Gay marriage rights passing all over New England

How awesome is New England? That’s where the true heart of fairness, democracy, and liberal ideals lie in this country. (Take that, California!)

Gay marriage is already a legal reality in Massachusetts, Vermont, and Connecticut and proposed gay marriage bills look promising in New Hampshire, and, as of today, Maine.

Bravo, yankees! Way to lead the way.

Sun salutation, y’all

I’ve done a bunch of sun salutations in my new yoga class this week and they’re kicking my ass. It’s been years since I took yoga regularly and this creaky old body is limbering up. Slowly.

Do any of you practice yoga? I’d like to hear about your progress, how were you in the beginning vs. how you are now and how long it took.

Relive the first 24 hours of MTV

I’ve written fondly of my childhood love for MTV. I was not cynical enough at 10 to realize that music video’s emphasis on good looking performers would prove to be the downfall of pop music.

No when I was 10, having a channel all to myself was thrilling. I could watch music videos all day long. And I did. Through MTV I found a lot of cool New Wave acts. I fell in love with Duran Duran and Culture Club and Adam and The Ants. The Go-Gos, Missing Persons, A Flock of Seagulls, which all the cool kids dubbed A.F.O.S.

Hey, remember the MTV ditty?

So, if, like me, you were an excited youngster watching cable television on August 1, 1981, and the names Martha Quinn, J.J. Jackson (RIP), Alan Hunter, Mark Goodman, and Nina Blackwood are forever linked with your youth, you might like to relive MTV’s first 24 hours on the air.

And now you can here at the channel’s official web site. Hard to believe so few performers made videos back then, MTV had to air the same handful of artists over and over.

If you were watching since the first day — and even if you weren’t — share your MTV memories here.

Officially now the gayest movie ever

Try to contain your laughter at the not-so-subtle gay innuendos.

“Have you figured it out yet?”

Kelly McGillis finally comes out of the closet

“I’m a lesbian,” actress Kelly McGillis tells gay women’s web site She-Wired.com. Confirming what the rest of us suspected for 20 years. Say, do you suppose those rumors of her and Jodie hooking up while making The Accused might be true?

We’ve hit the 100 day mark

We’ve had President Barack Obama in the White House for 100 days now. What do you think?

Is he a genius? A hack? Will he be the next Clinton? Or another Carter? Every pundit in the world is weighing in with two thumbs up or down, but I’d rather hear your opinion. Ready? To the comments!

I just watched this movie

What the hell? It was as demented as it was brilliant. Guy Maddin, huh? Is he like the new David Lynch?

OMG, no. Bea Arthur has died.

Oh, cruel, dark day.

Share with us your grief in the comments.

Allen Ginsberg’s words of wisdom

My advice to you is as follows:
one, learn meditation practice;
two, empower yourself with your own emotions -
don’t be afraid of grief, or heartthrob;
three, be willing to expose yourself and be a fool,
to not be intimidated in the presence of presidents
and rock stars, but come on as a gentle, living
flesh and blood human being.

Don’t treat people as icons.

If what you are doing is considered by all your friends
as too far out, think thrice -
so you don’t go outside the bounds of sanity -
check it out.

Get a good education in reading the Eastern and Western classics.
Avoid animal fat.
Be a slave to love.
Wear your heart on your sleeve.
Twenty rejections in a row are wiped out by one acceptance.

New Beth Ditto interview

“It’s funny how something so normal and mundane that you see every day—your body—can be controversial.

From an interview in Black Book