Nick Hornby on Books

Nick Hornby is one of my favorite authors, though I came to him in a rather round about sort of way. I'd seen the film version of High Fidelity, of course, but it wasn't until I picked up a copy of the literary magazine The Believer that I got to really know Hornby's writing. His monthly column in that magazine, entitled Stuff I've Been Reading, was always the highlight of my day whenever the latest issue showed up in my mail box.

From his writings there, I moved on to his actual novels and was far from disappointed. Funnily enough, the last issue of my subscription to the magazine coincided exactly with Hornby's final column and I decided not to renew. It's a great magazine, but Hornby's writings on the books he was reading were what always made it worth the subscription price to me.

The reason I bring all of this up is that I just came across a piece he wrote for the London Times about being asked to pick forty books for a Writer's Table at Waterstones, a UK bookstore chain.

Here's a bit of what he had to say:

"Like many readers I fancy myself as a pretty good recommender of books (up until the recent economic calamities I had been entertaining the idea of turning pro, but this might not be the right time), and so being given the chance to drop my enthusiasms and discoveries on to a grateful public is a thrilling privilege. But where to start? How are we supposed to decide which books are still important to us? In one important regard, it seems to me, books that have shaped and guided our tastes at crucial stages of our lives are like friends from the past: you wouldn't necessarily want to go on holiday with them now.

If I were to re-read John Fowles's The Magus, would I do so in 18 hours straight, with an open mouth (and lots of attendant dribble, presumably), just as I did more than 30 years ago? The novel hasn't stayed with me, but the experience of devouring it has; it's one of the reasons why I am a constantly hopeful reader, even now, prepared to believe that the paperback I've just picked up will absorb and inspire and change me. “If I were 16, I might have thoroughly enjoyed this book,” one Amazon customer reviewer says, crushingly; “It all seems awfully silly now,” says another, who has revisited the novel since her youth. I suspect that I shouldn't look at it again, not least because I can recall the gigantic narrative trick that took our collective breath away in the 1970s. I won't be fooled again, unfortunately."

First of all, what a great idea! I wish the bookstore chain I worked for would do something like this, have tables of titles selected by an author, which changed out every month or two. It would be a lot more interesting than most of the displays we end up with.

Secondly, I couldn't agree more with what Hornby is saying. I've always felt that a book finds you somehow at the exact moment you're meant to read it. I've started books that I just couldn't get into at all and then returned to them months or even years later and completely loved them. I've also made the mistake of trying to re-read something I was very passionate about at an earlier point in my life, finding it- or myself, really- altered completely. Of course, there are also a handful of books that I've read more than once and loved even more with each reading, but those ones are far more rare to find.

I think you should only re-read something when you didn't have a strong bond with it the first time around, since those are the ones you're more likely to find yourself appreciating in a different light. If you just completely loved it the first time, it's probably better to let it be.

Just reading this article makes me miss Nick Hornby's monthly columns so much! Luckily, I have the back issues of the magazine and, for those who don't, they have been released in book form in three volumes: The Polysyllabic Spree; Housekeeping Vs. The Dirt; and Shakespeare Wrote For Money. Do yourself a favor and look for them if you haven't already read them.

Books play such a huge part of my daily life and always have. I always mean to write more about them here, but the problem is that I usually don't want to write about a book until I've finished it and then after I've finished I'm usually on the next book which has all my attention.

I need to make a point of sitting down and writing as soon as I've finished a book, if it was worth blogging about. Maybe that should be a sort of belated New Year's resolution.

Idol Night

I hate how wrapped up I'm getting in American Idol because of my crush on Adam Lambert! I was on the edge of my seat for an entire hour tonight, right down the the final minutes of the show when it came down to Adam & Nick for the last spot.

Happily, Adam made it into the Top 12 and my ensuing cheers no doubt convinced my neighbors that I'd either just won the lottery or had completely lost my mind at last.

Of course, Adam winning a spot in the Top 12 does mean I will have to continue watching American Idol and my torture will continue for weeks or even months to come.

At least I'm not the only one who hates the show but thinks they're doing something right this season. Brian Juergens from AfterElton, a self confessed hater of the show, had this to say:

"This season the show has tucked a few bona fide wildcards and rule-breakers into the herd of heartstring-tugging walking stereotypes (Construction workers with soul! Single moms with a dream! All they're missing is a hooker with a heart of gold...): Glamtastic musical theater goth Adam Lambert and performance artist (of sorts) Norman (Nick?) Gentle.

I won't even get into the fact that both of these guys sent my gaydar into overdrive, because let's face it: even if either one of them IS gay, FOX would never let them say as much (our queries to the net have been met with deafening silence). No, the reason that these guys are a step in the right direction is because they're proudly different and not trying to sell America the same recycled Idol crap. ...

As for Lambert, the fact that the show is letting a Wicked chorus boy and lead singer of a gender-bending glam goth group strut his Maxwell Demon on stage is something in and of itself, as is Randy Jackson's insistence that this is what America is all about, and where it's headed. I think that's a cue that the younger generation is much more comfortable with fluid sexuality, men who aren't afraid to be effeminate, and general camp."

Maybe I picked the right time to start watching? It was catching Adam's audition by chance that hooked me, after all. I guess I just love gender bending glam chorus boys!

Anyway, Adam will have the next few weeks off from singing, as the final group of 12 perform next week and then the week after that is the Wild Card week which will finalize the Top 12.

As for the rest of the group so far, I was surprised but glad that cutie Kris got a spot (he's good eye candy, has a decent voice, and seems nice) and the other pick, Allison, was one of the women who impressed me last night. The first three, picked last week, all seem sort of bland and boring to me so far.

So, in closing, I'll quote a commenter from AfterElton: Vote Adam. Vote Often!

Satisfaction

I just finished watching Adam Lambert (above, from the Hollywood week portion of the show) bring down the house with his performance of Satisfaction on American Idol. I love this guy! He's got such an incredible voice and my God was that a sexy performance of the song! I liked it so much that I just bought his version of the song on iTunes.

I'd been wondering for the past couple of weeks if I was actually going to vote. I mean, watching American Idol is one thing, but voting would mean I'd really gone over to the dark side!

By the time Adam finished singing, though, I was on the phone. In for a penny, in for a pound, right? I want to see Adam go as far as he can in this show.

The best thing was that the judges all really praised him (well, Simon only partially praised him), so I think that's a good sign. He was by far the best guy who performed tonight, though there were two or three women who really impressed me as well.

I think Adam will move on to the next round tomorrow, but I have a feeling that I'm going to be a fan of his for a long time to come, no matter what happens.

On a completely gratuitous and unrelated note, have you seen this new picture of Battlestar Galactica's Jamie Bamber?! I think this is conclusive evidence that he's the most perfect man ever.

Van & Jake Rock!

If you're a fan of Van Hansis and/or Jake Silbermann, you've got to check out this video. Van & Jake sat down with Brian Juergens from AfterElton to talk about Luke & Noah and the upcoming Rock The Soap cruise, which they're participating in.

They don't just talk, though. They video begins and ends with footage of the boys playing Rock Band and it's a lot of fun to watch. The guys were clearly having fun, and not just with the game. Van & Jake each have a great sense of humor and one plays off the other very well, making the interview very amusing, too.

Of course, I also liked when they got a bit more serious and were discussing their characters. Van praised the upcoming story with Damian, which makes me even more impatient for the current mess to be done with so we can get to that!

Brian, who does the hilarious liveblogs of the Luke & Noah episodes for AfterElton, asked if Luke being so upset by Reg's death is something that we'll find out the reason for in upcoming episodes, but Van said that Luke & Reg were just really good friends offscreen and that Luke's lack of direction in life plays a part in how involved in Reg's death he's become.

I think one of the hardest parts of being an actor on soaps must be having to talk seriously about stories that aren't very good without trashing them!

Check out the interview, it's a lot of fun.

A Small Silver Lining

I've more than made it clear by now that I completely hate the current story they have Luke & Noah in on As the World Turns. Today, though, they at least demonstrated that they are using this convoluted mess to set up the upcoming story involving the return of Luke's biological father Damian. This set up could easily have been done without this whole stupid Reg story, but at this point I'm willing to be grateful for the little things.

Today's show started out with Luke, who'd clearly not learned any lessons after his recent arrest, calling Elwood's R.A. and posing as Elwood's parole officer, hoping to get access to a visitor's log of people coming and going from his dorm room (as if that's even something that would exist!). Not surprisingly, he got nowhere with that and then made it worse by lying when Noah came in and asked who he'd been talking to.

Noah & Luke once again began discussing the situation with Elwood and their dear friend Reg. I'm really getting sick of hearing how close they were to Reg! Clearly, they think that having Luke mention this fact every twenty seconds will make the audience believe something they never bothered to show onscreen. It's not working. Like with every other aspect of this story, no one has taken the time to make any of it credible or worth watching, though the poor actors are doing their considerable best.

Noah got upset with Luke when it became obvious that he still wasn't planning to let the police handle things. They went back and forth a bit before Noah finally seemed to be getting through to Luke and to be convincing him that the way to honor Reg was to set up something in his memory through Luke's foundation to help other people.

All of that progress went right out the window, though, when Casey showed up to announce that he thinks that the mysterious M in the note Luke found is Matt. Casey had even come up with another brilliant plan, this time to enlist Jade to try and buy drugs from Matt.

Meanwhile, Holden returned home from a business trip and Lily filled him in on Luke's latest drama. The two began to wonder just where they'd gone wrong with Luke and what had happened to their sweet, happy little boy. Lily wondered aloud if it was just losing that election that set off all these changes, but Holden worried that maybe this anger has always been there in Luke, like it was always there in his biological father Damian.

Either way, they headed home to confront Luke about his behavior. When Holden asked if things were finally under control, Luke assured him that they were. That's when Noah, who'd clearly not been pleased with Casey's latest plan, intervened and said that no, things weren't under control.

When Holden & Lily heard the full extent of what Luke & Noah had done, including finding the pills in Reg's coat and giving them to Casey to plant on Elwood, they took the guys straight to the police station to tell everything to Margo.

Needless to say, the Chief of Detectives wasn't pleased to hear about the whole tampering with evidence thing, especially since her own son was involved. Luke remained mostly defiant, saying that someone had to get the guy responsible for killing Reg. Margo informed him that that wasn't his job but decided to look the other way on this latest infraction if they promised to walk away from all of this completely, no matter what else happens. Noah readily agreed, but Luke was much less convincing in his own agreement.

Once Lily & Holden got the guys back to the house, Holden pointed out that Luke should be grateful that Margo had gone easy on him, twice. Luke said he was grateful, but he can't be happy when they're no closer to getting justice for Reg. That's when the only meaningful thing to come out of this mess so far took place:

Luke: Am I just supposed to let this go?

Holden: Yes, you are. You've wasted enough time messing up this investigation.

Luke: I didn't mess anything up!

Holden: You tampered with evidence!

Luke: I was trying to help!

Holden: Yeah, and you may have ruined any chance of solving the case.

Luke: Well, thanks for your support Dad.

Holden: Your mother and I have always supported you, and look at all the good that it did.

Lily: Holden-

Holden: Ever since you got expelled, you've done nothing but waste time. You need to figure out what you're going to do with your life, Luke.

Luke: You're still angry about the election?

Holden: Yeah, you stuffed ballot boxes, you trashed your life, just to win an election. Don't you want to make up for that? Don't you want to do that for yourself, don't you want everyone to know that your life isn't a big waste?

Luke: Is that what you think, you think my life is a waste?

Holden: You need to get focused, Luke! Forget the killer. Find a job, or find a school that will take you back. Forget this nonsense and move on with your life.

Luke: Yes, sir!

Holden: Promise me this. You will give it up, no more cops and robbers. You got it?

Luke: I got it.

Finally! It has really bugged me that the whole 'Luke messed up his life' story was dropped as soon as he got back together with Noah, as if that's all that mattered. No one has really said anything about what he's doing with his life (though it was indirectly mentioned that Noah has talked to him about it, at least) or about dealing with any of his problems that lead to the mess in the first place.

If nothing else, at least this horrible story has brought those issues to the surface again. I'd much rather see Luke struggling to understand why he's messed things up and to turn his life around than playing amateur detective badly. It was about time that Holden or Lily had this kind of a talk with Luke.

Of course, to be fair, just about everyone on this show has taken the law into their own hands a time or two, including Holden, who tampered with evidence himself just last year when Dusty was 'murdered' and he hid the potential murder weapon because he thought Lily had done it. Luke hasn't exactly had the best role models.

Anyway, after the confrontation with Luke, Holden confessed to Lily that he's been way too soft with Luke lately because after Damian tried to take him away, Holden has worried on some level that Luke would regret choosing him over Damian as a father. As I said, I hate this story, but I do like that they're at least using it to set up the issues that will be involved with Damian's return.

Luke, meanwhile, thanked Noah for ratting him out yet again.

Noah: Luke, I'm just trying to help you.

Luke: Help me. Help me. You know what, it's funny Noah. Every time you try and help me, it just makes things worse.

Noah: Yeah, well, maybe things need to get worse before they can get better.

Luke: That sounds like a page out of Holden Snyder's handbook for delinquent children.

Noah: You know what? Your dad cares about you. A lot.

Luke: I know he does. But even if he thinks that I'm wasting my life, I can't pretend that this murder never happened and start filling out applications for schools.

Luke went on to say that it could very easily have been him instead of Reg, that if when he'd been drinking someone had offered him a way to just forget everything, he probably would have taken it. He can't and won't forget this and let it go, no matter what he promised his Dad.

The worst part of this is that these bumbling amateurs are going to end up saving the day and catching the bad guys, because that's what always happens on soaps. It's rarely if ever the cops who solve the crimes. I'd be a lot happier if they dropped it here and let Luke actually learn his lesson and deal with his own issues and have Margo solve the case.

I hope this story is over soon, one way or another. It's awful stories like this that make me wonder why I love soaps so much. The truth is, when they're bad they're very bad, but when they're good (which is increasingly rare, but still possible, as One Life to Live is currently demonstrating) they're so enjoyable and so addictive, everything that I've loved since I was a little kid watching Days of Our Lives with my Mom, my Grandmother and my Aunts.

Oscar Night

I just finished watching the Academy Awards and I don't think I've ever enjoyed any other Oscar night as much. First of all, I really liked the more intimate set design and tone of the evening. I also loved how they did the Acting awards this year, with five previous winners coming out and addressing this year's nominees one by one. It made it all seem really personal and special, which was much needed after that whole horrible "Let's have the winners accept from the audience!" debacle a couple of years ago.

I also loved Hugh Jackman as the host. It was nice to have someone sing & dance instead of doing a hit or miss stand up routine to start off the show. Anne Hathaway was pretty damn great too, when she joined him as Richard Nixon! After Rachel Getting Married and then tonight's performance, I think I have developed a little non-sexual crush on her!

It wasn't just the different tone of the evening that I loved, though. The greatest moment of the night for me was when Dustin Lance Black won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for Milk. Having this amazing, openly gay, writer win for a movie about a man like Harvey Milk was incredible enough, but his acceptance speech really moved me. I actually had tears in my eyes and I'm pretty certain I've never cried during any award ceremony before!

He's certainly made a lifelong fan of me just by being so awesome and I can't wait to see what he does in the future. Of course, I still haven't been able to see Milk, which really upsets me! I've resigned myself to waiting for the DVD but I'm baffled that even with the Oscar nominations it hasn't played on the big screen anywhere near me.

Speaking of Dustin Lance Black, check out this piece he wrote on Harvey Milk for the 30th Anniversary of his death, which is a Towleroad exclusive. It's very much worth reading and just makes me admire him even more. (When you're done reading that, they also have an exclusive on Harvey's last love, written by Armistead Mapuin!)

Heath Ledger's posthumous win was also a moving moment, mostly because in my mind he was winning the award not for The Dark Knight but to make up for the Oscar he should have won for Brokeback Mountain when he was alive.

Sean Penn's win was unexpected for me. I'd hoped he would win, of course, but all the predictions seemed to be trending towards Mickey Rourke so I'd pretty much accepted that. I was moved enough by the win for Best Original Screenplay to tell myself that it was all right if the film didn't win anything else, but when Penn's name was called I was shouting with joy.

I was kind of sad that he (unlike Dustin Lance Black) didn't actually say anything about Harvey Milk while accepting the award, but he more than made up for it with his call for marriage equality and the reference to the signs of hatred that they'd all passed on the way in. His & Lance's wins are the best sort of in-your-face to that kind of mentality.

The fact that a film about Harvey Milk can finally be made is the best part of all, though. The awards are just the icing on the cake.

I wasn't surprised that the film didn't win for Best Picture (again, I'd not expected it to since all the predictions were trending towards Slumdog Millionaire), though deep down I was hoping that I'd end up being surprised there as well.

We still seem to be in a stage where it's okay to honor straight actors for playing gay roles but not to honor a gay themed movie as the Best Picture of the year.

We'll get there, though. I don't have any doubt about that.

Soap Stuff

Okay, you know I avoid spoilers about the soaps as much as I can. I do, however, follow casting news, which can often be a spoiler to some degree. I mean, if you know an actor is leaving the show and there hasn't been a recast, then clearly you know the character is exiting as well.

Anyway, there is an interesting rumor going around that As the World Turns has cast the parts of twins, a brother and a sister, and that the male twin is gay. Could this mean a possible gay love triangle for Luke & Noah?! Now that would be groundbreaking, considering that the love triangle is a daytime staple but there has never been one consisting of three people of the same gender.

There haven't been any actors names announced yet for the roles, though, so I'm still thinking of it as a rumor.

Meanwhile, I read over on We Love the Soaps that actor/musician Jay Brannan, whom you know I love, has auditioned for a role on As the World Turns! I don't know if it's for the rumored gay twin or someone else, but it would be amazing to see him on the show.

It would also be great if Jay Brannan became the second openly gay actor on daytime at the moment! As I noted the other day, One Life to Live's Scott Evans is the only openly gay actor currently working in daytime TV that I'm aware of.

Speaking of Scott, his recurring part of Officer Oliver Fish got a little larger this past week when he hooked up with the new woman in town and even had some shirtless scenes. I'm hoping he'll stick around, maybe even be put on contract, because he's seriously adorable and sexy! See for yourself:

Meanwhile, the happiness for groundbreaking newlyweds Reese & Bianca has been short lived over on All My Children, since Reese (who has been written as a lesbian, not as bisexual) made out with her new brother-in-law before the wedding and Bianca just found out.

If they wanted to go there with the story, they could have written the character as bisexual from the beginning. It would have made a hell of a lot more sense that way. Bianca rightly pointed out that lesbians don't go around kissing men, but Reese apparently is attracted to people's souls, not their genders (again, make her bisexual from the beginning and I'd have no problem with that; doing it this way is a cop out and just confuses people).

Anyway, Bianca had annulment papers drawn up but Reese refused to sign because they didn't grant her any parental rights, meaning that daytime's first LGBT wedding between two major characters might quickly lead to daytime's first LGBT custody battle.

Pedro

I was just reading on AfterElton that Dustin Lance Black, the screenwriter behind Milk, has another gay themed biopic coming to the big screen: Pedro, a movie about the life of the late AIDS activist and Real World star Pedro Zamora.

Pedro's season of The Real World is often cited by people as the last time the show actually had any meaning, before it all became about overly dramatic drunk twenty somethings hooking up and fighting non-stop. I completely understand that, though the show had some meaning for me personally later on, during the New Orleans season with Danny Roberts and his military boyfriend Paul.

But leaving that aside, there's no doubt that the show skewed off in a very different direction after Pedro's season, choosing to go more with the type of manufactured drama provided by his ousted housemate Puck, than with anything resembling actual reality as most of us experience it. It's truly a shame, because by featuring someone like Pedro, they really showed what an impact reality TV could have had.

Pedro was one of the first real LGBT people I ever had any awareness of and there's no doubt that watching him live his life on the show with dignity and find love and commit himself to his partner had a big impact on me.

I'm really excited that this film has been made and I can't wait to see it.

M for Mess?

Luke & Noah were back on As the World Turns today and the mess of a storyline they're in the middle of is still going full steam ahead. I've said many times how much I hate the way the writers on this show go for the big, ultimately meaningless, Plot of the Moment and then move quickly on to the next, but in this case I'm going to be so glad once this story is over and can be forgotten.

Today's show started with Noah, Luke & Kevin (you know, Luke's high school best friend/crush from whom he recently stole a student election?), of all people, walking together in Old Town, having just come from Reg's memorial service.

It turned out that the guys had run into Kevin at the service. He offered to buy them some coffee (as I'm sure Al Gore offered to buy Bush a coffee the first time they ran into each other after that whole silly Florida thing) and of course they came across Elwood at Java, where Luke got in his face and once again accused him of murder. The story is ridiculous, but I guess it's kind of hot to see Luke being so aggressive.

After Elwood left, Kevin told Luke & Noah that he actually lives across the hall from Elwood in the dorm and can keep an eye on him if they like. When Kevin left, Luke made it clear to Noah that he doesn't trust his old friend's offer and thinks they should do the logical thing: break into Elwood's dorm room and look for evidence themselves.

Noah seemingly talks Luke out of that particular crazy idea and then leaves for class, whereupon Luke immediately heads to Elwood's dorm room. I'll take the time here to point out yet another ridiculous plot hole in this thrown together joke of a story: Elwood was sent to prison last year after stealing priceless manuscripts from Oakdale University and trying to frame Casey for it. The same University that expelled Luke for rigging a student election seems to have no problem with Elwood returning to school there after stealing way more than an election from them.

Anyway, Luke begins his search of Elwood's room and no sooner has he found an ominous slip of paper with the words 'I got you covered. M.' typed on it than the door opens to reveal Elwood, Kevin, and a security guard who demands that Luke come with him.

Luke calls Noah to bail him out and his boyfriend is surprisingly sympathetic about the whole thing, especially after Luke says for at least the tenth time in this episode that "Reg was our friend!" Again, just saying that all the time doesn't make us believe it. It would have been nice to have seen a friendship between the three onscreen first so that Luke's reaction would be a bit more realistic.

Margo, the Chief of Detectives, is less sympathetic about Luke's illegal search for evidence and tells him that he could be facing serious prison time for his felony. Even worse, she's calling his parents! While Margo calls Lily, Luke gives Noah the piece of paper he found and asks Noah to try and find out who M is, since it could be evidence.

Now, if I found a piece of paper with that message, I'd assume it meant something like "I'll cover your shift at work." or "I'll cover you for the notes you missed in class today." Luke seems to have a sixth sense about this paper and its true meaning, though, and Noah agrees to do what he can to find out who M is.

Lily arrives and reads Luke the riot act and wonders when he'll learn that his self destructive behavior affects people other than just him. When Elwood shows up, Lily asks him not to press charges, pointing out that Luke had just come from his friend's memorial service and was distraught and not thinking clearly. Elwood agrees to let it go, if Luke will apologize.

After some grandstanding about not apologizing to Reg's killer, Luke listens to Noah when he points out that standing by his principles is getting him nowhere and isn't fair to everyone who cares about him. Luke apologizes like a five year old boy who clearly doesn't mean a word he is saying and is then free to go.

Noah, meanwhile, has given Casey the slip of paper and asked him to think about who M could be. Shortly afterwards, Casey stumbles across his old prison cellmate Matt in the hospital drug supply room. Subtlety is not their strong suit on this show.

Luke & Noah head to Java, where they run into Kevin, who tells Luke he had nothing to do with calling security on him and means what he said about keeping an eye on Elwood for them. Luke still doesn't trust Kevin, but Noah thinks he's being sincere. Noah asks Luke to let the cops handle things where Elwood is concerned, pointing out that one person has already died and he doesn't want Luke to be next. This prompts Luke, that drama queen from a long line of drama queens, to tell Noah not to be dramatic! This line alone almost made me forget for a second, in my laughter, how much I hate this story.

They say you should be careful what you wish for, and whoever they are, they're right. I've wanted Jake & Van to have more screen time for a long while now, but I forgot that if my wish came true, it would mean that they'd be stuck in the middle of stories just as badly written as the ones their co-stars endure on this show.

They're doing their best with this mess, but I can't help but feel sorry for them. They deserve much better material.

Being Gay in Tennis

I'm still feeling a bit under the weather, but I wanted to mention this really great interview with out Tennis legend Billie Jean King.

Among other things, King discusses the need for top players to support gay players:

What's the biggest difference you see today compared to 1981? Or even 1999, when Amelie came out?
I lost endorsements before. Because I'm gay, I get endorsements now. I had three commercials this last year. I'm 64. If you're an older women you don't get any endorsements. Unless it's Depends (laughs). The [gay] community is more powerful. More people are out, they're making things happen.

I know everyone's talked about it before – just saying, “I wonder who will do it and when?” We know a couple of guys who have been gay but they couldn't do it. They couldn't do it. It's tough, man. I think everyone should come out on their own terms. Obviously I feel that way because I didn't. I would never out someone. I lived it.

What's it going to take for a gay male player to come out?

We're never going to be 50 percent of the population. We need straight people, particularly in the male arena, to support the gay guys. They have to. And if they stand up for us, that's how we gain acceptance. We need our friends, or brothers and sisters, especially if they have influence. Federer and Nadal and those guys have to say we don't care. Once the influence starts to talk like that, it makes a huge difference.

It's got to be the top players. [They] influence where the tour goes. That's part of the responsibility of being in the Top 10, the Top 5 in the world. That goes hand in hand with making the big bucks, getting the most exposure, getting the most endorsements. That's part of the deal, I think, if you're going to be in that position. And our job in that position is to stick up for whoever is getting a bad deal.

It wouldn't hurt if the gay player was the top player

I wish we could get a guy at the top of his game just saying I'm gay, let's move on, next. But it's got to be while he's playing. While he's at the top of his game. But they're going to take a lot of heat, man.

The first is always a breakthrough. There's always a shift when that happens. It's a little bit like an earthquake in a way. But it's not going to be as big an earthquake today as it would've been years ago. What the seismic equation is, I don't know.

As time keeps moving forward, it will be easier than it was five years ago, 10 years ago, 15 years ago, and then for all the different people before. We stand on their shoulders. And you want the kids to stand on yours.

Historic Nuptials

I'm not feeling very well, so this will be a lot briefer than I'd like, but I wanted to write about the historic wedding today on All My Children. I still haven't fully caught up on the Rianca storyline, but I of course tuned in for the first LGBT wedding in daytime between two major characters.

I was pleased, overall. The ceremony was like countless other romantic soap weddings over the years, which was just what I was hoping for: an LGBT wedding treated like any other wedding between two people in love.

I was disappointed that they chose to shift constantly back and forth during the vows to another storyline, often having the vows as a voice over during the action of the other story. When soap couples, especially popular ones, finally tie the knot, they are usually the main focus!

Still, it was another groundbreaking milestone for All My Children to add to its very long history of being a trail blazing soap opera.

I hope this is just the first of many such weddings in the years to come on daytime TV.

When Bad Movies Happen to Hot Actors

Last night I went with a friend to see the new remake of Friday the 13th. My friend is a horror movie junkie and has loved this particular franchise since he was a kid, but I only had one shallow reason for wanting to see the film: Jared Padalecki.

I went in with no illusions, since I'd heard online that Jared showed no skin in the movie. He was, however, playing the male lead (unless of course you count Jason as the male lead), which meant plenty of screen time. Besides, who doesn't like a good scare now and then when you know you're perfectly safe?

One of the most intense movie going moments I ever had was when I saw Scream 2 in the theatre, during the scene where Sidney & her roommate have to crawl over the seemingly unconscious killer to get out of the crashed cop car. I figured if this movie could deliver one good scare like that, along with the chance to see Jared on the big screen, it would be worth it.

Sadly, the movie never scared me once. Every single scare scene was utterly predictable, down to the last few seconds of the film. Not only was it predictable, it was cliched as hell. Not in the good, Scream kind of way, either, where the filmmakers and audience are all in on the joke. No, it was just one completely unironic cliche after another, from the drinking and drug use to the gratuitous female nudity.

On the latter point, would it have killed them to have at least one shot of male nudity? Women and gay men do see horror films too, you know!

So, as a film, it was an even bigger waste of time than I expected it to be. Jared, though he was the male lead, didn't even really have that much to do other than the usual running, hiding, and fighting. He looked damn good doing it all, though! My God was that man filling out his t-shirt! It has been forever since he did a shirtless scene on Supernatural (well, shirtless from the front; we've seen his bare back a few times this season) and that's a real shame because he's clearly been working out like crazy.

Other than Jared and cutie Ben Feldman, who played one of the doomed campers at the beginning of the film, the guys in the movie didn't do much for me. Don't get me wrong, they were all nice looking (hottness is obviously a prerequisite for being a victim of Jason), but no one else really stood out for me.

So, really, it was a waste of time all around, except for ogling Jared's pecs in that shirt. Even my friend was disappointed with the film, finding it to be more of a 'decent sequel' (his words) to the earlier films rather than a re-imagining of the series like he'd expected.

I knew I'd see this movie and I knew I'd have no respect for myself after doing so. The things we do for celebrity crushes!

V Day

I just finished watching Rent: Filmed Live on Broadway which I not surprisingly enjoyed. I wish that someone had filmed the original Broadway cast when they were still performing, but the final cast was really good. Adam Kantor as Mark, Will Chase as Roger & especially Tracie Thoms (who was also in the feature film version) as Joanne were all standouts for me.

I totally have a crush now on Adam Kantor, he was just completely adorable and sexy all at once as Mark. At one point, you could see some chest hair peaking out of the top of his shirt, which I found totally hot. Why didn't he make AfterElton's Hottest 37 Guys in Theatre list like his co-star Will Chase?! I mean, look at him:

Anyway, I enjoyed the film even though it was hard to see anyone else but Jessie L. Martin and Wilson Heredia as Collins & Angel.

Well, I have a friend coming for the weekend (nothing romantic, alas!) so I'd better wrap this up. Happy Valentines Day, or Singles Awareness Day, whichever you're celebrating this year!

Prayers for Bobby

I'm really tired tonight, so this will be short. I just wanted to say that if you haven't seen the Lifetime movie Prayers for Bobby, you really should. It has been on my Tivo for the last few weeks and I finally had the time to watch it this afternoon.

If you don't know the story, it's about young gay man whose mother tries to 'cure' him of his homosexuality through prayer and therapy and he ultimately ends up so depressed by not being the son she expects him to be that he commits suicide. After his death, his mother slowly begins to change her views and becomes involved with PFLAG.

Its so incredibly sad, but I think a lot of parents with a similar mindset to the mother in the film (which is based on a true story) could really have their eyes opened by watching this movie.

Sigourney Weaver was really amazing in the second half of the film. The scene at her workplace after her husband has given her the most awful news a parent can ever get and the one where she breaks down in church and has her realization that God didn't cure Bobby because there was nothing to be cured, were both fantastic.

I cried so much watching this movie, knowing that it not only really happened to Bobby but to countless others and continues to happen to this day.

It's really a film that shouldn't be missed.

And So it Continues

Today's As the World Turns was just as much of a mess as yesterday's show. Luke & Noah went to Casey's place the morning after Reg's death with the pills that were in Reg's coat. They wanted to give them to Casey's mom, Margo, who is the Chief of Detectives, and tell her about seeing Reg outside with Elwood just before he died.

Margo wasn't home, but Luke & Noah got quite an eyeful as they walked in on Casey scrambling to put on his clothes after waking up hung over and naked on his living room floor with Jade. Luke & Noah filled them in on Reg's death and what they suspected about Elwood. Casey immediately came up with a plan to catch Elwood and told the gang to leave it up to him. Yeah, because why involve the police when you can enlist an ex-con with a stellar track record for screwing things up? Maybe they were still so awed by seeing him naked that they'd have agreed to anything.

Casey's genius plan turned out to be to ask Elwood to meet him in a park and make it seem like he wanted to buy drugs so that they could catch him dealing. He told Luke & Noah at first to make sure the police were there, but oddly enough that seemed to be totally dropped as a plot point, since the cops never showed up and Casey didn't seem to expect them once he was there. That's even worse writing that usual!

Elwood met Casey, but not surprisingly he guessed that Luke & Noah were somehow involved in this and turned to walk away. That's when Casey went with plan B and slipped the bag of pills that Noah & Luke had given him into Elwood's backpack.

Once he met with Luke & Noah and told them what he'd done, they set off to tell Margo what they'd seen between Elwood and Reg (which, really, wasn't anything conclusive) and she arranged to have him brought in for questioning.

Noah, Mr. "I Can't Lie to the Dean for you Luke, even though you lied to the U.S. Government for me!", went along with all of this. What does consistent writing and characterization matter when the Plot of the Moment is at stake, after all? I will say that Jake Silbermann managed to convey with facial expressions and body language that Noah was very uncomfortable with the plot, so that was something. But realistically, if Noah couldn't lie for Luke about a student election, why is he agreeing to lie to the police and, essentially, frame a man who may actually be innocent? It makes no sense.

Anyway, Noah & Luke were left looking on in surprise when Margo searched Elwood's backpack and didn't find any sign of the pills. Way to lose the only evidence you had, guys. Thus, the 'drama' continues.

I think if we as an audience have to sit through this crappy storyline, we should get to see Casey naked, too. It's only fair!

Meanwhile, over on One Life to Live, I'm still loving every minute of the writing and today Chris Evans' cute, openly gay brother Scott was back as Officer Oliver Fish, his recurring character. There aren't any other openly LGBT actors currently working in Daytime that I'm aware of, so I was very glad to see Scott back on the show. I think it's the first time we've seen him since his brother discussed his sexuality in an interview.

Oh, by the way, my guy Adam Lambert was sent through to the Top 36 on American Idol last night. Luckily, he was one of the first people to get the good news, so I didn't have to wait in suspense for the whole two hour show.

If I understand what's happening next, the top 36 will be divided into three groups and each group will be the focus in turn for the next three weeks. Adam's group isn't up next week, so it'll be at least two weeks until he's performing again, maybe three.

I'm excited to see what he does next.

Award Winning Writing?

What a mess of an episode today's As the World Turns was. If you want proof that the Writers Guild of America is out of its mind for giving Best Writing in a Daytime Serial to ATWT, look no further than Luke & Noah's new storyline, clearly thrown together with about twenty seconds thought.

So, basically, Luke & Jade are planning a surprise 21st birthday party for their friend Casey, though Luke notes that his actual birthday isn't until Valentines Day. No big deal, except that they've planned the party to take place that night at Yo's, a local bar. Yeah, that makes sense, have the 21st birthday party in a bar, when the birthday boy (and his friends) are still underage.

Luke & Noah are greeted at Yo's by Reg, another Oakdale U gay student. The guys first met Reg (and his then boyfriend Tony) last year when they invited Luke & Noah to their all gay hot tub party, making it sound like it was to be the can't-miss Orgy of the Year.

Needless to say, virginal Luke & Noah didn't attend the party. Reg next popped up when Noah told Luke they should 'take a break' right after Noah's father died. Reg had broken up with Tony by that point and when he heard that Luke wasn't with Noah, he expressed his interest in dating Luke himself. (Tony also popped up around that time and asked Noah to Cyndi Lauper's Pride concert, where Noah & Luke reunited, dashing both Reg & Tony's hopes).

We last saw Reg this past fall, right at the beginning of the whole campaign storyline. He was present when Luke decided to run against Kevin, but we haven't seen him since.

Now, though, he's apparently close friends with Luke & Noah, and knows Casey well enough to be invited to the party and buy him gag gifts. When did this happen?

Anyway, the underage college students are having a great time drinking (except Luke) and dancing, and I'm wondering if Oakdale is actually located in an alternate universe without a legal drinking age. Actually, an alternate universe would explain a lot about the things that the writers create for this show, but I digress.

About that time, another blast from the past walks in the door: Casey's old college roommate Elwood, who started out as a likable nerd but was last seen after being caught framing Casey for theft and was sent to prison.

Long story short (too late), Luke & Noah take a break from the dance floor and go outside for some air, only to interrupt Reg & Elwood in what even a blind man could tell was a drug deal, though Luke & Noah just warn Reg that Elwood is bad news and seem otherwise completely unsuspicious.

Once they're back inside, Reg breaks up a fight between Casey & Elwood by collapsing to the floor (what a drama queen!) and the party ends with Luke & Noah at the hospital, getting the news that good old Reg is dead of a drug overdose.

Luke doesn't think Reg did drugs, though Noah points out that Tony was a recreational user, so maybe Reg was, too. About that time, a giant bag of pills (it's ridiculously large) falls out of Reg's coat, which Noah is carrying, and Luke suddenly clues in on the fact that Elwood must have sold Reg this hefty bag of pills right under their clueless noses!

So, our hero Luke charges off to find Elwood, which he of course does, and accuses him of murder for selling Reg the pills. Elwood runs off, and Luke breaks down on Noah's shoulder, looking like he's just lost his very best friend.

Maybe they could have given Reg a few scenes in the last week or two to remind the audience who he was and to show us that he's apparently been hanging out with Luke & Noah. Hell, even having Luke reference his name in the last few weeks would have been something. Instead, they bring him back out of nowhere, give him two scenes where he barely says anything, and then kill him off, most likely at the hand of another character not seen or mentioned for several months, and we're supposed to be invested in this story?

I've wished for awhile that the show would give Luke & Noah some gay friends to hang out with, and Reg would have been a good candidate for that, but apparently it was more important to kill him. I guess this is their February sweeps plan?

One thing I did like, at the very start of the episode, was a moment between the guys unrelated to the drama to come. Noah told Luke that he'd taken Valentines Day off, in case Luke wanted to surprise him. Luke's response was something like "Oh, I'm in charge of Valentines Day?" before they kissed. It was a nice moment between them, cementing the fact that they're a couple in love.

But this story is a mess and since I think it's supposed to be wrapped up before Luke's biological father hits town next month, I'm sure it won't have any long term consequences or any point at all, beyond being just the Plot of the Moment.

Idol & Broadway Backwards

I just finished watching tonight's American Idol (how weird does it feel writing that?!) and I'm glad to say that my guy, Adam Lambert, was sent through to the next round.

They showed more singing tonight (as opposed to a lot of pointless drama and very little singing last week when I watched) and Adam was featured more, singing first out of everyone. He did a version of Cher's song 'Believe', which I thought was really good. A lot of people seemed to be choosing songs that ten other people were also singing, so I liked that Adam went with something that no one else picked and really made it his own. He's got a beautiful voice.

They were dividing the contestants into rooms where everyone in the room would either go forward or be eliminated. I felt pretty confident that Adam's room was safe, given that everyone in the room seemed to have done really well, Adam included, but it was still a long wait before they gave them the good news.

I don't know how I'm going to deal with the tension of this show! I always thought it was kind of silly, but when there's someone you really want to see move forward, you truly are on the edge of your seat until you know if they're safe or not. Its ridiculous!

In the preview for tomorrow's show, they arranged the footage to make it look like Adam will be cut, but I'm hoping that's just another trick. It seems like they'd want to shock people at the last moment if he was being cut, rather than reveal it the day before in a preview.

It still feels odd to actually be watching American Idol, but I have to say that a lot of the people I saw tonight had really great voices.

Speaking of great voices, yet another reason that I want to live in New York is that I'd be able to attend shows like Broadway Backwards. If you haven't heard of this before, it's an annual benefit for NYC's LGBT Community Center in which male stars perform songs usually done by women, and vice versa.

I first heard of this last year, when Neil Patrick Harris and his partner, David Burtka, did their own version of Maureen & Joanne's song 'Take Me Or Leave Me' from Rent. I've seen clips from their performance on YouTube, but never the the whole thing. It looked so good, though, and to top that off, Cheyenne Jackson & Anthony Rapp did 'Suddenly Seymour' from Little Shop of Horrors!

What I wouldn't have given to actually be there that night!

Anyway, the reason I bring this up is that AfterElton has pictures from Broadway Backwards 4, which took place yesterday. It looks like it was another great show. I mean, you have Cheyenne Jackson and Sandra Bernhard performing 'You're the Top' together, Ugly Betty's Michael Urie and Becky Newton doing 'Getting Married Today' from Company, and Florence 'Mrs. Brady' Henderson groping a chorus boy! Whats not to love?

I really wish I could have seen this. If only they'd film these annual shows and sell the DVDs to benefit the Center! They'd make a ton of money that way and we poor non-New Yorkers would be able to enjoy the show, too.

Meanwhile, one of my best friends joked the other day, as I was enthusing over seeing Rent with Anthony Rapp and Adam Pascal next summer, that I'm in danger of becoming a theatre queen. Hmmm. I'm not sure where she got that impression!

Good News

It has been a really long day for me, but there were a few things I wanted to mention tonight.

First, in all my complaining yesterday about As the World Turns' inexplicable win of a Writers Guild of America award, I forgot to mention that there was some good news as well. Dustin Lance Black won the award for Best Original Screenplay for Milk! He also won a special award for work that highlights civil rights issues.

After reading this piece about Black's acceptance speech, I think I officially have a new hero! I really hope he is able to give a similar speech on Oscar night.

More good news: Matthew Mitcham finally got a corporate sponsorship months after bringing home the gold in the summer Olympics. It's ridiculous that it took this long, but I'm glad that it finally happened.

Are You Kidding Me?!

I'm going to rant a bit. Prepare yourself!

As the World Turns just won the Writer's Guild of America Award for Best Writing in a Daytime Serial, beating the only other nominee, One Life to Live. What the hell?!

First of all, I can't believe that ATWT was even nominated to begin with. That seemed illogical enough, but then I figured that someone had to be nominated to make One Life to Live's slam dunk win look more fair, right? I mean, when there is one incredibly well written soap and seven badly written soaps and you still have to choose more than one nominee, there's no way around nominating an undeserving soap. (I hear, by the way, that The Young & The Restless is much better written now than it has been for the last couple of years, but I haven't checked it out for myself yet.)

But for As the World Turns to actually win is beyond crazy. Outside of the Nuke storyline, the show is unwatchable, even with a very talented cast. Inside the Nuke storyline, the writing is usually pretty bad, but Van Hansis & Jake Silbermann manage to save it and make it worth following.

One Life to Live, meanwhile, is just incredible right now. It's the only soap I watch every minute of, no fast forwarding. The best part is that the stories are all interwoven and connected, like they should be on a well written soap, but the other shows (and As the World Turns is especially bad with this) seem to favor isolated storyline bubbles where the stories don't really affect each other and half the cast never interact.

The stories on One Life to Live are clearly being written with an eye to long term story telling, not the Psycho of the Month brand of story telling that As the World Turns loves, where the plot of the moment is all that matters and then it's on to the next.

In other words, One Life to Live is written by people who clearly love and understand the medium of Soap Opera, while As the World Turns is not. (I should clarify that I'm mostly talking about overall story, created by the Head Writers, and not about the writers doing the day to day scripts who just have to write scenes and dialogue that follow the story set from above)

For As the World Turns to win at all is bad enough, but for One Life to Live to lose to them is unthinkable. It would have been much easier to take if they'd been nominated against a soap that was just as poorly written.

Wedding Bells

There's another LGBT daytime milestone coming up in the near future: the wedding of All My Children's Bianca & Reese on February 16th! This doesn't give me much time to catch up on the whole Rianca storyline, but I think I'm up for the challenge.

This will be the first wedding between two major LGBT characters in daytime history, although technically the dreadful (not to mention homophobic & transphobic) soap Passions beat them to the punch with daytime's first ever gay wedding at the very end of the show. Minor characters Norma & Edna shared a commitment ceremony as the show ended its run on DirecTV, nearly a year after being cancelled by NBC.

This is completely different, though, because Bianca & Reese are not only major characters on the show, they've been engaged for awhile and also share a child. This is pretty groundbreaking stuff.

I'm not thrilled, however, with the news that Eden Riegel, who plays Bianca, will be leaving All My Children shortly. Tamara Braun's Reese will be remaining with the show, which doesn't really bode well for the newlyweds.

Still, the wedding itself will be a huge milestone, one that I hope we'll see repeated between many other LGBT characters in the future.

Some Nice Luke & Noah Scenes

I was lamenting another Nuke-less episode of As the World Turns this afternoon when the guys suddenly popped up twenty minutes into the hour.

They only had a few scenes, but they were very good ones. Noah showed up at Luke's house to find his boyfriend on the computer. Luke mentioned bookmarking the site he was on and Noah started fishing for info about the Valentines Day gift he thought Luke was ordering for him.

This was a really cute scene, with Noah making guesses about his gift and Luke shooting them down with a smile. It was really good to just see the boys together, happy, and just acting like any couple in love.

These were exactly the kind of scenes I was hoping we'd see for the guys during the time between their more dramatic stories!

Of course, there was a touch of drama when Luke revealed that what he'd bookmarked was a listing for a cute little one bedroom apartment that sounded perfect for the two of them and Noah immediately put the brakes on the idea of their living together.

Luke was hurt, of course, that Noah didn't want to live with him, and pointed out that they'd discussed what their own place would be like many times. Noah told Luke that he always thought that would be someday in the future, after he finishes school and they can afford a place. Living together isn't something you do on the spur of the moment, Noah felt. Luke complained that Noah always over thinks everything and wondered why they couldn't ever be spontaneous.

Their argument was interrupted by Holden, who was feeling guilty about saying the wrong thing and hurting his sister. After Holden left to go make things right with Meg, Luke realized that if his dad was strong enough to admit when he was wrong, he could as well, and apologized to Noah for getting upset.

Luke said he just got really excited when he saw the listing for the apartment and didn't really think it through. He told Noah that if paying the rent was an issue, his parents could always help them out, but Noah responded that when they got their own place, he wanted it to be truly theirs, to split the rent 50/50.

Luke was happy to hear Noah say 'when' they got their own place, rather than 'if', and Noah promised that it would happen. The two then shared another of their once forbidden kisses and all was well again.

These were nice scenes and I liked that they showed the boys in a normal argument that any couple could have, with them making up afterwards and putting it behind them. The scenes also spoke to their characters, too, since Luke does tend to be impulsive and emotional and Noah tends to be cautious almost to a fault.

I did think it was kind of silly, though, that Noah wouldn't want to get a place with Luke now. He's right that they shouldn't be spontaneous about this issue, but that doesn't mean that it can't be carefully thought out and happen soon.

Plenty of college students live in crappy little apartments together, after all. They made it sound as if Luke & Noah had to get someplace really nice together for their first place, but I'm sure that with student loans, and Noah's job, and if Luke got a job (since he's doing nothing else with his time except playing matchmaker since being expelled), they could easily afford a cheap place right now without help from Luke's family.

The idea that they're fine with waiting until Noah finishes school (which should still be over two years away) doesn't really ring true somehow.

Still, these were nice scenes. From the preview they showed at the end of the show, the boys will be in the thick of some heavy drama again next week, so it may be awhile before we see them just enjoying life together again.

It's Just a Little Crush...

I have a confession to make. I'm watching American Idol this season. Why is this a confession? Well, I've always prided myself on having never watched American Idol, ever.

I'm not completely sure why, except that it came out at a time when I was really hating non-scripted TV with a passion (I still do, but more out of principle than passion) and it immediately became THE big thing, which always turns me off.

So, I've held my head high all this time, like some kind of television elitist snob. (You know, the kind of snob who will watch daytime soaps, but not talent competitions! Aren't there a lot of us out there?)

Then one night not long ago, I turned on the TV. The plan was to fire up the Tivo and check out the day's shows, but before I could get to the menu, I stopped. There, on my TV, was a really gorgeous guy, singing beautifully.

Before I could even wonder what I was watching, the scene shifted to the all too familiar panel of judges, known even to those two or three dozen of us who haven't tuned in before. Oh, no. American Idol! I should have switched over to my Tivo menu right there, but I was entranced.

They cut off this hot guy's singing way too quickly and passed their judgement. I wanted to kick Simon when he said the guy was 'too theatrical', but all four ended up voting him forward to the next round and he was adorable as he told Paula she was his first pop concert when he was 10 and kissed her hand.

Who was he?! I had to know. It turns out, his name is Adam Lambert and he's been in the L.A. cast of Wicked as Fiyero for the last few years. He also did a musical on stage with Val Kilmer called The Ten Commandments (yikes!) about four years ago and was in the later movie version as well.

I took this info to YouTube, where I discovered several clips of Adam performing both on stage and at the Upright Cabaret as recently as New Year's Eve. I'm not entirely sure on this, but it seems like Adam may be openly gay. I say this because of the New Year's eve clip on YouTube, where he's talking to the audience about having kissed his female co-star in Wicked and that, even though it may not be his preference, it was still nice.

I know from reading blogs and such that while there have been people on the show that came out after the fact (Jim Verraros, who I loved in the Eating Out films, and Clay Aiken to name two) no one has been acknowledged to be openly gay while still on the show. I think it would be awesome if Adam was the first. Even better, if he went on to win the whole thing.

Needless to say, my crush intensified after my YouTube viewings and the next thing I knew, I'd added a season pass to American Idol on my Tivo. There, that's my confession. My name is Seth, and I watch American Idol. All those people I was secretly looking down on for no very good reason for the past seven years can now laugh in my face.

Even worse, I'll never be able to listen to Jay Brannan's song American Idol again without feeling like I've betrayed the sentiment behind the song! ("American Idol, get the hell off my TV")

Adam was barely featured in Wednesday's episode (the first I'd recorded), but he did move forward to the next round and I'll be watching as long as he's on. What can I say, he's really talented. Yes, he's also beautiful, but it was his voice that kept me from changing the channel when I first saw him.

If you haven't heard him sing, go to YouTube and search his name. In fact, follow this link for a compilation of several of his performances that are on the site, including the American Idol audition that caught my attention.

Postcards to the President

I just read about Postcards to the President, a great chance for the LGBT community and their supporters to make themselves heard individually on equal rights and, more specifically, the repealing the Defense of Marriage Act.

I think it's a fantastic idea, something very simple that would only take a few minutes and the cost of a stamp but could really send a strong message, demonstrating just how many of us there are who care about this issue.

Take the time to send a postcard and to let others know about it!

Knight Outed

I had some topics in mind to write about tonight, but I'm just really tired and can't seem to pull anything together. So I decided to just surf the net and see if anything interesting jumped out at me that I could write about.

That's when I read that my sister's favorite New Kid on the Block, Jonathan Knight, was just outed to the National Enquirer by his ex boyfriend. Nice guy, huh? I think Jonathan's sexuality has been an open secret for awhile, but its still pretty low of his ex to sell pictures of them together and his story like that.

At least Jonathan has a chance to live his life openly now. I think everyone does have to come out in their own time, when they're ready, but I have a problem with celebrities who are completely out in their personal lives, to their friends and family, but stay publicly closeted even though they could be role models for LGBT youth all over the world. (Mind you, I don't know what Knight's situation is; he may not be out to his family yet either, in which case what his ex did is even worse)

So, that's Nsync and New Kids checked off the list. How long until we find out which Backstreet Boy is gay?

Van & Jake Interview

Advocate.Com has a great interview up with Van Hansis and Jake Silbermann about the groundbreaking 'Nuke Sex' that took place last month. Here's a preview, but read the whole thing because... well, why wouldn't you?! Van & Jake are just completely awesome.

Advocate.com: Now that it's finally aired, how do you think Nuke's first sex scene played out?
Hansis: I think it was a natural progression for the characters at this point to sleep together. I think it’s a good thing that they did. The time was right. It is important to show that they take it seriously. I am glad the fans are so happy because that is the most important thing.
Silbermann: I really liked the way the show handled it by not really having it with bells and whistles and fanfare…
Hansis: Also, it was exciting for the fans not to have any “spoilers” on it, because I know there was a big fan group waiting for this moment. In this day and age, to keep that a secret is pretty cool. I think the fans enjoyed being surprised and shocked.

Their passion seemed to ignite out of an impassioned argument, as they had been broken up for some time.
Silbermann: They weren’t really mad at each other. They really wanted to be together. So I think it was one of those heartfelt moments of what they were trying to say, and the action came out of it.

It’s important that gay romance receives fair cultural representation on television. Do you feel a responsibility in portraying these roles?
Silbermann: The most important thing is that it’s a story for people who felt unrepresented on our show, or any show.
Hansis: One of the most important things in the daytime medium, in portraying a couple long-term, is to give a voice to people who had not had a voice. Also, to show people who are not gay or who don’t have a personal connection to the story. They can form an empathetic connection to these characters. It helps people in that way.

Check out the whole interview, they discuss some upcoming stories (nothing too detailed, of course), how they feel about working with each other, and their recent foray to see a really bad movie together.

Goodbye Oscar Wilde

Bad news. The Oscar Wilde Bookshop, the oldest LGBT bookstore in the United States, is closing down, yet another victim of this lousy economy. The Oscar Wilde is more than just a bookstore, it's a cultural landmark for the LGBT community, having opened its doors in New York back in 1967, two full years before the Stonewall riots. I've read about the Oscar Wilde before and it was on my list of places to go when I finally got to NYC. That won't be happening now, and that makes me really sad.

This is really a shame, but I can't say it's a surprise. As I've noted before, I work for one of the large bookstore chains and we've been struggling for business for awhile now. I know things are much harder for independent booksellers who don't have the sweet deals with publishers that the big chains get. (Which, by the way, I fully support independent booksellers over chains. I just happened to need a job and the independents around here weren't hiring!)

It's always sad to see another independent bookstore fold, but its even harder to see a place that was such a part of the LGBT community go under.

If you live in or near NYC, the Oscar Wilde will be open until March 29th.

Not Much to See Here

Luke was back on As the World Turns today, but there really isn't much I can say about it. Noah wasn't present and Luke just had a few scenes in the whole Casey/Jade/Emily/Ali story.

I did like the fact that when he found out that Jade never passed his message on to Casey, he totally didn't buy her lie about why she hadn't and immediately confronted her about it. That's one thing I've always really liked about Luke & Jade's relationship. He knows her better than anyone, knows what she's capable of and won't let her get away with lying to him.

Perhaps more interesting today was the return of Casey's old cellmate Matt from his latest stint in prison. Granted, he seems to be present mostly to throw a further wrench into the Casey/Alison pairing, since he dated Ali briefly the last time he was out on parole. He & Casey have always had an interesting chemistry, though, and really seem to care about each other. I know the show would never pair them up romantically, of course, but I still enjoy watching their dynamic together as friends.

I'm more than ready to see Luke & Noah together again! It's been nearly three weeks since they were last onscreen at the same time. I don't mind them not having a story for a little while before their next one starts, but couldn't we at least seem them together, enjoying being in love?

Nooo! Not Kyle XY! Take 90210 Instead!

Damn you, ABC Family! I really love their series Kyle XY, as I've mentioned before, and I just found out that they've cancelled it! Why are all the really good shows, the ones that aren't exactly like every other show you see when you turn on the TV, so quick to fall victim to cancellation? First Pushing Daisies, now Kyle XY.

Three seasons were just not enough for this unique, incredible show. They haven't even said for certain yet if they'll continue airing the remaining episodes of the third season, which just started a few weeks ago, but they'd better! ABC has screwed us so far with the remaining episodes of Pushing Daisies, for which we'll probably have to wait for the DVD boxed set to see. Let's hope ABC Family is a bit kinder.

I guess the bright spot is that they did renew Greek for another season. I do really enjoy that show, but it's not on the same level as Kyle XY. They're also going to have a new show based on the film 10 Things I Hate About You, which intrigues me a bit. I've always loved that movie, especially the scene where Heath Ledger serenades Julia Stiles from the bleachers!

Seriously, though, there are so many vapid, predictable shows that go on and on, and a great show like Kyle XY gets cancelled way before its time. TV execs are clearly out of their minds.