Also: Two Happy Birthdays

Happy Birthday to two great gay men today, both of whom had an immeasurable impact on my life.

Today would have been the 79th birthday of slain gay rights leader (and my lifelong hero) Harvey Milk:

And a very happy 50th (!) to Morrissey, also a gigantic influence on me and the impetus to my teenage-to-now vegetarianism:

Thanks, fellas.

Flashback: Afrika Bambaataa and Johnny Rotten

Here’s “World Destruction”, still relevant as ever:

Obama’s speech at White House dinner

The President might look into a stand-up comedy career after this White House gig. Here’s his very funny speech from last night’s White House Correspondents Dinner. Don’t miss the joke about Hillary Clinton hugging and kissing him when she came back from Mexico. Hilarious:

Awesome. He’s great. Very naturally funny.

Wanda Sykes at White House dinner

Check out sassy comedian Wanda Sykes teasing President Barack Obama during her dicey and sometimes hilarious routine at the White House Correspondents Dinner last night. She makes fun of everyone — Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi, both the President and the First Lady — and says some outrageous stuff. Scandalous stuff, in fact:

Wow. Wanda was pushing it. Do you think she went over the line at all? The Sarah Palin abstinence joke? No? The Rush Limbaugh OxyContin joke?

I’m sure people will be discussing this routine.

Michelle Obama on ‘Sesame Street’

“I think it’s probably the best thing I’ve done so far in the White House.”
-Michelle Obama on her visit to Sesame Street

Art vigilantes paint over illegal billboards

From Consumerist:

A big bravo to the authentic graffiti artists in NYSAT or New York Street Advertising Takeover. These folks are going around the city and painting over corporate street art ads – yes, illegal graffiti ads created by corporations who want to appear “hep.”

In some cases NYSAT is replacing the ads with original street art and in others (see photo above) they’re simply painting the word “Delete.”

Here’s an incensed blog post about the phenomenon of corporate street ads in New York and an earlier Consumerist post about the blight of these ads in Los Angeles.

If you want to read more about guerilla and “underground” advertising tactics corporations are using to market to hipsters and young people, or if you just want to be scared shitless about advertising’s infiltration into every facet of our lives, pick up a copy of Anne Elizabeth Moore’s incendiary Unmarketable: Brandalism, Copyfighting, Mocketing and the Erosion of Integrity (New Press, $15.95).

Republican Clown College

Thanks to the astute folks at Boing Boing:

Check out this great Flickr photo file from the esteemed (and seemingly overpopulated) Republican Clown College.

Newt Gingrich looks especially laff-a-riffic in his little hat!

Who’s your favorite?

Obama administration: who would you do?

In its annual sex survey, Seattle’s truly spectacular alt-weekly The Stranger asks the question, “Which member of the Obama administration would you have sex with?”

Give me your answers in the comments section.

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.

Officially now the gayest movie ever

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

“Have you figured it out yet?”