Who Where? - If you're wondering who the embeds are, where they are, and what they've been writing about the war on Iraq, check out this helpful graphic from Poynter.org. Click on a military brigade and up pops the names of the associated press corps, which are hot-clickable for a Google search of the articles they have authored.

Take Back the Internet - I heartily endorse the practice of scam baiting even if I don't have the time to engage in it myself.

Drew on Sodomy - In his blog he's got a link to his 6,000-word essay on why "non-procreative sex, whether heterosexual or homosexual - should not merely be defended negatively. It needs to be defended positively. It can indeed be an absolute moral good." (Formerly available only with a paid New Republic subscription.) He also praises Slate's account of yesterday's oral argument.

Recap Roundup - Here are the reports and news analyses about the Lawrence oral argument from the NYTimes (which also published extended excerpts), the Washington Post, the Washington Times (ugh), the Los Angeles Times, and USA Today. Here are some photos from the day.

Several papers noted that the battle was almost completely one-sided, and the Times highlighted the polished presentation for petitioners by Paul M. Smith, a partner at Jenner & Block's DC office with much experience arguing SCOTUS cases. According to the story, Nino Scalia filled in for the hapless lawyer from Texas, doing most of the sparring with Smith, who handily sidesteped his attacks. Scalia was in fine form, though, using a hypothetical comparing sodomy laws to prohibitions on flagpole sitting (!) and, when Rehnquist asked if a state could prefer heterosexuals over a homosexual to teach kindergarten, Scalia interjected that disapproval of homosexuality would justify such a decision by the state. Otherwise, he said, children "could be induced to follow the path of homosexuality." According to the LATimes, that comment was met with groans in the courtroom and glares from some of the justices.

The Blade had previously noted that Smith, former editor-in-chief of the Yale Law Review, is also gay. Ironically Smith clerked for former Supreme Court Justice Lewis Powell, who late in life came to publicly regret his swing vote for the majority in Bowers v. Hardwick. He was also on the APA's brief in two of the most important gay rights cases in the last decade, Romer (Colorado's Amendment 2) and Dale (the Boy Scouts).

The lines drawn yesterday were as expected. Only Rehnquist and Scalia (especially Scalia) seemed to openly side with Texas. Thomas was silent as usual. Stevens, Breyer, Bader and Souter all seemed to clearly favor the petitioners. USA Today noted that "Sandra Day O'Connor and Anthony Kennedy, usually the swing votes on the divided court, asked few questions. Their queries focused on Texas' targeting only acts between people of the same sex and not heterosexuals, which might violate the Constitution's guarantee of equality." Sounds like they are in our column, but which theory are they going for? Tune in by June 30 to find out.

TV for Tweens - TiVo found Daria re-runs for me the other day. (It assumed I'd like it because I watch The Simpsons and South Park, and TiVo seems to think all cartoons are created equal.) As it happens, I always loved Daria back when it first spun off from MTV's Beavis & Butthead. Now the show is on The Noggin channel. Like it's Viacom stablemate "Nick at Night," the mostly educational, non-commercial, pre-teen-focused Noggin is pitched to a somewhat more grown-up audience (the so-called "tweens") in the evening, when it becomes "The N." The network has carried Daria since Summer 2002. Where have I been? Thanks TiVo!

Proud No More - Gay Los Angelenos used to tout their openly gay Deputy Police Chief -- once a contender for the top job -- as a sign of growing tolerance on the force. But now he's been relieved of his duties, reports the LA Times, following an investigation into allegations of misconduct in the late 1970s accusing Kalish of molesting a youth in the Explorer program.

Supremes In Action - Meanwhile, back on the home front, the first articles reporting on the Lawrence oral argument are now out -- the AP and Reuters both have late-breaking updates. A transcript will eventually be available, and perhaps an audio recording, but of course there were no TV cameras allowed.

As close observers will know, the Supremes are being offered two choices for how to strike down the Texas homosexual conduct law:

A. The law is unconstutitonal under the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment because it criminalizes activity based solely on the sex of the perpetrator. (In Texas, straight sodomy is legal.)

B. Under the traditional "right to privacy" argument, which derives from the due process clause of the 5th Amendment, the state must have a compelling governmental interest to regulate a fundamental right of the people. Presumably Texas would not meet this test.

If the court overturns the law, which of these arguments prevails will be crucial in assessing the broader effect of the ruling. Theory A would only apply to the four states with single-sex sodomy laws, while theory B could invalidate generic sodomy laws in nine other states (including Virginia) as well. A decision based on due process would also result in the direct reversal of the SCOTUS itself, which ruled the opposite way just sixteen years ago in Bowers v. Hardwick.

Some pundits might argue that a conservative court like the current one would take the first route, because it invalidates fewer laws and stays away from the murky area of privacy rights, which do not appear in the literal text of the Constitution and which have yielded very controversial decisions like Roe v. Wade's protection of abortion. Moreover, Justice Anthony Kennedy, a crucial swing vote, used the equal protection argument in invalidating Colorado's noxiously anti-gay Amendment 2 in 1996.

I have a different prognostication, however. Times have changed, and even the homophobes in Texas have all but given up on prosecuting gay sex. To them, the real threat is now gay marriage. There is a real possibility that a decision based on the equal protection clause would open the floodgates of litigation across the land. These cases would argue that just as sodomy can't be legal for straights but not for gays, homosexuals can't be barred from state-sanctioned marriage. A wary court would have to have this prospect in mind as it deliberates. And I don't think these justices are ready to clear the way for gay marriage. However, the petitioners and their lawyers at Lambda have given them a way out. By recognizing that the right to privacy applies to gay sex, they can "do the right thing" -- not just for Texans but everyone -- yet save the whole marriage debate for another day.

All this analysis presumes that the court is inclined to rule in favor of the defendants. Initial reports do seem to be positive, even if the court was divided. But Lambda Legal isn't going to put all its eggs in this one basket -- they've begun a new initiative to attack sodomy laws at the grass-roots level. Cross your fingers.

The Onion Goes to War - It's hard to believe this story didn't come from the satirical fake-news outlet, espectially when you zoom in on the photo.

Notorious - Who knew Margaret Cho had a Q&A advice column on gay.com? Love the title.

This is Baghdad - The networks all seem especially enamored with their new high-tech uplinks which permit live video feeds from the battlefield and have harkened the era of the "backpack journalist." Yet for all the impressive display of news gathering gadgetry in Gulf War II, I couldn't help thinking -- haven't I seen this somewhere before? Does that mean it's time for Adam Sandler to bring back his "Iraqi Pete" character? (Lord, but I'm dating myself.)

Alumnae News - Hey Ben, did you know nationally syndicated gay columnist Deb Price was a Stanford grad?

Oscar Who? - I couldn't stomach watching the Academy Awards® myself, but I can let Tom Shales do it for me. In the one chance encounter I had while flipping channels, I actually caught a few seconds of Michael Moore's speech -- "the most outlandish and outrageous disruption of an Oscar program in many years." I lingered just long enough to register what I was watching and then move on as quickly as possible. Too bad I missed the boo-ing.

P.S. I wasn't the only one not watching, but surely that had something to do with how boring the nominees were this year, compared with the other things on the TV that night.

Water, Helen, Waaaater - Yes, the Alabama quarter is out, and it's got Helen Keller on it. The Post notes that, in a breakthrough for the disabled, the coin is the first to use Braille. I think this story speaks for itself.

Another D-Day - This Wednesday, the Supreme Court hears oral (no pun intended) argument in Lawrence v. Texas. The Washington Post has a reminder piece, as does the Washington Blade. Blogger Steve Miller has coverage of the libertarians who have come to the defense of homos, and Andrew Sullivan weighs in with an article for the New Republic (paid registration required, but expect a reprint on his website soon).

Naked Fun - It's been a while since Beaverhausen delivered any prurient content, so here are some not-quite-X-rated naked pics of Joe Millionaire's Evan Marriott. The tone of this article makes me wonder if Cosmo -- much like HBO's Sex and the City -- isn't secretly written by a bunch of oversexed gay men. Do real women actually call themselves "red blooded"? (I don't expect any of our readers to know.)

Scary - Speaking of how seriously Washington, D.C. takes the war on terror, I do hope that a law office that buys gas masks for its entire staff is taking things a bit too far. In any event, we move to the epicenter (Capitol Hill) a week from tomorrow.

And Away We Go - The NY Times checks back in with the AIM Youth crowd, looking at the phenomenon of away messages among college students with always-on campus network connections. Judging by my few online acquaintences still in college, I think this cohort is more apt to use away messages that demand a response. For the friends I have on my buddy list who use AIM both at work and at home, there messages tend to be more informational, letting people know you're around, but specifying why you're not available. So in both cases, I think the statement made in the article that away messages are used to "tell you where I am because I don't want to be left out of the loop" is accurate. But I think that saying "the away message becomes a litmus test for personal worth" is a bit of a stretch for most people. If you're that concerned, I suppose you could always steal someone else's provocative statement.

Schadenfreude - Rob and Ryan: Sorry to hear about the bankruptcy of Sonicblue, the chief competitor to TiVo.

Alien Nation - The NYTimes suggests in this report that Californians don't seem to have much invested in our current efforts in Iraq. The priorities of California just aren't the same as those in Washington, it claims. I'm not necessarily surprised. The attacks of 9/11 never really seemed to sink in, out there on the left coast -- and believe me, this war is all about 9/11. Much like continental Europe, California doesn't seem to register the threat posed by rogue nations and the terrorist free agents they shelter. Bush and many other Americans have come to believe that deterrence and containment is no longer an effective strategy in a world where weapons of mass destruction have become low-tech and easy to build. Maybe Californians can take some comfort in the fact that they don't seem to be at the top of al Qaeda's hit-list, like we are over here on the East Coast. But even the French, who come by appeasement and accommodation to dictators naturally, are learning these strategies won't keep them safe. My West Coast brethren may not like to hear it, but the truth is this is a deadly serious fight for our civilization, and we really are all in this together.

Dotted with a Heart - I hadn't really thought about the level of deception necessary to maintain the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy, but this article from GFN.com illustrates the lengths to which some feel they need to go. These fabrications include letters to gay soldiers handwritten by women in what is sure to be swirly script. Doesn't the military have other things to be concerned with rather than checking up on the contents of love letters?

Freedom Cleaners - Ah, Modesto, or as John described it, California's West Virginia. Now read the story about how vandals targeted a French Cleaners in Modesto this week, in a scenario that is sure to have a lasting, meaningful impression upon all of France. Too bad for the Lebanese owner that he chose to use the word "french" in the name of his dry cleaners.

British Vernacular - In his newest book Pattern Recognition, William Gibson's protagonist describes Britain as the "mirror world." Jamie and I thought that was a pretty apt shorthand for the way everything in England seems completely normal until you get up close and find they are somehow just a little bit "off." It's not just that the steering wheel is on the wrong side, but also that the power plugs are wrong, the money's funny, appliance are too small and the toilets don't quite flush right. The cell phones -- sorry, mobiles -- seem to be from about 18 months in the future. Their much smaller houses and apartments are a strange combination of solid yet somehow cheap and flimsy construction. But of course the most interesting aspect of the mirror world is the subtle shift in our common language.

Actually, I loved the foreign slang of our Manchester friends. New words are great fun to play with, especially when you find a whole group of people who already know how to play along. Before I forget them and slip back into my native vernacular, I thought I'd share some of my favourites from the trip:

Shag: Well, of course, this is a very appropriate word for the gathering of a bunch of gay ruggers. Among the many four-letter words for fornication, I like this one because it's light-hearted and fun. The way the Brits say it, it's hardly even dirty. Clubs even promote "shag tags" to help their patrons hook up.

Slag: A perfect rhyming companion for shag, slag means slut. Equally appropriate for said gathering.

Back to mine: Where you go to shag a slag. Rather than saying "my place," Brits say "mine," which explains the name of that series of after-hours chill CD's Brian introduced me to.

Welcome to Manchester UK - Jamie and I just got back from Mancs, where we attended the annual rugby clinic put on by the Village Spartans. Thanks to a well-placed contact at US Airways, we managed upgrades both coming and going. I tell you, there's no other way to fly, especially across oceans.

I initially viewed our trip with some exhaustion, coming the day after the closing on our house and less than a week after a business trip to Utah. However, visiting with the rugger buggers in Britain always turns out to be a lot of fun. We also lucked into five days of uncharacteristically beautiful weather, with cloudless skies only somewhat chilled by the expected early Spring winds. We stayed with a transplanted Renegade, who is taking classes at the university while living with three other guys in Hulme (pronounced "Hume") just the other side of the central artery from City Centre. This allowed us to walk practically everywhere we wanted to go. (At 15-20 minutes per trip, and frequent back-and-forths, I've not done so much walking in a year at least.)

After a Thursday morning nap to recover from the redeye, we convened with some other clinic participants at Via Fosse in the "Gay Village" (a governmentally recognized neighbourhood name) just off Canal Street. We then caught the traditional double-decker bus home for tea. In the evening, we took a circuitous route back to the Village so that we could pick up our host's boyfriend, who has a very nice flat in the renovated industrial district of Castlefields (once upon a time, the original Roman city). We dined just down the canal at Spirit, another restaurant/bar popular among the local homos. Afterwards, our destination of choice was Cruz, your typical gay dance club where I was impressed at the way the bouncers made the straight people go to the back of the line.

The next day we had mostly on our own, so of course we slept in until 1 p.m. After that, we caught some stragglers at Via Fosse who oriented us towards the city's shopping district north of the Picadilly Gardens to Dean's Gate road. There are really some nice places to shop in the center of Manchester, and the street scene seems pretty young and hip. The look is kinda Euro-student, with lots of striped-arm jackets and punkish graphic tees. Anyone not wearing Adidas running shoes had on funky trendy footwear, and bed-head hairdos and buzzcuts abounded. The effect was basically that every male under the age of 45 looked quite convincingly "urban gay." (I must admit however that there was only a spare smattering of Abercrombie observable, mostly Brits who've been to America and brought it home where it can still pass for cool.)

Friday night we caught a ride with our hosts boyfriend out to the training grounds to start the real portion of the clinic. Jamie practiced with the 50 or so rugby players who had gathered from such far flung clubs as Dallas and New York. Closer to home, the clinic represented the first formal outting by the new Scottish team from Edinburg. Besides the Spartans, the Thebans (get the theme?) were the only ones to bring a full 15-man side. While Jamie and the others drilled, I moseyed inside the clubhouse and took advantage of one of its three bars with fine English brews on tap. (Note: you typially order draft beer in England by type -- i.e. bitter, smooth, lager -- not by brand.) When training ended, the gang all converged on the clubhouse and enjoyed a few pints before most of us turned in for the night.

Saturday was an early start because there were two matches to play before attending an afternoon professional match featuring hometown heros the Sale Sharks of the Zurich Premiership. Play was supposed to begin at 10:30 a.m. though we got off a bit late. The day on the pitch was gorgeous. Jamie lasted about five minutes before his previously dislocated shoulder popped back out on him. While that knocked him out of the match, and put him on a steady diet of ibuprofen for the rest of the visit, nothing could keep him away from a good wash up with ruggers before joining me upstairs in the pub for beer and a lunch of meat pie, smashed pies and chips -- a local delicacy. After we went to watch the pros, we came home back to Salians to meet my college mate (and once-upon-a-time Beaverhausen commenter) Adam who had taken the train up from London for the evening. Another pint or two and we were headed home to Hulme to wash up and get ready for the night. Left to our own devices by our host, his roommate Richard generously became our guide and showed us out to dinner at Ikea. Well, actually, it was Kro, but it was exactly what you'd expect dining at a Danish restaurant. Gathering at Spirit after the meal, our portion of the crowd ultimately decamped to Poptastic, where they had cheesy 80's and current dance standards at extreme volume on the sound system and "cheeky vimto" at the bar -- a syrupy sweet concoction of port wine and Blue WKD. Man the Brits sure do love their alcopops! (Just your style, Ben.)

After a good sleep-in on Sunday, the re-injured Jamie chose to skip the final day of rugby training in favor of culture, and Richard once again volunteered to show us around. We had brunch in the shopping district at Cafe Rouge (despite our renewed aversion for all things French), passed by a big St. Patrick's Day party in front of city hall -- and a much smaller anti-war protest behind it, then hopped the tram for the old shipping docks area of Manchester. Passing the rebuilt Old Trafford stadium -- home to the world-renowned Manchester United soccer club -- on our way, we were headed for the renovated shipping district -- the inland terminus of the famous Victorian-era Manchester Ship Canal. The site now houses The Lowry arts center and the northern Imperial War Museum. Both are fascinating architecturally -- far more interesting than most anything you see in the States -- and the latter was designed by Daniel Liebeskind, of WTC 2.0 fame. It also took a unique approach to exhibition design by holding something called the Big Picture hourly. This audio-visual presentation, projected onto all of the walls of the main exhibition space, definitely represents the avant garde in museum technology. (Look for it coming to a museum near you soon.) After our tour, we stopped back by the Lowry for a bottle of wine with a view of the canal then trammed our way back home. The nights festivities included the traditional kangaroo court and banquet dinner at Via Fosse. Although we were tired from a very fun weekend and not excited about a morning departure for the U.S., we were convinced to make one last club appearance, returning to Poptastic where the music (and annoying DJ) definitely defy Manchester's reputation for good rock and roll. We hung out for awhile but avoided the vimto this time, as morning would come way too soon.

Flying back from England is easier than going there, since you leave mid-morning and arrive in the early evening. On the other hand, you body isn't fooled abotu the fact that your day started at around 3 a.m. EST. After almost 48 hours back in D.C., I'm beginning to readjust although I still wake up too early. Looking back, Jamie and I had a fantastic time and hope to see our old Spartan friends, and new U.S. rugger mates, again soon.

Unintentional self-parody - We're not sure if Chuck B. is still reading the Beaverhausen, but in case he is, here's a link to Corporate Babble, a journal of spin doctoring in the business world.

Whistling Dixie - Uh oh, adult contemporary radio's favorite country divas, the Dixie Chicks, are in hot water over lead singer Natalie Maines' comments to a London audience that "Just so you know, we're ashamed the President of the United States is from Texas." Even though she's since retracted her statement, radio stations and fans are vowing to boycott the Chicks. Note this tidbit from TV Guide:

Several hundred Bush supporters in Louisiana on Saturday used a 33,000 pound tractor to destroy Dixie Chicks CDs and other items after band member Natalie Maines lashed out at America's commander-in-chief. Word has it that some of the protestors also tossed copies of Kelly Osbourne's new disc under the tractor, because, well, it's awful.

I hope this doesn't mean anyone is going to boycott the new celebrity episodes of Trading Spaces since Maines and her mother were the first celebs to make the switcheroo.

Tivo's New Competition - There's word that Tivo has a new competitor in the form of AOL Time Warner. However, based on the product descriptions, I'm not too worried that Mystro TV, is going to put Tivo out of business anytime soon. Mystro operates using the cable system itself to allow viewers to time-shift programming. I, for one, am not convinced that they can pull this off in a way that will be expedient and successful. People haven't really flocked to pay-per-view or video-on-demand technology and I don't see that changing unless it can be done without much effort and with instantaneous availability of the services and programming. So, with Mystro not that big of a concern, Tivo can get back to more pressing matters. The biggest issue, the LA Times argues, is actually its own prohibitively high price tag.

Character Counts - Many of my fellow residents of downtown/midtown Sacramento are up in arms, as it has been reported that New Helvetia, an independent gay-friendly coffeehouse (and THE gathering place for 18-and-under gay and questioning youth) is closing. But to add insult to injury, many fear that the unique character of this former firehouse-turned-coffeehouse will be destroyed as corporate behemoth Krispy Kreme takes over the site. Now, I'm not one to block the "progress" of corporate gentrification...I was thrilled when Pottery Barn opened an urban location at Castro and Market Streets in San Francisco (ideal for quick, free parking!) and I'm excited for the new Pyramid Brewery and PF Changs being built within walking distance of our apartment. There's already a Starbucks and Java City nearby the location of New Helevetia--their coffee wasn't very remarkable, the noise levels had a tendency to be very high, and I can't say that I patronized it very frequently. Nevertheless, I will bemoan the fact that midtown is losing a unique characteristic, because the kids who hang out there have lost a safe place to congregate.

Instant Gratification - It's not just preteen and gayboy early adopters using instant messaging anymore. The NY Times reports that corporate use of IM is catching on. This trend is driven by the fact that employees who grew up on IMming are now entering the workforce and can't imagine life without it. Finally, people who understand me!

Lack of Sense - This ugly design was the top choice for the California quarter? Come on people! The cheesy font used for the "Golden Moment" and the lame "sparkle" used to depict gold in the pan are not worthy of being coined!

Requisite Gay Post - Time had an article about gay fraternities in last week's issue. I have to say, the whole concept is foreign to me, probably mostly because I went to a university where greek life wasn't very important. I have to imagine that on a campus with a really strong history of student involvement in fraternities and sororities, being a member of these cliques is critically important to a sense of belonging. So maybe that's why the groups described in Time came into existence. I'm not the only one to question whether the brothers can keep their promises not to become sexually involved, am I? Isn't the pool of potential gay male dates on the campus of Florida International University pretty small?

In other news, the Washington Post profiles a gay boy who is the captain of his high school dance squad. It's an interesting, but sad comparison to this recent Sac Bee article about the suicide of a gay boy at a Sacramento area high school.

The Lesson of Terry Rakolta - Really, who cares about Michael Savage? It seems as though GLAAD and some other activist groups have worked themselves into a tizzy about the conservative talk radio host's new show on MSNBC. Maybe they've been too busy to notice, but no one watches MSNBC. A high profile protest only brings more attention to a show that most people don't know or care about. Savage does not have the some public notoriety as, say Dr. Laura, for the time being, I don't know what we need to wage a similar type of campaign. Anyways, it doesn't seem like it's going to matter anyway. The concensus seems to be that no matter what your politics, Savage's show is bad TV.

You Can Run... - Jerry Dobson is warning us about "geoslavery" and its threat to our privacy. (Fun to track the AP story back to the press release, eh?) The Oak Ridge prof seems to have quite a thing going on this topic, having given a paper about it last week at the big annual meeting of geographers in New Orleans. (Party time, guys!) He also wrote about it twice before, in 2000 and even way back in 1998, in GeoWorld, where he is a regular contributor. (Oh, you didn't catch that?)

What's it all about? Oh, just that your boss, your parents or your significant other will soon be able to keep tabs on your precise location via the coming ubiquity of personal GPS devices. Comforting, eh? Or do you have something to hide, mister?

Gateway to Discovery - Our friends in Florida have chosen their commemorative quarter design. Despite those who say a hanging chad or a octogenarian driver would have been more apt, I think the inclusion of a space shuttle orbiter is positive and uplifting and not a bad way to tout the state. (Note, however, the article's description of the space shuttle as "20th century.") On the other hand, the Spanish galleon appears just a wee bit derivative to me.

Dude. Sweet. - Put this in the dumb, but amusing category --- a whole article from E! Online revolving around the premise of "Dude, Where's My Oxygen?" I'm just glad that my precious Ashton is safe.

Silent Suffering - As a public service announcement, we'd like to share this website with the millions of Americans who suffer in silence from this debilitating disorder. (Check out especially the program to improve the design of public restrooms.) Huh, it's even based in Bawlmore, hon!

Sprawl Ho! - Beaverhausen hasn't revisited the subject of urban planning much lately, since Adam -- the one reader who cares deeply about such things -- doesn't seem to read us anymore. I know he'd love this WaPo article which argues that some smart growth initiatives actually inflict more sprawl. In particular, many counties surrounding D.C. have attempted to remain "rural" by imposing development restrictions which limit builders to no more than one house for every three acres. (Some even require one home per 25 acres!) But the effect isn't what the regulators had intended:

While the limits on rural building are supposed to be saving farmland, forests and meadows, a regional view of development patterns indicates that many of these anti-sprawl measures have accelerated the consumption of woods and fields and pushed developers outward in their search for home sites. The side effects -- rarely noted in crusades for more "open space" but widely recognized by regional planners -- are twofold.

First, limiting construction to one house per three acres, or five or even 25, doesn't necessarily stop development. It just spreads it out, creating enclaves of estates in "rural" preserves, or what critics call "Gucci sprawl."

Second, even when restrictions are severe enough to halt residential development in one place, Washington's burgeoning population continues to demand new houses, so builders simply go elsewhere, usually farther out.

No one likes the thought of housing and roads eating up the countryside, but as the soon-to-be new owner of a home in the heart of the sprawl, my pocketbook likes the idea that new residents will have the choice of making a ridiculous commute from the exurbs or paying me a heck of a lot of money for my house.

How'd I miss that? - Evan Marriott grew up in Virginia Beach???

Take Out - A gay play first noted in Beaverhausen's September edition has made it to Broadway, and is garnering a new round of media attention from the Times ("dewy, delirious passion") and even the Wall Street Journal ("funny, smart and ... touching"). Perhaps surprisingly, both broadsheets are proclaiming the show's excellence. Apparently much of the crossover appeal comes from actor Denis O'Hare who plays an unusual role of observer to the play's central story -- the uproar that erupts when Darren Lemming, the star player of the New York Empires professional baseball team, comes out as gay. O'Hare's character, money manager Mason Marzac is

Darren's new business manager and unlikely ally, a nerdy, exuberant man who is a whiz at investments but a washout in the snobby precincts of the "gay community." In baseball, he finds a "perfect metaphor for hope in a democratic society," a world in which "everyone is given exactly the same chance. And the opportunity to exercise that chance at his own pace." Where numbers have a quirky power. Where he finally can converse with cab drivers and his five brothers and wear a big, foam rubber finger. And where time is taken for the "home run trot," when "play is suspended for a celebration."

The NYT explains:

A lonely, emotionally constipated gay man whose life takes on meaning when he takes on Darren as a client, Mr. O'Hare's Mason becomes baseball's dream cheerleader. To see him bend and blossom before the mysteries of the game is a bit like watching Cary Grant, in his priggish mode, being thawed out by a madcap Katharine Hepburn in ''Bringing Up Baby.''

The Times notes that the play "has been advantageously shaved and streamlined from three acts to two." Luckily, it has retained its famous "host of good-looking guys standing around naked for the show's already notorious shower scenes." Given all the critical buzz, one wonders if this could be the first gay baseball story to make it in Hollywood, beating out the old odds-on favorite, Peter Lefcourt's The Dreyfus Affair.

Red Letter Day - The Supremes will hear Lawrence v. Texas on March 26th. I doubt I'd be able to attend the oral argument, but maybe I'll go to the town hall meeting Equality Virginia is holding that night in Arlington.

Jimbo Award®-winning Performance - Before accepting this award, I'd like to thank the Academy. Star Fleet of course.

Angle of the Dangle - The WSJ, of all places, has a page-one article about the connection between Viagra and sexually transmitted disease for gay men. It focuses on the campaign by Jeffrey Klausner, San Francisco's director of sexually-transmitted-disease prevention. The latest target of Klausner's never-ending campaign is Pfizer, the impotence drug's maker. He is demanding that they change Viagra's label so that it explicitly warns about sexually transmitted disease and promotes the use of condoms. He also wants Pfizer to send letters to doctors, pharmacists and consumers acknowledging the risk of disease in Viagra users, rewrite its advertisements to mention those risks and to fund an education campaign tailored to gay men. So what's the connection? As the Journal puts it,

[Men] who take Viagra are especially at risk for sexually transmitted disease because it allows them to have multiple erections, with a minimal recovery period in between. That means that at sex clubs and in party settings, Viagra users can have several sex partners, increasing the possibility that disease will spread. Epidemiologists call this "the multiplier effect."

There are other factors at play as well. The street drug crystal methamphetamine is popular in some gay sex clubs. A form of speed, the drug impairs judgment -- and erections. So it is often taken along with Viagra. Under those conditions, safe sex and condoms are sometimes forgotten.

The paper also mentions that Viagra can greatly increased the duration of sexual experience. "Hours of intercourse [!] can contribute to the transmission of the AIDS virus because the friction can cause micro abrasions." That's about as close as they get to a certain queasy subject of what gay men do in bed, and they complete leavely out an entire other major risk factor. Viagra can turn bottoms into tops -- sort of like anti-poppers. Although it may not be P.C. to say so, bottoming bareback is more dangerous than topping without a condom. The fear is that habitual bottoms, who are more likely to be HIV-positive yet less likely to spread the disease, become infectors when they suddenly take the active role. Any thoughts, Ben?

Passings - Always good to remember where we've come from. The NYTimes recently took a look at the life of John Fryer, the famous Dr. H. Anonymous who addressed a 1972 convention of psychiatrists in disguise so that he could come out to his colleagues as gay. Reports indicate he rocked the audience by announcing

I am a homosexual. I am a psychiatrist. I . . . am a member of the APA. I could be any one of more than a hundred [gay] psychiatrists registered at this convention and several of us feel that it is time that real flesh and blood stand up before you and ask to be listened to and understood, insofar as that is possible.

A year later homosexuality was removed from the "official" list of mental illnesses, the DSM. Clear your calendars now, we should all celebrate the 30th anniversary of that milestone in December.

Queer Reader - If the inanity of the series telescript doesn't satisfy your cravings, the folks behind Queer as Folk have put the backstory on sale with Every Nine Seconds - A Queer As Folk Novel. Here's the book jacket sketch:

Before they were grown men working and playing in Pittsburgh, Brian Kinney and Michael Novotny were high-school friends dealing with bullies, secret crushes, and their emerging sexuality. Step back in time with two of QAF's hottest characters in the first book in this provocative new series.

Ugh. Are homos really dumb enough to read this stuff? Sure, I used to read Alan Dean Foster's pulp novels based on the off-camera lives of the Star Wars gang, but that was when I was nine. QAF seems like an odd candidate for spinoff fiction. Showtime's gay soap opera is supposedly intended for mature audiences. Oh, what am I saying? Forget I mentioned it.

Hi from the Beehive State! - Yeah, I've been traveling like crazy, no time to blog. Thanks from Ben for filling in with some great stuff. I'll just stop by to link to Glenn Reynold's defense of sodomy.