Karen Walker for VP?

Is it just me...

...or does McCain's pick for vice president, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (left), look a little like Karen Walker?

SMS-Induced Smile

This morning I got the following text message from my friend Joey:

To: [Friend], jawnny, [Friend], and [Friend]: I had a dream last night that we all went to Montreal on a misdirected Atlantic City and sang thief of hearts at an impromptu karaoke we started in an abandoned church. [Ex of Friend] and [Ex of Friend] were there too, but we ignored them.

Abandoned church karaoke bar? Sounds amazing. Creating one on a misdirected casino bus on the way to Montreal? Sounds like an American sequel to Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.

Good Morning: Basement Jaxx, "Red Alert"

This song blew my mind the first time ever heard it, which was during the first week or two of college back in 1999. It's a huge part of the reason I am and always will be a house-head.

Mariah Carey Is Magic

This video from fourfour is, in a word, afuckingmazing.

John Kerry's Speech at the DNC

The networks all decided this speech by John Kerry was not really worth covering. Except it's the best speech I've ever heard him give. It's 13 minutes long, but it's absolutely worth setting aside some time for.

Good Morning: Junior Jack, "My Feeling"

I Love Being Right, or Why Gays Need the Right

Previously, in response to the absurd "scandal" about one of the founders of the gay sex site Manhunt being a McCain donor, I posted a screed about how we gays need to get over our kneejerk liberalism. The Los Angeles Times just ran a smart, even-handed piece by James Kirchick of The New Republic on just this issue.

This line really stuck out for me: "labeling everyone with whom [gay activists] don't agree a 'bigot' does not help the worthy cause of gay equality." I was reminded of the night I went on a bar crawl with fellow Obama supporters in the Gayborhood just before the April 22 primary here in Pennsylvania. We handed out literature and stickers and buttons, talked with people who were curious or had questions, and generally just put a gay face on the Obama campaign, as it were. On the whole, it was a great experience, but the things that some gays and lesbians we talked to that night believed about Obama were frightening. Many people were convinced he was anti-gay. The Donnie McClurkin incident seemed to have done a lot of damage - never mind that under Bill Clinton, husband of the woman most people we talked to that night supported and supposedly a hero of gays, we got Don't Ask Don't Tell and the Defense of Marriage Act. Most had no idea that Obama's stance on LGBT issues was actually slightly more progressive than Hillary Clinton's. One (rather drunk) Hillary supporter got into a screaming fight with one of us, accusing all of us who were out supporting Obama of being homophobic. And she wasn't the only one.

So I think that experience (and keep in mind, we were out there in support of another Democrat - can you imagine what would have happened if we were McCain supporters?) gave me a greater awareness of our community's tendency to excommunicate anyone with whom we don't agree. We do this to our inestimable detriment. As Kirchick points out, Democrats alone have not been able to move this country forward on gay issues. Like it or not, we need Republicans.

Vigilante Proofreaders Banned From National Parks

I think these guys might be my heroes. Benjamin Herson (left) and Jeff Deck are banned from all National Parks after they damaged an antique, handpainted sign in Grand Canyon National Park - by correcting some sort of spelling and/or punctuation error on the sign. Deck is the man behind the Typo Eradication Advancement League (TEAL), an Internet-based group that encourages people to correct signage with typographical or grammatical errors. Unfortunately, the TEAL website tipped off the feds to Herson and Deck's crime. The moral of the story seems to be: don't document your vigilante proofreading prowess!

Good Morning: Artful Dodger feat. Craig David, "Re-Rewind"

I think for the next week (or so), my Good Morning jams will be some of my favorite dance songs of the late 1990s and early 2000s - that is, my club kid days. Up first, a chill little 2-step jawn featuring Craig David of "Fill Me In" fame. Whatever happened to him?

Zoning Board Grows A Pair, Rejects Tacky Unisys Sign

I am thrilled to see this. It would have set a terrible precedent, damaging one of the city's most important buildings, if Unisys - which wouldn't even be Two Liberty's biggest tenant - had been allowed to slap its logo on a building never meant to bear one. Go Zoning Board!

Good Morning: Le Tigre feat. Jessie Spano, "I'm So Excited"

This one goes out to everyone starting law school today.

Good Morning: Danity Kane, "Damaged"

So I never liked Danity Kane (or their bizarre name) until I heard this song. Fellow law nerds: there's probably a pun-laden song about torts somewhere in here.



Apologies for the little ads that appear during the video - this is the best version of it that I could find, even with the ads.

Good Morning: Taylor Dayne, "Prove Your Love"

I woke up with this in my head, so now I'm inflicting it on all of you. I especially love Taylor's WICKED NEW YAWK remarks before the video starts.

Texas Governor Wants To Allow Concealed Weapons In Classrooms

Yikes. The Houston Chronicle reports that Texas Governor Rick Perry (R) wants to allow school districts to set their own gun rules:

"I'm pretty much a fan that if you've been trained, if you are registered, then you ought to be able to carry a weapon," Perry said.

The idea is that, in the wake of the Virginia Tech tragedy, having trained, gun-bearing adults on school campuses would help to quickly bring any similar future massacres to a halt. Or something. I'm not an expert on this, but my guess is that most school shootings are not Virginia Tech-style massacres, but rather one-on-one confrontations between students who aren't getting along. If that is true, I fail to see how having more guns (legal though they may be) on school campuses - particularly, grade school campuses - makes children safer. It also seems like school districts would potentially open themselves up to all kinds of legal problems by allowing guns in the classroom. All it takes is one teacher failing to lock up his or her gun, and a curious student or group of students.

via Andrew Sullivan

Good Morning: Jill Scott, "Gettin' In The Way"

Apologies for the long absence; I started law school this week and am trying to figure out how to work in blog-time. (The fact that the school's firewall seems not to like Blogger isn't helping matters. ) At any rate, here's one of my favorite videos from one of my favorite Philadelphians.

Miss Liukin If You're Nastia

I am officially, full-tilt in love with American gymnast Nastia Liukin. Her teammate Shawn Johnson may have been ordained the next Mary Lou Retton, her likeness stamped on all kinds of products, but Nastia's quiet elegance prevailed in last night's all-around finals.

Image from the Los Angeles Times

Gays Are Allowed To Be Republicans

I don't know if I'm getting conservative in my old age or what, but it seems like each new Gay Outrage of the Week makes less and less sense to me. To wit: peeps are upset about the fact that the owner of Manhunt (link NSFW) is a McCain contributor. "Log in, get off, get betrayed," fumes Joe, in a play on Manhunt's slogan.

OK. Let me be as clear as I possibly can here: THE OWNER OF MANHUNT IS ALLOWED TO BE A REPUBLICAN. As he himself pointed out, neither McCain nor Obama supports gay marriage. And it's not like Mr. Manhunt gave money to Romney or Huckabee, who are both unambiguous gay-haters.

I think what this whole situation illustrates is that what bothers some of us gays more than anything else is the mere existence of Log Cabin Republicans in the first place. For most of us, they seem to be an elusive species, rarely seen in the wild, even though there are plenty of non-liberal gays out there.

When we find out that a successful, wealthy - and sex-site owning gay, no less - is a member of the GOP, on top of our normal why-would-you-be-a-Republican-if-you're-gay reaction, there is this irrational but real sense of betrayal. "How could HE of all people give money to THEM?" we wonder. But I don't think it's all that shocking, and I don't think it, on its own, merits canceling a membership. The fact that Manhunt totally sucks and is destroying gay culture is a far more compelling reason to cancel one's membership.

(One small disclaimer: I'm all for informed consumerism. If you don't like what the people you're buying stuff from are doing with their money, by all means, don't give them your money anymore. Just don't expect everyone else to agree with you or do the same.)

Kids

Every time I see one of these buses around town


it makes me think of this:


...which is probably not the kind of mental association the Pennsylvania State Children's Health Insurance Program wants me to make.

Ruminations: Textbooks and Tyra

Law textbooks are, like, totally expensive. Here's just a sampling:

Right in the range I expected, but still, dang!

Brian and I are watching Tyra Banks's talk show right now. The topic is light-skinned vs. dark-skinned black women, and you can imagine the (low) level of discourse she's inciting. Currently a self-described light-skinned woman is on stage, being baited by Tyra to say racist shit about dark-skinned women. Then, of course, racist light-skinned woman gets dressed down by Tyra and the audience. I swear, Tyra clearly grows stronger by making those around her feel weak. She's kind of amazing.

Image of crazy Tyra from fourfour

Font of Fonts

Keeping in the spirit of my totally deep and spiritual theme here of late, here's a picture of me in my new hat! Thanks to Tré for pointing this one out to me.

Beach-Bound

Joey and I (but sadly not Brian) are off to my hometown for the weekend, where I anticipate we'll have a gay ol' time. Before I run along, here's a playlist I highly recommend for when you're out in the sun. I have to acknowledge this playlist at Refinery 29, since it provided some of the songs below.

The Zone-Out Mix
01 VHS Or Beta - Solid Gold
02 Röyksopp - Only This Moment
03 MGMT - Electric Feel
04 New Order - True Faith
05 Kylie Minogue - The One
06 Groove Armada - At The River
07 Yelle - Ce Jeu (Pirate Robot Midget Love Mix)
08 John Maus - Rights For Gays
09 Madonna - What It Feels Like For A Girl (Calderone & Quayle Dark Side Mix)
10 Pet Shop Boys - I Don't Know What You Want But I Can't Give It Anymore Being Boring
11 El Guincho - Palmitos Park
12 Télépopmusik - Breathe
13 Wax Poetic feat. Norah Jones - Angels (Morgan Page Remix)
14 Yeasayer - Sunrise (Hey Champ Remix)
15 Air France - Beach Party

Glamorous

Here's where I was yesterday at noon.

Guido Beach

This video about the denizens of the Jersey Shore in summertime pretty much speaks for itself. Loudly. In a horrible dirty-Jerz accent. Be sure to watch it all the way to the end for some guidette catfight goodness.

Gone Fishin'

Posting will likely be wildly sporadic over the next two weeks, as I'm on vacation. I do have a truly delightful video to share with you later today, but beyond that, I'm a man without a plan. So, like, go outside and play or something.

Things I Like: August 1, 2008

Tumbleweave. (hat tip to Philebrity)

Now that I finally upgraded, Leopard.

Barney Frank's move to decriminalize pot possession. The resources we devote to tracking down and arresting people who smoke weed would be much better spent protecting the ol' homeland. And those rasta shops on South Street would filled with pot smoke, instead of pot-and-incense smoke.

I'm still loving Princess Prince Chunky.

Though I kind of love his airheaded ways, it's probably for the best that the Red Sox traded Manny Ramirez. They need to get it together and stop their slump.

Last days at work...

...especially when followed by two weeks of vacation.

And finally, this clip about the wonders of queefing from Talk Sex with Sue Johanson. (hat tip to OMGblog)



This has been another delicious installment of Things I Like. Enjoy!

Good Morning: Brownstone, "If You Love Me"

If you're a JAWNNY regular, you know that today is the final day of School Bus Jams week, wherein the songs in this week's Good Morning videos have all been ones I remember fondly from my school bus ridin' days. Our final School Bus Jam of the week is one you may have forgotten about. But you'll be feeling it as soon as the beat drops.