Morning News 4/10/10

Terrible. President of Poland Dies in Plane crash. Queen Elizabeth expresses sympathy. Face it, she's a classy lady.

Yeah, right. Rotten, greedy jerks responsible for housing bust claim that they're not rotten, greedy jerks.

About Damn Time. Towleroad reports that a Federal case against DOMA begins in Massachusetts on May 6.

Dog v. Train. Dog wins in two rounds.

(Image of Scott Thompson of The Kids in the Hall as QEII.)

Evening News 4/09/10

Oh My God, No! Women risk dreadful injury for modern shoe fashion.

Get Out.  Kyrgyzstan President offered passage out of country.

Huh? Twitter acquires Tweetie. I know those words, but that statement makes no sense to me.

Young at Heart. A couple of old diamond thieves arrested for planning to rob a Chicago bank. At least they're keeping busy.

(Picture of Claudia Cardinal and David Niven from the Blake Edwards film "The Pink Panther" via screenrush.)

Chocolate Smackdown!

Thanks and kisses to everyone who voted in our Dark v Milk Chocolate Poll. Here are the binding, non-negotiable results that we all must live by until we die:

Dark chocolate is the winner by a landslide!

61% prefer dark chocolate.

27% prefer milk chocolate.

11% think that both have their charms.

Nobody hates chocolate.

50% want me to ask about naked men next time.

This week's quiz:  Booze!

I prefer:

Red Wine

White Wine

Whiskey

Vodka

Tequila

Anything, as long as it burns.

Booze makes Baby Jesus Cry

Hey, I thought you were gonna ask about naked men!

Morning News 4/09/10

He's got his whole life ahead of him. 147 year old Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens is retiring.

Bart Stupid... I mean Stupak won't seek reelection.

Sri Lankan ruling party wins parliamentary majority while Tamil refugees in the north are largely denied access to polls.

Knickers in a twist. Conservative putzes are annoyed that GLBT Americans will mark "married" on our census forms.

Tories face flash mob over mixed messages regarding gay rights.

("Retired Super heroes" via Lit Fun.com)

True Story: M.A.R.T.I.N.A N.A.V.R.AT.I.L.O.V.A.

In honor of one of the few sports figures I actually know, I want to send best wishes to dyketacular Martina Navratilova who is currently battling breast cancer.

Here's a youtube  link to "Phabulous Pholk singer Phranc" singing her short and delightful song "M.A.R.T.I.N.A." It'll make you laugh, I swear.

Personal aside. Phranc attended a PFLAG conference in SF about 15 years ago where I (along with my family) bumped into her and her parents at a little Dim Sum restaurant in Chinatown.  They were charming and my first thought was, "Oh, Phranc is Jewish!"

A wise man once said, "The Jews know two things: suffering and where to find good Chinese food."

(Public Domain image of Dim Sum via Wikipedia)

(Update: I went out into teh internets and found Phranc's marvelous website "The Cardboard Cobbler." She's got some super funny stuff there. I think I'll post a permanent link here. Whadya think?)

Morning News 4/08/10

Not Hilarious. Diplomat "jokes" that he was trying to set his shoes on fire on flight from DC to Denver, while he was really just sneaking a smoke in the can.

It's a Party! After seven year struggle, Phillippine Supreme Court recognizes Ang Ladlad that country's first gay political party.

Sign Here. Space Shuttle delivers a bunch of stuff to the International Space Station.

I'll Get Back to You on That. Ben Bernanke tells nation that we shouldn't put off dealing with the financial impact of all those boomers retiring. Nation promises to do something, unless there's something good on the TV.

Obsessive Compulsive Man with a Great Idea. NYT talks to Javier Garcia who continues to photograph every single thing he eats and post it on his website. He seems to eat a lot of power bars and bananas.

(The shoes up top, accompanying the first news item are from planet fabulon.com and are also in honor of gorgeous, glamorous, sensational Linda who danced last night at the Blue Monk. Wish I could have been there darling.)

Evening News 4/07/10

Fiddle-dee-dee! Homophobe Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell amends his "Confederate History Month" proclamation to include the idea that slavery actually happened and had something to do with the Civil War. I think that's mighty white of him, don't you?

Ka-Boom! Morris Jeppson of the Enola Gay crew dies at age 87. BTW, did you know that "Enola Gay" backwards is "yag alone"? When it comes right down to it, don't we all yag alone?

There's no such thing. CNN asks: Is Hollywood 'gay' enough?

Had a marvelous yoga class tonight up at Urban Pilates on NE Alberta street. Nice studio, beautiful space, and Charles is a great teacher.

Morning News 4/07/10

How do the folks back home feel about HCR? Karen Tumulty over at Time's Swampland has a discussion going about the public's reaction as midterms (already?) loom.

Homophobe Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell declares "Confederate History Month."

Brits argue over who's pro-business and who is not.

Alan Greenspan testifies that the government cannot prevent another financial crisis, sort of.

Recent Polling Suggests that a majority of Californians support marriage equality.

For Wicker Parker, in response to yesterday's I Miss Lynne Russell post: here's Jane Russell in Howard Hawkes 1953 Musical "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes." This shot is from the number "Ain't There Anyone Here for Love?" Those fellas may be there for love, but they're not interested in Jane Russell.  Well, maybe they're interested in discussing eye makeup.

(Only two days left to vote in our Milk v Dark Chocolate poll!)

I Miss Lynne Russell

Regarding my post about Kyra Phillips, I just wanted to say:

"I miss Lynne Russell."

(Image of Lynne Russell from Picasa.)

CNN: Ex Gay Asshole Now Expert on Sexual Orientation

CNN Newsroom's Kyra Phillips pretended today that ex-gay shitwit Richard Cohen is an "expert on sexual orientation," in her segment examining whether homosexuality "is a problem in need of a cure."

Here's where you can offer feedback to CNN about this kind of lopsided bigot-spew.

Here's what I told them:

"Kyra Phillips and her producer Sara Rudolph should know better than to call an ex gay crackpot and "expert on sexual orientation." That's like calling an anorexic and "expert on food." Shame on you CNN."

Come on CNN what is this, 1954?

(Joe Sudbay over at Americablog Gay is my source on this.)

(Public domain image of dumwad anchortwit Kyra Phillips.)

There's a Place For Hairdo Scofflaws...

It looks like Constance McMillen was tricked into attending a prom with only seven other people while all the "popular" kids had their own snotty prom across town.

McMillen looked on the bright side though, noting that the kids at her prom didn't have to worry about being ridiculed.

(Photo of Jay Hillmer as evil Principal Davidson in John Water's 1988 movie Hairspray "That's right Ms. Turnblad, special education!"  Photo from aveleyman.com)

Morning News 4/06/10

Just 3 Days Left to Vote in the Dark v. Milk Chocolate Poll!

Gordon Brown's labour government braces for May 6 general election.

Record $16.4 million fine for Toyota is still just a slap on the wrist.

88 gay couples have married in Mexico city in the first month of marriage equality there.

On this day in 1930, Mahatma Gandhi lifted a pinch of salt from the beach at Dandi; one of the most significant moments in the Indian Independence Movement.

(Photo of Gandhi from April 6, 1930 is in the public domain in India and the photographer is unknown. Source.)

Afternoon News 4/05/10

Republican Hilarity Special Edition

Joe My God Reports that right wing nutcases have been effective at scaring other right wingers into not cooperating with the census. So much so that the census is in danger of undercounting all the right wing nuts in the country. Way to go Michelle Bachman!

John McCain was never, ever, ever a maverick. Do you hear me?  Never!

The family values party is a bit embarrassed about paying for that whole lesbian, bondage club thing, leading to RNC Chief of Staff Ken McKay's resignation

(This special edition of the afternoon news is brought to you with a mega grateful hat tip to Dr. Snickerdoodle.)

(Image of James Garner, the real Maverick from the fabulous TV show created by Roy Huggins and produced by Warner Brothers.)

Morning News 4/05/10

Oh Crap. Big Earthquake strikes Mexicali, felt all the way up into US. 2 Dead reported so far, many injured.

Humph!  Clash of the Titans retread makes a lot of money at the box office on its opening weekend.

Blast off! Shuttle Discovery lifted off this morning from Kennedy Space Center (formerly Cape Canaveral, formerly Cape Arbuckle.)

Hey China, maybe you could buy more of our stuff to help our economy suck a little less? Can you dig it?

Prick us, do we not bleed? More talk of lifting the lifetime ban on gay men donating blood.

(For your viewing pleasure this morning, here's a picture of Harry Hamlin's nipple from the fantastic Ray Harryhausen fan site Seventh Voyage.com. Head on over there to take a gander at all kinds of super manflesh and wonderful, cheesy movies.)

Candy! Again!

I'm going to have to think of it as Easter candy even though it is merely a coincidence that my care package arrived on Undead Jesus Day.

My friend Chuck of Chuck's Nuts, the triple entendre candy company of beautiful Santa Fe New Mexico, visited Dr. Sickerdoodle and me a couple of weeks ago. He was charming company and full of sage advice and he sent us candy!

Chili pecan brittle, various kinds of caramel corn, chocolate fudge, raspberry chocolate fudge, maple walnut fudge, chocolate espresso fudge, black forest fudge, chocolate chipotle raspberry fudge, pecan divinity, pecan rolls, Santa Fe fiesta mix, chocolate chile pine nut turtle...

I think that's everything.

My God.

This is a man who only uses the finest ingredients and he makes everything by hand. He is also the official candy maker for Santa Fe's 400th Anniversary celebration. Head over to his website and check out his goods. You can see a clip there of him whipping up a batch of chili pecan brittle as a guest on the food network.

Go look, you'll see how cute he is.

Did I also mention that he ships his confections all over the country?

Mmm...  candy.

(Image of Butter Pecan Brittle from Chuck's Nuts Website)

(Confidential to Chuck: Tell MB that the pillow cases rock!)

True Story: Oh, Canada...

            The Vancouver Aquarium was our first destination after exchanging vows at English Bay, and it was there in the food court that we saw the thing with the crow.

           Even the Beluga whales paused to watch the spectacle, chirping like canaries as they witnessed the theft.

            At the outdoor food court a Japanese tourist turned his back on his lunch for a moment to go get some mustard or napkins or some such thing and that was all the time the crow required to swoop in.  It touched down beside his unguarded sausage, eyed it briefly before stabbing it with his beak and flapped away into the trees leaving the bun behind.

            "Maybe the bird's on Atkin's?" Brent wondered aloud.

Morning News 4/04/10

Happy Undead Jesus Day everyone!

In a move designed to enrage millions, a Catholic Cardinal refers to the systematic cover-up countless cases of  child sex abuse as nothing more than "petty gossip."

So far, everything is a "go" for Discovery's scheduled Monday morning launch at 6:21AM (EST). It will be Discovery's second-to-last launch with only three more shuttle launches in total.

Iowa celebrates one year of marriage equality as supporters caution us to stay on our toes.


They're from Nebraska! Supporters of marriage equality rally in Omaha in favor of civil rights.

(Terrifying Picture of the Easter Bunny from Awkward Family Photos, a splendid, charming and disturbing site that you simply must visit.)