Boy Meets Boy - In case you missed, it, there's a fabulously detailed recap of this week's premiere episode of Boy Meets Boy on TV Barn. But I'd like to turn your attention to the review written by Salon's Heather Havrilesky:

"Obviously Boy Meets Boy is manipulative and deceitful and dirty, but what's really appealing -- or, I mean, appalling -- is that the whole point is for the viewer at home to try to figure out who's gay and who's straight. The message here is that you can determine someone's sexuality based on how they dress, talk, hold themselves. But the point is, it's ridiculous to speculate about the sexual preferences of total strangers ... unless you need to because you want to sleep with them, of course. But on TV?"

Hmm...isn't speculating about people's sexual preference what gayboys do all the time? That's why the gay ghetto is so convenient, you generally know where people stand. One question, do celebrities count as "total strangers"?

Havrilesky also ponders:

"Do the gaymates present a homogeneous stereotype of gay men, as some quote-happy professor worried in Monday's New York Times? First of all, three of the suitors aren't even gay. Second, could any group be more homogeneous than the backstabbing harpies of Joe Millionaire or The Bachelor? Unlike the kinds of competitive babes on other shows, most of these men don't seem delusional or histrionic, and few appear to have several years of pageant experience.

Hey, what is up with calling the contenders "mates"? I don't remember there being ANY black contenders on Joe Millionaire, although I think there were some Asian girls. But, then again, for a wannabe model/actress/whatever, getting exposure on FOX or ABC offers a lot more potential than an appearance on Bravo does for the 'mos.

POST SCRIPT - TV Guide has an interview with the first straight contender to be elminated from the show.

Melting Pot - In the September edition of The Atlantic magazine, I read an interesting new article, not yet posted online, by David Brooks. The story was about diversity and the gist was that a diverse society gets a lot of lip service, but not much action. Diversity is undermined because people make choices to be insulated and surround themselves with other people like them. He cites some interesting examples, which are clearly relevant for readers of this blog:

"In the Washington, DC area, Democratic lawyers tend to live in suburban Maryland, and Republican lawyers tend to live in suburban Virginia. If you asked a Democratic lawyer to move from her $750,000 house in Bethesda to a $750,000 house in Great Falls, she'd look at you as if you had just asked her to buy a pickup truck with a gun rack and shove chewing tobacco in her kids's mouth."

What do you think, John? Is this a fair generalization of the biases of lawyers in Washington?

Next up, Brooks mentions some statistics about education levels that are clearly supposed to resonate with readers of The Atlantic, and translate well for Beaverhausen readers:

"Think of your twelve closest friends. If you had chosen them randonly from the American population, the odds that half of your twelve closest friends would be college graduates would be six in a thousand. The odds that half of the twelve would have advanced degrees would be less than one in a million. Have any of your closest friends graduated from Harvard, Stanford, Yale, Princeton, Caltech, MIT, Duke, Dartmouth, Cornell, Columbia, Chicago or Brown? If you chose your friends randomly from the American population, the odds against your having four or more friends from those schools would be more than a billion to one. Many of us live in absurdly unlikely groupings, because have organized our lives that way."

Well, okay, yes, my twelve closest friends went to college, many have advanced degrees, and mabe even attended an elite university. But, is it overstating the obvious to say that if you attended one of those schools, you would have friends who also attended those schools? In turn, aren't people who graduated from college more likely to attend graduate school than people who have not? Nothing he's saying is a revelation. It's natural to have formed friendships at work and at school, isn't it?

So, let's turn to Brooks' advise in the closing paragraphs of his essay:

"If you live in a coastal, socially liberal neighborhood, maybe you should take out a subscription to The Door, the evangelical humor magazine; or maybe you should visit Branson, Missouri. Maybe you should stop in at a megachurch. Sure, it would be superficial familiarity, but it beats the iron curtains that now separate the nations's various cultural zones."

He's kidding right? Can you feel his disdain in the choices he offers? Not a local congregation, but a megachurch. Not a quaint city with an old fashioned downtown, but Branson. Do any of us really believe that such actions would help the "congealing pot" become the metaphorical "melting pot"?

LEE-jit-a-mit Th-HEE-ater - As a fan of creators and stars the now-defunct television showStrangers With Candy that parodied the "Afterschool Special" format, I was excited to attend a staging of scenes from their new book, Wigfield. went to see some last night. I had fifth row seats for the performance featuring Amy (sister of David) Sedaris, Paul Dinello and Steven Colbert (of The Daily Show with John Stewart) as a variety of characters who inhabit the fictional town, that consists mainly of "gentlemen's clubs and mortuaries." The gimmick of the book is that you've got the three actors made up to look like outrageous characters who inhabit the town. The play left something to be desired, as the photographs from the book were projected on a screen while the actors adopted different voices for short monologues from each character, yet remained dressed in their own clothing. I was amused by the characters they created, but there weren't many belly laughs. I think one of the most appealing parts of SWC were the accoutrements of ugliness Amy Sedaris put on to become Jerri Blank. However, one highlight for me was the crowd, which was an odd mix of San Francisco-style diversity: lots of tatted-and-pierced bike messenger types, stylish young women in all black, and an inordinately large number of gay bear-types. For people watching alone, it was worth the price of admission.

The Silver Line? No end-to-end service to Dulles Airport, but Metro just took a huge step towards expansion as Virginia has embraced an 11-mile spur from West Falls Church, through Tysons Corner. The plan makes possible a future expansion to the airport. But couldn't we have decided on a better color? Sure, Maryland has reserved purple. Isn't pink back in?

Governor Sixpack - And on a lighter note...with the deadline to register for the recall less than 2 weeks away, candidates coming out of the woodwork...and not just the names you might have heard before. Many Joe and Jane Sixpacks are throwing their hat into the ring, reports the Ventura County Star. In an insane contest like this, wonder who the bookmakers will place the odds on?

A Plan of Attack - Those of us who live in cosmopolitan capitals (or California) aren't used to being on the defensive on gay rights. But there are times when a shift in strategies is necessary. Above all else, it is incredibly important that we prevent the adoption of a Federal Marriage Amendment to the Constitution. And that probably means alliances with tolerant people on the other side of the divide who express honest qualms about gay marriage. We need a lot of friends to take on the opposition, especially as we see a renewed anti-marriage push by the Pope and his revanchist advisers.

A classic error in the conquest of any new territory is to push your advancing armies too far too fast while failing to consolidate and fill in the rear flank. The ground here (middle American public opinion) isn't ready yet for gay marriage. As legal events propel us forward at incredible speed, we need to figure out right now what we can do to change that fact, or -- if that can't be done in time -- to slow the rush to the final showdown.

A Moment in Time - What can I say about Bush's comments on gay marriage yesterday? Can it be that surprising that a conservative isn't on the vanguard of gay marriage? Even Howard Dean couldn't support it at the HRC confab the Democrats attended this month. The positive spin from Log Cabin types is that he is still walking that tightrope, throwing a bone to the religious righters while being fuzzy on whether he'd actually support a Constitutional amendment to block gay marriage. Whatever the case, don't doubt for a moment that the entire exchange on gay marriage wasn't precisely scripted for him -- from the quote from Matthew to the aspiration that American society be "welcoming."

It seems to me the sudden rise in prominence of the gay marriage debate marks a very important time for gays and their allies to take stock of their position and try to figure out our next steps. Most important is a cold, rational discussion of how quickly we can reasonably expect mainstream America to get behind our progressive agenda. After all, I remember distinctly how a colleague, a 40-something liberal woman from New Jersey who likes to call herself my "Jewish mother," expressed her kneejerk opposition to gay marriage when I first discussed it with her. I've always thought it a good rule of thumb to think about how my parents and their friends feel about an issue. It's not a bad guage of where the center of the country is. Expecting someone like W (or even Dean) to be far off that mark is perhaps pretty brazen.

Sure, there's a place for revolutionary moments in the progressive struggle. But for them to succeed, it takes years of groundwork behind the scenes. The Lawrence decision was ultimately unexceptional because groups like HRC, Lambda and GLAAD had work for 15 years to prepare the public to receive it. Why should we think gay marriage should be any different? There's a lot more we need to do before ANY president could appear at a press conference and be substantially supportive of gay marriage.

Everybody's Doing It - So, where's your tattoo? The NYTimes checks in with Maryellen Needham, a creative director for American Rag, a vintage-design-inspired company created in partnership with the owner of Bloomingdales and Macy's, as she scouts for new models. And what has she found? "'No matter where we go, the kids are all tattooed. They have tattoos on their necks, all kinds of tribal stuff, dreadlocks,' and just as surprising, Ms. Needham added, that cheesiest emblem of 70's hedonism, pukka shells." Ah, the mainstream rebellion of getting inked and wearing a necklace. Hmm, could it have been The Gays who pioneered this now-tired trend?

From the Rose Garden - Bushie this morning responsed to a question about gay marriage by saying: "I am mindful that we're all sinners and I caution those who may try to take a speck out of the neighbor's eye when they got a log in their own. I think it is important for our society to respect each individual, to welcome those with good hearts." Regardless of the underlying intent of his statement, the criticisms are sure to arise about the President equating being gay with sinning. Love the sinner, hate the sin, but be sure to remind the American people that it is a sin. As John posted yesterday, no wonder gays are facing a backlash.

Anastasia's Facelift - Gentle Readers, as you may have noticed, the free, incredibly unreliable system we use for comments on Beaverhausen Blog has been even more buggy than usual. We feel a need to correct this problem and are thinking about upgrading the site overall and selecting our own domain name. We'd appreciate any comments or feedback you might have about Moveable Type, web hosting companies you'd recommend, and any suggestions about a new URL for the site. And, of course, if you can't get a comment to post, please email John or me directly.

Boy, Oh Boy! - So, how bout that Boy Meets Boy, eh? The production values left a bit to be desired, but this is basic cable after all. I loved the closing disclaimer: "The producers have consulted with the Leading Man regarding his choice of elmination, but the Leading Man has made all final decision on his own." Uh, clearly they did influence him because our boy James seemed SO ready to get rid of Dan. I'm thinking the producers gently goaded him into letting Dan stick around for a little extra eye candy and whole lot of drama. And poor Robb...everyone thinks he's gay! I found it to be a dumb, fluffy, but ultimately engaging show, mostly because James Getzlaff comes off as very sincere and approachably attractive.

The Chicago Trib reports that should Boy fly, there are plans to do a female version next season. Better start the search for lipstick lesbians now! Will Dani Behr host this version too, which Ananova imprecisely calls "a gay version of Big Brother"? Not if the critic from the Baltimore Sun has anything to say about it! "Speaking of cheap cheese, there's the host, Dani Behr, who looks better-suited to working a street corner late at night in the rundown, old Hollywood section of Sunset and Vine than she does emceeing a prime-time television show. But Behr really is too, too much to bear, with her phony hugs, puffed-up platinum hair-do and tinny, tabloid British accent." Well, she does sorta look like a drag queen, so maybe they were hoping that she'd fit right in.

School's 'Out' at Gay High - Oh, those witty headline writers at the NYPost. How do they do it? Unsurprisingly, the tabloids got to this story first, but while the Times has flaked on the story altogether, the AP now has a report on the first all-gay public high school in NYC.

I've gone on record as questioning the wisdom of taking gay kids out of the mainstream. Sure, most "special" schools in the NYC system are probably better at delivering an education than their mainline counterparts. (Think any straight students will play gay to get in?) Moreover, I'd bet the majority of students attending Harvey Milk have had real problems learning in the general population -- either because they get picked on or because they get too distracted by their need to act out. (Something that would likely impact their fellow student's learning as well, so maybe it's good if they leave.)

Wouldn't it be much better, however, if the regular schools were better at both educating all kids and promoting tolerance? Segregating students by sexual orientation doesn't do anything to bring that goal closer to fruition.

Did Jon Galt make the book? - Check your local Borders for a store copy of Timothy Greenfield-Sanders's new photo-portraiture book that isn't shrinkwrapped.

Slice & Dice - Blake, our at-large media critic, writes to say he loved FX's hip new plastic surgery drama Nip/Tuck. Professional TV watchers agree. Ben, is there any room on your TiVo for this one?

Back to the Bad News - As my friend Scott doubtlessly heard first hand at the 2003 National HIV Prevention Conference in Atlanta, there has been a spike in the number of new AIDS cases -- most markedly among gay and bisexual men.

While we lament the complacency at the heart of this trend, should we be surprised? It's only logical that, as medical breakthroughs make a dreaded disease more treatable, there will almost certainly be a lapse of prevention. At the same conference, attendees also reported on the invention of fancy new tools in the AIDS fight: a quick oral test that yields results in 15-20 minutes and a test that can tell if an HIV+ person was infected within the last six months. The HIV/AIDS crisis sure has done some amazing things for the advancement of medical technology, but those breakthroughs, ironically, seem to be part of the larger problem.

Meanwhile, in the Blue States - Don't tell the NYTimes we gays are less popular this month. In a front pager, the gray lady declares that gay TV is in. The article posits that "the growing prime-time roster of gay-themed programming ... reflects a major shift in attitudes about gay subjects." It notes even last season's dismal post-shark-jumping Will & Grace was the third most watched sitcom on TV. According to the Times, there seem to be two major underlying phenomena here: first, the corporate advertising world has finally gotten over its jitters about homos; second, the crushing level of competition in the television industry has forced executives to seek out more daring shows. Not everyone is happy, of course. Leftist queers and right-wing bible thumpers are equally enraged that gay TV doesn't reflect their blinkered world views. And who can't be pleased by that?

In A Sea of Good News... - What to make of this CNN/USA Today poll that seems to show growing intolerance against gays following the Lawrence decision? According to the survey, support for legalizing adult consensual homosexual relations actually dropped significantly, from 60% in May to 48% in July. The shift was most dramatic among blacks -- down from 58% to 36%. Moreover, the poll was the first since 1997 to find a plurality stating that homosexuality was an unacceptable lifestyle.

So what did we do to deserve this? Is it the backlash many were expecting -- perhaps strengthened by all the media play on gay marriage? Maybe. It also may simply be an example of the underdog effect, where you tend to lose some supporters as the outmatched side makes sizable gains. Either way, I have to believe it's a momentary blip. We've come too far, too many of us are "out," we're too much a recognized part of American social life to retreat. The agenda is at stake, and we won't be denied. Onward, homo soldiers!

Money Talks - The RIAA has a new figurehead, replacing John's favorite Hilary Rosen, "who earned more than $1 million as the chairwoman of the Recording Industry Association of American, a position she held from 1998 through this June, when she stepped down to spend more time with her family." With a salary like that, no wonder the RIAA is so keen to be protecting record sales.

More Queer Eye - Bravo's covert strategy is really to attract more female viewers with gay-themed shows? Hmm...I guess the opposite strategy works for Lifetime, so why not?

Domestic Bliss - From the Sac Bee, there's a report that assures the California Legislature will indeed pass AB 205, dramatically enhancing and extending domestic partnership rights. The bigger question is what effect the recall may have on a gubernatorial approval. This comes as gay rights groups in the state are criticizing candidate Darrell Issa (as noted by John earlier) because of the suspicion that gay marriage is a major, but unspoken issue underlying the recall.

Day Trades - Further proving that California trends spread east, the NY Times profiles Trader Joe's, in a followup to their in-depth report on Two-Buck Chuck. Trader Joe's has been a southern CA "secret" for many years. Valley humorist Sandra Tsing Loh has written extensively on feeling "authentic" by buying high-end but low-priced cheese and wine at Trader Joe's. With publicity like this, seems like the secret is out... but now, can Trader Joe's compete in the big leagues with Whole Foods without offering a full-service deli?

Liza with an X - In a shocking turn of events, and on the same day their appearance on So Graham Norton aired on BBC America, it has been announced that Liza Minnelli and David Gest are finito. I'm sure we're all stunned at this news as Liza and her waxy, gay husband go their separate ways.

Fuckin' Awesome - The Smoking Gun unearths a comprehensive legal defense of "the F word."

Eye on Suburbia - Our London correspondent, an avid reader of the NYTimes Home section (in his fantasies he's a fabulous real estate tycoon), writes to tell us about two recent articles of interest:

In the first item, the Times looks at the high costs of fighting not city hall, but instead the local homeowners association. Adam editorializes that "It is an amazing thing, what some of these [censored] will do to satisfy their power/ego trips." However, I'm not sure whether he means the intemperate loners who try to do things "their way"and end up paying the penalty, or the petty bureaucrats in the association who think someone elected them God. Neither side seems especially sympathetic, if you ask me. How's all this gonna work out in your new neighborhood, Ben?

The second item is an examination of the way new developments and planned subdivisions get their names. Apparently even tony New York City addresses can't resist the temptation to "play dress up" with their names. Adam and I always chuckled about the transparent naming conventions of many developments -- not only the incongruous use of British orthography but also the ever prevalent old-country place references. In the end it's hard to take these trite attempts at glamor and cachet seriously. "Cardiff Cwms," anyone? (Oh, how Adam and I love our inside jokes.)

Thanks again for the report from across the pond.

Because You Can - Okay, now I think I have to get a camera phone. Moblogs are just too cool.

Bath House Rules - Ah, the tricky ettiquette of dealing with old trolls in the gym's steamroom who interfere with your playtime with willing hotties. Short answer: either restrict your activities to the Crew Club or politely endure the attentions of the tragically less-attractive.

NYC City Hall Shooting - Without trying to make too much light of the situation, it's fascinating to compare the different angles covered in the reporting of the NYC City Hall shooting.

As John noted, the NY Times story is a bit more restrained, using euphemisms and barely hidden codewords when talking about the gay attacker, Othniel Askew. The story repeatedly mentions the man's attractiveness and allows readers to draw their own conclusions when mentioning that he frequented "Roxy in Chelsea, a raucous dance club." The story later casually lets it drop that Askew had previously assaulted a "domestic partner." (Newsday makes it a little more colorful saying he allegedly chased a naked man down a Chelsea street while wielding a hammer...even though a quote in The Advocate called him "calm"). Further, we hear that "Mr. Askew moved into and began rehabilitating a row house on South Elliott Place in Fort Greene," which makes sense because gentrification is one of the things we homos do best.

Now, the NY Post version of the story is a whole lot trashier. We hear that "cops also found his HIV medications elsewhere in his fastidiously neat Fort Greene apartment." (emphasis mine). It's also here that we see the Times has failed to mention some items foudn in the house, including "Paxil, Zarret and Viagra, as well as gay porn and sadomasochistic material." As John put so well, I wanted to know that, NYT! A little more trashy detail is thrown in, as we're told that Askew "sued a Fire Island gym for $1 millon in 1999, saying he had been injured doing bench presses." Fire Island! Wait, isn't that where The Gays go?

Seems like the line between reporting all the facts and hyping melodrama is getting finer all the time.

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back - Ben, could all those fabulous pro-gay perks recently written into California law be jeopardized if Davis is recalled? Issa is certainly no friend of the LGBTQITS community, getting only a 17% rating from HRC in sole prior term in Congress.

More Gay Marriage - Complaints about CA the recall and budget aside, I live in a state that is making positive strides in acknowledging my relationship. Secretary of State Kevin Shelley's office just sent us our domestic partnership certificate (suitable for framing!) in the mail. (Scan forthcoming.)

The Village Voice makes a case for an even greater expansion of marriage rights for gays. The author points out that even for straight couples, civil recognition of their relationships serves the purpose of sanctifying "some couples at the expense of others." She goes on to point out that this selective legitimacy is more than symbolic. "As soon as the law passed, the University of Vermont announced it would no longer grant health benefits to gay and lesbian employees' domestic partners unless they got legally hitched. Such legitimacy would also help to resolve one of my pet peeves, discussed in this space before. It pisses me off to see the term "partner" being bandied about, as it was in the most recent edition of The Advocate. Another reason that I think a common language to discuss our relationships only heightens the legitimacy of gay marriage.

Spinoff Mania! - Will Joey be the next Frasier?

Speaking of Favorite Shows - Ben, are you just tingling with anticipation for Fox's new drama The O.C. this Fall? (Premieres Aug. 5th) And can you get any hotter than Benjamin McKenzie playing rough trade? (Sporting lots of that b-boy fashion that catches Goldstein's eye, no doubt.) Yum.

Beaverhausen's Favorite New Show - As Queer Eye gets ready to hit the prime time masses, salty old fairy Richard Goldstein offers his take in the Village Voice.

Even an unreconstructed class-warfare Marxist like Goldstein seems hard pressed to dislike the show. Although we get the usual whines about commericalism (capitalism = bad), Goldstein shockingly seems okay with it -- if that's what it takes to get the orientations to just get along. He almost relishes the fun-loving gay acceptance at the heart of the show, including the way it is embraced by the straight fashion victim. (Insert grumbles here about editing and the fakeness of reality TV.)

In an odd side-bar, Goldstein disputes the idea that gays in general have any more style sense than straights, going on to explain the hip-hop jailyard origin of true macho fashion. A fashion victim himself, just how does he know that, again?

PS - My former girlfriend wrote me this week just to tell me she loves the show. Middle America, here we come.

PPS - Bookmark the hints and tips section of the QE website now. It's so useful!

Fruitcake Fracas - The best part about all the newsprint being wasted on the meltdown in the House Ways & Means committee this past week is that the antichrist himself, Rep. Tom Delay, called the anti-gay slurs being slung by Petey Stark (D-Cal.) "incredibly offensive." Guess he should know.

Signs of the Apocalypse - From white whales to purple polar bears?

What is it about phallic plants? The arum here in DC goes for girth while Norfolk's agave is all about length, but either way, there's some serious floral fodder for size queens in the plant kingdom. Blake and I went over to join the throngs viewing the Indonesian corpse flower yesterday -- sure it was big, but we were pretty disappointed there wasn't more of a smell. Maybe that only happens once it has fully opened, but the lines were long enough to discourage a return visit today.

Bonus question for extra points: From what graphically named genus does DC's A. titanum come?

California in Crisis - It's official. Governor Gray Davis will be subject to a recall election this fall. From the unphotogenic Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante to Secretary of State Kevin Shelley (desperately hoping not to appear like the next Katherine Harris) to Rep. Darrell Issa (the sugar daddy behind the recall campaign), all the players are being profiled. But the magnitude of the damage this situation could wreak rivals that of an earthquake. Between the fight for the state's top job and the endless wrangling over the state budget, dot.com disasters and energy emergencies, Newsweek's cover story gets right to the point: California is under seige.

We're maligned for being a state "where nothing is normal anymore." Nevertheless, Newsweek thinks these issues are important enough to bring to a national audience. And why is that? Because the rest of the nation takes its cues from California. "Epics in California matter to the rest of America. The Golden State is the biggest by far, with an economy larger than all but four nations." To the forty-nine other states, "California is our own El Dorado—America’s America—home of start-ups and starting over, of new social trends and of trends from elsewhere writ large."

It's true that California benefits from the allure of beautiful weather, the acceptance of diverse cultures and lifestyles and a robust economy even in the face of a giant deficit. Yet because of term limits and Prop 13, poorly executed deregulation and a flawed system of taxation, we're regarded as a state "that has "lost the ability to govern itself and is in need of cataclysmic political renovation."

I don't disagree. We desperately need reforms. However, a replacement Governor, no matter what party he or she may be from, is not going to be powerful enough to singlehandedly change the tide. It's going to require herculean, cooperative efforts in order to be successful. We've got to keep our eyes open to make long-term systemic changes, not quick fix band-aid solutions.

In a state where people from the rest of the country move to start over (including Gray Davis), a state that only just celebrated its sesquicentennial, are we prepared to think about long term consquences? Whatever the result of this recall balloting, I hope we exhibit leadership from the highest levels of the state government and demonstrate that California is capable of making long-range plans.

Double Agent Website - Drew believes this website is a joke, but it's hysterical, regardless. There's just so much to love at Objective: Christian Ministries --

There's the creationist science fair -- with such delightful projects as little seventh grader Jonathan Goode who proved "Women Were Designed For Homemaking."

Then we have a page devoted to shutting down our second favorite mock-born-again website, the Landover Baptist Church. (Betty Bowers remains number one.)

It took some digging, but my analysis is that this well-crafted website is meant to fool born-agains who legitimately oppose Landover et al. into witlessly promoting this spoof among fellow believers. It apparently worked so well that, at one point, OCM was even hosted by a Christian web service. (Someone must have gotten wise, and they had to move.) Regardless, the parody is so spot-on, it's pure double-crossing chicanery worthy of an evangelical Mata Hari.

Generation E - This WaPo front pager looks like a long advertisement for L'Auberge Espagnole. Like the movie, the article describes how young Europeans are losing their national identies as they move away from home in their 20s and 30s and live abroad in the continent's ever more cosmopolitan capitals. Reminds me of something Simon -- an Irishman -- said in the first episode of RW Paris: that living with six Americans is more of a culture shock to him than being in Paris is.

Mama Saffy - Put the bubbly on ice... Ab Fab is making (yet another) comeback!

A Different Sort of Quota - The WaPo unveils a front-page exposé that shows U.Va. is discriminatory against -- horrors! -- Northern Virginians. As the wealthiest part of the state, NoVa's better schools churn out hundreds of qualified candidates for the number two public university in the country -- so much so that all the spots would quickly be taken if the admissions folk didn't take kindly to those of us from "the sticks." Or so the premise goes, although college officials dispute it. I always wondered how my classmate Tater knew so many people at U.Va. from back home in the lil' Appalachian town of Abingdon.

Sun, Sand and Homos - Jamie and I just spent another deliciously carefree weekend with the boys down on the Delaware shore. There's a whiff of latter-day Rome about the decadance that is Rehoboth Beach. It's just one hedonistic pleasure after another: the evening cocktails, the late evening fine dining ($$$), the outdoor dance clubs, the after-parties, getting home around dawn, sleeping in, the beach crowded with hot guys, splashing in the waves and soaking in the sun... until the evening cocktail hour rolls by again, and you repeat. And let's not forget to mention the rampant casual sex and seemingly prevalent drug use. Caligula would be proud.

But who am I kidding? I thought it was a wonderful weekend, especially since it was our first time down as guests in a summer share. (You know... seven strangers, picked to live in a house to find out what happens when people stop being polite... etc. etc.) Just your typical gaggle of sassy, smart, sexy gay housemates. Who knew it could be this fun living inside a cliché?

I Don't Recall - The campaign to recall CA Governor Gray Davis is swung into high gear this weekend. Davis and his allies started working on rallying their Democratic strongholds and prominent California Democrats voiced their (if, at times, tepid) support for the Governor. There are still questions about the legal procedure to be used to conduct the election/recall, but here's hoping the manuevering isn't dragged out as long as the state budget negotiations have been.

(Don't) Play Ball - Now that Arlington has taken a pass on major league baseball -- screwing the good folks at the Virginia Baseball Stadium Authority in the process -- the chances are much stronger the District could land a team. Two of the potential locations are even quite close to Capitol Hill. Too bad they don't have quite the panoramic view of the Arlington locations, but I'm sure the conference center complex will be lovely. Better shopping too, I bet.

Naming Conventions - Even though the bay is named San Francisco, looks like we may have to start calling the coastal area of Northern CA the San Jose Bay Area. How's life in Baltimore, John?

Queer Eye - I think we can all acknowledge the greatness of Queer Eye. It got some of the highest ratings ever for Bravo (which really isn't saying much.) But the big news (thanks John) is the rumor that NBC has asked the producers to trim an episode down to air in the 30-minute slot after Will and Grace. Who knows...maybe there will be a celebrity edition soon!

World's Biggest Corsage - With the sis in town, I thought it would be nice if we took a leisurely breakfast on the West Steps of the U.S. Capitol. Our meandering then took us down to the United States Botanic Garden, a wonderfully restored conservatory across from the future National Museum of the American Indian.

As it happens, there was quite a buzz at the USBG about their Titan arum, a giant plant which is poised to bloom sometime this weekend. Supposedly the largest flower in the plant kingdom, these guys only open every ten years or so. As one website floridly puts it:

The massive inflorescence consists of a bell-shaped spathe, up to 3 m in circumference, with ribbed sides and a frilled edge, around a central spike-like spadix. On the outside, the enveloping spathe is green speckled with cream, but its interior is rich crimson. At its base, the spathe forms a chamber enclosing the flowers which are carried at the lower end of the greyish-yellow spadix. The inflorescence arises from an underground corm, a swollen stem modified to store food for the plant. This corm, more or less spherical in shape and weighing 70 kg or more, is the largest such structure known in the plant kingdom.

Cool -- well, besides the fact the bloom is said "to smell of a mixture of excrement and rotting flesh." Quite coincidentally, it seems the Norfolk Botanical Garden is experiencing a rare (and sweeter smelling) giant agave bloom as well. Must be something in the water.

Ad Hominems Aren't Us - No, I didn't realize Jonah Goldberg was Lucianne's son, but whatever his hereditary faults, I can't say he's wrong in considering Mickey Signorile "an ass." Talk about a practitioner of the politics of personal destruction. Does anyone else in punditry so relish taking his private, personal sniping at fellow commentators public? I'm with Jonah in refusing to get down into the mud with Signorile, and I also think WBUR's The Connection did the right thing by sticking to guests who could keep their public discourse high-minded and out of the gutter.

If it's okay for school teachers... - So the senior Senator from Utah (why does this kind of thing always come from Utah?) wants to repeal DC's handgun prohibition and create concealed-weapon permits for residents.

While I am sure this will make many a Capitol Hill liberal quake in anger, color me unimpressed. I have never owned a gun -- never had one in the family household growing up, either. Yet I can attest to the weirdly unsettling feeling of living in a city where I know I can't own a gun legally, even though criminals have them and seem pretty comfortable using them too. I actually considered this before I moved to the District, since afterwards the simple act of trying to buy a gun would have been either impossible or entailed lying about my residence on an application.

As a staunch moderate, I believe in reasonable gun control, not abolition. This doesn't align me with that gun-worship cult over at the NRA, but neither do I think that outright bans are the panacea Big Government-types want you to believe. Speaking as someone who lives under a regime where, as the proverb goes, only outlaws have guns, the current system doesn't make me feel safe, and I don't fear Sen. Hatch's plan.

Mind the Gap - It's official, Mrs. Ritchie is shilling for Gap. Madge has a history of commercial endorsements, so I'm not shocked, but she's been such a loud fan of couture that I'm bemused that she'd elect to serve as spokesmodel for a clothing chain for the great unwashed masses.

MTV (Gay) Bash - This week, the Viacom subsidiary aired MTV Bash, a roast for Carson Daly. Of course, Viacom is the same politically correct company that had been considering a gay cable start-up called Outlet, which now seems to be permanently stalled.

When I mentioned Bash to John, his first question was whether it was all gay jokes. And when I thought about it, besides the dumbass girlfriend jokes (hellooo, Tara Reid!) most of the jokes were slams on Carson liking sex with men, specifically Jimmy Kimmel, Nick Lachey and Catholic priests. Sarah Silverman also made the comment that "you may have heard the rumor that Carson has a big dick. Well, it is true. He likes to keep it in his ass and it belongs to P. Diddy."

The show was clearly a baudy affair with words like "asshole" and "faggoty" spoken and not bleeped. But for the network that made gay members of reality TV de rigeur, I suppose I should have been offended at the insinuations made. Who knows, maybe it was all just a part of the test run for the "manly" sensiblities of Spike TV. I can't help but think that much like the "that's so gay" comments on the playground, for the twelve-year-old suburban kid watching Bash at home, these jokes do create a perception that gay=bad that can only be overcome through hours and hours of watching Will & Grace.

Pay Attention to Me! - Everyone is all over the issue of gay marriage. Specifically, its endorsement -- or not -- by seven of nine Democratic presidential candidates at the HRC pander-fest yesterday. I neither attended the headline-grabbing affair down at the Reagan building, nor caught the C-SPAN telecast, but I know people who went, so maybe I'll get a first-hand report yet.

The NYTimes has a round-up, as does the Post, which goes on to provide a humorous take in its Style section. There's also a very good piece in the Philly Inquirer, and the Bawlmore Sun and LATimes also have custom coverage. (Kudos to the HRC's PR geniuses.)

I was annoyed Edwards couldn't show up, since he emails me twice a day, but I guess he did hit the homo circuit last month. I suppose it is a sign that we've arrived -- the articles spend most of their verbage parsing candidate's words about marriage rights vs. civil unions. We've won so many of the culture war's battles that all we have left to fight for is legally sanctioned nuptuals. You kind of feel sorry for the Religious Right's trench warriors, who are relegated to issuing condemning press releases to dreaded Massachusetts court rulings.

While the Democrats will always hold the vanguard on gay issues, it's worth noting how little the bigotry patrol has achieved under an all-GOP federal government. There are still Clinton-era regulations on the books barring employment or security-clearance discrimination because of sexual orientation. Senior GOP leaders meet with gay groups. The White House is mostly silent on the Lawrence ruling. Slouching towards Gommorah, indeed!

Honestly, when leading party candidates are on the defensive about not espousing gay marriage, you should stop and appreciate how far we've come. I'm pretty confident that the Republicans (George Pataki, anyone?) will get there eventually too. They're just slow.

Cool - Now this would be something to see.

We Are Family - As a petition drive begins opposing the Federal Marriage Amendment, I was thinking about an idea I recently read about somewhere. It proposed the concept of a coming-out day for families -- each family that has a gay member would make some kind of public statement of support. In effect, it would leverage the members of our families -- parents, siblings, etc. -- to promote the message of inclusion. It makes me wonder how my mom and dad or Jamie's would feel about such a thing. (Both sets bore two gay kids.)

I know our parents are pretty comfortable at this point with their gay kids. They do quite well with their respective sons-in-law, too. I've never been witness, however, to the parents telling anyone about us. Clearly they have done so, since many relatives and family friends are in-the-know. But every last moment of revelation has escaped my direct observation.

It's a truism that families have to come out (and come out of homophobia) just like individuals do. The words "I have a gay son" (or grandson or brother) can have a powerful impact when spoken to another person. I agree that we could greatly advance the gay agenda if more of our family members spoke up about us.

So the question remains... How far would my parents -- or Jamie's or Ben's -- go in this regard? It's a conversation I've never had with mine. I know they are private people in general, but I'm sure they would publicly support me if it would make a difference. If the marriage amendment really makes it to the approval stage, they are the first line of defense I would go to. So perhaps I'll be finding out.

Arrrrrr, here be Pirates - Jamie and I got out to see Pirates of the Caribbean on Friday, and I'm gonna give it an A. It's been a long time since I could compare a movie positively to Star Wars or Raiders. What an idea -- have an action movie where you actually care about the characters. The result is, finally, a Bruckheimer film you could feel good about. The only criticism I could make is that the flick had a weird tendency to veer from Disney-esque G-rated sweetness to rather gory violence without much warning. The contrast was a bit jarring. The special effects were excellent but didn't assume a life of their own. From what I remember from 10th grade, now they are going to have to upgrade the ride.

From the Hurricane Diverting Dept. - Pat Robertson has launched a 21-day "prayer offensive" to get three liberals from the Supreme Court to retire, the AP reports.

[B]y its distorted reading of the religion clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and its "discovery" of emanations from the 14th Amendment called "penumbras," the Supreme Court is bringing upon this nation the wrath of God when the precious liberties that we love so much may be taken away from all of us.

I feel like I haven't heard much from G. Pat lately, but here he is in the news again. I wonder if he has come back to the forefront because some of the recent torchbearers -- like AFA's Don Wildmon and TVC's Lou Sheldon -- are stepping back. After all, it can't be easy carrying the banner of benighted bigotry and religious myopia in today's society. Makes sense to tag team.

Queer Eyes - The critics have spoken and most agree, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy is actually pretty damn good! Here's looking forward to even more homogay TV later this summer, including Boy Meets Boy and Gay Hollywood.

High Noon: Showdown in the Lunch Hall - Ben, where does your employer stand on the issue of pistol-packin' teachers? Are we surprised that Utah already permits this? Hey, it's not that far of a stretch from letting our airline pilots carry sidearms, is it? I can see the Daria episode now.

But did they wear condoms? - No need, since I'm sure the copulating elephants on Bush's safari were happily married by the conservative religion of their choice and appropriately engaging in non-adulterous, heterosexual procreation. Nino Scalia would approve.

Lawrence Redux - For the would-be legal scholars out there, this NRO column by Cato Institute fellow Randy Barnett merits reading. He examines a question that has been nagging me since the Lawrence decision first came out: Where was the Court's traditional analysis for overturning state law on constitutional grounds? In law school, we all learned how the courts almost always balance an individual's "fundamental rights" against a state interest that must be "compelling." (If the behavior in question is not a "fundamental" right, then the state's restriction need only be "rational.")

Justice Kennedy's Lawrence opinion couldn't really be read to follow this usual path so precisely. (Bowers, in contrast, turned very much on the conclusion that the asserted right to engage in sodomy was far from "fundamental.") Barnett's explanation for this absence is that Kennedy is engineering a libertarian revolution in the Court's jurisprudence -- one that Barnett naturally applauds.

In short, Barnett explains that the traditional balancing act always gave great deference to the government's case. A court would only restrict government power where an individual could show that his or her fundamental rights were at stake. While that case was relatively easy to prove when it came to the enumerated rights (such as those covered by the First Amendment), decisions resting upon unwritten rights, like the right to privacy, made for difficult cases and unpopular opinions.

Barnett asserts that Kennedy is striking out in a new direction. While acknowledging the Court's precedents outlining a right to privacy, the Justice emphasizes another concept -- liberty -- and announces an entirely different test of constitutionality. Barnett argues that within the boundaries of Kennedy's "liberty test," which the author equates to the Harm Principle, government faces a much more difficult burden. Rather than have the individual prove his or her right is fundamental, it is the government that must prove that a restriction on liberty is justified. Furthermore, the bare argument that the activity is considered immoral won't cut it. (We don't know yet what standard would be sufficient on that question, because Texas couldn't come up with anything better in this case, and the Court didn't have to make a difficult call.)

Under this simple new test, sodomy laws didn't stand a chance. Many other governmental prohibitions on individual liberty (e.g. against pornography or marijuana) might also fail. On the other hand, it is much more difficult to apply this test to more complicated issues that require active government involvment -- like sanctioning gay marriage. After all, Kennedy sided with the Boy Scouts when the courts tried to require them to include gays against their liberty interest of free association. We'll all have to stay tuned to see how these novel legal questions evolve.

Kisses to you too, Marin - The hottubbing uber-liberals are at it again. What's so wrong with a fine name like Dixie?

CA Domestic Partnership - Amidst our other political turmoil, and proposed enhancements to domestic partnership with AB 205 comes some new word about regulations from the Board of Equalization with other good news for registered, homeowning gay couples.

I Want My Chili's Baby-Back Ribs - And so does Esera Tuaolo, a Beaverhausen fave. The gay haircut is also coming along nicely.

Neither dead nor Canadian - Peter Jennings, the anchor of ABC News World News Tonight, is now an American citizen.

I always liked Peter (don't call him Pete) -- he may not be as smart as the rest of the big three, but he seems far less arrogant (or weird) than Rather and he's definitely no blow-hard like Brokaw.

Back in college, a bunch of us used to gather every night in the taproom at Cloister Inn during dinner to watch Jennings' Gulf War broadcasts (and Jeopardy! which immediately followed), eschewing the meathead gang upstairs watching Cheers re-runs, in an early example of my life-long love affair with appointment TV.

Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Don't Videotape? - The NYTimes reports that a former Army lieutenant colonel, discharged in 1997 for being gay, filed a lawsuit challenging "don't ask, don't tell" and the military sodomy statute. The article goes on to note that Loomis' homosexuality was discovered after his "home was burned and a firefighter found a videotape of him engaging in sex with other men." Now, what was the firefighter doing picking up the video AND then watching it? And, secondly, what happened to the Army private/arsonist who had posed for nude photos? Was he charged with a crime? Was he also dismissed?

I D-D-D-D-Do - Ben, when you do get married to Kevin, can we devote a special page on our website to the ceremony, like the Discount Blogger?

Seriously, though, I wanted to get back to your posting last week about gay nuptuals. Specifically, you asked whether I thought it was a good idea to elope for the ceremony, but bring in all the friends and relatives for a delayed "reception" back home. I don't, and here's why.

Marriage is a contract between two people to support and care for each other until in death do they part. In situations where children are or could be involved, it is also a covenant to work together to protect and provide for those youngsters until they are able to fend for themselves in this world -- these days, something like 25-30 years down the road. Like many legal contracts, the act of entering into marriage is meant to be witnessed. It is true that no marriage is valid without a very important witness -- a government functionary. Depending on your beliefs, you probably also consider God to be a required participant. But beyond that, I think it is vitally important that a wedding be witnessed by as many of your friends and family as possible.

The declarations inherent in the vows should be public, because your audience is not merely a bunch of passive observers. Frequently overlooked is the fact that the spouses-to-be are not the only parties making a promise during the service. The congregation also agree, as part of the litany, to support the marriage. Maybe I'm a sap for caring about such things, but I believe the ceremonial aspects surrounding all of these vows shouldn't be downplayed. Regardless of your spirituality (something that does play an important role for most people), these open declarations, by each of the spouses as well as the community of friends and family, add so much to the meaning of the event. The acclamation and celebration give the marriage a boost that will serve the partners long into the future.

Yes, your wedding can certainly occur in front of a justice of the peace with canned organ music -- but you're cheating yourself out of the best -- maybe essential -- parts. Consider the long view: How many young couples-in-love really think all the marriage hullaballoo is necessary? And how many old marrieds -- twenty-five years down the road -- are sorry they went through with it? There ya go.

I guess my feelings on these issues make me less concerned than some activists about whether we ever actually do get gay marriage in this country. Sure, I care about equality under the law. But before any of us march and protest for all the governmental benefits conferred on married couples, I'd like to see a few more take the public route of declaring our responsibilities to each other -- obligations we have every power to perform regardless of state sanction.

Shock! So Britney finally admits that she's not a virgin after all. Way to go, Justin.

The Sunion - Come on, can this story about a little girl's horror at finding her Hulk doll to be anatomically correct (or perhaps exaggerated) be for-real? The photo of the dismayed youngster rolling her eyes at the giant green appendage is priceless.

Run Ben, Run! - With the drive to unseat Gray Davis nearing its culmination, Ben needs to start thinking about getting himself on the ballot. According to George Will, it only takes 65 signatures from registered voters. Why, you have more online cyberbuddies than that, so how about it? You already live in the state capitol.

Early adopters unite! - The NYTimes says that my new phone makes me cool.

Avoiding Tacky - Even prior to all the gay marriage talk coming as a result of the Supreme Court decision, Kevin and I had been talking about moving forward with a commitment ceremony, but haven't actually figured out any of the logistical details. I've got the one book that talks about where to find groom&groom cake toppers, but I wouldn't want something that tacky anyway. I'd want something more sophisticated and refined than that. So, do we hold it in a posh resort destination like Napa that would allow guests to have a highbrow vacation? But a ceremony in a state/country that doesn't have civil ceremonies means that we'd probably have to venture into some sort of religious territory. And unless the plan is for my brother to conduct the ceremony after obtaining online ordination (ala Joey Tribbiani on Friends), I'm not sure how comfortable we'd be with that. Therefore, this article from the Montpelier, VT paper provides some encouragement for Kevin's idea to elope for the actual civil ceremony, then come back and throw a big reception back in CA later on. Anyone have a pearl of wisdom to impart?

Where's Normal Mailer when you need him? - Time talks about the latest craze in reality television...the makeover! But unlike A Makeover Story, What Not to Wear or Ambush Makeover, the author signles out Bravo's new Queer Eye For the Straight Guy's for its "unspoken premise, provocative but true, is that gay men are the new black people: the oppressed minority whose subculture defines what is cool." We're somewhat less oppressed this week, but we're all quite aware of the influence gay culture has on the mainstream.

Hello, are there ANY straight college boys who don't wear A&F, have a shaved chest and are inked with a chinese character on their body? Good thing The Gays have already started turning the tide back to hairy chests. We'll wait for the heteros to catch up in a year or two.

...and speaking of reality TV, Trading Spaces has a new carpenter in the form of Carter Oosterhouse, who is supposed to be a total hottie. Hope hostess Mindy Paige Davis Page isn't too distracted watching her favorite television sitcom to welcome him to the ensemble.

Food Network - This article from Flak Magazine just makes me happy. The author and I must be kindred spirits because we share all the same pet peeves with regard to the hosts of the Food Network. From the tender annoyance with the "unbearable, cheerfully shrill Rachael Ray" to the unmasked distain for Bobby Flay, who is "arrogant and unpleasant, cocky and dismissive" and "a total dick," I'm pleased that someone else has given voice to my feelings about TV's most popular chefs.

UC Merced - My fair state is in the process of building the 10th campus of the University of California system, in Merced, a wasteland just north of Fresno on I-5. While there is a California State University in Fresno, this new campus is intended to serve as the educational crown jewel for the booming population of the Central Valley. Currently, residents of Fresno and surrounding areas have to head north to UC Davis or south to UCLA to reach a campus that is relatively accessible. However, this article from the Fresno Bee astounded me when it reported that "[l]ast year, only 1,500 students from the 12-county Central Valley area went to any UC campus." That seems to me a remarkably low number in a state with a population of 30 million and with 197,000 students matriculated across all UC campuses. I'm hoping that building a university from scratch, where there's currently not a lot of interest, won't be a ruinous proposition.

Gray Days - The New York Times chronicles the fiscal crisis facing states across the nation, but pays particular attention to the massive deficit situation we're looking at here in California. The lack of a state budget is one more reason critics are calling for Gov. Gray Davis' ouster...even though a recall election will cost the state $30M we don't have.

One of these critics is, of course, Terminator 3 star Ahnuld. I happened to be home at lunch and caught him on a daytime talk show. As described in this National Review piece, Arnold is great at staying on message...as evidenced by talking to the ladies of The View about his strong family values and being a strict disciplinarian. I'm sorry, Gray Davis may be unpopular, but he was elected by a majority of votes cast. We don't need to spend more money we don't have. But if Darrell Issa's recall campaign is a success, I have no doubt that we'll be looking at Mr. Maria Shriver taking over the state Capitol.