virtual armageddon

Virtual terror strikes Second Life

by Glenn Chapman Sat Feb 24, 11:54 AM ET

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) - In an explosive display, virtual-world banes now mirror the havoc of the real one as terrorists have launched a bombing campaign in Second Life.

People controlling animated avatar members of a self-proclaimed Second Life Liberation Army (SLLA) have set off computer-code versions of atomic bombs at virtual world stores in the past six months -- with their own manifesto.

The SLLA claims to be an "in-world military wing of a national liberation movement" devoted to replacing the rule of Second Life creator Linden Labs with a democracy representing the nearly four million residents.

"As Linden Labs is functioning as an authoritarian government the only appropriate response is to fight," the SLLA said in a message on its website at http://secondlla.googlepages.com.

"When the SLLA succeeds in its aims it will disband and hand power back to the political wing of the movement."

Creative dissent is welcomed in Second Life as long as it doesn't interfere with the ability of other residents to enjoy the virtual world, according to San Francisco-based Linden.

Second Life said it stopped charging a tax on items created by residents after avatars fashioned in the images of American revolutionaries recreated the Boston Tea Party in the virtual world about three years ago.

Since then, website users adept at manipulating computer codes have engineered mischief including a "push gun" that blasted other avatars back when fired, according to Linden.

"We do the utmost to ensure the protection of creative expression, within certain bounds," Linden marketing director Catherine Smith told AFP on Friday.

"Ultimately, instances in which residents engage in simulated violence will have to be taken on a case-by-case basis."

The virtual bomb blasts in Second Life explode in hazy white balls, blotting out portions of a screen and battering nearby avatars, animated figures that are residents' proxies in the virtual world.

The disruptions are brief and do not cause lasting damage in Second Life, according to Linden.

Residents are given free rein in Second Life, as long as they don't harass or interfere with other avatars in what is referred to in-world as "griefing."

SLLA bombings have been viewed by Linden as "mock terrorism" done in fun to catalyze debate about the in-world power structure.

"We believe recent events involving SLLA protest lack malicious intent," Smith said. "Resident reaction to such attacks has been decidedly tongue-in-cheek."

The SLLA website demands that Linden give Second Life residents "basic rights" by going public and allowing each avatar to buy a share of stock at a set price.

In instances where residents feel harassed by the SLLA, Linden will dole out temporary banishment or other such penalties as outlined in the virtual world's written terms of service, according to Smith.

future t-shirts

it's been a while since i've posted a future t-shirt...so here they go



the first one is from years ago on fire island...my friend tim accidentally did a double exposure but mistakes are sometimes treasures...the other two i found while browsing the internet...obviously in weird places in cyberspace eheh

oooo it's been a while!!

wow....i was doing so good posting as often as i could but my life has taken a wonderful, wonderful turn for the extremely busy side! i'm in full swing working as the new assistant manager at housingworks thrift shop on 17th street between 6th and 7th (come visit me!). i'm doing quite well...the store manager keeps giving me praises and notices how much i am into my job and how interested i am in learning the tricks and treats of the trade. i can't believe how much happier i am in my life...i knew it would happen but i have such a renewed sense of purpose. housingworks is an organization that houses homeless people with aids in nyc indiscriminant of whether they are male, female, gay, straight, drug addicts...there is only two criteria for being a client....hiv positive and homeless. i worked for the store on the upper east side back in 97 through 99 and coming full circle is such a brilliant ride.

last night at boysroom for the second time...alan cumming showed up!!! i adore him...as an actor and as a gay rights hero. two weeks ago he came in and just sat in the back but last night he sat right at the bar and eventually came into the dj booth and chatted with me....he requested bjork (which thank god i had readily available) and when i started playing it...he gave me a kiss on the cheek and hopped away like the little elf that he is...i must say i was a little star struck! aside from my weekly stint at boysroom in the east village...which hopefully will pick up once the weather warms up and people are more aware that i am djing there...i djed on friday the 16th at my dear friend erin's 'endless summer' party at opus 22. i opened the night from 10pm to 12am and once i swallowed a shot of jack daniels..hehe...i fell into a really sexy and funky groove, smacking the unexpected crowd with a set of fresh and dirty tracks that garnered praise from many. this friday i will be djing at my other dear friend max's 'g.r.u.f.f.' party at the eagle. i spun at the debut last month and am sharing the bill with dj chris padilla....once again opening the night. i actually really don't mind the idea of spinning a shorter set...you can pop in all the killer tracks in a shorter period of time. djing for a 6 hour set can be a little testing on your creativity. also....like the endless summer party i will be able to socialize after my turn at the tables and do some self promo and seduction! ehhe

me and friends are also trying our hand at a different kind of event production with 'move the world' a benefit for axis danz...a dance troupe that specializes in flag dancing...attempting to bring it out from the underground world of dance clubs and into the mainstream. because it's not a charity dealing with children or people with hiv and aids we are facing many personal obstacles...moral deficiency and community participation...but ...the show must go on! go to www.axisdanz.com for more info

also...march 4th marks my outer borough debut at capone's bar in williamsburg, brooklyn! it's hard enough to get people to come to my events in manhattan...it's going to be quite a challenge getting people to take the mysterious L train to visit me....it's an 80's theme night called 'joystick sundays' (witty aren't i? eheh) and the space is huge so a crowd is very very necessary to make it a success...wish me luck!!

another grammy for madonna!

although she wasn't up for any major awards tonight...she reinstated her throne as queen of the dancefloor at the 49th annual grammy awards picking up the 'best dance album' trophy for 'confessions on a dance floor'! it's only her sixth grammy to date... brilliant albums like 'like a prayer' and songs like 'live to tell' were basically ignored criminally....oh well...now we know why she doesn't really like awards shows hehe

didn't watch the whole show but i did catch the dixie chicks give a chilling performance of their amazing song 'not ready to make nice' such a beautifully angry song! and the lead singer natalie looked fantastic and sang from the deepest regions of her gut...unfortunately i still haven't seen their documentary 'shut up and sing' but joan baez gave them a really wonderful introduction and i think they picked up one or two awards

the earth is flat damnit!

for a good but scary laugh...check out this website when you have some time and need some much needed breaktime from reality...and i thought creationists were a bit off...but hey...everyone can dream i guess right? ehhehe
the flat earth society

hey...while you're at it...go visit the creation museum

like father like son

Clothes Make the Man ... Scared
By JANET MASLIN
Published: February 8, 2007

The plot of Joe Hill’s first novel can be summarized simply: An aging heavy-metal star buys a haunted suit over the Internet. He thinks it will be perfect for his ghoulish-artifact collection. The suit agrees, but for all the wrong reasons.

The suit has a mind of its own. It has a ghost of its own too. The ghost would rather go marauding through the rock star’s life than be part of his creepy little museum.

These are the bare bones of “Heart-Shaped Box” — literally, since the ghost is a skeletal old man. But Mr. Hill uses them to shockingly good effect, creating a wild, mesmerizing, perversely witty tale of horror. In a book much too smart to sound like the work of a neophyte, he builds character invitingly and plants an otherworldly surprise around every corner. It would be much easier to compare Mr. Hill’s work to Stephen King’s if Stephen King were not his actual father. (His full name is Joseph Hillstrom King.)

“Heart-Shaped Box,” which takes its title from a Nirvana song, is a Valentine from hell. That’s a thought that would bring a smile to the Goth face of Judas Coyne, the book’s main character. Jude is 54, out to pasture, coasting on the royalties from old albums with names like “Happy Little Lynch Mob” and basically a fraud.

He can watch another band and wonder which member will die first, but this is just macabre habit by now. So is his taste in girlfriends. “It had been years since he dated anyone with a tan,” Mr. Hill writes. “When you were a Goth, it was important to at least imply the possibility you might burst into flames in direct sunlight.” Jude’s taste for the occult has always been “like wearing leather pants, just part of the costume.”) His death-metal paraphernalia (noose, snuff film, cannibal’s cookbook) is an affectation. Has he actively sought out this stuff?

“It seemed to him instead that all these things had been drawn to him like iron filings to a magnet,” Mr. Hill writes, “and he could no more help drawing them and holding on to them than a magnet could.”

As the book begins, Jude is isolated in his Hudson Valley fief, surrounded by the kind of servitude to which he has become accustomed. He has two loyal dogs, a doting personal assistant named Danny and a girlfriend about 30 years his junior. He spends time doing things like restoring old cars, “although why rebuilding a car should feel like honest work instead of a rich man’s hobby, while recording albums and playing arenas had come to seem like a rich man’s hobby instead of a job, he couldn’t have said.” What can be said is that Mr. Hill has the mind-set of the aging rock star down cold.

The suit arrives. And now it’s showtime. At first the suit only scares Jude’s dogs, but soon it has released its ghost and sent him on the prowl. Strange sounds are heard. Jude’s girlfriend is stuck by a pin in the suit and beings showing bizarre symptoms.

The suit — which of course looks like Johnny Cash’s — begins showing up in unexpected places. What separates this haunting from the hollow, arbitrary kind is that Jude has made his living exploiting just this sort of phenomenon. He can’t be sure where reality ends and fantasy begins. Or where retribution begins either.

Mr. Hill has built a revenge plot around the suit, linking it to Jude’s treatment of the old girlfriend he called Florida, because he likes nicknaming groupies for the states from which they came. (Georgia is his current companion.) Florida and Georgia — or Anna and Marybeth, as they turn out to be named — begin to meld together as the story proceeds, even though Anna is dead, with the aid of one hair-raising Ouija board scene.

In his passive way Jude sensed that Anna was in trouble without caring to do much about it. He knew she was “not fashionably depressed, in the way of some Goth chicks, but clinically.” Opinions differ as to whether Jude bears some blame for her suicide.

The ghostly old man is Anna’s stepfather, and he also overlaps with another character: Jude’s father, a monstrous, now-feeble figure who lies near death at Jude’s childhood home in Louisiana. Jude was Justin Cowzynski in those days, but everyone in “Heart-Shaped Box” has picked up an alias of some kind. Everyone in the book is wrestling with some kind of murderous ghost. And everyone is seeking either redemption or revenge.

Mr. Hill, whose British short story collection “20th Century Ghosts” attracted favorable attention (but not an American publisher), has set himself a tricky job here. He balances “Heart-Shaped Box” between reality and fantasy in ways that threaten to run the book into an uncharted dreamscape, and away from the palpable suspense on which it thrives. But he holds the italics to a minimum, pulls back from the brink of hallucinatory overkill and mostly keeps this story tightly on track. Even when it erupts into strange, violent visions — as when, in the midst of a struggle to the death, light pours up from a newly opened door in the floor — this book is so visually intense that its energy never flags.

Though it has the potential to fall back on tricks and pyrotechnics, “Heart-Shaped Box” is firmly rooted in real-world concerns. Mr. Hill elicits honest empathy for Jude, who turned his stage persona into a nightmare version of his fears and must now figure out what strength he has left for legitimate battles. This dynamic is both frightening and funny, and the book weaves together those two threads in clever ways. When Jude slips over into violence, he fights a primal battle but doesn’t worry about petty consequences. “Prison didn’t frighten him especially,” Mr. Hill writes. “He had a lot of fans in there.”

celluloid closet

Public Indifferent But Entertainment Industry Still Wary Of Gay Actors

by The Associated Press

Posted: February 7, 2007 - 5:00 pm ET

(Los Angeles, California) Some high-profile gay actors have exited the closet recently and the fan reaction has been ... almost nonexistent.

A gay man playing a randy heterosexual on TV? The industry still has its problems but viewers are just shrugging.

On the most recent episode of ABC's "Grey's Anatomy," T.R. Knight's character eloped to Las Vegas with his gorgeous girlfriend. One week earlier, after repeated rounds of vigorous sex, he proposed to her in a scene that was romantic, believable - and groundbreaking.

Knight is an openly gay actor - now. He outed himself to People magazine after co-star Isaiah Washington uttered an anti-gay slur on the set of their ABC series last October. Yet nearly all the attention to the controversy has focused on Washington's transgression.

There's been nary a comment about Knight's own love life. Instead, fans are reveling in the sparks flying between his character and Dr. Torres (Sara Ramirez): "I hope she says yes. I really think he loves her!" said a recent posting about the characters' engagement on the show's chat room. "They're such a nice couple!" raved another.

Clearly these are no longer the days when Rock Hudson had no choice but to feign interest in starlets in order to protect his career.

"Things have changed," Ellen DeGeneres, whose coming out a decade ago was a major cultural moment, told Knight last month on her talk show.

Knight isn't alone in having his sexuality greeted with a public yawn. Last November, actor Neil Patrick Harris described himself in a brief statement to People magazine as a "contented gay man." Past "American Idol" finalist R.J. Helton made a similar announcement weeks earlier, and former N'Sync star Lance Bass did the same last August.

Each became barely a blip on the pop-culture radar.

The mellow response to these celebrity self-outings is a far cry from what happened after DeGeneres' "Yep, I'm Gay" announcement on the cover of Time magazine. Back then, some predicted the end of DeGeneres' career. Ten years later, she's anything but unemployed: She's hosting next month's Oscars, currently helming her own Emmy-winning talk show and serving as one of the celeb faces of American Express.

Strangely enough, some gay actors say that while America's comfort level has improved considerably, the entertainment industry hasn't caught up. It may be 2007, they say, but the vibe inside studio casting offices can feel surprisingly like 1957.

These actors say being outed remains a huge threat to a performer's career, particularly for men. An announcement, even a rumor, can eliminate them from the running for straight roles - the roles that make up the vast majority of available work.

"I have friends in the industry - casting directors, for an example - who are gay, who will not cast another person and the reason given is, `Oh, he's too gay,'" says veteran performer Andre de Shields, an openly gay actor who's earned two Tony award nominations. "A lot of this has to do with self-loathing."

Despite its reputation for leading the world down a hedonistic path, "Hollywood is one of the most homophobic places on the planet," de Shields says. "And these are the folks who could make the biggest difference in artists' lives."

Established gay male stars like Rupert Everett face this kind of bias (as Everett laments in his recent autobiography), as do those still making their mark.

"I was told I was `too light' for `Judging Amy,'" says Kevin Fabian, an openly gay actor who has appeared on episodes of "The West Wing," "Will & Grace" and other prime-time shows. "I looked at the casting director and said, `Have you watched your show?'"

That sort of experience leaves gay actors questioning how much progress has really been made.

"From an actor's point of view, I understand why they are scared to death of saying anything for fear of being pigeonholed," says casting director Matt Messinger. "Gay people are cast as straight all the time. But if you're asking if things have improved for openly gay actors, I can't say it's any easier now."

When Knight revealed his sexual orientation last fall, he offered a brief but pointed statement: "I hope the fact that I'm gay isn't the most interesting part of me."

For actor and singer Kye Brackett, the decision to mention his bisexuality to casting directors comes down to exactly Knight's point: Will industry people be so distracted by the fact that he dates men that they won't see him as a performer?

Brackett remembers seeing a billboard for the Tom Cruise film "Born on the Fourth of July" in 1989.

"There was a whole rumor that had begun about Tom Cruise being gay. And I remember driving up the street and seeing his picture and my first thought was, `There's Tom Cruise. He's gay,'" says Brackett. "All these things he actually worked for got immediately overshadowed by a rumor. ... Who would want to deal with that as an actor?"

Because of that bias, Brackett says, agents are unlikely to recommend openly gay clients for straight roles. "They don't want to be the one who says, `This person is gay and that's fine.'"

Despite the risk, some actors feel there's little choice but to deal directly with their sexuality. Fabian says he temporarily hid his sexual preference during acting school. The result, he says: "My acting was terrible. You're constantly putting layer on top of layer."

The current crop of tabloid magazines and nightly entertainment-news shows have brought the decades-old fascination with performers' personal lives to a new level. They love focusing on the subject of who's gay and who isn't, though there appears to be a double standard in their approach.

Actresses may acquire a bit of positive buzz and be "seen as sexy" after rumors of gay romance, says Lillian Faderman, co-author of the book "Gay L.A." But men in the same situation are perceived differently.

"Things have certainly improved for women in Hollywood, but far less so for men," says Faderman. "But it's interesting that the most prominent examples I can give - Ellen DeGeneres, Melissa Etheridge, Lily Tomlin - they don't play romantic leads."

A National Enquirer cover last August trumpeted "Hollywood's Secret `Gay List'" in bold, black letters above photos of various leading men. Inside, they reported the estimated odds of these celebrities coming out.

Network executives, Fabian says, fear negative coverage in the tabloids. And they prefer not to cast openly gay actors in straight roles because they want those tabloids to publicize their stars' social lives positively.

"You go in for a pilot, and you're told the casting director loves you, the producer loves you," says Fabian. "Then you go to network, and you have to sign your 5-year deal first. I think that's where the real discussion is going on: `We really liked him, but ... he's really funny, but ... how can we get him out there with the girls when he's sitting home with his boyfriend every day?"

Knight's case will be an interesting litmus test of whether recent celebrity outings will encourage the industry to change its approach.

Before his announcement, Knight had already developed a fan base. TV viewers have also warmed to Harris' performance as a straight, womanizing character on the CBS sitcom "How I Met Your Mother," now in its second season. Comments posted on imdb.com describe Harris as the best thing about the show.

Should these shows run for several more years and audience support remain strong, Hollywood may have no choice but to continue offering both men the straight romantic roles they play so well.

That could open a door to broader casting options for all actors, something Fabian would welcome. "In the end, I want to work. I want to be successful as an actor," he says. "I want to have vacations and not worry about the credit cards not working."

a different kind of dribbling...

seems like everyone's coming out these days...it's insane..but good insane...and finally a basketball player...and he's kinda sexy too....i wonder what it was like for him all this time being in the locker room...without everyone knowing...and how different his career would be. I applaud him for coming out whether it was after he retired or not...hopefully it will provoke more people to do it even daringly enough at the height of their career. No one has been this brave in the professional sports community since magic johnson publicly admitted that he was hiv positive.
i wonder if he's single...and if he likes husky white boys from jersey ehehheh

Former NBA Player Says He's Gay

NEW YORK -- John Amaechi is gay, and now the first NBA player to come out publicly is ready to talk about it.Amaechi, a center who spent five seasons with four teams, is scheduled to appear on ESPN's Outside the Lines on Sunday, and his autobiography Man in the Middle, will be released Valentine's Day, Feb. 14.
"He is coming out of the closet as a gay man," Amaechi's publicist Howard Bragman said Wednesday.NBA commissioner David Stern said a player's sexuality is not important."We have a very diverse league. The question at the NBA is always 'have you got game?' That's it, end of inquiry," he said.Three years after his playing career ended, Amaechi has become the sixth professional male athlete from one of the four major American sports (NBA, MLB, NFL, NHL) to publicly discuss his homosexuality.Former NFL running back David Kopay came out in 1977, and offensive lineman Roy Simmons and defensive lineman Esera Tuaolo came out more recently. Glenn Burke, an outfielder for the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Oakland A's in the 1970s, and Billy Bean, a utility player in the 1980s and 1990s, also have come out.In his book, Amaechi describes the challenge of being gay in a league where it is assumed that all players are heterosexual. He writes that while playing in Utah, coach Jerry Sloan used anti-gay innuendo to describe him.Sloan said Wednesday that although his relationship with Amaechi was "shaky" because of the player's attitude, he didn't know Amaechi was gay. Sloan had no comment about Amaechi's contention in the book that Sloan used anti-gay innuendo when referring to him. Amaechi said he found out about it in e-mails from friends in the Jazz front office.When asked if knowing Amaechi was gay would have mattered, Sloan said: "Oh yeah, it would have probably mattered. I don't know exactly, but I always have peoples' feelings at heart. People do what they want to do. I don't have a problem with that."Amaechi, 36, who is British, competed for Penn State, then played 301 NBA games over five seasons. The 6-foot-10 center averaged 6.2 points and 2.6 rebounds in the NBA. He began his career with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 1995-96, then spent a few years playing in Europe. He rejoined the NBA to play for the Orlando Magic from 1999-01, then played two seasons for the Utah Jazz.The Jazz traded him to Houston, which traded him to the New York Knicks. When the Knicks waived him in January 2004, he retired.



Here are reactions from some other NBA players...some of them are positive and some of them are a little frightening...certainly displaying the iq involved in becoming a basketball star and the worldly experience one must have in order to excell at dribbling

*Orlando's Grant Hill, who said he didn't know Amaechi when he was with the Magic, also applauded the decision to go public.

"The fact that John has done this, maybe it will give others the comfort or confidence to come out as well, whether they are playing or retiring," Hill said.

---

*LeBron James, however, said he didn't think an openly gay person could survive in the league.

"With teammates you have to be trustworthy, and if you're gay and you're not admitting that you are, then you are not trustworthy," James said. "So that's like the No. 1 thing as teammates -- we all trust each other. You've heard of the in-room, locker room code. What happens in the locker room stays in there. It's a trust factor, honestly. A big trust factor."

---

*Injured Philadelphia Sixers forward Shavlik Randolph acknowledged it's a new situation.

"As long as you don't bring your gayness on me I'm fine," Randolph said. "As far as business-wise, I'm sure I could play with him. But I think it would create a little awkwardness in the locker room."

---

*"For real? He's gay for real?" said Philadelphia center Steven Hunter. "Nowadays it's proven that people can live double lives. I watch a lot of TV, so I see a lot of sick perverted stuff about married men running around with gay guys and all types of foolishness."

Even so, Hunter said he would be fine with an openly gay teammate.

"As long as he don't make any advances toward me I'm fine with it," he said. "As long as he came to play basketball like a man and conducted himself like a good person, I'd be fine with it."

more madonna h&m leaks

she looks so fucking gorgeous and more 70's than the entire confessions on a dance floor shoot combined hehe...her hair is so full and big....love it!

hopefully more to follow

parties this weekend

hey boys and girls...that whole "either feast of famine" cliche has been so perfect to describe my life in the past two weeks that it's actually become rather annoying eheh...i love that i have so much on my table right now but i just wish there was another saying to describe it...also whenever you tell someone all the stuff that's going on in your life compared to a month or so ago..it's an easy dismissal to say "it's either feast or famine you know". ok enough of my stupid rambling ehhe.. this weekend is going to be a fun one...it's my debut at my dear friend erin's party "endless summer" on friday night at opus 22 in chelsea. the party used to be held at serena underneath the chelsea hotel but it outgrew it's container quickly. it's actually quite an interesting party...what erin along with the gorgeous dj lina have done is created a party using all the djs that had gigs on fire island last summer...featuring a slideshow of pictures from the summer and drink specials reflecting the scene as well...here's the flyers for the night..hope you can make it if you're in the city...

also...the long awaited return of the infamous TRIBAL party...featuring underground djs and underground nasty, dirty beats until the wee hours of the morning on monday in celebration of president's day...ok...president's day has nothing to do with it ehehhe. I spun for the TRIBAL party years ago for a gay pride marathon held at my former place of employment, urge, and a marathon it was...whew...i worked the door saturday night from around 11pm until 4:30....djed from 5 until 8am....worked the door/register from 8 until around 2 or 3pm...napped for an hour ehhe then went to the parade and watched the fireworks on the pier and then came back and djed from 10pm until about 5am....those were the days...the darker ones...the crystal days...yikes...here's the flyer for that....i'll probably be there for a little while but i have to work all day and night on monday....
"either feast or famine" ehhe
you can join their myspace page here

my new favourite chulo

check out the new video by homo hop star deadlee called good soldier ii....it's really pushing the envelope about how homosexual teen suicide is vehemently ignored but in a smooth yet rough way if that makes any sense....i'm becoming more and more of a fan of his....not only do i think he is talented and intelligent but i find him really really sexy...it's all those things that make him that way...i watched him host new now next on logo sunday night and he is so well spoken and just exudes confidence and integrity...watch it now

i love how the video is flagged as inappropriate to the you tube community...anything with a gay theme is it seems on that website....i wonder if they flag any video clips of 'dreamgirls' hehe

smooth and rough

here's my new flyer for my tuesday night party at boysroom....i didn't name the party 'smooth' but i can work with it and make it rough....woof!

if madonna were president

"IF I WERE PRESIDENT" by Madonna Ciccone
GEORGE magazine, 1994.


It seems funny to start a sentence with the words "If I were
president," because I'm sure I'd never want to be. I vaguely remember
being asked this question in fifth-grade history class, but that was
the year I discovered boys. And my political ambitions took a back
seat to my libido. (I know what you're thinking -- some things never
change.)


Don't get me wrong. I like the idea of being a leader and effecting
change. I like the idea of being an inspiration to the downtrodden, of
educating the masses. I like the idea of fighting for equal rights for
women and gays and all minorities. I like the idea of embracing other
countries and other cultures and promoting world peace. Fighting the
good fight, as it were. But I think I'd rather do it as an artist.
Because artists are allowed to make mistakes and artists are allowed
to have unconventional ideas and artists are allowed to be overweight
and dress badly and have an opinion. Artists are allowed to have a
past. In short, artists are allowed to be human. And presidents are
not. So the question is, how can someone be a good leader if he or she
isn't allowed to be human?


It doesn't seem like it's always been this way, but as we hurl
ourselves into the twenty-first century, our paranoia seems to grow
with our technological advancement. We live in an increasingly fearful
society--too many people have guns, too many people are afraid, too
many people are struggling, and too many people need a scapegoat.
Someone to blame. A whipping boy. And this, my friend, is what we seem
to need presidents for. As soon as we're done congratulating them, we
tie their hands behind their backs and watch them flounder. A
self-fulfilling prophecy. The President is going to fuck up. The
President did fuck up! The President sucks!!! He's the reason we're in
this mess. Give me another beer. Nobody wants to take responsibility
for their own behavior. If you're president, there are too many people
to please and too few toes you can step on, and one day you wake up
and find you don't have a point of view or a set of balls. I'd rather
eat glass.


But if I were the president ... you know, like in some parallel
universe where there wasn't any pain or prejudice, where the National
Enquirer did not exist and women were allowed to empower themselves
without being labeled heretical and perverse, then:
* Schoolteachers would be paid more than movie stars or basketball
players.
* Rush Limbaugh, Bob Dole and Jesse Helms would be sentenced to a
hard-labor work camp for the rest of their lives.
* Howard Stern would get kicked out of the country and Roman
Polanski would be allowed back in.
* The entire armed forces would come out of the closet.


That's just off the top of my head, but don't get me started - I have
enough problems.


- M.C

not the biggest fan of the song but it's cute and what starts out as a corny little 'pop' song that borrows from 'carwash' a bit...it pulls a nice little melancholic punch at dubya...and any punch at him is welcome in whatever package it may come

madonna - superpop
click on title to download

If I was an animal, I’d be a lion. If I was a car, I’d be an Aston Martin. If I was a genius, I’d be Isaac Newton. If I was a hero, I’d be Martin Luther. If you want to reach the top (Reach the top) If you do, you’ll never stop (Never stop) If I was an actor, I’d be Marlon Brando. If I was a painter, I’d be Frida Kahlo. If I was a drink, I’d be a Lemon Drop. If I was a song, I would be Super Pop. If you want to reach the top (Reach the top) If you do, you’ll never stop (Never stop) If you want to reach the top (Reach the top) If you do, you’ll never stop (Never stop) If I was a star, I would be who I am today. If I was a fighter, I’d be Cassius Clay. If I was emotion, I would be intense. If I was a man, I would be president. I’ll be different, If I’m the president. I’ll be different, If I’m the president. (Ooh, yeah) x3 If I was an animal, I’d be a dog. If I was a dog, I would be a man. If I was a man, I’d be the president. If I was the president, I’d be different. If you want to reach the top (Reach the top) If you do, you’ll never stop (Never stop) If you want to reach the top (Reach the top) If you do, you’ll never stop (Never stop) If you want to reach the top, You have started and never stop. If you want to reach the top, You have started and never stop. If you want to reach the top, (Reach the top) Never stop, You have started and never stop. (If you want to reach the top) Never stop, The top. (Reach the top) Never stop, The top. (Reach the top)

here are some other 'politically' inspired quotes from the queen

"Since when is offensive language a reason for being unpopular? I find the language of George W much more offensive."

"You know it's ironic that we're fighting for democracy in Iraq because we ultimately aren't celebrating democracy here.

"Because anybody who has anything to say against the war or against the president or whatever -- is punished, and that's not democracy -- it's people being intolerant."

"If I were President, Howard Stern would get kicked out of the country -- and Roman Polanski would be allowed back in!"

So how does "President Madonna" justify ejecting Citizen Stern for exercising his constitutional right to free speech -- but welcoming a foreigner who was 44 when convicted of raping a 13-year-old American child he plied with drugs and booze? She says it's

"because artists are allowed to make mistakes and have unconventional ideas . . . !"

in kearny, new jersey?

this article from the new york times is crazy...because i grew up in harrison, nj which is right next to kearny...and my older brother teaches in the kearny school system...i definitely have to ask him about this soon...

Student’s Recording of Teacher’s Views Leads to a Ban on Taping

After a public school teacher was recorded telling students they belonged in hell if they did not accept Jesus as their savior, the school board has banned taping in class without an instructor’s permission, and has added training for teachers on the legal requirements for separating church and state.

Controversy in Kearny A junior at Kearny High School in New Jersey, Matthew LaClair, 16, complained to his principal after the teacher in his American history class, David Paszkiewicz, told students that evolution and the Big Bang were not scientific, that dinosaurs were aboard Noah’s ark and that only Christians had a place in heaven. He started recording the comments in September because, he said, he was afraid school officials would not otherwise believe that the teacher had made them. Matthew said he was ridiculed and threatened after his criticism became public.

After several students complained to the school board that their voices had been broadcast on the Internet and on television news programs without their consent, the board adopted a policy in mid-January that requires students to request permission from an instructor to record or videotape a class.

“Adoption of this rule at this time sends all the wrong messages,” said Paul LaClair, Matthew’s father. “We were in negotiations and this is extremely ill-advised and disrespectful, if not bad faith.”

About the same time, the school board president, Bernadette McDonald, addressed a memo to the Kearny School District community that every teacher would receive mandatory instruction about how to interpret the Constitution’s separation of church and state and how it should apply to classroom discussions. Ms. McDonald also asked the school board to adopt a policy showing “its strong commitment to the principle that the personal religious beliefs of our instructional staff have no place in our classrooms.”

Kenneth J. Lindenfelser, the board’s lawyer, said classes were being planned to inform students of their constitutional rights, to encourage them to come forward with questions and to explain that people “who exercise their rights should not be viewed negatively.”

School officials said they took “corrective action” against Mr. Paszkiewicz, but would not elaborate.

Meanwhile, Matthew said that Mr. Paszkiewicz recently told the class that scientists who spoke about the danger of global warming were using tactics like those Hitler used, by repeating a lie often enough that people come to believe it.

Mr. Lindenfelser said that the district did not investigate the report of that comment, which he said was not religious or a violation of “any kind of law.”

yo butt ain't made for that!

this is from www.somethingawful.com

some pastor was typically preaching the negative side of getting boinked in your backside

"Forum goon Code DiMaggio started up a thread about a sound clip his friend had taken of a Pastor giving a sermon on, "Alternative Lifestyles" and his particular angle on the subject.

The clip went over pretty well in the forums, and another forum Goon, Midnight Bruiser enjoyed it so much he made a flash movie with it. And that's what we call a Goldmine!"

click here for the link to the video

check yo manhood!

isn't this ridickulous?...no not the picture...the article

Coach fired for 'check manhood' comment
Fri Feb 2, 5:12 PM ET



LEEDS, Maine - A high school coach who told his players at halftime to reach into their pants to "check their manhood" before returning to the basketball court was fired.

Mike Remillard was confronted after Leavitt Area High School Principal Patrick Hartnett learned that the coach told his players that the Jan. 23 game against Mount Ararat "was about who had the biggest (male genitalia) in town," Hartnett said in a statement.

"He then required his players to all stand up and put their hands down their pants and check their manhood," Hartnett said. All but one player followed the coach's instructions.

Hartnett's statement was read by School Administrative District 52 Superintendent Thomas J. Hanson during Thursday night's regularly scheduled school board meeting. The statement came a day after the coach was dismissed.

In the statement, Harnett said Remillard confirmed that the boys were asked to check their privates. Asked if that was an appropriate motivational tactic, the coach responded by saying "we won," Harnett said. But the tactic also got him fired.

Remillard, who cites Texas Tech basketball coach Bob Knight as his role model, told the Sun Journal newspaper that having his players "check their manhood" is "normal locker room banter from Fort Kent, Maine, to San Diego, California."

Nonetheless, he said he shouldn't have done it.

"Was that tactic appropriate? No. And I'm paying the price for it," he said. "I can pay that price because I accept my responsibility, and I'm being accountable."

But he denied responding "we won" when asked about the tactic. "What I told him was, the tactic worked," Remillard said. "We played like the young men that we were or could be. That's what I said. I never said, 'Well, we won.'"

chauncey treats - deeper

although i have a gig at a place i've never djed before and i'm preparing my set right now...i wanted to share some rare gems with you that aren't necessarily party poppers or poopers...just some nice tunes that remind me why i love music in the first place...

first...a stripped down 80's classic...an acoustic version of 'only the lonely' by the motels
the motels - only the lonely

secondly
a gorgeous different turn for the dave matthews band i believe from the matrix soundtrack or one of those movies called 'when the world ends' remixed by paul oakenfold...a different turn for him as well
dave matthews band - when the world ends (paul oakenfold remix)

third
a deliriously dark acoustic version of 'she bop' by cyndi lauper that totally changes the uptempo slap of the original to a brooding, passionate heartwrench of a ballad from her 'the body acoustic' album released last year...
cyndi lauper - she bop

and last but not least a song that rips my heart out every time i hear it by a relatively unknown artist named kenna...the song is called 'yeneh ababa' and the translation i'm not sure of although i take it it has something to do with a flower growing but most often music transcends language...take a listen
kenna - yeneh ababa (rose)

special guest appearance

i talk like i'm this superstar dj ehheeh "special guest appearance'...but i guess if you start thinking like something you become it...but i must admit i'm getting pretty nifty with photoshop aren't i?

give your love

flag from www.vanishingkingdoms.com


World Peace One
instead of World War Three
go to http://worldpeaceone.com.au/ for more info

EarthOne Productions, LLC will produce the World Peace One Concert Event theme song. The song provides a platform to produce multiple versions in a variety of music genres and languages. Revenues from the song will be donated to the non-profit, World Peace One, Inc., a 501©(3) based in Washington, DC.

Talented artists Anna Williams, Craig Williams and Gavin Christopher, have donated royalties from the song to World Peace One, Inc.

Gavin Christopher has worked with Curtis Mayfield, Herbie Hancock, and penned the classic "Stars in Your Eyes." Craig Williams produced and composed national advertising campaigns for Verizon, Wall-Mart, and Coca-Cola.

The "World Peace One" official them song, "Give Your Love" kicks-off an international media and marketing campaign that leads to the 11 August 2007 global media event.

"Give Your Love" will be performed by world-reknown recording artists and childrens choirs, in languages that reflect the voice of a unified 21st century world audience.

Reminiscent of 1985’s "We Are The World," "Give Your Love" will invite people everywhere to participate in a growing call to action that sustains a lasting global movement to help humanity achieve Peace in our lifetime.

"Give Your Love" will unite a global community that believes NOW is the time for people in every country to pursue real and lasting Peace.

The "World Peace One" official site reports:

Recording artists that will be invited to participate in the "World Peace One" Event include:

U2, Madonna, Pink Floyd, Carlos Santana, Yes, Shakira, the Rolling Stones, Earth Wind & Fire, Paul McCartney, Elton John, Sting, David Bowie, Lionel Ritchie, the Goo Goo Dolls, Aerosmith, Bruce Springsteen, The Who, Led Zeppelin, Tina Turner, The Eagles, Pearl Jam, Moby, Alanis Morissette, Phil Collins, Eminem, Wyclef Jean, Will Smith, Usher, Mary J. Blige, JZ, Beyonce, Pink, Peter Gabriel, Eric Clapton, Alicia Keys, Lenny Kravitz, Janet Jackson, Baby Face, Greenday, Stevie Wonder, Chaka Khan, Patti Labelle, Aretha Franklin, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Justin Timberlake, Christina Aguilera, Celine Dion, Mariah Carey, Britney Spears, Bon Jovi, Outkast, Sarah McLachlan, Enya, Paul Simon, The Dixie Chicks, Willie Nelson, Brad Paisley, Garth Brooks, Rascal Flatts, Tricia Yearwood, Keith Urban, Shania Twain, Martina McBride, Faith Hill, Tim McGraw, Ricky Martin, Mark Antony, David Bisbal, Juanes, Luis Miguel, Olga Tanon, Alejandro Sanz, Gilberto Gil, Ivan Lins, Barbra Streisand, Bette Midler, Tony Bennett, Andrea Bocelli, Josh Groban, Autograph, Jane Zhang, David Lee, Prince Ali; and regional talent popular in many parts of the world

quiereme otra vez

a fellow madonnanation forum member, karbatal, posted a link to this fantastic video from 2003 with amazing american imagery and a great take on the controversy surrounding madonna pulling the american life video back then. i'm waiting to figure out what the song is about but it's by a band called obk and they definitely have me interested in some of their other work....check it out...when i get the translation i will post it for you...

madonna licious

when i'm just looking for news and nothing but the news about my queen madonna i usually go to www.madonnalicous.com...it's a great site for getting some up to date facts and rumours and rumacts or famours (just made that up ehhe). I just found two really interesting things...
here's the japanese promo stand for the new madonna dvd and cd 'the confessions tour live' and i think it's so awesome...if only the cd and dvd came in a disco ball as a limited edition like this and it opens like the deliriously brilliant tour opener.

also some interesting news...aside from the whole h&m campaign launching her new line of clothing for the company, 'm by madonna' she just finished filming a commercial for a tokyo highrise apartment building...the girl doesn't stop for a minute does she? Here's the story courtesy of, yes you guessed it, madonnalicious
Madonna films commercial for Ariake
Posted: 01 February 2007 - From Madonna.com

Brilla Mare Ariake is bringing his exquisite new high rise to the Tokyo bay front and has asked Madonna to star in the advertising campaign!
The commercial, which was directed by Madonna's friend and frequent photographer Steven Klein, was filmed last week in London.
Keep checking Madonna.com for more information about the commercial. To get more information on Ariake, click here!

what a crock of shit

collusion [kuh-loo-zhuhn] - noun

1.	a secret agreement, esp. for fraudulent or treacherous purposes; conspiracy: Some of his employees were acting in collusion to rob him.

2.	Law. a secret understanding between two or more persons to gain something illegally, to defraud another of his or her rights, or to appear as adversaries though in agreement: collusion of husband and wife to obtain a divorce.

Mary Cheney: Pregnancy Not Political
by The Associated Press

Posted: February 1, 2007 - 2:00 pm ET

(New York City) The decision to become pregnant and raise a child with her female partner was not political, Mary Cheney, a daughter of Vice President Dick Cheney, told a Barnard College audience.

"This is a baby," Cheney said Wednesday at a forum sponsored by Glamour magazine. "This is a blessing from God. It is not a political statement. It is not a prop to be used in a debate by people on either side of an issue. It is my child."

Cheney, 37, announced in December that she and her partner of 15 years, Heather Poe, were starting a family. She did not say how the child was conceived. The baby is due in the spring and will be the vice president's sixth grandchild.

Dick Cheney became testy last week when CNN's Wolf Blitzer asked him what he thought of conservatives who are critical of his daughter's pregnancy. Cheney told Blitzer he was "over the line."

In a brief interview with The New York Times after Wednesday's panel, Mary Cheney said she agreed that Blitzer had crossed a line. "He was trying to get a rise out of my father," she said.

Glamour editor Cindi Leive asked Cheney during the panel discussion if she had anything to say to conservatives such as James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, who have criticized her pregnancy, asserting that children should be raised by heterosexual married couples.

She responded, "Every piece of remotely responsible research that has been done in the last 20 years on this issue has shown there is no difference between children who are raised by same-sex parents and children who are raised by opposite-sex parents. What matters is that children are being raised in a stable, loving environment."

Cheney was an aide to her father during the 2004 campaign and now is vice president for consumer advocacy at AOL.

She is the author of "Now It's My Turn: a Daughter's Chronicle of Political Life," published last year.

©365Gay.com 2007

gender trouble

madonna and gender trouble

By Reena Mistry


With her constant image changes, parodies of blonde bombshells such as Marilyn Monroe, her assertion of female power and sexuality, and her appropriation from gay/queer culture, the popular music icon Madonna can be seen as the virtual embodiment of Judith Butler's arguments in Gender Trouble (1990, 1999). In this postmodern feminist text, which is credited with introducing 'queer theory' to the world, Butler critiques identity-based politics as the method for female emancipation, claiming that presenting 'women' as a coherent group performs 'an unwitting regulation and reification of [binary] gender relations' (1999:9). She exposes and derationalizes the social power systems that construct the norms regarding the 'natural' gender identities of men and women, the 'logic' of heterosexuality, and the idea of a pre-discursive core gender identity, through which women are subordinated, and homosexuals, cross-dressers, and those others who are located beyond the 'imaginable domain of gender', are marginalised (ibid:13). Butler suggests that 'subversive' identities demonstrating the constructedness of sex-gender-desire continuity will work to destroy its normative status, thus allowing all 'cultural configurations of sex and gender [to] proliferate' and become intelligible (i.e. not deviant) (ibid:190). In that Madonna parodies traditional female stereotypes and adopts at her will identities that 'contradict' herself as a heterosexual female, Butler's idea of the ability for a 'variable construction of identity' (ibid:9) beyond traditional binary constructions is exposed. Further therefore, people are not restricted to (in addition to 'traditional' gender identities) the empowered female, gay and lesbian; in true queer theory style, 'one could participate in a range of identities - such as the lesbian heterosexual, a heterosexual lesbian, a male lesbian, a female gay man, or even a feminist sex-radical' (Schwichtenberg 1993:141). Indeed, Madonna has demonstrated such fluidity and ambiguity through her sexual political work - notably in the music videos for Vogue, Erotica and Justify My Love, her film Truth or Dare: In Bed With Madonna, and her book Sex.

The strong connection between Madonna and Gender Trouble is not one that has gone unnoticed; a number of writers on popular culture, queer politics and feminism have given it much consideration (see for example Kaplan 1993, Schwichtenberg 1993 and Skeggs 1993). Within such discussions - and others in 'Madonna Studies' - however, there is evidence suggestive of a limit on the extent to which Madonna can be seen to epitomise Butler's arguments. Moreover, she can be seen to contradict the aim of subversive politics, despite her public support of gay rights, her AIDS charity work and her 'flirtations' with lesbianism (Robertson 1996:119). Hence critics have started to ask: "Is Madonna a glamorized fuckdoll or the queen of parodic critique?" (ibid:118).

The ways in which Madonna can be seen to contradict the political recommendations of Gender Trouble are complex and stem from a number of critical perspectives - hence a detailed understanding of Butler's work as the next step is essential. (In part, however, the detailed description of Butler's arguments that follows is necessary also to demonstrate the extent to which Madonna embodies these arguments, which led the two to be connected in the first place. Thus, one of the aims of this essay is to determine how much Madonna contradicts Gender Trouble in relation to the extent to which she embodies it. Perhaps this will enable us to decide whether we can hold up Madonna as a political icon, a queer ambassador as it were, or whether she should be resigned to a passing (flawed) example of the variable construction of identity).

Butler opens Gender Trouble with a description of the established gender ontology in which the duality of sex (i.e. male-female) forms the basis of gender identity (masculine-feminine). This ontology carries with it the 'invocation of a nonhistorical "before"' (1999:5), hence the idea that the duality of sex, and the gendered characteristics that are said to mirror sex, are contrived is not entertained. Butler continues that the unity of sex and gender in the binary system is maintained by its oppositional nature. Society sets up 'the experience of a gendered psychic disposition or cultural identity [as] an achievement'. Hence 'one is one's gender to the extent that one is not the other gender' (ibid:29-30). Following this, the unity of sex and gender (the male's masculinity and the female's femininity) are seen to necessitate heterosexual desire - male and female desire 'therefore differentiates itself through an oppositional relation to that other gender it desires' (ibid:30). A causal relationship is established, therefore, between sex, gender and desire. As a result, anything that falls outside these gender configurations is seen as pathological, hence the marginalization of the 'assertive female,' the 'effeminate man,' the 'lipstick lesbian,' and the 'macho gay' (Sawicki 1994:301). As assertiveness, [ef]feminacy, lipstick and machismo are all allocated as various heterosexual constructs which are therefore seen to be appropriated in homosexual/queer contexts, the assertive female et al are seen merely as 'chimerical representations of originally heterosexual identities' (Butler 1999:41). Thus the original gender ontology is reified and rationalized.

for the full essay click here