Oscar results 1

I was present to hear the nominees of the major Academy awards races this morning and I was thrilled and pleasantly surprised overall. I'll break down the surprises and which percentage I got right later, after I consult with the math wiz. I enjoy the Academy awards and all of the predictions are posted here on my blog so you can see for yourself who I picked and who I didn't. I'll also discuss the one race that I'm most focused on. paul

Vacation 1

I'm sitting here in 66 degree weather in shorts and sandals in Melbourne, FL, visiting Jim's family. Everyone else is bundled up in their coats, pants, and scarves and Jim and I are laughing at them. Jim's family are good people and we are down here to visit them and celebrate my "special" day; the day in which I was popped out into this world. The last time I was here for my birthday I turned 30. On the plane ride down we were able to get upgraded to business class. We had a drink before the other people were even done boarding. We did have to finish the drink before the plane took off; not a problem considering what a lush I am (it's the Scottish in me). For snacks we had pretzels, chips, and whale crackers to choose from. Whale crackers are just like those cheese goldfish only shaped like whales and Jim is convinced that the whales have the male anatomy on them. Tomorrow we will have dinner with Jim's sister and her boyfriend. She would probably be chagrined to hear it put that way but hey I'm just the writer. More later, paul

weekly post-January 28, 2006

Another week is behind us and the weather continues to be unpredictable. The week started a bit chilly (teens and 20's) and by the end of the week it was in the 40's and 50's; and it's January. This time last year we were in an extreme cold snap and I remember our pipes froze because it was so cold. It just goes to show you that Mother Nature does what she wants. It's one thing that we have no say over. Which brings me to......

"I'm taking back control of my life," "I'm in total control," "I'm going to control the world." We've undoubtedly heard some of these statements either in real life or in the movies. Control is something we humans talk a lot about. We claim to have control and if we don't have it we do whatever we can to get it. The irony of it is that none of us can ever achieve control, at least not total control. There are many things in our lives that we can control: Our tempers, our treatment of others, how we spend our time each day. We can control how fast we are going on the slippery and snowy road. However, we cannot control how fast the driver who is passing us on the left is going. We can't, no matter how hard we try, control what other people are going to do. We can control how we react to what people do, how we move on with our lives, how we make our lives better. One can never know what anyone else will do and that's what makes control so elusive. The best we can do is give our best and lead good lives and exert control over the things we know are controllable.

Installing of the Deacons

Here are some pics from the deacon installation at our church this past Sunday. 6 new deacons were installed and a 7th one will be installed later in the Spring. She is currently enjoying the warm weather in Florida. This first pic is of the deacon stoles which were placed on each deacon as they were installed.

Enjoy.

....And Cut

Here are my picks for who will get an Oscar nod for Best Director

Fernando Meirelles-The Constant Gardener
Paul Haggis-Crash
Woody Allen-Match Point
Ang Lee-Brokeback Mountain
Ron Howard-Cinderella Man

I am taking a chance on Howard (and Haggis) and if Howard doesn't make it in then it should be Clooney for Good Night, and Good Luck. Also Spielberg could sneak in for Munich

The Queen of the Ball

Here are my pics for the Best Picture noms

The Constant Gardener
Good Night, And Good Luck
Brokeback Mountain
Walk The Line
Cinderella Man

A History Of Violence (though it was truly too violent) and Match Point (although I think a better directing choice) could sneak in.

Accolades for the actors

The Best Actor race in this year's Oscar race is by far the most congested race; there are going to be several actors who have been lauded who don't get a nom. That just makes it more difficult for me. I'll give it a go. Here's who I think will get a nod for a nom.

Heath Ledger-Brokeback Mountain
Joaquin Phoenix-Walk The Line
Philip Seymour Hoffman-Capote
Terrence Howard-Hustle & Flow
Russell Crowe-Cinderella Man

I could be wrong on Crowe in which case I'll predict Ralph Fiennes will slip in for a nod in The Constant Gardener. Actually I'm hoping that happens anyway. The one actor I don't have on here that will probably end up on here is David Strathairn for Good Night, and Good Luck and that's if Crowe is left off.

Ladies....... The Best Actress race is once again slim this year. Why can't women get good roles? They can, they are just few and far between. Here are my picks for who will get nominated in the fair sex category.

Reese Witherspoon-Walk The Line
Keira Knightley-Pride & Prejudice
Charlize Theron-North Country
Judi Dench-Mrs. Henderson Presents
Felicity Huffman-Transamerica

Charlize and Judi are kind of crap shoots and Laura Linney from The Squid and The Whale could sneak in as could Joan Allen from The Upside Of Anger; she's more of a gamble than Linney.

Drama Queen strikes again

Saddam Hussein's antics make me seem mild. He was ejected from the courtroom again as he had another outburst. What a total queen. He should have been a gay man; actually it's good that he's not. Anything to prolong his trial.

20 years

Today marks 20 years since the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger. I remember I was in 6th grade math and our math teacher, who I am convinced was a lesbian (she was just so butch), was beckoned by another teacher to come out into the hallway and left the room for a few minutes. When she came back in she had a graver than usual look on her face and proceeded to tell the class that the space shuttle had just blown up. Unfortunately, it didn't call for school to get out early but it was quite shocking and still, to this day, holds sad memories for many people.

paul

Amazing America

Travelin' through Trans: Transamerica tells the story of transgendered male-to-female Bree Osborne is all set for her sexual reassignment operation in LA. Unfortunately, life has other plans for her. She finds out that she has a 17-year old son, Toby, the product of a relationship with a woman when Bree was Stanley. Bree decides to pretend she's a missionary and picks Toby up and the two drive to LA. What Bree soon realizes is that she is the only friend Toby has and with his mother dead he doesn't have anyone who will give him a loving and stable home. The two become close while travelling and while Bree struggles with her new identity and the impending surgery, she now must deal with the fact that her 17-year old son is an emotional mess. Eventually Toby does find out who Bree really is and that his father is soon to be gone forever and the two of them must deal with that hurt and pain. Kevin Zegers (of the Air Bud movies fame) gives a gritty performance as Toby and even if there weren't Oscar talk for Felicity Huffman, watching her performance is like watching a neon sign flashing Oscar, Oscar. She gives a funny, touching performance as a woman playing a man who is soon to become a woman. Yes, I know, Julie Andrews did that performance in Victor/Victoria, however, this is a movie about a transgendered woman dealing with the fact she is lost just like the young kid riding with her. The film was actually filmed in 2004 between the shooting of the pilot of Desperate Housewives and the start of the first season of the show. The film has a number of funny scenes but none of them ever cross the line to derision or make Bree a joke. Huffman handles the role adroitly and even without the makeup and the large ears, the voice and acting is all Huffman. I've known that she was very talented since I saw her on Sports Night (the short lived ABC show from the 90's). With Transamerica she hits it out of the park and scores! We went to see this film as a church group and we had 17 people show up; that's a record. Just about everyone was agreed that the film was terrific, heartwarming, well acted and not overly sentimental or depressing.

this and that

A couple of weeks ago Simon Cowell, of American Idol fame, was accused of being homophobic when he told a contestant, who was mistakenly labeled transgender, that he should wear a dress. The comments Simon Cowell made were not homophobic; rude, yes, homophobic no. Let's face it, Simon is going to say whatever he wants to say. The contestant in question came into the audition room walking like a girl, talking like a girl and singing like a girl. At first I even thought that the guy was wearing a woman's wig, but he wasn't. His hair was certainly fashioned to make him look like a girl. I think he should have worn a dress, maybe he would have passed the audition.

Game, Set, Match: It's Room At The Top meets Fatal Attraction in Woody Allen's new film, Match Point, which tells the story of a former tennis pro who becomes engaged, and eventually married, to the woman of a wealthy businessman. It has a very talented cast, is sharply written, and very well directed. The story has been done before: man meets woman, gets engaged, meets best friend's woman, falls in love, gets married to the first woman and starts having an affair with best friend's woman. Woody Allen takes the action out of NY (YES!!!!) and into London where the playboy du jour is played by none other than Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, fresh off his Golden Globe win for portraying Elvis. Rhys-Meyers has a good deal of talent and it serves him well here with his pouty good looks and smooth operator charm. The woman he falls in love with and has an affair with is Scarlett Johansson, herself blessed with pouty good looks and charm. Rhys-Meyers plays Chris who marries Chloe, played by Emily Mortimer. Chloe's parents love Chris and are determined to do anything to help him out. Johansson plays Nola whom Chris starts having an affair with then when her own engagement to Chris's friend goes kaput, she leaves and the affair dies. As fate would have it, however, Chris runs into Nola again after some time has passed and the affair resumes. The consequences are shocking and a bit unbelievable. I thought Woody Allen did a great job directing and it is arguably his best film since Manhattan Murder Mystery. Rhys-Meyers and Johansson are talented and do well in the film, however, I thought Johansson's transition from cool sudectress to needy mistress was too drastic and I didn't buy the ending, much less like it. The film is based on the premise that much of life depends on luck, whether good or bad, and sometimes the ball (the tennis reference) goes over the net after hitting it and sometimes it falls backwards. I thought the main character had too much good luck.

A pic of a full moon taken from our house between 3:30 and 4:30 in the morning. I was so impressed by the eerieness of the moon and the bare trees (which you can't see) that were standing in front of the moon.

A pic of Casper, our 1 year old. He looks so sweet and unassuming, however, he is a terror.

A picture of our 2-year old cat, Perry, caught while he was cleaning himself. He stopped long enough to give me a, "Hurry up, I'm bored and want to get back to what I was doing," look.

Oh Oscar

The supporting categories at the Oscars are usually two of the most difficult categories to predict; especially Supporting Actress. The winner is almost always not the logical choice. However, I'm going to attempt to predict who will get a nod on Jan. 31.

Supporting Actor

Paul Giamatti-Cinderella Man
George Clooney-Syriana
Bob Hoskins-Mrs. Henderson Presents
Matt Dillon-Crash
Jake Gyllenhaal-Brokeback Mountain

Gyllenhaal could be shut out of this race in which case I'll predict Donald Sutherland for Pride & Prejudice will join the team. I do have to say it would be great if Peter Sarsgaard were nominated for his turn as a trigger-happy marine in Jarhead

Supporting Actress

Michelle Williams-Brokeback Mountain
Rachel Weisz-The Constant Gardener
Catherine Keener-Capote
Frances McDormand-North Country
Amy Adams-Junebug

Taraji P. Henson should be considered as well for her turn as the chief whore in Hustle & Flow, however, I'm guessing she may be shut out because she'll be eclipsed by the other performances.

The violent Palestinian group Hamas swept the Palestinian parliamentary elections. They took 76 out of 132 seats beating Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction. What this means exactly for the future remains to be seen but historically the group Hamas is not a peaceful group.

Sick of the Sin

The Book Of Daniel has been dropped from NBC's schedule and I'm pissed. I'm so tired of these so called Christians telling me what I should watch, listen to, how I should live my life. If they don't want to see something on the tv then change the channel or better yet turn the tv off. Damnit!!!! The Book Of Daniel wasn't groundbreaking yet it was entertaining and I enjoyed it. It's even sadder that executives pander to people who give a bad name to Christianity and religion. Ugh!!!!!

Well Written

With only 6 days left until the nominations for the 2005 Oscar race are announced, I'm going to start putting down my predictions of who will get nominated. It is the 2005 race because it reflects the films from 2005.

The five nominees of Adapted Screenplay which just means that the material comes from a previously published source; memoir, book, stage play, etc...

Brokeback Mountain-Larry McMurtry & Diana Ossana
Munich-Tony Kushner & Eric Roth
Walk The Line-James Mangold & Gill Dennis
The Constant Gardener-Jeffrey Caine
Capote-Dan Futterman

In the Original Screenplay category, the one in which freshness is celebrated, my picks are as follows.

Crash-Paul Haggis & Bobby Moresco
The Squid and The Whale-Noah Baumbach
Good Night, and Good Luck-George Clooney & Grant Heslov
40 Year-Old Virgin-Steve Carell & Judd Apatow
Match Point-Woody Allen

Comedy from Carlin

Some humor for the afternoon.

NEW RULES for 2006 (George Carlin)

New Rule: Stop giving me that pop-up ad for classmates.com! There's a reason you don't talk to people for 25 years. Because you don't particularly like them! Besides, I already know what the captain of the football team is doing these days: mowing my lawn.

New Rule: Don't eat anything that's served to you out a window unless you're a seagull. People are acting all shocked that a human finger was found in a bowl of Wendy's chili. Hey, it cost less than a dollar. What did you expect it to contain? Trout?

New Rule: Stop saying that teenage boys who have sex with their hot, blonde teachers are permanently damaged. I have a better description for these kids: lucky bastards.

New Rule: If you need to shave and you still collect baseball cards, you're a dope. If you're a kid, the cards are keepsakes of your idols. If you're a grown man, they're pictures of men.

New Rule: Ladies, leave your eyebrows alone. Here's how much men care About your eyebrows: do you have two of them? Okay, we're done.

New Rule: There's no such thing as flavored water. There's a whole aisle of this crap at the supermarket, water, but without that watery taste. Sorry, but flavored water is called a soft drink. You want flavored water? Pour some scotch over ice and let it melt. That's your flavored water.

New Rule: Stop f***ing with old people. Target is introducing a redesigned pill bottle that's square, with a bigger label. And the top is now the bottom. And by the time grandpa figures out how to open it, his ass will be in the morgue. Congratulations, Target, you just solved the Social Security crisis.

New Rule: The more complicated the Starbucks order, the bigger the ass hole. If you walk into a Starbucks and order a "decaf grande half-soy, half-low fat, iced vanilla, double-shot, gingerbread cappuccino, extra dry,light ice, with one Sweet-n'-Low and one NutraSweet," ooh, you're a huge ass hole.

New Rule: I'm not the cashier! By the time I look up from sliding my card, entering my PIN number, pressing "Enter," verifying the amount, deciding, no, I don't want cash back, and pressing "Enter" again, the kid who is supposed to be ringing me up is standing there eating my Almond Joy.

New Rule: Just because your tattoo has Chinese characters in it doesn't make you spiritual. It's right above the crack of your ass. And it translates to "beef with broccoli." The last time you did anything spiritual, you were praying to God you weren't pregnant. You're not spiritual. You're just high.

New Rule: Competitive eating isn't a sport. It's one of the seven deadly sins. ESPN recently televised the US Open of Competitive Eating, because watching those athletes at the poker table was just too damned exciting. What's next, competitive farting? Oh wait. They're already doing that. It's called "The Howard Stern Show."

New Rule: I don't need a bigger mega M&M. If I'm extra hungry for M&Ms, I'll go nuts and eat two.

New Rule: If you're going to insist on making movies based oncrappy, old television shows, then you have to give everyone in the Cineplex a remote so we can see what's playing on the other screens. Let's remember the reason something was a television show in the first place is that the idea wasn't good enough to be a movie.

New Rule: No more gift registries. You know, it used to be just for weddings. Now it's for babies and new homes and graduations from rehab. Picking out the stuff you want and having other people buy it for you isn't gift giving, it's the white people's version of looting.

New Rule: and this one is long overdue: No more bathroom attendants. After I zip up, some guy is offering me a towel and a mint like I just had sex with George Michael. I can't even tell if he's supposed to be there, or just some freak with a fetish. I don't want to be on your webcam, dude. I justwant to wash my hands.

New Rule: When I ask how old your toddler is, I don't need to know in months. "27 Months." "He's two," will do just fine. He's not a cheese. AndI didn't really care in the first place.

more cowboy stuff

Thank you to my friend Chris(sy) S. for this. As if we haven't heard enough about cowboys what with Brokeback Mountain edging to the front in the Oscar race.

Top Ten Signs You're A Gay Cowboy

10. Your saddle is Versace

9. Instead of 'Home On The Range', you sing 'It's Raining Men'

8. You enjoy ridin', ropin', and redecoratin'

7. Sold your livestock to buy tickets to 'Mamma Mia'

6. After watching reruns of 'Gunsmoke', you have to take a cold shower

5. Native Americans refer to you as 'Dances With Men'

4. You've been lassoed more times than most steers

3. You're wearing chaps, yet your 'ranch' is in Chelsea

2. Instead of a saloon you prefer a salon

1. You love riding, but you don't have a horse

A sign that fell on Interstate 805 in San Diego, California; it fell on top of Marcelino Favela's car. A truck whose cargo load was too tall knocked the sign down. When it fell on Favela's car, a beam went through the windshield; luckily he wasn't hurt. It happened on Monday.

A sitting Buddha ice sculpture on display at the Grand Ice and Snow World in North China. That's one big hunk of ice.

There's a survey out of the 50 Cleanest Cities In America as compiled by Reader's Digest. A score of 50 is a perfect score. The cities with the cleanest drinking water are Las Vegas, Denver, Salt Lake City, Portland, Buffalo, and Columbus. The cities in California with the cleanest water are San Diego, San Jose, San Francisco, Sacramento, and Riverside. I'm not upset that Rochester didn't make it because I never drink tap water. We always by bottled water which could just be tap water in a bottle but it tastes good. 30% of bottled water comes from municipal sources.

Happy drinking,

paul

post of 1/20/06

Another week is behind us and the weekend is in full swing. I have to admit the cats we recently purchased (I promise I'll have pics on my blog soon) have grown on me. I've always felt about animals the way a lot of people feel about children; I like them as long as they belong to someone else. Our cats, Casper and Perry, are quite funny and like to climb, frolic, torture the dog, and run around the house as fast as they can. The last one is especially annoying when we are trying to sleep.

I broke down and started watching a show I've always been interested in watching but never could because too many other shows had to be taped; shows that were more must see than AI. The show I've started watching now is American Idol. I know, I know, why am I watching that? If people are willing to voluntarily go on TV and make a fool of themselves then I'm willing to voluntarily sit down and cringe at how bad they are. That's a flippant answer but I think it is a relevant and entertaining show and there is something more at play than just watching people sing. Half of the entertainment for me is hearing Simon Cowell's comments. And I now know why Paula Abdul is so picked on; she can't make a firm decision. Here's a sample conversation between Simon and Paula: Simon: "That was atrocious. Paula, yes or no?" Paula: "I don't think your voice is quite up to the challenge but...." Simon: "Paula, is it yes or no?" Paula: "I really like your self-confidence yet....." Simon: "PAULA, YES OR NO!!!" Ok, that may have been a bit dramatic but she is sometimes so wishy-washy. I understand her not wanting to hurt peoples' feelings, however, it's a talent contest and many people are going to get their feelings hurt one way or the other, no matter how one looks at it. I think that's important for us to remember as we look at our culture and how we give and receive praise; I take it with a grain of salt. Many people give false praise or aren't honest with someone who doesn't hold a certain talent; that's hurtful to the other person, not for what's said but for what is not said. I'm not saying we should tear people to bits and cause their self-esteem to plummet forever, however, we should be mindful of the praise we give and also that we take in. It's all too easy to let something go to our heads and then one day....BOOM! Someone like Simon Cowell tells us the truth and it's such a shock. Yes, Simon Cowell is harsh and has lots of catty comments and he gives new meaning to the term brutally honest yet, despite that, he is very business savvy and truly knows talent when he hears it. I think as people we should never stop striving to improve and better ourselves in many different areas. Constructive criticism is good (and always find something positive) and false praise is not good. It's important to realize where our talents lie. For example. I have no clue how to play football but get me on a volleyball or badminton court and my juices begin fiercely flowing forth. Ask me a technical question and my face goes blank but ask me to proofread something and I'm your guy. I'm not one who can rattle off stock prices or recite scripture by heart but ask me who won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar in 1936 and I'll tell you. Each one of us has talents and gifts, it's a matter of realizing which talents and gifts we have and constantly honing them.

Continue to pray for each other as I pray for each of you. The power of prayer does work. Last week Jim found out that his PSA level had gone down once again; the new number was 0.07. That's amazing considering that only three months ago the number was 22. Last Friday Jim had a 4-month shot, which has not yielded any major side effects. The plan now is for Jim to discontinue the drug until his PSA level rises again; if it does in fact rise again. Thank you for your continued prayers. And as always, stay safe, stay healthy, and stay happy.

1/21/2006

We had our monthly Artsy-Fartsy film today; every third Saturday another woman and I from church coordinate a film group in which we get together with people who enjoy small, independent films. We saw the film Brokeback Mountain and there were 14 of us and not a dry eye in the house, except for mine. One guy from church was on my left, Jim was on my right and they both started blubbering; I am exaggerating a bit. The audience seemed nicely mixed and there were a number of young females; ages 16-25 and they were all weepy. It's really interesting hearing and seeing the reactions people have had from this film. I still think it stands a good chance of winning Best Pic at the Oscars.

In other news, the Northern bottlenose whale that swam into the Thames on Friday died while being rescued. It died while being ferried on a salvage barge; the whale had convulsions. The whale had not been eating, was dehydrated and the fact that it had been out of the water would have shriveled its organs. Approximately 3,000 people from South London watched the whale being rescued onto the barge at Albert Bridge.

Doing Darwin

Thank you to Pam from Florida for these. These are macabre, however, it proves that people just don't think. Try to enjoy.

Granted each year to those individuals who improve the gene pool byKilling themselves in outlandishly stupid ways. Note that the examplesBelow could be interpreted differently by adherents of evolution or"intelligent design." The winner is the last one...

* IN Detroit, a 41-year-old man got stuck and drowned in two feet of water after squeezing head first through an 18-inch- wide sewer grate to retrieve his car keys.

* A 49-year-old San Francisco stockbroker, who "totally zoned when he ran,"--accidentally jogged off a 100-foot-high cliff on his daily run.

* Buxton, NC: A man died on a beach when an 8-foot-deep hole he had dug into the sand caved in as he sat inside it. Beach-goers said Daniel Jones, 21, dug the hole for fun, or protection from the wind, and had been sitting in a beach chair at the bottom Thursday afternoon when it collapsed, burying him beneath 5 feet of sand. People on the beach on the outer banks, used their hands and shovels, trying to claw their way to Jones, a resident of Woodbridge, VA, but could not reach him. It took rescue workers using heavy equipment almost an hour to free him while about 200 people looked on. Jones was pronounced dead at a hospital.

* Santiago Alvarado, 24, was killed in Lompoc, CA, as he fell face-first through the ceiling of a bicycle shop he was burglarizing. Death was caused when the long flashlight he had placed in his mouth (to keep hisHands free) rammed into the base of his skull as he hit the floor.

* Sylvester Briddell, Jr., 26, was killed in Selbyville, Del, as he won a bet with friends who said he wouldn't put a revolver loaded with four bullets into his mouth and pull the trigger.

HONORABLE MENTION:

* Paul Stiller, 47, was hospitalized in Andover township, NJ, and his wife Bonnie was also injured, when a quarter-stick of dynamite blew up in their car. While driving around 2 AM, the bored couple lit thedynamite and tried to toss it out the window to see what would happen, but apparently failed to notice the window was closed.

RUNNER UP:

* TACOMA, WA: Kerry Bingham had been drinking with several friends when one of them said they knew a person who had bungee-jumped from the Tacoma Narrows Bridge in the middle of traffic. The conversation grew more heated and at least 10 men trooped along the walkway of the bridge at 4:30 AM. Upon arrival at the midpoint of the bridge they discovered that no one
had brought a bungee rope. Bingham, who had continued drinking, volunteered and pointed out that a coil of lineman's cable lay nearby. One end of the cable was secured around Bingham's leg and the other end was tied to the bridge. His fall lasted 40 feet before the cable tightened and tore his foot off at the ankle. He miraculously survived his fall into the icy river water and was rescued by two nearby fishermen."All I can say" said Bingham, "is that God was watching out for me onthat night. There's just no other explanation for it." Bingham's footWas never located.

AND THE WINNER

Overzealous zookeeper Friedrich Riesfeldt (Paderborn, Germany) fed his
constipated elephant Stefan 22 doses of animal laxative and more than a bushel of berries, figs, and prunes before the plugged-up pachyderm finally let it ful and suffocated the zookeeper under 200 pounds of poop! Investigators say the ill-fated Friedrich was attempting to give the ailing elephant an olive oil enemal when the relieved beast unloaded on him. The sheer force of the elephant's unexpected defacation knocked Mr. Riesfeldt to the ground, where he struck his head on a rock. He laid unconscious as the elephant continued to evacuate his bowels on top of Riesfeldt. With no one there to help him, he lay under all that dung for at least an hour before a watchman came along; during that time he suffocated. It seems to be one of those freak accidents that prove that "Shit happens."

Awwwwww!!!!!!

This picutre of Loki, a squirrel monkey, who cuddles with his toy duck is soooo precious. He can be found at the Taronga Zoo in Sydney, Australia. He was born 8 weeks ago and lost his mother shortly after he was born. Once he learns to regulate his body temp, he will be introduced to the other squirrel monkeys. I didn't even know there was such a thing as a squirrel monkey. I had heard of spider monkeys but not the squirrel variety.

Get a room!

These two pandas at the Chiang Mai zoo are caught in the act; the act of mating. Five-year-old Chuang Chuang and four-year old Lin Hui are mating for the first time. Talk about lack of privacy.

unlikely couple

Gohan is the hamster and Aochan is the snake. The two live at the Mutsugoro Okoku zoo in Tokyo. The snake refused to eat frozen mice so they put Gohan in with Aochan. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how you look at it, the two have become fast "friends." The two have shared a cage since January 14, 2006.

Going Gay

Another judge who deserves to be commended. Today Judge M. Brooke Murdock ruled that Maryland's 33-year old law against same-sex marriage violated the state constitution's guarantee of equal rights for all. She wrote, "Although tradition and societal values are important, they cannot be given so much weight that they alone will justify a discriminatory law." The ruling is expected to be overturned but it's just another small victory in the battle for the rights of GLBT people. Too many people think of them as special rights but they are not special rights, it's a recognition of love between two people of the same sex. It's always been said that love comes in all forms, so why not recognize the love between two women or two men.

Being Brady Boys

One of the most notorious news stories this past week was the arrest of the teenagers responsible for beating a homeless man to death and seriously injuring two others. This happened in Florida and surveillance cameras captured the horrific (that's for you my Jimmy) beating of a homeless man with baseball bats. The question to ask is not why but how? How does this happen. Well I'll tell you, it's free will. There's a great line in the film Munich (one of my favs from last year) in which a character says that free will will be the downfall of human civilization. I'm paraphrasing of course but the meaning is there. Think about it: We all have free will. We can do whatever we want, whenever we want. We have an astounding amount of freedom. Many of us choose to use free will wisely and live good lives, however, there are a number of us that take that will for granted and use it to hurt, abuse, put down, and shame others; it's really sad but it is a fact of reality. As long as there is free will there will be those who use it for evil.

Brokeback Brady: Get your Tivos ready: In April the tv show That 70's Show will feature the actors Christopher Knight and Barry Williams as two men in a gay relationship. Barry and Christopher who? They are most famous for their roles as Greg and Peter Brady, respectively, on the tv show The Brady Bunch. The word is that the two will play a gay couple who move in next door to Eric Forman's family, the character that was played by Topher Grace. They may even share a kiss. Supposedly one of them even wants to move and set up a sheep ranch. I don't know how true any of this is except that the two are definitely set to appear on the show. The episode has already been filmed.

The NJ Senate voted on January 5 to allow the surviving partner, in a domestic partnership, to have control of the inheritance and estate in the event there is no will. The surviving partner would also be given control of burial decisions in the event there are no other stipulations. Little by little it happens.

Meet Ziggy (named after David Bowie's alter ego, Ziggy Stardust) he's one bird you don't want to have an affair in front of. Ziggy, an African grey parrot, broke up the relationship of owner Chris Taylor and Suzy Collins. The couple, from Leeds, England, broke up after Ziggy started saying, "I love you, Gary," in Suzy's voice. Suzy met Gary at her job and started having an affair with him. It started out small: Collins's cell phone would ring and Ziggy would say, "Hiya, Gary." He would then make kissing noises whenever he heard the name Gary on the tv or radio. Then one night as Taylor and Collins snuggled and watched tv Ziggy went in for the kill. He did his best impersonation of Collins and blurted out, "I love you, Gary." Collins's reaction sealed the deal for Taylor and the two are history. Taylor has since given Ziggy away because the bird wouldn't stop saying Gary's name. No word on the outcome of the relationshiop between Collins and Gary. Who says birds are just a pile of feathers?

1/17/2006

It looks like this year Gay is in. Not only did the movies Transamerica and Capote win Golden Globe awards for their respective leads (Felicity Huffman, who actually plays a male-to-female transgender, and Phillip Seymour Hoffman who plays gay writer Truman Capote) but the film Brokeback Mountain won best dramatic film and Ang Lee won best director. Do you think Brokeback Mountain is the gayest film of all time? Think again. Below is an article written by Jeremiah Tucker of the Boston Globe. He traces 10 movies that are even gayer than that old mountain.

By Jeremiah TuckerTHE JOPLIN GLOBE (JOPLIN, Mo.)
I am excited to see “Brokeback Mountain.”
The critically acclaimed movie about the tortured love affair between two cowboys should arrive at my neighborhood theater soon, but I realize that many straight men fear a movie about gay men.
However, I am betting many have already watched far gayer movies than “Brokeback Mountain.”
The entire premise of World Wrestling Entertainment is tanned, oiled, muscular men wearing only Spandex underwear rubbing against each other and pretending to tussle.
There is also a rich cinematic history of unintentionally gay movies. In preparation to watch Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal’s romance blossom on screen, here are 10 movies gayer than “Brokeback Mountain” that you may have already sat through and enjoyed.
10. ‘Sidekicks’
This 1992 movie is about a sensitive teenager named Barry played by Jonathan Brandis who can’t stop fantasizing about Chuck Norris. Actual line delivered by Brandis while pining for Chuck Norris -- “Nobody likes me. Why would he?”
9. ‘Footloose’’
There is nothing gay about teaching your buddy to dance, but Kevin Bacon spending hours teaching a naive, muscular farm boy how to do intricately choreographed dance moves should raise a few eyebrows.
8. ‘Road House’
By no stretch of the imagination is “Road House” a chick flick, so why the long, languorous scenes with a shirtless, lubed-up Patrick Swayze practicing his karate? Not to mention Swayze’s curious May-December relationship with “mentor” Sam Elliott.
7. ‘Karate Kid’
Why are the Cobra Kais constantly hanging out together without girls? They play soccer together, ride motorcycles together, take the same karate class, dress like each other, go to dances together -—they even go to the bathroom together. Plus, their complete subservience to their alpha-male “sensei” is a bit creepy, and their aggression toward skinny pretty boy Daniel has a distinct hint of self-loathing — could their fists be masking feelings they’re not ready to admit?
6. The ‘Mad Max’ trilogy
The costume designers for figure skaters couldn’t have designed gayer outfits for the future. Throw in diva Tina Turner and you have three movies that set the mold for Mel Gibson’s orientation-bending “Lethal Weapon” series.
5. ‘Three Men and A Baby’
A movie about three wealthy, educated, good-looking “confirmed bachelors” in their mid-to-late 30s living in a modern, impeccably decorated loft and raising a baby together.
4. ‘Anything With Van Damme’
No man has ever loved doing the splits while wearing next-to-nothing more than Jean-Claude. Possibly his most notorious split is a scene early in “Timecop” where he leaps up to avoid being electrocuted and straddles two pieces of furniture, but then proceeds to bounce up and down, legs splayed, wearing tiny shorts. See also “Kickboxer.”
3. ‘Batman and Robin’
My whole life I defended Batman and Robin as a platonic relationship forged in a mutual dedication to crime fighting. Then Joel Schumacher takes over and suddenly Batman and Robin are dressed in fetishistic latex with Bat nipples and gigantic codpieces prancing around sets that Elton John would find too flamboyant.
2. ‘Rocky 3’
I’ve raced friends before. Sure, we weren’t wearing a mixture of Spandex and obscenely short shorts, but we foot raced. So I can understand how emotions can run high during competition. Even so, none of my races ended in an elated, slow motion embrace in the ocean, nor did my climactic race come after a bunch of oily training sessions with ripped men in dark gyms.
1. ‘Top Gun’
Iceman: “You can be my wingman any time!”
Maverick: “Bull---, you can be mine!”
The homoerotic subtext of “Top Gun” is well documented. Just watch “Sleep With Me” and listen to Quentin Tarantino’s humorous rant about the topic, but watching the movie makes it obvious. Numerous emotional scenes between men just out of the shower, the absurd volleyball match, the too-close bonds between men and Tom Cruise’s apathetic relationship with Kelly McGillis prove a movie can be both awesome and gay.

Jerremiah Tucker writes for The Joplin (Mo.) Globe.

m-m-movies

The Golden Globes are on Monday and while I don't usually watch the Globes I do like to see who won. The Globes are usually a good harbinger of who will win the golden boy. So far of the 47 main nominees (acting, picture and directing awards) there are still 10 performances/movies I have to see. Those are from the films Mrs. Henderson Presents, The Matador, Match Point, Transamerica and Pride & Prejudice. Mrs. Henderson, Matador, Match Point and Transamerica have yet to open in our area. As for Pride & Prejudice it comes out on video in February. The Globes separate drama and comedy so there's certain to be some Globe nominees that are left out when the Oscar noms are announced. I'm also hoping that Peter Sarsgaard will get a nom for either The Dying Gaul or Jarhead and Amy Adams should get a nom for Junebug. Here's hoping Oscar gets the finalists right.

Speaking of movies, my spouse and I just watched a very bizarre but very well directed absurd indie dark comedy. The Chumscrubbers is a film which was released last year and probably not heard of by many people. It's set in a picture perfect suburban utopia, much like Desperate Housewives, in which everything looks great on the outside but every family has something that is flawed. It all starts when Troy hangs himself. Troy is found by Dean, Troy's best friend, then Charile, Dean's brother, is kidnapped by Billy, Lee, and Crystal and will be returned when Dean gives them Troy's stash of drugs. The twist is that the Charlie that is kidnapped is not Dean's brother; he's the son of Terri who's getting married to Michael, the mayor. Terri is the ex-wife of Charlie's father, Lou, who is also a police officer. Meanwhile, Terri's wedding is being held on the same day as the memorial held for Troy. Terri is so wrapped up in preparations for the wedding that it takes her three days to realize her son is missing. It's well directed and well acted. It's billed as a dark comedy but there are very few comedy scenes. It's certainly dark and absurd and takes the miscommunication and disconnectedness of our society to extremes. The film does boast an impressive cast: Ralph Fiennes, Carrie-Anne Moss, Jamie Bell, Glenn Close, John Heard, Rita Wilson, Rory Culkin, Allison Janney, Lauren Holly, and William Fichtner. The standout female is Glenn Close who once again proves how versatile and talented she is; she plays Troy's mother. Jamie Bell (from Billy Elliott) is the standout male lead as he deals with the death of his best friend and has to rescue Charlie. For an indie film one could do a lot worse.

Fear: Founded or Frivolous?

Yesterday was Friday the 13th, a day that is believed to be bad luck and affects between 17 and 21 million people in the US. People refuse to fly, work, or even leave the house on the day that has become known as paraskevidekatriaphobia (fear of Friday the 13th). It all started with a myth (don't they all?) in which 12 Gods were having a dinner party at Valhalla (the mythical Norse heaven; apparantly even the Gods likes to socialize). The mischievous Loki then crashed the party (those damn uninvited guests) and had Hodi, the blind God of darkness, shoot Balder. Balder was beautiful and known as the God of joy and gladness (wait, I thought that was my spouse). Anyway, Balder died as a result of a mistletoe-tipped arrow and the whole Earth became dark, everyone mourned and wailed. From that moment on 13 was considered to be foreboding. A more well-known story is Jesus and the apostles at the Last Supper. Judas was supposedly the 13th guest and he ended up betraying Jesus. As for Friday, it's believed that Jesus was crucified on a Friday; it's also believed that Friday is the day Eve tempted Adam with the apple. In fact, according to Donald Dossey, a folklore historian, in his book Holiday Folklore, Phobias and Fun, more than 80 percent of high rises do not have a 13th floor, many airports don't have a gate numbered 13 and many times hotels and hospitals do not have a room numbered 13. As for me, I don't believe in all of that silly superstition but if someone else does then I'll respect that. I will be hoping for that black cat to cross my path though, as my mom always believed that was GOOD luck.

1/14/06

Horny homework: A health and physical ed high school teacher in Brooklyn, Ohio has been forced to drop an assignment he gave to his students. Scott Gioia gave a research assignment to his students; researching pornography on the web. The students would have also listed several facts about pornography and discuss any experiences they may have had with it. Needless to say, but I'll say it anyway, parents went hysterical and complained. The assignment was then canceled. I really think the teacher was well-intentioned, however, I think the 14 and 15 year old students are a bit too young for that kind of homework. That seems more suited for a college assignment.

Terror Trek: In Saudi Arabia a week long stoning ritual ended in tragedy. Each year pilgrims converge to pelt pillars called al-Jamarat. The pillars represent the devil and the pilgrims pelt the pillars over the course of a week in order to purge themselves of sins. The site of the ritual is Mina, outside of Mecca, and the location is basically a bottleneck. Not only that but pilgrims carry their belongings with them. This includes clothes, tents, food, baggage and they carry these items with them as they move through the different phases of the ritual. It sounds to me like some sort of a maze in which one wouldn't want to participate if one was claustrophobic. On Thursday, a stampede was caused as a result of baggage that was stumbled upon. The resulting pileup caused the death of more than 300 people. Each year more than 2 million pilgrims take place in the ritual. This isn't the first time the ritual has ended in death. Back in 1990 more than 1400 people were killed; in Feb of 2004 there were 244 deaths. Major Gen. Mansour al-Turki said that "This fate was destined by God. Some of the pilgrims were undisciplined and hasty to finish the ritual as soon as possible." No it wasn't! It was caused because someone stumbled over a suitcase that was in the way and someone else wasn't paying attention and stumbled over the first person and it was a chain reaction from their. Not only that the area is so tight that it's a wonder one can even breathe. Although I do have to admit that al-Turki's comment sounds like Pat Robertson's comment about Ariel Sharon's stroke. Every country has its share of ignorant statement makers.


Final Thought: As more fires burn in Oklahoma, a quake rocks New Zealand, tornadoes sweep through Alabama and Florida; one woman in Alabama was killed in her house when her chimney collapsed because of the wind and crushed her. Thirteen children were injured at a Florida school when part of the roof was torn off because of a storm. As you read this be thankful for each of your blessings and realize the fragility of life.

paul

paul's pics & pans

Hostel Hell: First of all, I'm not even sure why I went to see this movie; maybe it was to prove to myself that I don't care for Quentin Tarantino's "art." Tarantino is an executive producer of the film and it shows. Stop me if you've heard this one: In the movie Hostel three guys backpack across Europe to make it with hot, foreign women. Whatever!!!! If I'm backpacking through Europe the last thing I'm going to be thinking about is scoring with a sexy woman (ok, that was just common sense because I am gay after all, but my point is made). Filmed in Prague by the director of Cabin Fever (which I never saw), Paxton, Josh, and Oli are trekking across Eastern Europe and end up in a hostel in Slovakia where the women are hot and easy and they can get plenty of drugs. Instead of having the time of their lives, however, they end up losing them. The victims turn out to be worth more or less depending on their nationality. The hot and sexy women offer up the victims to a torture club in exchange for money; Americans net the most money (naturally). There are plenty of scenes of torture and lots of blood and gore. There is a payoff at the end but not before the main character is tortured to the max. We should all know by now that Tarantino is the baron of blood (Pulp Fiction; Kill Bill) and yet I can't seem to think of him as anything but gross and pretentious.

Hallelujah Holiday: The next film is not laugh out loud funny but it is fun and heartwarming. Queen Latifah's new film Last Holiday tells the story of Georgia Bird who learns she has only weeks to live and decides to really live for the rest of her days. Latifah plays a sales clerk at a department store who, after hitting her head, finds out she has a progressive disease and will die in three weeks. She then goes on a European vacation (yes, another movie filmed in Prague) and lives it up. She buys new clothes, eats everything on the menu and even gets to cook with her dream chef. Latifah is nicely cast in this role, as is her love interest which is none other than LL Cool J. Georgia realizes that it took a death sentence to realize she hasn't been enjoying life, taking chances, putting herself out there. Not surprisingly, a lot of the funny parts are seen in the trailer but the film is really an ode to today's hustle and bustle society; going through the motions day in and day out without stopping to take in the scenery. That's something that is all too common in today's world. The film's prevailing theme is that it's not about what job you do in your life but how you live it, the people you touch, how you present yourself. There are a number of times in the film where suspension of disbelief comes into play, however, it's fun watching Latifah and the film does have an important message. One other thing, make sure you're not hungry when you see this film as there are many appetizing dishes that are shown throughout the film.

Good Gaul: The final film is called The Dying Gaul which tells the story of a young, gay aspiring writer whose play is picked up by a well-to-do film executive. First of all, the word gaul in the title refers to a Greek statue of a soldier found in Pergamum, Turkey. The soldier was vanquished; died too young. How it relates to the film is explained by the gay character; the many gay men who have died too young, in essence been vanquished, is similar to the Greek soldier. To take it a step further, one who compromises their core values and beliefs are in essence vanquishing themselves. Now back to the plot. Campbell Scott's character wants to change the gay couple in Robert's play to a heterosexual couple saying that more people will see it if it is a man and a woman. He says this minutes after saying that his company is not afraid of producing anything. Campbell Scott plays Jeffrey, the very rich, very handsome and contradictory executive who is quite taken with Robert, deftly played by Peter Sarsgaard. Patricia Clarkson plays Elaine, the stay at home wife of Jeffrey. She spends her days watching her automatic shades go up and down and taking care of the couple's two kids. Meanwhile, Jeffrey and Robert start a hot and heavy affair while working on the screenplay of Robert's play. What Jeffrey and Robert don't know is that Elaine inadvertently finds out about the affair and what follows next is a major mind game with Robert. The internet comes into major play in this film and shows just how easy it is to become anyone/anything one wants to be with the stroke of a key. Craig Lucas, the director of the film, also wrote the play. I've no doubt that it would have been better to see this on stage; it would have been powerful and tense. A lot of that is lost in the translation to film. Don't get me wrong all three of the leads are great, however, the film is lacking in the suspense that must have been prevalent on stage. I think all three leads did an outstanding job in the film, especially Mr-I'm-usually creepilicious-Sarsgaard whose performance in this film is extremely nuanced and it's one of his most memorable roles. I didn't understand why the film kept showing Clarkson's character swimming in the pool; I thought that would figure into the plot somehow. Also the ending is an unsatisfying cheat and again was probably more effective on stage. Sadly, Sarsgaard was not nominated for a Golden Globe for this role, nor was he nominated for his role in Jarhead. Hopefully Oscar will notice him as he deserves some major recognition for this movie. Go to Gaul for the acting but don't expect to be sated.

X-Files Feline

This baby kitten, Cy, was born in Redmond, Oregon, on December 28, 2005. The kitten lived only one day; its sibling was born healthy. The kitten has no nose and one huge eye, hence the name Cy for Cyclopes. The kitten is a ragdoll breed, usually large and heavy and very docile. They enjoy being around people.

This photo is of Mas Sura, a giraffe at Malaysia's National Zoo, licking its baby. The calf (yes, that's what a baby giraffe is called) was born on Friday, December 30 and is the 11th African giraffe at the zoo.

shovelin' snow

In the Japanese town of Tsunan over 3 meters of snow piled up. It reminds me of that maze in The Shining in which Jack Nicholson chases after his son in the snow.

fast lane

A judge in Phoenix, Arizona, fined Candace Dickinson $367 because she used the carpool lane improperly. Back in November, Dickinson was stopped for being in the carpool lane and being the only passenger in the vehicle. However, when the officer asked Dickinson how many people were in the car, she pointed to her stomach and said two. Dickinson was counting her unborn fetus as a passenger and therefore using the carpool lane. They call it the passenger seat for a reason, that reason being that the passenger sits in the passenger seat. If there's no passenger in the seat then one shouldn't be using the carpool lane. Hello!!!!!!!

Daring Daniel

Think we live in a progressive and enlightened society, think again. A station manager in Little Rock, Arkansas has received death threats for airing the show The Book Of Daniel. My spouse and I watched the show last week and we both liked it. Does it break new ground? No. Is it predictable? Yes. Is it entertaining and full of promise? You bet! It's a friggin' tv show and people are threatening death to station managers. I sent in an email to our local NBC station applauding them for airing the show.

1/11/06: All about Brokeback

So, Gene Shalit made a comment on the Today show about how Jake Gyllenhaal's Brokeback Mountain character is a sexual predator and Heath Ledger's character is a victim. Then GLAAD (The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) demanded an apology from Shalit and called him homophobic. They may or may not have known that Shalit has an openly gay son, who is a member of GLAAD, and he's not happy with GLAAD over their comments about his dad. I guess if you don't like a gay character in a movie that automatically makes you homophobic and open to criticism from GLAAD. There's a wonderful letter that Peter Shalit, Gene's son, wrote and I've copied it below. It was featured in an email from Yahoo's Gay News group and the letter was written to GLAAD's entertainment media director, Damon Romine, and the president Neil Guiliano.

Dear Damon [Romine], and Neil [Guiliano],
Peter Shalit here—Gene Shalit's son. I have been a member-supporter of GLAAD for years. I assume you were not aware of that, but I am disappointed that you did not do a little background research on my dad, or try to contact me, or attempt to reach my dad through me, before issuing your press release this past week calling him homophobic because of his review of Brokeback Mountain. I did notice the "editor's note" which mentioned that he has a gay son, i.e. myself.
By way of background, I am a gay man, a physician, serving a mostly gay patient population in Seattle, and author of Living Well, the Gay Men's Essential Health Guide, which is a guide to gay health for gay men. I frequently comment to people that I can't imagine having another job that would immerse me in the gay community as much as the one I have. The gay community is my life.
I say this because it's important background for understanding that my dad has always been completely loving and supportive of me, my life, my partners, and my choices. He wrote a piece about me in 1997 for The Advocate (currently posted on their home page)—and agreed to have his picture on the cover of the magazine—because what the piece says is true about how he feels and how he has always acted.
I spoke with my dad yesterday about the issues with his review. He had no idea that his review of a movie, and his reaction to a particular character, would be seen as homophobia. Of course he is not homophobic. Actually the truth is the opposite. Agreed, he didn't particularly seem to like Brokeback Mountain, and he found the character of Jack unsympathetic. But his negative response to a particular character is not "defamation" and had nothing to do with the sexual orientation of the character. The interpretation-generalization of this as "homophobic" is unfortunate and incorrect. It is precisely because my Dad is not homophobic that he felt free to criticize the move as he saw it, and not anticipate that he would be accused of homophobia for doing so.
(Incidentally, I loved the movie—and it sure isn't the first time I have disagreed with my dad about one of his reviews. I was sorry he didn't like it, but hey, these things happen. I have always felt that he was entitled to his opinion and I leave it at that.)
When I first saw your press release a few days ago my reaction was "goodness, this is silly" and I decided to sit tight and hope it would blow over. But it hasn't, judging by the e-mails I have received from friends, and the buzz I have seen online. People are concerned about these accusations about my dad, and some bloggers are talking about him as if he is an enemy of gay people. I decided to contact you because there could have been better ways to handle this situation, and I am hurt by your mischaracterization of my father, a man who does not have a molecule of hate in his being. It does not speak well for GLAAD, and it is not helping our community.
We are all really on the same side—you, my Dad, me, my family, our community. The gay community has enough enemies that we should not be attacking or alienating those who, such as my Dad, are part of our family and are our true friends. We may disagree with his opinion of a movie and his interpretation of a particular character, but that is his job as a critic to give his opinion. He may have had an unpopular opinion of a movie that is important to the gay community, but he defamed no one, and he is not a homophobe. It is you who have defamed a good man, by falsely accusing him of a repellent form of bigotry. It is ironic and sad that an organization whose mission is to combat defamation has committed such an act itself, an act which amounts to character assassination with so little consideration of the repercussions.
I am happy to discuss this further with you by e-mail, or you can feel free to phone me...
Sincerely, Peter Shalit

What's more, Heath Ledger has called the cancellation of Brokeback Mountain from certain theatres "akin to racism." A Regal theatre in Washington cancelled its showing of the film as did a Megaplex 17 in Utah. They couldn't just NOT have the movie play at the theatres, instead they had to advertise the film, wait for people to line up, and then announce it is cancelled. Good for Heath for speaking out against the chains cancelling the film. The film is racking up the awards and nominations and is a lock for a Best Picture and Best Director nod in this year's Academy Awards.

post week of 1/6/06

The "write the correct year on your checks" edition

We've survived the first full week of the new year; where has the year gone (hahaha). If you made new year's resolutions I hope they haven't been broken yet. I also hope you've gotten into the habit of writing 2006 instead of 2005. I myself practiced writing 2006 during the last week of 2005 so that it would be second nature.

This past week was a relatively quiet one. We adopted two cats and they are both terrors. Perry a two year old orange and white cat with bulls-eye marks on each side of him, and Casper (whose real name was Quinton but I didn't like that name for a cat so I changed it) a buff colored one year old with eyes so brown that in contrast to his fur he reminds me of a ghost. They are adapting to the home quite nicely but torture our poor golden retriever Brewster. If there's a cat on the stairs Brewster won't come down and if he gets too close to the orange cat he gets swatted at. I'll take pics of them and put them on my blog. Other than that nothing too exciting.

Broke the Mountains Back: We went to see the movie Brokeback Mountain and I have to say I thought I was watching a two-hour commercial for cigarettes. It's one of those smoking-in-nearly-every-scene movie although Jim says that was the era and everyone smoked back then. I'm sure that not EVERYONE smoked back then just as I'm sure not EVERYONE smokes today. As for the movie itself, it was very well done. A lot of the dialogue was taken word for word from the short story and it's a very faithful adaptation. There are a few scenes that are in the movie that were not in the short story but that is to be expected. A 2-hour and 15 minute adaptation of a 55 page short story is bound to have some scenes not in the story. For the most part they work and my take is they were put in the movie to give the viewer more of a connection to previous scenes; otherwise we'd be too ignant to connect the dots (that typo is intentional). Heath Ledger gives an incredible performance and is a lock for a Best Actor nomination. If you've seen Ledger in other movies you've seen that he has range and depth (check out Monster's Ball, The Patriot, even The Brothers Grimm). Jake Gyllenhaal also turns in a good performance and ultimately the movie is a love story. To call it just a gay cowboy movie is to do the film injustice. The scenery is beautiful; the movie used the beautiful Canadian Rockies (even more beautiful up close) as the background scenery (although it's supposed to take place in Wyoming and Texas). The film is sure to be nominated for best picture and best director and possibly best supporting actor for Gyllenhaal. Jim said it was the saddest movie he's ever seen but I personally think Life Is Beautiful is sadder. It's a moving and wonderful movie and I really don't see what all of the fuss is about; there have been plenty of other movies that are more controversial than this movie. Just because it's two big name macho actors everyone gets all a-twitter (oooh, they kiss, they have sex, they love each other). Untwist your knickers already and just see the movie. One final thought about Brokeback Mountain is that the audience in the theater was very mainstream. The age range was wide and it didn't seem like an all gay or lesbian crowd. There were senior citizens, families, young couples, etc....

1/7/06

People should not be surprised over President Bush's spying and eavesdropping as the US has a long history of Presidents pushing the boundaries of civil liberties and even crossing the line. For example, during the Civil War President Lincoln suspended habeas corpus and was accused of being a dictator. During the second World War, President Franklin Roosevelt gave J. Edgar Hoover permission to wiretap and he ordered Japanese-Americans into internment camps. Lyndon B. Johnson used faulty information to persuade Congress to fight in Vietnam (faulty information, sound familiar?) and doesn't everyone know about Nixon?

Caught with his pants down? South Tulsa Baptist Church senior pastor Lonnie Latham was arrested for offering to engage in public lewdness. Latham propositioned a plainclothes police officer outside a hotel; Latham was there for the Southern Baptist Convention. Latham has been very outspoken against homosexuality so it's quite ironic that he was caught in this position. I wouldn't imagine that anything else he says about being against homosexuality could be taken very seriously from this point forward.

1/6/06

Shutting the Book: One place that the new tv show The Book Of Daniel won't be shown is on NBC channel WTWO in Terre Haute, IN. The station manager has given in to pressure from the American Family Association (what a generic name for a group). Too many emails and calls protesting the airing of the show forced general manager, Duane Lammers, to decide not to air the program. I don't know what the big deal is. No, I haven't seen it yet but it IS only a tv show. It's not even the most controversial thing on tv right now either. HBO has a more controversial show set to begin this year called Big Love. Love centers around one man, a polygamist, and his relationship with his three, yes 3, wives. They all live in the same neighborhood too. It's not stated which religion he is but I wonder if maybe it's Mormon.

Say WHAT??? The remark that Pat Robertson made last year about how the US should assassinate Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez was bad enough, now he has to pick on another leader; and one that just had a stroke too. On Thursday Robertson said that the stroke Prime Minister Ariel Sharon suffered was divine punishment. Does anybody really want to listen to a minister who makes such ignorant and insensitive remarks? I personally think he needs to hang up his cloth immediately. I've never believed that God just sits around handing out punishments. I think that's absurd.

And one more thought: Jim officially knows everyone. I had to make an appointment to have a wisdom tooth removed and when I mentioned the name of the doctor I was referred to Jim said he knew the doctor. He buried the mother and father of the doctor. Talk about small world.

Can't we all just get along? This cat and lion cub certainly think we can. They have the right idea. The two reside in a private house, along with some other exotic animals, in Kharkov which is about 300 miles Northeast of Kiev in the Ukraine

Slithering along

This snake, which had been housed at the World Aquarium in St. Louis, is up for bid. We, the name of the snake, is an albino rat snake. The previous owner of the now 6-year-old snake received $15,000 for the snake. Now the aquarium is selling the snake on Ebay and the bid will START at $150,000. That's some s-s-s-serious dough.

1/5/06

I think people are watching too many Disney and cute animal movies. In Johannesburg, a woman tried to push a seal back into the ocean. The woman, thinking the seal was stranded, ended up getting bit on the nose. Also in Johannesburg, a mugger decided a good hiding place was in the cage of a pair of tigers. He mugged a couple then ran to a nearby zoo. Surely he'd be safe with the tigers, right? Wrong! He ended up being mauled....to death. Animals have their own rules, doesn't anyone watch the Animal Planet?

And it turns out that Napoleon's army was finished off by guns, knives, frostbite, or anything else you may think killed them. The army was killed by human lice. The remains of Bonaparte's soldiers are buried in the capital of Lithuania and scientists examined the remains and found that more than 30% of the soldiers succumbed to a bacterial fever caused by human body lice. Creepy Crawlies indeed!!! The research can be found in the January issue of the Journal of Infectious Diseases.

paul

1/4/06

A prayer for the families of the miners who didn't survive the mine explosion in WV on Monday. First they thought 12 of the 13 survived then they found out 12 of the 13 died. Who knows who heard what or what was said to make people think that 12 had lived but this news is a horrific (that's for you Jimmy) way to start the new year.

As Brokeback Mountain continues to court controversy, scientists have realized that other animals, besides humans that is, court the same sex. Whales, geese, manatees and even penguins, which made headlines last year as a German zoo tried to get them to go straight, have shown they too like to have sex without worrying about the little bambino getting in the way. Apparently a study was done and 8 percent of rams like rams of the same sex, much to the frustration of ranchers. Bruce Bagemihl has written a book called Biological Exuberance detailing the gayness of other non-human animals.

One more thought: I'm looking forward to the new show The Book Of Daniel which starts this Friday. Jim saw the first preview of it though I had read about it a couple of months ago. I told him it looks like Desperate Housewives in a church and then I read an article comparing it to Desperate Housewives.

paul

Many of you have heard the term generation gap, well I've officially become part of the old end of the generation gap. The other day at work, I told a friend and colleague of mine that I had a song stuck in my head. At that point I sung a little bit of "You're The One That I Want" from the movie Grease. The woman had heard of the movie Grease but was immediately familiar with the song. I'm getting old!!! Yeah, in my day we were listening to Green Day and Metallica. Metalli who????

weekly post-Dec. 30: The One With The Reflection

Hello Friends and loved ones and Happy New Year to each of you,

Those of you that are fans of the tv show Friends will recognize the title of my post as an homage to the 10yr show. Each episode's title started with the words "The One With...."

It's the end of the year and I'm feeling a bit reflective. Why do we allow fear, doubt, uncertainty, anxiety, and busyness to interfere with our relationships? Why do we work so hard at something and then just throw it away? I'm not perfect and I've run away from some things this year that I have since regret and every day I wonder if I'm good enough, smart enough, handsome enough, etc.... Jim says I'm ready to be a deacon in our church, I say I'm not ready. I have to ask myself though, do I say that because I'm really not ready or because I'm letting fear run my life? Jim would say it's the latter and I would tend to agree with him. I've been with Jim just under 6 years and I still sometimes think about leaving; I've thought about it this past year. Every time I think about leaving though this little voice keeps saying, "But you love him. He makes you laugh. You two have fun together. You two are good together, you two work." At this point I might as well stay. If I was really going to leave it should have been three months after we met as that is when Jim was diagnosed with cancer. Three months! I had literally just moved in with him. Why are we so afraid of getting hurt and of not working at our relationships? Why do we want to take the easy way out? It's not like the world will end if we end up getting hurt. We humans may be a whiny, sniveling, and spoiled bunch but we have shown time and time again that when push comes to shove we pick ourselves up and dust ourselves off. Great things and accomplishments didn't happen as a result of people running away from them; they embraced them, they endured them, they worked for them and that is what makes them great accomplishments.

Picture it: More than 2,000 years ago in a house in Jerusalem, disciples and other believers are sitting around waiting for Jesus. They wait and wait and wait until finally one of the disciples finds a note which reads, "Hey, disciples, I don't want to be crucified. You want bread, break it yourself. I'm outta here." What a different world this might have been if that had happened. Instead Jesus embraced his journey and now he reigns glorious every single day more than 2,000 years later. The Supertramp song isn't called "Take The Long Way Home" for nothing. Let's keep that in mind in 2006 when we think things are hard or difficult or we think of running away from something we've put so much effort into. Let's strive to be better people and do great works and change the world for the better. Let's think of others and not be selfish or petulant. I'll follow my own advice, will you?

And erase the F.A.D. (fear, anxiety, doubt).

My first post of the new year. I hope you haven't already broken your New Year's resolutions. I didn't do any New Year's resolutions as I think most of them are frivolous and I don't need one day of the year set aside to make improvements in myself.

One more thought in this first post of 2006; I would just once like to hear about an election in which the word fraud is not mentioned. I'm referring of course to the election in Iraq.

Enjoy your day,

paul