Here’s Captain Brock’s (of SS Modest Mouse) latest effort. Don’t quite dig this retrograde video. What do you think?
April, 2007
22
Apr 07
Money Maker on Misery
On my previous post on this subject, This Man Wants To Cure Your Homosexuality, we met Richard Cohen, a nutjob who played with fire by being on the Jimmy Kimmel Show and the Daily Show and got burnt to a crisp. Of course, it doesn’t help that he also embarassed himself on CNN demonstrating his “bio-energetic” tennis racket swing on pillows and how he did snuggle therapy with a (presumably) cute guy who couldn’t show his face on camera. Poor pillows. They take up the brunt of his rage against his daddy, and he offers the love he never had from father to his patients.
Dr. Joseph Nicolosi, leader of NARTH (which sounds as ominous as DARTH Vader), has for years tried to put a secular face on ex-gay therapy. A push uphill, since neither the American Pyschological Association nor American Psychiatric Association have recognized homosexuality as a mental illness since the early 1970′s. Since he has no legitimacy among his peers, he has taken his message to folks (read funny mentalists) such as Focus on the Family, who like to use him to show the ex-gay movement is not strictly religious. It’s still snake oil. It’s strange that someone could publicly put forth rhetoric on this subject, yet his ideas can’t stand the scrutiny of objective journalistic questioning. He can’t even handle himself gracefully, and his petulant refusal to answer questions bites him on the arse.
He’s lucky this isn’t Penn and Teller’s Bull$h1T! They would have let him talk and then skewer him on their show.
Why do ridiculous men like him do this? Where there’s misery, there’s an opportunity to make money. There’s always someone who does not like themselves, and they’ll shell out tons of money to change. Plastic surgeons have operated on this principle, so some charlatans feel compelled to give gays a makeover to straighten them out.
Here, James Spader out-shatners William Shater. His speech in Boston Legal demonstrates the aims of people in the ex-gay industry. Watch and enjoy.
Real Life Brokeback Mountain Parallel
Here’s the story of Gary, a former Baptist minister and a good friend of mine, who had a “David and Jonathan” type of relationship as a young preacher. Doomed from the start, the relationship had a devastating impact on his ministry and family, and he went down the painful road of trying to get rid of his homosexuality. In recent years, he has gone through the process of reclaiming his Christian beliefs along with coming out as an openly gay man. He’s also been a wonderful mentor to others reconciling their faith with being gay. Check out his essay.
21
Apr 07
Apollo outs Gaeta?
Jamie Bamber of Battlestar Galactica speaks to Out in this really cool article. Of course, they couldn’t resist commenting about the towel he almost drops in one episode. Anyhow, Bamber seems to be very cool guy.
Check it out. He’s the latest to speculate on Gaeta being gay. This single guy’s never had a girlfriend, doesn’t seem interested in having one, and followed Baltar closely for a while. His big crime of passion was to almost kill Baltar close to the end of the season. He is the latest in a line of science fictions characters with questionable sexuality. On Deep Space Nine, Garak seemed very gay throughout, though the writers tried to straighten him with his romance with Ziyal. Star Trek: The Next Generation‘s Q was extremely flamboyant and had an intense interest in Picard, though he would be assigned a wife in Voyager. So what’s up, Gaeta? Is there a hot man in your future?
21
Apr 07
Virginia Tech incident, tragedies on many levels
Here, a school teacher (known as His Big Bear Ron on YouTube) in Atlanta, Georgia, reflects on what happened this week in Virginia Tech this week. What he is is very astute. Given the tragedy almost a decade ago in Columbine, there has been a failure to see what ails youth. Why are some so alienated? How does one address kids who are picked on, disenfranchised from the rest of their school community?
It’s hard to say with Cho Seung-Hui. His video manifesto, oddly poetic at times, gave no hint of the root of his rage, and he spoke in abstractions. His targets most likely had little to do with him being picked on in high school, but there must have been some strange logic at work.
Instead of being an excuse for schools and legislators to make the lives of young people more miserable (or even to spend more money on security), we do need to take look at ourselves (grownups and young people alike) and how to move forward with what we have learned.
21
Apr 07
Virginia Tech incident, tragedies on many levels
Here, a school teacher (known as His Big Bear Ron on YouTube) in Atlanta, Georgia, reflects on what happened this week in Virginia Tech this week. What he is is very astute. Given the tragedy almost a decade ago in Columbine, there has been a failure to see what ails youth. Why are some so alienated? How does one address kids who are picked on, disenfranchised from the rest of their school community?
It’s hard to say with Cho Seung-Hui. His video manifesto, oddly poetic at times, gave no hint of the root of his rage, and he spoke in abstractions. His targets most likely had little to do with him being picked on in high school, but there must have been some strange logic at work.
Instead of being an excuse for schools and legislators to make the lives of young people more miserable (or even to spend more money on security), we do need to take look at ourselves (grownups and young people alike) and how to move forward with what we have learned.
20
Apr 07
Mr. Deity on Page Six
He really is that famous. He’s on Page Six.
Oops…. It’s George Lucas. They do look alike.
19
Apr 07
Cho’s Plays: One Young Writer’s Mein Kampf?
I just read the two Cho Seung-Hui plays that are posted on AOL. While not the most violent works I’ve ever read, the perspective of his protagonists is very disturbing.
In “Richard McBeef,” John has a great deal of contempt for his stepfather and goes out of his way to impugn his character, despite titular character’s attempt to reach out to him. John, in turn, spits profanities at his stepfather, accuses his him of killing his father to marry his mother, and claims he is trying to molest him. After stirring up things between his mother and “Richard McBeef,” John is tragically killed by a lethal blow from his enemy.
The teenagers think nothing of beating down their high school math teacher in “Mr. Brownstone,” and they all describe him in very unsavory terms before the incident. While they don’t get away with murder, they assault Mr. Brownstone and try to take his winnings ticket after illegally entering a casino. Security intervenes and the teenagers feel they have been dealt another raw deal.
One common thread in the titles is that the works are named after the enemy or the object of the main character’s hatred. The protagonists are self-centered, contemptuous of adults, and think nothing of lying or carrying out physical violence against them. They have very little sympathy for others, and hate their targets for truly inexplicable reasons. The feeling that others somehow owe them something is present in these works. They bear a hint of the rage that was barely articulated until a few days ago.
19
Apr 07
Maxim, Put A Quarter In Your @$$ Because You Played Yourself
Major “Frak You!” to Maxim for homophobia.
Listing Sanjaya as a “Today’s Girl“? I’m not really one of his fans, but this is not cool. Dudes, he is not a girl. Perhaps the “thugs at Maxim“* are harboring some secret fantasies, as all the other Today Girls are hot, buxom babes (who might as well wear nothing). Sorry, the juxtaposition seems to suggest that, though giving Sanjaya this dubious honor is a detractor’s tactic. They don’t have to like him, but misogyny and homophobia are a horrible weapon.
*I liked Ted’s phrase for for the Maxim gang.
19
Apr 07
Simon Says
The Time quote of the day at the time of this posting was attributed to Simon. Here’s a video of him rolling his eyes.
