What's he on about now?

In case the articles, essays and opinions throughtout this site just weren't enough for you, here's my online diary (a.k.a. 'blog'). It's as close as you'll come to the inside of my head, so don't say I didn't warn you
(and remember, you can always e-mail me if you love or loathe anything you're about to read)...


   Wednesday, September 20, 2006

   WHY I RANT

Because I don't yet know of any other way to stop what's coming:



Any ideas? Reason seems a bit tapped out right now...

Labels: insanity, politics, religion

By now, it's common knowledge that the media was useless in investigating the run-up to war with Iraq but, as the US now unbelievably tries to start the same thing with Iran, it's good to see CNN asking the tough questions:

WOLF BLITZER: So you think it's realistic to assume if [Iran]had a bomb, they would actually use it?

JOHN BOLTON, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: I think it's realistic in a regime that is the central banker of international terrorism that is seeking a ballistic missile capability far beyond any legitimate defensive needs they might have, but which also puts arms and weapons in the hands of terrorists today. We've got a threat if they had the weapon, they could not make it with a ballistic missile, they could give it to a terrorist group like Hamas or Hezbollah as well.

BLITZER: Well that sounds very ominous, even much more dangerous than what the United States feared going into the war with Iraq.

'Gosh, Mr. Bolton, that Iran is so scary!! We'd better let our manly President do whatever he feels is necessary!'

Oy vey.

Labels: America, George W Bush, insanity, Middle East, war - what is it good for?

Back in July, I wrote about the US Army discharging gay soldier (and Arabic translator!) Bleu Copas, saying that the whole sad issue was "post-satire." Well, leave it to the fine folks at -- you guessed it -- The Daily Show to try anyway.

In particular, it's Jason Jones, who I actually used to know. We went to Hill Park high school in Hamilton and starred in plays -- he was the hero and I the villain in Leader of the Pack and I wonder if he, like me, is still trying to get "76 Trombones" from The Music Man out of his head. I never felt compelled to keep acting but he did and I've been delighted to see him end up on one of the best shows on television.

I just didn't think I'd have to see so much of him:

Labels: back in the day, homo-a-go-go, TV, war - what is it good for?

The debut album from the Scissor Sisters was a gorgeous whirlwind of funk, disco and pop, all delivered with sassy flair and a big kiss to 70's-era Elton John. It did well in North America but was massive in the UK so expectations are high for their new second album which they drolly titled Ta-Dah.

I'm happy to say that I've been listening to it almost exclusively since Saturday and not only is nearly every song a delight, a couple of them have been growing on me since my first listen. The album is every bit as good as the first and the lead-off track, "I Don't Feel Like Dancing," is my favourite. It takes everything that was good about 70's music -- Elton John, country-pop, the Bee Gees, disco -- and compresses it all down to four minutes of pure giddiness! And the video is wildly strange:

Labels: music, silliness, the 70s

Joe Scarborough, right-wing TV host and former Republican congressman, recently posed the question, "Is Bush an Idiot?" and now criticizes his fellow Republicans for not speaking up against this failed presidency:

That silence -- proof that it is better to be feared than loved in politics -- has had devastating results. The United States is more divided than ever, our leaders are despised around the world, our fiscal situation is catastrophic and congressional approval ratings are the lowest ever. Since nothing sharpens the mind like a political hanging, Republican leaders in the Senate and House are finally considering doing what effete newspaper editorialists have suggested for years: throwing Bush overboard.

I'd like to speak on behalf of effete editorialists everywhere when I say hello, Joe, and welcome aboard the Good Ship Reality! Let's set sail for a new horizon...

Labels: America, George W Bush, media, politics, repair

[I've got a day of paperwork and a weekend of editing facing me and just don't feel like writing so, yeah, it's YouTube day!]

Premiering last week at the film fest, Design by Future is a new documentary on, well, designer and futurist Jacque Fresco. At the age of 90, he's still working on experimental cities of the future, visions both strangely nostalgic and boldly avant-garde. Here comes some serious eye-candy:

Labels: evolution, writing

I've never seen the TV series Weeds but this clip makes me wonder what the hell I'm missing. The wonderful Mary Louise Parker is a single mom who, in this bit, discovers her 12-year-old son has ruined the home's plumbing by flushing gym socks down the toilet. Her brother Andy steps in to counsel the kid and goes way above and too far beyond the call of duty:

Labels: silliness, TV

Newsweek interviewed Robert Greenwald, director of the Halliburton documentary Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers:

Would you say your films are balanced?
No. But they're truthful. Do I have to show a side that isn't truthful — that doesn't have the facts behind it — in order to create balance? I argue no.

Labels: media, repair

Boston Globe writer Johnny Diaz deserves huge credit for being out on the job but, as he reports from this year's National Gay and Lesbian Journalists Association conference, it's Thomas Roberts from CNN who deserves huge applause: "Being a panel speaker at a gay journalists conference, he said, was the biggest step he took to really being out in public."

This, however, is not the bravest thing Roberts has done. Years ago, he came forward to testify against Jerome Toohey Jr., a Catholic priest who'd molested Roberts and another high schooler back in the eighties. Roberts' mother feared that her son might be gay and sent him to the priest for counseling.

Roberts told the audience that he's discussing his sexuality now because he's "proud of his partner" and, while people continue to speculate about the sex life of another CNN anchor, Roberts advises, "When you hold something back, that's all everyone wants to know." Exactly.

Sadly, there may be a point to that hiding -- mere days after his announcement, Roberts' 6 o'clock newscast has been cancelled. I hope there's no connection there but, either way, congratulations to a man who not only deals in the truth but lives it.

Labels: homo-a-go-go, media, religion, tributes

This is my final two weeks as a human being. On September 25th, I will start work at fab magazine as an editor -- a move that will hopefully boost my career while apparently reducing my humanity. Yes, I will be a Professional Homosexual. That's the term people use when you're "too gay," when you're a gay man with a gay job, living in a gay neighbourhood with a dog that might be a lesbian.

People who say these things are usually gays who wish they weren't (because they're still gay), or straight people who have issues with us (because they're probably gay), or Christianists who feel we're taking over and then panic (because they're totally gay):

...another Amazon fan has caught the Internet behemoth promoting "Gay & Lesbian" programming for downloads..."Nestled nicely between 'Educational & Learning' and 'Kids & Family' is 'Gay and Lesbian,'" Luffman told WND. "They allow you to expand on this section of selections to include many more genres but curiously 'Gay & Lesbian' is among the smallest of offerings in the long list. Given this, why the effort to promote G&L in the short list?"

...the short list includes "Action & Adventure" with 77 choices, "Animation & Cartoons" with 35, "Reality TV" with 51 and others, including "G&L" with 3 choices and "Classic TV" with 5. In the expanded list, but unpromoted in the short list, are "Documentaries" with 110 offerings, "International" with 13, "Mystery" with 38 and even "Westerns' with 14.

I like the "nestled nicely" bit -- given the pattern of E-G-K, my da Vinci Code tells me that the Amazon conspirators are using the arcane system of alphabetical order to brainwash America. Kudos to WorldNetDaily for unveiling the secret threat posed by 3 whole films!

I tease these loons, even though they and I are oddly united in our struggle -- I too oppose this unseemly "Gay and Lesbian" category. Get rid of it, I say! I want gay "Action & Adventure," gay "Animation & Cartoons," gay "Reality TV," gay "Documentaries," gay "Mysteries" and yes, gay "Westerns" (must Brokeback Mountain and Red River be the only ones?). Not EVERY movie has to be gay, just -- oh I don't know -- 10% of them. Because I believe that dropping that G&L category will better reflect reality, while the Christianists believe that dropping it will alter reality. Hey guys, let me know how that works out for you.

In the meantime, I'll be spending my gay dollars at the Internet bohemoth that supports me and my category (there's your conspiracy, dumbass)...

Labels: fab, homo-a-go-go, insanity, religion, Tegan the Jack Russell Terrorist

The radio this morning practically shrieked with hysteria over today's anniversary. "WHERE WERE YOU ON THAT DAY?" the announcer demanded. It's obscene.

I know where I was. You know where you were. Those of you who lost someone in the attacks remember all too well. I don't live in New York or Washington. I was safe, my friends and loved ones were safe, and for that I'm grateful. I don't need to say any more.

I'd even planned to leave the topic alone altogether (!), until hearing about this "Path to 9/11" TV-movie that aired last night and tonight, this disgraceful piece of propaganda from ABC/Disney. The movie invents scenes out of thin air designed to blame the WTC attacks on Bill Clinton's laziness in the years previous, while whitewashing George W. Bush's ineptitude before, during and after the attacks.

While I'm sure every member of the Clinton administration regrets what more they could've done, these accusations against them are being made by the same people who blocked Clinton's anti-terrorist legislation and condemned his attempts to kill Osama bin Laden as a cheap ploy to distract attention from the earthshattering importance of Monica Lewinsky. It was a disturbingly cynical attack on him then, and even more so now, as no amount of spin or revisionist history can excuse the colossal and horrific failures of the Bush White House.

I am not interested in continually reliving 9/11 but I would like to relive 9/12 -- that tiny flicker of hope and unity that so briefly flourished in the worldwide response to the attacks. The squandering of that moment, that opportunity, is the second tragedy, says the New York Times' Frank Rich this week.

His opinion is shared by Keith Olbermann of MSNBC. He's been on fire this week -- I'd posted a previous commentary below -- but last night's commentary is even more heartfelt, angry and powerful. I still hope that people will listen because there's nothing wrong with the world that we can't fix, so long as we stop listening to the static of fear and lies, and start listening to people like these:

Labels: America, George W Bush, media, politics, repair