirrors, bondage beds and trusses. One room, called The Inquisition Lair, features a leather-strap cage and a St. Andrew's Cross. Another called "The Clinic," is described as "the ultimate for medical role play."

Dan Savage notes: "It’s dangerous to leave a tied-up person alone—every kinkster knows that—and you would think that the staff of New York City’s legendary Nutcracker Suite, a world-famous domination studio, would know better than to leave a tied-up client alone. Perhaps you can leave someone alone—briefly, and so long as they’re within earshot—if your bondage partner is simply tied to a bed, or comfortably strapped to a bondage board, or locked in a cage. Your “victim” can feel isolated and helpless, if that’s what turns ‘em on, and you can be back in a flash if he or she starts to panic and call out or, you know, if there’s a sudden and unexpected earthquake or electrical fire. But it’s absolutely nuts to leave someone alone in suspension bondage."

I'm betting there will be no outcry from the health department to close this straight sex club.

Labels: , , ,


UK Gays To Country: Get Over It

Stonewall, the UK gay rights group , will post 600 billboards around the country over the next two weeks with their "Some people are gay, get over it!" message. The ad campaign was originally designed for and rolled out to secondary schools and was created with the help of students and teachers. After the posters were well-received in the schools, the national campaign was devised.

Labels: , , , , ,


Hillary's Gay Mojo

New York Magazine took a look at why Hillary did so much better than Obama among the gays:

As First Lady, Hillary marched in a gay-pride parade, and she has done so multiple times as a senator. She's supported AIDS-care funding and an expansion of hate-crimes legislation. And after nearly running his first administration aground by coming out for gays to serve openly in the military, Bill appointed openly gay James Hormel as ambassador to Luxembourg in 1999 during a congressional recess. The Clintons just seemed comfortable around gay people.

It's hard for Obama to match that history, even though his LGBT platform is similarly progressive to Hillary's. (In fact, Obama's is actually better, since he supports a full repeal of DOMA, and Clinton just wants to remove many of its restrictions.) Obama is handsome and well meaning, but it's hard for many gay voters to not also see just another straight guy with the messianic ego to think he deserves to lead. And then there's the hard-to-shake perception that he might be somehow personally uncomfortable around gay people. As part of his building of a coalition of idealistic white liberals and black churchgoers, Obama invited gospel singer Donnie McClurkin, who says his faith cured him of homosexuality, to perform at one of his fund-raisers (though he repudiated McClurkin's views).

Meanwhile, Hillary has become a gay icon the hard way, or possibly the only way — she's the awkward idealist who's suffered and been smeared while working twice as hard to be perfect. She grew up feeling like she had to prove herself doubly to earn the respect of her father and brothers. Neel Lattimore, her press secretary in the White House, once told me that during a gay fund-raiser for her first Senate bid, he and the other attendees laughed it up in true camp fashion as a montage of her bad hairstyles played — and Hillary laughed right along.

I'd say the history point is well-taken.

Labels: , ,


Morning View - Kouch Kitteh

Labels:


2008 Grammys: Unsucky

Hey, the Grammys didn't suck last night! Amy Crackhouse walked away with most of the major awards, but Chaka Khan won two, so it's all good. Here's a few of the bigger categories, the rest are here.

ALBUM OF THE YEAR

River: The Joni Letters
, Herbie Hancock
RECORD OF THE YEAR
''Rehab,'' Amy Winehouse
SONG OF THE YEAR
''Rehab,'' Amy Winehouse, songwriter (Amy Winehouse)
NEW ARTIST
Amy Winehouse
RAP ALBUM
Graduation, Kanye West
ROCK ALBUM
Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace, Foo Fighters
ALTERNATIVE MUSIC ALBUM
Icky Thump, The White Stripes
POP VOCAL ALBUM
Back to Black, Amy Winehouse
COUNTRY ALBUM
These Days, Vince Gill
R&B ALBUM
Funk This, Chaka Khan
CONTEMPORARY R&B ALBUM
Because Of You, Ne-Yo
FEMALE POP VOCAL PERFORMANCE
''Rehab,'' Amy Winehouse
MALE POP VOCAL PERFORMANCE
''What Goes Around...Comes Around,'' Justin Timberlake
POP PERFORMANCE BY A DUO OR GROUP WITH VOCAL
''Makes Me Wonder,'' Maroon 5
SOLO ROCK VOCAL PERFORMANCE
''Radio Nowhere,'' Bruce Springsteen
ROCK PERFORMANCE BY A DUO OR GROUP WITH VOCAL
''Icky Thump,'' The White Stripes
HARD ROCK PERFORMANCE
''The Pretender,'' Foo Fighters
ROCK SONG
''Radio Nowhere,'' Bruce Springsteen, songwriter (Bruce Springsteen)
FEMALE R&B VOCAL PERFORMANCE
''No One,'' Alicia Keys
MALE R&B VOCAL PERFORMANCE
''Future Baby Mama,'' Prince
R&B PERFORMANCE BY A DUO OR GROUP WITH VOCALS
''Disrespectful,'' Chaka Khan Featuring Mary J. Blige
R&B SONG
''No One,'' Alicia Keys
RAP SOLO PERFORMANCE
''Stronger,'' Kanye West
RAP/SUNG COLLABORATION
''Umbrella,'' Rihanna featuring Jay-Z
RAP PEFORMANCE BY A DUO OR GROUP
''Southside,'' Common Featuring Kanye West
RAP SONG
''Good Life,'' Kanye West Featuring T-Pain
FEMALE COUNTRY VOCAL PERFORMANCE
''Before He Cheats,'' Carrie Underwood
MALE COUNTRY VOCAL PERFORMANCE
''Stupid Boy,'' Keith Urban
COUNTRY PERFORMANCE BY A DUO OR GROUP WITH VOCALS
''How Long,'' Eagles
COUNTRY SONG
''Before He Cheats,'' Carrie Underwood

Aside from Chaka's wins, I was also pleased that the Chemical Brothers got some overdue respect, winning Best Dance Album. Related: the only concert I've ever left because it was too loud, was Chemical Brothers in Oakland in 1999.

Labels: ,


Manhattan Monday

The world's largest Gucci store opened on Fifth Avenue this weekend, taking up 46,000 square feet on three floors of Trump Tower. The fashion house simultaneously launched their new line of Gucci ♥ NY handbags and luggage, which retail for up to $7000. However, the state of New York owns the trademark for anything that ♥'s anything, something they have zealously protected to the tune of 3000 lawsuits to date. The state says Gucci never contacted them and does not have permission to use the ♥, but talks are in progress as all of Gucci's sales from the ♥ items (available only in NYC) will go to the playground fund of the Central Park Conservancy.

- Here's a neat NY Times map showing how NYC voted in the primary. Looks like Harlem, Brooklyn and downtown Manhattan went Obama. Which makes sense, I guess.

- The High School for Innovation In Advertising opens in the fall. The goal is to bring more black and Latino students into the ad game.

- Residents of the Upper West Side's famed Ansonia building are suing a fellow tenant for smoking in her own home. Tenants complain that they can smell her cigarettes in the hallway. I'm gonna sue my neighbor because I hate the smell of curry. Second-hand curry kills, people.

- Diversity is not in at Fashion Week. Via Gothamist: "Out of 1,584 model slots, 94 (6%) went to black models, 17 (1%) to Latinas and 95 (6%) to Asians. Of the 66 designers who showed in Bryant Park's tents, 18 had no black models, and 6 had all-white lineups."

- Most Googled terms by NYers in January: Heath Ledger, subprime, vodka, Oscar nominees, Giuiliani, Facebook, Apple, MacBook Air, Fashion Week, pilates.

- Tommy Sneakers, Jackie The Nose and 60 others with Goodfellas-esque names were among the Gambino family mobsters brought down in a massive sweep by feds across all five boroughs, the largest such mafia bust in decades. And Gotham's construction sites hoist flags of mourning.

Labels:


Sunday, February 10, 2008

Obamarama Hat Trick

Whew! Obama stomped Hillary in all three Democratic contests yesterday, beating Clinton by more than 2-1 in Washington state and Nebraska, and by 21 points in Louisiana. According to Associated Press delegate count projections, the candidates are within spittin' distance of each other: Clinton with 1095, Obama with 1070. This is nerve-wracking. In a good way.

Labels: , ,