sttropezbutlersays
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
AND THE NOMINATION FOR BEST.........
First the bad news.
I was not selected for the Enron Jury. Hey I wasn't even called to have a chance to be on the Enron Jury. Here was, I thought, my chance at celebrity. Perhaps a book deal, certainly a media tour. But no, I'll get called for jury duty, but it will be for jury duty for those fighting a traffic ticket. Yes in Texas you can still have a jury trail for your speeding ticket. Talk about your waste of resources.
Sad to wake up to the news that Coretta Scott King died. Rest in Peace.
Monday is such a bum night for TV, unless you want to see intrusive people invade other spaces. That's what I get from Wife Swap.
I was zipping around the dials before turning off the damn thing so I could read, when I did happen upon Christiane Amanpour stating that Iraq IS a DISASTER. Interesting that we don't often see Ms. Amanpour on CNN USA. She tends to appear regularly on CNN International however.
Hum, wonder who is telling the truth. Someone who has spent oodles of time in Iraq or Numb Nuts sitting in his palace in Washington DC. Hum.
Violence on the West Coast. Another employee goes postal. Hey, that gets the media coverage, but let us not forget that violent crime in Houston has risen dramatically in the last 4 months as a direct result of the Katrina disaster. Not much National media coverage of that reality is there? Not news anymore. Who cares?
It is 6:50 here in Houston, my TV is on E and I am waiting for the nominations. I am hoping that Crash gets a nod for Best Picture. I feel that due to all the Brokeback hype, Crash was seriously overlooked. Even though a tad contrived, I felt Crash had one of the best screenplays of the year. The casting and cast were remarkable. Actors you'd never appreciated before gave stellar performances. Matt Dillon is chilling in this film. If you haven't seen it, take the time to do so.
Again, RIP CSK.
I was not selected for the Enron Jury. Hey I wasn't even called to have a chance to be on the Enron Jury. Here was, I thought, my chance at celebrity. Perhaps a book deal, certainly a media tour. But no, I'll get called for jury duty, but it will be for jury duty for those fighting a traffic ticket. Yes in Texas you can still have a jury trail for your speeding ticket. Talk about your waste of resources.
Sad to wake up to the news that Coretta Scott King died. Rest in Peace.
Monday is such a bum night for TV, unless you want to see intrusive people invade other spaces. That's what I get from Wife Swap.
I was zipping around the dials before turning off the damn thing so I could read, when I did happen upon Christiane Amanpour stating that Iraq IS a DISASTER. Interesting that we don't often see Ms. Amanpour on CNN USA. She tends to appear regularly on CNN International however.
Hum, wonder who is telling the truth. Someone who has spent oodles of time in Iraq or Numb Nuts sitting in his palace in Washington DC. Hum.
Violence on the West Coast. Another employee goes postal. Hey, that gets the media coverage, but let us not forget that violent crime in Houston has risen dramatically in the last 4 months as a direct result of the Katrina disaster. Not much National media coverage of that reality is there? Not news anymore. Who cares?
It is 6:50 here in Houston, my TV is on E and I am waiting for the nominations. I am hoping that Crash gets a nod for Best Picture. I feel that due to all the Brokeback hype, Crash was seriously overlooked. Even though a tad contrived, I felt Crash had one of the best screenplays of the year. The casting and cast were remarkable. Actors you'd never appreciated before gave stellar performances. Matt Dillon is chilling in this film. If you haven't seen it, take the time to do so.
Again, RIP CSK.
Monday, January 30, 2006
ACTORS BEHAVING BADLY
Yes, I watched the SAG awards.
Yes, I was thrilled that Crash won. I thoroughly enjoyed that film.
Yes, I thought Jaime Lee Curtis was a tad over the top. And what was up with Shirley Temple's lipstick?
Yes, some one needs to slap the shit out of Jake and Heath. Very bad taste boys. What your introduction of your film said to me, a proud gay man, is that you are nothing more than asshole actors who are afraid to behave like grown men.
Yes, the red carpet was a friendlier place without that abuser Isaac being part of the show.
Yes, at the same time the awards were being shown on TNT, Kathy Griffin was hosting a show on E featuring the "worst" red carpet moments in recent history and yes, all Isaac's hideous moments were included.
Yes, I hear Isaac will be back for the Oscars.
Yes, the art of saying thank you is just that, an art, and very few have mastered that art.
Yes, I love award shows.
Yes, I will be watching all of them....right up to the Oscars!
Yes, I was thrilled that Crash won. I thoroughly enjoyed that film.
Yes, I thought Jaime Lee Curtis was a tad over the top. And what was up with Shirley Temple's lipstick?
Yes, some one needs to slap the shit out of Jake and Heath. Very bad taste boys. What your introduction of your film said to me, a proud gay man, is that you are nothing more than asshole actors who are afraid to behave like grown men.
Yes, the red carpet was a friendlier place without that abuser Isaac being part of the show.
Yes, at the same time the awards were being shown on TNT, Kathy Griffin was hosting a show on E featuring the "worst" red carpet moments in recent history and yes, all Isaac's hideous moments were included.
Yes, I hear Isaac will be back for the Oscars.
Yes, the art of saying thank you is just that, an art, and very few have mastered that art.
Yes, I love award shows.
Yes, I will be watching all of them....right up to the Oscars!
Sunday, January 29, 2006
STATE OF MY UNION
Ever have one of those weeks where you felt like this:
Or worse had a week where you looked like this:
I was in a million little pieces till I went to Proceed At Your Own Risk and saw THIS! Go ahead click on "this" and it will answer the burning question (be sure to scroll up to the top of the page and then click "CLICK HERE FOR THE ANSWER") of the day as well as ....................*
STB
*let a smile be your umbrella!
Happy Photo Sunday!
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
ANOTHER REASON WHY I LOVE WOMEN
"The MINUTE someone impugns your patriotism for opposing this war, turn on them like a snarling dog and explain what loving your country really means. That, or you could just piss on them elegantly, as Rep. John Murtha did. Or eviscerate them with wit (look up Mark Twain on the war in the Philippines). Or point out the latest in the endless "string of bad news."
Read the rest of this brilliant dame, Molly Ivins and you'll love her too!
Read the rest of this brilliant dame, Molly Ivins and you'll love her too!
Sunday, January 22, 2006
QUIET PLEASE THERE'S A LADY ON STAGE
Near the end of the 80's I knew it was time to move along. But before I left Texas and headed back to New York, I had the pleasure of sharing my home with an amazing woman.
Her name is Kellye Gray.
Her name is Kellye Gray.
If you haven't heard her, here is your chance.
She
sings.
She sings jazz.
She is unique.
Go ahead. Download the three tunes she features on her web-site.
If you are inspired, order her CD's.
I am just back from a wonderful evening.
Live music is alive and well in Houston.
Kellye Gray filled the evening with song.
Live. Pure. Real.
I am really pleased that she is still a part of my life.
Saturday, January 21, 2006
MUST READ: TV
FROM TODAY'S NEW YORK TIMES:
January 21, 2006
Television Cul-de-Sac Mystery: Why Was Reality Show Killed?
By JACQUES STEINBERG
AUSTIN, Tex. - A year ago, Stephen Wright and his partner, John Wright, embarked on a sociology experiment that only a reality show producer could concoct: theirs was one of seven families competing to persuade the residents of a cul-de-sac here to award them a red-brick McMansion purchased on their behalf by the ABC television network.
The unscripted series, "Welcome to the Neighborhood," was heavily promoted and scheduled to appear in a summer time slot usually occupied by "Desperate Housewives." Stephen Wright, 51, who was already living in a nice house a few miles away with his partner and adopted son, said he participated primarily for one reason: to show tens of millions of prime-time viewers that a real gay family might, over the course of six episodes, charm a neighborhood whose residents overwhelmingly identified themselves as white, Christian and Republican.
As it turned out, the Wrights did win - beating families cast, at least partly, for being African-American, Hispanic, Korean, tattooed or even Wiccan - but outside of a few hundred neighbors (who attended private screenings last summer) and a handful of journalists, almost no one has been able to see them do so.
Ten days before the first episode was to be shown, ABC executives canceled "Welcome to the Neighborhood," saying that they were concerned that viewers who might have been appalled at some early statements made in the show - including homophobic barbs - might not hang in for the sixth episode, when several of those same neighbors pronounced themselves newly open-minded about gays and other groups.
ABC acted amid protests by the National Fair Housing Alliance, which had expressed concern about a competition in which race, religion and sexual orientation were discussed as factors in the awarding of a house. But two producers of the show, speaking publicly about the cancellation for the first time, say the network was confident it had the legal standing to give away a house as a game-show prize. One, Bill Kennedy, a co-executive producer who helped develop the series with his son, Eric, suggested an alternative explanation. He said that the protests might have been most significant as a diversion that allowed the Walt Disney Company, ABC's owner, to pre-empt a show that could have interfered with a much bigger enterprise: the courting of evangelical Christian audiences for "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe." Disney hoped that the film, widely viewed as a parable of the Resurrection, would be the first in a profitable movie franchise.
In the months and weeks before "Welcome to the Neighborhood" was to have its premiere, as Disney sought to build church support for "Narnia," four religious groups lifted longtime boycotts of the company that had been largely prompted by Disney's tolerance of periodic gatherings by gay tourists at its theme parks.
Representatives for two of those groups now say that broadcasting "Neighborhood" could have complicated their support for "Narnia." One, the Southern Baptist Convention, with more than 16 million members, lifted the last of the boycotts against Disney on June 22, a week before ABC announced it was pulling the series.
When asked to respond to Mr. Kennedy's contention about "Narnia," Kevin Brockman, an ABC spokesman, said, "That's so ludicrous, it doesn't even merit a response." But Mr. Kennedy said he found ABC's stated reasons for canceling the series unconvincing. Although he acknowledged that he had "no smoking gun" to prove the link between "Narnia" and the fate of "Welcome to the Neighborhood," "I don't believe in coincidences," he said.
"Narnia," a joint venture with Walden Media, has gone on to earn almost $600 million since its release last month, on an investment of more than $150 million. "Neighborhood," by contrast, cost an estimated $10 million.
Now, nearly a year after production on "Neighborhood" concluded - and four months after the Wrights moved into the house - the couple, their new neighbors, Mr. Kennedy and another of the show's producers say they remain bewildered by the abrupt turn in the show's fortunes, including the statement by the network, which owns the rights to the series, that it has no plans either to broadcast it or allow it to be sold to another outlet.
The producers say that it is worth noting that a show that exists mainly to dispel people's tendencies to prejudge strangers was itself a victim of prejudgments. They also note that in a universe of failed reality-show relationships, this experiment has actually succeeded, yet only out of public view.
Since September, when the Wrights moved into their four-bedroom home in the Circle C Ranch development in southwest Austin, they have had standing Friday-night dinners with one neighborhood family (the Stewarts) and Sunday-night dinners with another (the Bellamys), whose twin teenage daughters are now their son's regular baby sitters.
Meanwhile, the neighbor who was the Wrights' earliest on-camera antagonist - Jim Stewart, 53, who is heard in an early episode saying, "I would not tolerate a homosexual couple moving into this neighborhood" - has confided to the producers that the series changed him far more than even they were aware.
No one involved in the show, Mr. Stewart said, knew he had a 25-year-old gay son. Only after participating in the series, Mr. Stewart said, was he able to broach his son's sexuality with him for the first time.
"I'd say to ABC, 'Start showing this right now,' " Mr. Stewart said in an interview at his oak kitchen table. "It has a message that needs to be heard by everyone." (Mr. Stewart first discussed his son publicly with The Austin American-Statesman.)
While other ABC shows have gay characters - including the new comedy "Crumbs" - "Neighborhood" features a real gay couple and their prospective neighbors in a continuing dialogue about homosexuality, including interpretations of the Bible.
In a recent interview, Richard Land, an official with the Southern Baptist Convention involved in the negotiations with Disney last year to end the group's boycott of the company, said he did not recall any mention of "Neighborhood." He added, however, that had the show been broadcast - particularly with an ending that showed Christians literally embracing their gay neighbors - it could have scuttled the Southern Baptists' support for "Narnia."
"I would have considered it a retrograde step," Mr. Land said of the network's plans to broadcast the reality series. "Aside from any moral considerations, it would have been a pretty stupid marketing move."
Paul McCusker, a vice president of Focus on the Family, which had supported the Southern Baptist boycott and reaches millions of evangelical listeners through the daily radio broadcasts of Dr. James Dobson, expressed similar views.
"It would have been a huge misstep for Disney to aggressively do things that would disenfranchise the very people they wanted to go see 'Narnia,' " he said.
Asked whether Disney's plans for "Narnia" had affected "Neighborhood," Mr. Brockman of ABC referred a reporter to comments made on July 26 by Stephen McPherson, the president of ABC Entertainment, to a gathering of television critics. At that time it was not widely known that a gay couple had won the competition. Instead, Mr. McPherson, a champion of the show until its sudden cancellation, was asked if he had been influenced by criticism by civil rights groups.
"If I stopped airing things just because advocacy groups had issues with it, we would run a test pattern," Mr. McPherson said. Rather, he said, he had begun to worry that some of the neighbors' most intolerant statements early on could confuse the audience's understanding of "the message you were trying to get across."
Hank Cohen, a former president of MGM Television Entertainment, a partner with ABC in "Neighborhood," said no one at the network had given him a direct answer as to what had transpired behind the scenes, and "the lack of any single coherent reason cited by them opens them up to all kinds of conjecture."
The full series, a copy of which was given to The New York Times by an advocate, is often raw, as contestants and judges speak openly about their preconceptions, only to observe in amazement as some of their ideas - though by no means all - melt away. Much of the give-and-take occurs in the series's version of the tribal council on "Survivor," as the three couples charged with giving away the house (bought by ABC for more than $300,000) meet to eliminate one family each episode.
Still, the neighbors' attitudes toward homosexuality constitute the dominant theme. That the tide may be shifting is telegraphed in an all-male scene in a hot tub, of all places, when one neighbor, John Bellamy, observes that Mr. Stewart appears to be softening his views toward gays. "I love you for that," Mr. Bellamy says, before cautioning, "Not in a weird kind of hot-tub love, with no chicks in the hot tub."
For Stephen Wright, who was recruited for the series through his church, which has a predominantly gay membership, the outcome has been bittersweet.
On the one hand, he has yet to achieve his goal of telling his family's story before a big audience. "We opened our souls and the life of our family, and we did it because we thought we could make a difference," he said.
But Mr. Wright said he took solace that through their participation in the series, he and his partner had had a positive impact on at least one relationship, that of Mr. Stewart and his son.
"We said at the outset that if we changed one person's heart or mind, it would be worth it," he said. "We have empirical evidence we did that."
"And," he added, "we won a house."
Copyright 2006The New York Times Company
January 21, 2006
Television Cul-de-Sac Mystery: Why Was Reality Show Killed?
By JACQUES STEINBERG
AUSTIN, Tex. - A year ago, Stephen Wright and his partner, John Wright, embarked on a sociology experiment that only a reality show producer could concoct: theirs was one of seven families competing to persuade the residents of a cul-de-sac here to award them a red-brick McMansion purchased on their behalf by the ABC television network.
The unscripted series, "Welcome to the Neighborhood," was heavily promoted and scheduled to appear in a summer time slot usually occupied by "Desperate Housewives." Stephen Wright, 51, who was already living in a nice house a few miles away with his partner and adopted son, said he participated primarily for one reason: to show tens of millions of prime-time viewers that a real gay family might, over the course of six episodes, charm a neighborhood whose residents overwhelmingly identified themselves as white, Christian and Republican.
As it turned out, the Wrights did win - beating families cast, at least partly, for being African-American, Hispanic, Korean, tattooed or even Wiccan - but outside of a few hundred neighbors (who attended private screenings last summer) and a handful of journalists, almost no one has been able to see them do so.
Ten days before the first episode was to be shown, ABC executives canceled "Welcome to the Neighborhood," saying that they were concerned that viewers who might have been appalled at some early statements made in the show - including homophobic barbs - might not hang in for the sixth episode, when several of those same neighbors pronounced themselves newly open-minded about gays and other groups.
ABC acted amid protests by the National Fair Housing Alliance, which had expressed concern about a competition in which race, religion and sexual orientation were discussed as factors in the awarding of a house. But two producers of the show, speaking publicly about the cancellation for the first time, say the network was confident it had the legal standing to give away a house as a game-show prize. One, Bill Kennedy, a co-executive producer who helped develop the series with his son, Eric, suggested an alternative explanation. He said that the protests might have been most significant as a diversion that allowed the Walt Disney Company, ABC's owner, to pre-empt a show that could have interfered with a much bigger enterprise: the courting of evangelical Christian audiences for "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe." Disney hoped that the film, widely viewed as a parable of the Resurrection, would be the first in a profitable movie franchise.
In the months and weeks before "Welcome to the Neighborhood" was to have its premiere, as Disney sought to build church support for "Narnia," four religious groups lifted longtime boycotts of the company that had been largely prompted by Disney's tolerance of periodic gatherings by gay tourists at its theme parks.
Representatives for two of those groups now say that broadcasting "Neighborhood" could have complicated their support for "Narnia." One, the Southern Baptist Convention, with more than 16 million members, lifted the last of the boycotts against Disney on June 22, a week before ABC announced it was pulling the series.
When asked to respond to Mr. Kennedy's contention about "Narnia," Kevin Brockman, an ABC spokesman, said, "That's so ludicrous, it doesn't even merit a response." But Mr. Kennedy said he found ABC's stated reasons for canceling the series unconvincing. Although he acknowledged that he had "no smoking gun" to prove the link between "Narnia" and the fate of "Welcome to the Neighborhood," "I don't believe in coincidences," he said.
"Narnia," a joint venture with Walden Media, has gone on to earn almost $600 million since its release last month, on an investment of more than $150 million. "Neighborhood," by contrast, cost an estimated $10 million.
Now, nearly a year after production on "Neighborhood" concluded - and four months after the Wrights moved into the house - the couple, their new neighbors, Mr. Kennedy and another of the show's producers say they remain bewildered by the abrupt turn in the show's fortunes, including the statement by the network, which owns the rights to the series, that it has no plans either to broadcast it or allow it to be sold to another outlet.
The producers say that it is worth noting that a show that exists mainly to dispel people's tendencies to prejudge strangers was itself a victim of prejudgments. They also note that in a universe of failed reality-show relationships, this experiment has actually succeeded, yet only out of public view.
Since September, when the Wrights moved into their four-bedroom home in the Circle C Ranch development in southwest Austin, they have had standing Friday-night dinners with one neighborhood family (the Stewarts) and Sunday-night dinners with another (the Bellamys), whose twin teenage daughters are now their son's regular baby sitters.
Meanwhile, the neighbor who was the Wrights' earliest on-camera antagonist - Jim Stewart, 53, who is heard in an early episode saying, "I would not tolerate a homosexual couple moving into this neighborhood" - has confided to the producers that the series changed him far more than even they were aware.
No one involved in the show, Mr. Stewart said, knew he had a 25-year-old gay son. Only after participating in the series, Mr. Stewart said, was he able to broach his son's sexuality with him for the first time.
"I'd say to ABC, 'Start showing this right now,' " Mr. Stewart said in an interview at his oak kitchen table. "It has a message that needs to be heard by everyone." (Mr. Stewart first discussed his son publicly with The Austin American-Statesman.)
While other ABC shows have gay characters - including the new comedy "Crumbs" - "Neighborhood" features a real gay couple and their prospective neighbors in a continuing dialogue about homosexuality, including interpretations of the Bible.
In a recent interview, Richard Land, an official with the Southern Baptist Convention involved in the negotiations with Disney last year to end the group's boycott of the company, said he did not recall any mention of "Neighborhood." He added, however, that had the show been broadcast - particularly with an ending that showed Christians literally embracing their gay neighbors - it could have scuttled the Southern Baptists' support for "Narnia."
"I would have considered it a retrograde step," Mr. Land said of the network's plans to broadcast the reality series. "Aside from any moral considerations, it would have been a pretty stupid marketing move."
Paul McCusker, a vice president of Focus on the Family, which had supported the Southern Baptist boycott and reaches millions of evangelical listeners through the daily radio broadcasts of Dr. James Dobson, expressed similar views.
"It would have been a huge misstep for Disney to aggressively do things that would disenfranchise the very people they wanted to go see 'Narnia,' " he said.
Asked whether Disney's plans for "Narnia" had affected "Neighborhood," Mr. Brockman of ABC referred a reporter to comments made on July 26 by Stephen McPherson, the president of ABC Entertainment, to a gathering of television critics. At that time it was not widely known that a gay couple had won the competition. Instead, Mr. McPherson, a champion of the show until its sudden cancellation, was asked if he had been influenced by criticism by civil rights groups.
"If I stopped airing things just because advocacy groups had issues with it, we would run a test pattern," Mr. McPherson said. Rather, he said, he had begun to worry that some of the neighbors' most intolerant statements early on could confuse the audience's understanding of "the message you were trying to get across."
Hank Cohen, a former president of MGM Television Entertainment, a partner with ABC in "Neighborhood," said no one at the network had given him a direct answer as to what had transpired behind the scenes, and "the lack of any single coherent reason cited by them opens them up to all kinds of conjecture."
The full series, a copy of which was given to The New York Times by an advocate, is often raw, as contestants and judges speak openly about their preconceptions, only to observe in amazement as some of their ideas - though by no means all - melt away. Much of the give-and-take occurs in the series's version of the tribal council on "Survivor," as the three couples charged with giving away the house (bought by ABC for more than $300,000) meet to eliminate one family each episode.
Still, the neighbors' attitudes toward homosexuality constitute the dominant theme. That the tide may be shifting is telegraphed in an all-male scene in a hot tub, of all places, when one neighbor, John Bellamy, observes that Mr. Stewart appears to be softening his views toward gays. "I love you for that," Mr. Bellamy says, before cautioning, "Not in a weird kind of hot-tub love, with no chicks in the hot tub."
For Stephen Wright, who was recruited for the series through his church, which has a predominantly gay membership, the outcome has been bittersweet.
On the one hand, he has yet to achieve his goal of telling his family's story before a big audience. "We opened our souls and the life of our family, and we did it because we thought we could make a difference," he said.
But Mr. Wright said he took solace that through their participation in the series, he and his partner had had a positive impact on at least one relationship, that of Mr. Stewart and his son.
"We said at the outset that if we changed one person's heart or mind, it would be worth it," he said. "We have empirical evidence we did that."
"And," he added, "we won a house."
Copyright 2006The New York Times Company
Friday, January 20, 2006
"WE" CAN NOT CATCH A FLEA......
"WE" refers to those currently in power.
I am so so so sick of the bullshit. The polls show the numbers dropping and what do we have. Why, voila...a new tape from Mr. Bin Laden. What's he saying? Oh, just that we will see "more" terrorist attacks in the US of A.
Duh. This is news? This surprises any thinking American? Why less then six months ago we saw how effective our Home Land Security office can be. We have seen billions of dollars thrown somewhere for something but it certainly has nothing to do with protecting any of us from anything.
Does anyone seriously think that the current jokers in power are able to catch anything other than a cold. Hello, did they ever catch the person or persons responsible for the "Anthrax" attacks. Not to my knowledge. Weren't all those packages mailed right here in the US of A.
And we are trying to find a man in another country. Oh please. Such bullshit.
Or how about the fact that we casually drop a few bombs in a country that isn't our own, that we are not at war with, because our crack intelligence agencies tell us some "terrorists" might be having dinner in the house. Oh, and by the way...we might just kill a few innocent people who were in the way. All of this done by the CIA? Would someone please define terrorism? This ISN'T terrorism?
What about the fact that it is perfectly legal to sell one's cell phone records. Just as it appears to be perfectly permissible to use said cell phone while you are driving. What the hell is up?
With all the crap in Washington, with the two bit (and I apologize to the three to twelve people in public office who might be honest) hustlers and money grubbers (and let us not forget the lobbyists too) managing to leverage the country for the rich and forgetting about anyone else, to the local yokels trying to force "Intelligent Design" down the throats of students, to the haters who have nothing to do other than to bash people different from them...Well I'm fed up!
What the hell is happening? People just sit by and let this idiot continue to govern. They drag out the ever insipid Laura Bush to cover his ass. Please.
I just don't get it.
The Traditional Media is a joke.
I'm going for my walk.
Then, I'm going to get rid of some of this anger by zipping off another letter to E asking that they ban Isaac from the Red Carpet.
I know what is important!
WHAT ELSE IS ILLEGAL?
Thursday, January 19, 2006
TWO STEPS FORWARD...A LETTER FROM GLADD
Dear STB,
This week on ABC's longest-running soap, General Hospital's Lucas, one of the show's principle youth characters, was a victim of a brutal gay bashing.
To help counter the impact of hate and violence, the producers of the Emmy-winning program paired the episode with a public service ad (PSA) urging the show's loyal audience to become "an ally and a friend" to gay people. Ben Hogestyn, (Lucas) and Lindze Letherman (Georgie) send viewers to GLAAD.org to find resources for parents, youth, families and friends who, as straight allies, can help LGBT people in the coming-out process, and help convey the importance of equality, fairness, tolerance, and mutual respect.
The General Hospital episode and accompanying PSA will introduce millions of viewers to GLAAD and our programs, thanks to multiple airings over the next two weeks on both ABC and on the national cable network SoapNet.
Turning a plot development on ABC's leading daytime drama into a "teachable moment" for millions of viewers followed many months of work by Damon Romine, GLAAD's entertainment media director, including media training for actor Ben Hogestyn and story ideas and resources to General Hospital's writers.
Click on GLADD/PSA to view the General Hospital PSA and explore the "Be and Ally. Be a Friend" resource. Even better, copy this address (http://www.glaad.org/PSA2006/) and send it to your straight friends and allies and urge them to help spread the word about this valuable resource.
And please don't forget to click on GLADD to help support the continuing work that makes things like this PSA possible.
Warmly,
Neil Giuliano
President
Monday, January 16, 2006
SHEEZA PHONE HOME
Guess Sheeza is more a movie kinda gal.
Seems she did much better with the film stuff than with the TV stuff.
Rachel Weisz was compelling in The Constant Gardener. It was a fine film as well.
I'll be curious to see if Brokeback can win an Oscar.
But let's talk about Isaac on E.....could that man keep his hands off the boobs? His most consistent question, which was funny the first time was, "what kind of undies are you wearing?"
That and the fact that every time he tossed it back to Ryan Seashell he said "back to you darling!"
Joan was Joan and Missy was Missy and truthfully, I miss Edy Williams and Sally Kirkland.
I miss the bad taste.
There is no style anymore. There are just stylists!
Onward to the Oscars!
Seems she did much better with the film stuff than with the TV stuff.
13 out of 24. Not bad!
Nice to see Philip Seymour Hoffman acknowledged for a remarkable performance in Capote.Rachel Weisz was compelling in The Constant Gardener. It was a fine film as well.
I'll be curious to see if Brokeback can win an Oscar.
But let's talk about Isaac on E.....could that man keep his hands off the boobs? His most consistent question, which was funny the first time was, "what kind of undies are you wearing?"
That and the fact that every time he tossed it back to Ryan Seashell he said "back to you darling!"
Joan was Joan and Missy was Missy and truthfully, I miss Edy Williams and Sally Kirkland.
I miss the bad taste.
There is no style anymore. There are just stylists!
Onward to the Oscars!
Miss SHEEZA WINNER.....PREDICTS:
The Golden Globe goes to:
DRAMATIC PICTURE:
Brokeback Mountain
MUSICAL OR COMEDY PICTURE:
Walk the Line
FOREIGN LANGUAGE PICTURE:
Merry Christmas
BEST DIRECTOR:
Ang Lee
BEST DRAMATIC ACTOR:
Philip Seymour Hoffman
BEST DRAMATIC ACTRESS:
Felicity Huffman
BEST ACTOR, COMEDY OR MUSICAL:
Joaquin Phoenix
BEST ACTRESS, COMEDY OR MUSICAL:
Reese Witherspoon
SUPPORTING DRAMATIC ACTOR:
George Clooney
SUPPORTING DRAMATIC ACTRESS:
Scarlett Johansson
SCREENPLAY:
Paul Haggis and Bobby Moresco, "Crash"
ORIGINAL SCORE:
John Williams, "Memoirs of a Geisha"
SONG
Travelin' Thru, "Transamerica"
DRAMATIC TV SERIES:
Commander in Chief
BEST ACTOR, TV DRAMA:
Kiefer Sutherland
BEST ACTRESS, TV DRAMA:
Geena Davis
TV SERIES, MUSICAL OR COMEDY
Desperate Housewives
BEST ACTOR, TV MUSICAL OR COMEDY
Charlie Sheen
BEST ACTRESS, TV MUSICAL OR COMEDY
Teri Hatcher
BEST MINI-SERIES OR MOVIE FOR TV:
Empire Falls
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN THE ABOVE:
Halle Berry
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN THE ABOVE:
Ed Harris
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN THE MOST BOGUS CATEGORY OF THE ENTIRE GOLDEN GLOBES:
Joanne Woodward
BEST BLAH BLAH BLAH AS ABOVE:
Paul Newman
TALK ABOUT YOUR BAY OF PIGS......
And on the subject of Lying or is that Laying........
Proceed with caution unless you'd like to be bulimic.
Proceed with caution unless you'd like to be bulimic.
CAN'T WE ALL JUST GET ALONG
A step in the right direction:
Two Houston organizations that have fought for years over honoring Dr, Martin Luther King Jr.'s legacy have finally come together to share his dream. They are combining parades!
Happy MLK Day Gang!
STB
Two Houston organizations that have fought for years over honoring Dr, Martin Luther King Jr.'s legacy have finally come together to share his dream. They are combining parades!
Happy MLK Day Gang!
STB
Sunday, January 15, 2006
END OF THE DECADE
The 80's were drawing to a close. I decided it was time to leave New York.I had many reasons for leaving. And so I did just that.
Packed up my stuff and headed for Houston.
I really wanted to be a big fish in a little pond again. I wanted to impact on what was happening in my world. AIDS was happening and I wanted to have impact.
I returned to Houston and joined forces with an organization called DIFFA.
That's me on the left with two other people, Annie and Michael, who were also very closely involved. We were out raising money and raising awareness.
I also spent a great deal of time in Austin, where my friend Jay lived. He returned to Austin to build a house for himself and his sister and his niece. This is a snap of us on the front porch of the rent house they lived in while he was building their house.
That's me, Jay, his sister's wife and his niece behind Jay.
Jay died in May of 1989, Jay's sister and her wife split up. I didn't spend much time in Austin anymore.
I didn't know it then, but I would be heading back to New York City for a brief sojourn and then would head back to Los Angeles, a city I had lived in before.
Friday, January 13, 2006
MOVING ALONG
I know I am not the only one who found the Alito Hearings to be a complete joke.
Why bother? Who has the votes? He is in whether we want him or not. They have the votes. And here's the deal.
Once confirmed Supremes may be removed, only by "Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors."
So we have this loser who can't remember being a member of an apparently racist and mysognistic club while in college. That's odd, I can remember being a member of the homophobic Cub Scouts when I was 8 years old, and I'm older than this phony who will now sit with the Supremes for the rest of my life as well as his.
The "I don't recall" excuse has become all to common in our world today.
I don't recall talking to Abramoff.
I don't recall taking money from Group A, sending it to Group B so that Group B could "launder" it, and send it back to Group A so that it could be used in political campaigns.
I don't recall offering a bribe to someone on the House floor in exchange for a vote.
I don't recall.
When are we going to cut the crap. Who isn't lying?
Think Ken Lay is going to tell the truth during his trial? Think he will even testify?
What's the first line of defense that a child uses? "I didn't do it."
What is the first line of defense a politician uses......the same. From Richard Nixon to big Bill Clinton to George W. Bush. It is always the same. Deny. Tom DeLay. Deny. "Scooter." Deny.
Hey, if you can't deny...then just cut a deal with the prosecutor. In exchange for not denying (or is that only partial denying) you don't have to serve quite as much time and hey you appear to be a hero.
Buy and sell. That's sadly what it is all about. Guess it has always been.
Guess I finally woke up.
I am so looking forward to Sunday!
Why bother? Who has the votes? He is in whether we want him or not. They have the votes. And here's the deal.
Once confirmed Supremes may be removed, only by "Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors."
So we have this loser who can't remember being a member of an apparently racist and mysognistic club while in college. That's odd, I can remember being a member of the homophobic Cub Scouts when I was 8 years old, and I'm older than this phony who will now sit with the Supremes for the rest of my life as well as his.
The "I don't recall" excuse has become all to common in our world today.
I don't recall talking to Abramoff.
I don't recall taking money from Group A, sending it to Group B so that Group B could "launder" it, and send it back to Group A so that it could be used in political campaigns.
I don't recall offering a bribe to someone on the House floor in exchange for a vote.
I don't recall.
When are we going to cut the crap. Who isn't lying?
Think Ken Lay is going to tell the truth during his trial? Think he will even testify?
What's the first line of defense that a child uses? "I didn't do it."
What is the first line of defense a politician uses......the same. From Richard Nixon to big Bill Clinton to George W. Bush. It is always the same. Deny. Tom DeLay. Deny. "Scooter." Deny.
Hey, if you can't deny...then just cut a deal with the prosecutor. In exchange for not denying (or is that only partial denying) you don't have to serve quite as much time and hey you appear to be a hero.
Buy and sell. That's sadly what it is all about. Guess it has always been.
Guess I finally woke up.
I am so looking forward to Sunday!
Tuesday, January 10, 2006
OH TO BE IN POLITICS
I often joke about running for office.
Now I'm beginning to wonder. Would holding an office be the quick way to riches?
That said, I love what is happening in Washington.
The same thing could be happening in every city and town in America where there are elected officials.
Where there is an elected official, there is sure to be a lobbyist with a wad of cash or some fun lunches, dinners or even a golf trip or two not far behind.
I love the snipping about the Abramoff scandal. Is it just the Republicans who took Abramoff's money? The Democrats appear to have taken money from Abramoff's clients, not Abramoff directly. Is there a difference? Smells like the DeLay defense! It wasn't the same money.
Let's face facts. When you have idiot Congress people using the excuse that the legislation being put forward in the House and Senate is too complicated to understand without a lobbyist being there to simplify it, you have to wonder who are these people we elected. What can be so complicated?
Hello, who is writing the legislation? Hello, if you are not writing it so that it can be understood, who is writing it so that it can not be understood?
We have no viable health care. Tell the insurance companies it's over. Tell their stock holders to suck it up, just like Big Biz tells every retiree that....oh too bad, we decided not to honor your pension program.
Is it time to socialize medicine? Make a quick study of the various systems currently in place, improve on those systems and voila. Viable coverage, doctor's making viable livings, citizens being cared for. Citizens being employed by their fellow citizens, not by Big Biz, to run the program.
OK, so maybe it isn't so easy, but it can't be what it is today. Is all legislation being written by Big Biz? Is this true in the city or town where you live? I have not paid close enough attention in my city but I'm going to now. I want to know who is paying for what and what they are getting in return.
It is all about access and I guess always has been.
I went to hear a local politician speak last year and aside from some rather tepid programs to combat graffiti, the gist of what she had to say what that she needed money to win. Five minutes on the issues, 20 minutes on the money.
We know something is rotten. We just don't want to know how rotten.
So now the Republicans are scrambling. They want to add more layers, more government. They want the "ethics" rules strengthened. Guess they better call in their pals from K street and get some rules written!
AND........
Betcha Tom DeLay gets re-elected!
Now I'm beginning to wonder. Would holding an office be the quick way to riches?
That said, I love what is happening in Washington.
The same thing could be happening in every city and town in America where there are elected officials.
Where there is an elected official, there is sure to be a lobbyist with a wad of cash or some fun lunches, dinners or even a golf trip or two not far behind.
I love the snipping about the Abramoff scandal. Is it just the Republicans who took Abramoff's money? The Democrats appear to have taken money from Abramoff's clients, not Abramoff directly. Is there a difference? Smells like the DeLay defense! It wasn't the same money.
Let's face facts. When you have idiot Congress people using the excuse that the legislation being put forward in the House and Senate is too complicated to understand without a lobbyist being there to simplify it, you have to wonder who are these people we elected. What can be so complicated?
Hello, who is writing the legislation? Hello, if you are not writing it so that it can be understood, who is writing it so that it can not be understood?
We have no viable health care. Tell the insurance companies it's over. Tell their stock holders to suck it up, just like Big Biz tells every retiree that....oh too bad, we decided not to honor your pension program.
Is it time to socialize medicine? Make a quick study of the various systems currently in place, improve on those systems and voila. Viable coverage, doctor's making viable livings, citizens being cared for. Citizens being employed by their fellow citizens, not by Big Biz, to run the program.
OK, so maybe it isn't so easy, but it can't be what it is today. Is all legislation being written by Big Biz? Is this true in the city or town where you live? I have not paid close enough attention in my city but I'm going to now. I want to know who is paying for what and what they are getting in return.
It is all about access and I guess always has been.
I went to hear a local politician speak last year and aside from some rather tepid programs to combat graffiti, the gist of what she had to say what that she needed money to win. Five minutes on the issues, 20 minutes on the money.
We know something is rotten. We just don't want to know how rotten.
So now the Republicans are scrambling. They want to add more layers, more government. They want the "ethics" rules strengthened. Guess they better call in their pals from K street and get some rules written!
AND........
Betcha Tom DeLay gets re-elected!
Sunday, January 08, 2006
ISSUES
WHAT CAN I SAY. I AM HAVING COMPUTER ISSUES. HAPPY SUNDAY GANG!
STB
Saturday, January 07, 2006
I WATCHED THE BOOK OF DANIEL AND I DON'T EVEN LIKE JESUS
A smart Desperate Housewives?
Did anyone else see The Book of Daniel?
I really thought it was the smarter version of Desperate Housewives (which I have only seen once and think is really vacuous.)
I love The Book of Daniel. From the pill popping Daniel, who chats with Jesus, to his wife who loves her martinis, to the adopted Chinese son, it worked for me.
The gay son, who strangely had a haircut mid-way through the two hour premier, is fully accepted by his parents. We have lesbians, a person with alzheimer's, and a father figure who does not practice what he preaches. And Ellen Burstyn. Who knew.
The funny thing was that in the time slot prior to the debut, on my local NBC channel, there was an hour long special program, touting Pat Robertson's new book. Actors recreating "miracles." I called in to the station to PROTEST.
Did anyone else see The Book of Daniel?
I really thought it was the smarter version of Desperate Housewives (which I have only seen once and think is really vacuous.)
I love The Book of Daniel. From the pill popping Daniel, who chats with Jesus, to his wife who loves her martinis, to the adopted Chinese son, it worked for me.
The gay son, who strangely had a haircut mid-way through the two hour premier, is fully accepted by his parents. We have lesbians, a person with alzheimer's, and a father figure who does not practice what he preaches. And Ellen Burstyn. Who knew.
The funny thing was that in the time slot prior to the debut, on my local NBC channel, there was an hour long special program, touting Pat Robertson's new book. Actors recreating "miracles." I called in to the station to PROTEST.
Friday, January 06, 2006
GOOD TIMES AND BUM TIMES, WELL MY DEARS, I'M STILL HERE
First off, let me say that I certainly appreciate all the comments generated via my last post. I have no intention of departing from the blog world any time soon. I was simply stating that I found myself at the computer a great deal of the time and found this to be somewhat disconcerting. But it is all about the balance and I'll find it....cause I love reading everything all of you have to say on your blogs as well as your comments on mine!
But enough about me.
Do you like my dress?
NO, wait. I want to know if you like Christiane Amanpour's dress. What is up with this? Is it possible that the Shrub and his minions are spying on reporters. Is it possible that corporate types at NBC know this and are covering it up?
Tragically 12 miners die in West Virginia and the TM (Traditional Media) goes into the usual frenzy. Tragically 129 die in Iraq in car bombings and everyone yawns.
Balance. Where do we find the balance.
We have a president who is lying, spying and generally not really doing a very good job. We have a government and it's agencies which have been gutted by those in power for the last 10 years.
Was the Contract with America really the Contract on America?
Look at FEMA, look at NIOSH, look at the FDA, the FCC and the SEC. Who are they protecting. You and me? Only if we happen to own the trailer manufacturing plant, or the coal mine, or a drug company or a television station or a bank. Or indeed if we are a stock holder in any of those businesses. None of these agencies now appear to be concerned with protecting us. This is "too much regulation." This is "big government." That is all Republican double speak. Dems stand by and fiddle while this happens.
People and a city are abandoned. Miners are exposed to mines rife with safety violations. Drugs are kept from or rushed to the market depending on who has the best access to the powers that be. Goodness knows the world can not live without Viagra, but it can live without the Morning After Pill.
Martha Stewart goes to jail and Ken Lay is still prancing around Houston blaming everyone else in "his" company for the downfall.
Leaders in the Baptist Church (see Lonnie Latham) proposition undercover police for sex (a blow job to be exact) and say they are "ministering to homosexuals." Go ahead. Google him.
Lonnie is a hetro and he can get married. I'm a homo and I can't.
Balance. Where is the balance.
ZETA may make it into the record books as a hurricane! How's that for a capper to last year and a hellava way to start off this year?
Global warming? Kyoto Accord. Nah..not necessary.
What's up with this Pat Robertson character. NBC is planning a new show where an actor playing a minister talks to another actor playing Jesus. Two network affiliates decline to broadcast the program, sight unseen. Yet Pat Robertson, speaking for god says that New Orleans deserved the hurricane, the United States should condone the assassination of a world leader, and that Ariel Sharon was afflicted with a stroke because he "gave away god's land. First of all, I didn't know god was a property owner and secondly, this man is on TV. He is insane. Why doesn't someone step up to the plate and say so?
No, I'm not going anywhere. There is to much to discuss, there is too much to learn, there is too much that has to be changed.
Balance. Or not. I'm here my dears!
But enough about me.
Do you like my dress?
NO, wait. I want to know if you like Christiane Amanpour's dress. What is up with this? Is it possible that the Shrub and his minions are spying on reporters. Is it possible that corporate types at NBC know this and are covering it up?
Tragically 12 miners die in West Virginia and the TM (Traditional Media) goes into the usual frenzy. Tragically 129 die in Iraq in car bombings and everyone yawns.
Balance. Where do we find the balance.
We have a president who is lying, spying and generally not really doing a very good job. We have a government and it's agencies which have been gutted by those in power for the last 10 years.
Was the Contract with America really the Contract on America?
Look at FEMA, look at NIOSH, look at the FDA, the FCC and the SEC. Who are they protecting. You and me? Only if we happen to own the trailer manufacturing plant, or the coal mine, or a drug company or a television station or a bank. Or indeed if we are a stock holder in any of those businesses. None of these agencies now appear to be concerned with protecting us. This is "too much regulation." This is "big government." That is all Republican double speak. Dems stand by and fiddle while this happens.
People and a city are abandoned. Miners are exposed to mines rife with safety violations. Drugs are kept from or rushed to the market depending on who has the best access to the powers that be. Goodness knows the world can not live without Viagra, but it can live without the Morning After Pill.
Martha Stewart goes to jail and Ken Lay is still prancing around Houston blaming everyone else in "his" company for the downfall.
Leaders in the Baptist Church (see Lonnie Latham) proposition undercover police for sex (a blow job to be exact) and say they are "ministering to homosexuals." Go ahead. Google him.
Lonnie is a hetro and he can get married. I'm a homo and I can't.
Balance. Where is the balance.
ZETA may make it into the record books as a hurricane! How's that for a capper to last year and a hellava way to start off this year?
Global warming? Kyoto Accord. Nah..not necessary.
What's up with this Pat Robertson character. NBC is planning a new show where an actor playing a minister talks to another actor playing Jesus. Two network affiliates decline to broadcast the program, sight unseen. Yet Pat Robertson, speaking for god says that New Orleans deserved the hurricane, the United States should condone the assassination of a world leader, and that Ariel Sharon was afflicted with a stroke because he "gave away god's land. First of all, I didn't know god was a property owner and secondly, this man is on TV. He is insane. Why doesn't someone step up to the plate and say so?
No, I'm not going anywhere. There is to much to discuss, there is too much to learn, there is too much that has to be changed.
Balance. Or not. I'm here my dears!
Tuesday, January 03, 2006
HOOKED ON TRONICS
Yes. True.
I can NOT get away from my computer.
Five years ago, I clearly remember saying to someone that I couldn't imagine sitting in front of a computer screen for hours on end. At the time I was happily working in France and was lucky not to have a job that required vast amounts of time working with a computer.
When my job ended in France and I returned to Houston I was still someone who turned on his computer in the morning, checked his emails, read the NY Times and then went into hibernate mode. I might check my emails again in the evening. It just depended on what was happening.
I became aware of chat rooms and other sites and slowly I started to expand my reach. I started to hear voices from other parts of the world. I found that I could indeed get much of my fix for news from the net. Google became second nature to me.
My digital camera, my Creative Juke Box, all become part of the Tronic Arsenal. Hell I was SCANNING!
I learned how to use my computer. Suddenly this electronic thing became a tool.
I remember when we started the war in Iraq. I remember being amazed that I could see live pictures of what was happening there. I could see feeds from various sources which were not filtered by the corporate powers that be. I heard the term blog for the first time. One could read personal accounts of what was happening in and to Iraq.
Then one day. Rosie's blog. Yes, Rosie's blog. How I came to it? I don't recall. I just came to it. She'd been blogging for a while at that point, but her blog was still in it's infancy. I read what she wrote, I read comments. I decided it was time to start my blog.
Now I have to face that fact that I have to say NO.
I can NOT get away from my computer.
Five years ago, I clearly remember saying to someone that I couldn't imagine sitting in front of a computer screen for hours on end. At the time I was happily working in France and was lucky not to have a job that required vast amounts of time working with a computer.
When my job ended in France and I returned to Houston I was still someone who turned on his computer in the morning, checked his emails, read the NY Times and then went into hibernate mode. I might check my emails again in the evening. It just depended on what was happening.
I became aware of chat rooms and other sites and slowly I started to expand my reach. I started to hear voices from other parts of the world. I found that I could indeed get much of my fix for news from the net. Google became second nature to me.
My digital camera, my Creative Juke Box, all become part of the Tronic Arsenal. Hell I was SCANNING!
I learned how to use my computer. Suddenly this electronic thing became a tool.
I remember when we started the war in Iraq. I remember being amazed that I could see live pictures of what was happening there. I could see feeds from various sources which were not filtered by the corporate powers that be. I heard the term blog for the first time. One could read personal accounts of what was happening in and to Iraq.
Then one day. Rosie's blog. Yes, Rosie's blog. How I came to it? I don't recall. I just came to it. She'd been blogging for a while at that point, but her blog was still in it's infancy. I read what she wrote, I read comments. I decided it was time to start my blog.
Now I have to face that fact that I have to say NO.
STOP.
PUT YOUR HANDS IN YOUR LAP AND STEP AWAY FROM THAT COMPUTER!
I look up and see that four hours, five hours have passed. I look down and see that my waist line has grown. Indeed I'm moving less and computing more.
This my friends is not good.
Is it time for an intervention? I'm not sure. For now, I'm going to finish this. Then I'm going to turn off my computer and try to stay away till this evening. I will move more.
PUT YOUR HANDS IN YOUR LAP AND STEP AWAY FROM THAT COMPUTER!
I look up and see that four hours, five hours have passed. I look down and see that my waist line has grown. Indeed I'm moving less and computing more.
This my friends is not good.
Is it time for an intervention? I'm not sure. For now, I'm going to finish this. Then I'm going to turn off my computer and try to stay away till this evening. I will move more.
Perhaps what I shall do is give up my evening television time to the computer. Yes, I like that solution. After all, will I be less in the know if I miss E News Daily. If I don't get the latest episode of The Biggest Loser. Do I really need to follow the travails for those tortured souls on Runway? Can I miss that next quad jump and whether or not Ms. Kwan makes the Olympic team. I don't know. I just don't know.
Balance. They say it is all about balance.
What I don't understand is how anyone can claim to be bored.
Balance. They say it is all about balance.
What I don't understand is how anyone can claim to be bored.
Sunday, January 01, 2006
MOVING ON
No, I don't have a cold in my nose.
No, George Bush wasn't sitting at the next table.
No, I hadn't just done a line!
I was just trying to figure out last year.
So as we move into 2006, I think I'll just let go of 2005!
Next week I will pick up the threads of my journey through pictures.
For today.
I might just sneeze.
HAPPY NEW YEAR ONE AND ALL!
STB
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