Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Stuff you really, really want to know about the next season of Lost


DANGER!!! SPOILER ALERT!!! (For those highly sensitive to such...)The first section is all stuff that has been made public, ie, either released in official press announcements or said by the producers.

1)The first episode is called LA X (I believe it's two hours, so it's LA X Parts 1 and 2)
And yes, the space between the "LA" and the "X" is intentional. We pick up right where we left off last season with Juliet blowing up a bomb in 1977 Dharma times and Un-Locke egging bitter Ben to kill the mysterious Jacob.
2)Juliet (Elizabeth Mitchell)will be back for an unknown amount of episodes (or maybe just one)but won't be a regular.
3)Nestor Carbonell aka Richard aka Manliner Man is now a series regular. We will learn a LOT more about Richard.
4)Emilie de Ravin (Claire) is back as a regular.
5)Many dead,missing and long since seen characters from the past will reappear next season. Dominic Monaghan appeared but did not speak at the Lost forum at ComicCon this year. He'll be in at least 3 episodes. Ian Somerholder (Boone, the first big Lost death)will also be back for a couple of episodes. It was not released in what capacity they would appear...flashbacks, dream sequences, ghosts, or alternate timelines.
6)At Comic Con, videos were shown of Hurley in a Mr Cluck commercial apparently filmed AFTER the successful landing of Oceanic flight 815 in Los Angeles, and a segment of America's Most Wanted featuring the actual host John Walsh focusing on the search for the notorious Kate Austen, but not for the murder of her father, as we learned in Season 1, but that of another man who was mistakenly in the house that Kate blew up. Apparently, a different alternate timeline will be explored in Season 6...
7)Producers did confirm that we will see Daniel (Jeremy Davies) again but did not specify in what capacity (flashback, dream, alternate timeline). And, we will see Desmond in LA X.

WARNING...MORE SPOILERY STUFF AHEAD LEARNED FROM FANSITES AND NOT OFFICIALLY RELEASED. STOP READING NOW IF YOU ARE SENSITIVE TO SPOILAGE!!!

8)Maggie Grace (Shannon*, Boone's stepsister) is listed on the IMDB as being in LA X.
9)The following characters have been seen on set/location in Hawaii: Ilana, Bram, Charlie*, Boone*, Doc Arzt*, Kate's Marshall*, Frogurt*,Cindy the stewardess, Zak and Emma, Ethan*, Lapidus, Rose, Bernard, Charles Widmore. (*indicates dead characters). No word if anyone has sighted Ana* or Mr Eko*, but Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje said at Comic Con he was open to return to the show. Jorge Garcia (Hurley) said in an interview recently that it looked unlikely that Cynthia Watros (Libby*) would be returning, though her character will probably be mentioned. And Harold Perrineau (Michael*) said he is open to coming back as well, if the script is good.
10)A big Temple set has been constructed.
11)Jacob is the father of a character we already know.
12)Episode 3 is "What Kate Does" and is Kate-centric, (duh).
13)Episode 4 is "The Substitute" and is apparently Locke-centric. Locke's ladylove, played by Katey Sagal, will appear and his shitty little boss Randy Nations(who used to be Hurley's boss) played by Billy Ray Gallion.
14)Scenes are being shot that take place on the Island circa 2007 (last year, the time frame Un-Locke, Ben and Sun were in when they went to the base of the statue) with that cast but there also seems to be Island set, 2008 scenes with Jack, Kate, Hurley, Sawyer, etc meaning that they are no longer in 1978/Dharma times. And, most importantly, they are filming scenes of an alternate timeline featuring the characters AFTER Oceanic Flight 815 successfully lands in Los Angeles in 2004.
15)No word on the status of Jack's chest pelt...

Thursday, August 27, 2009

My New Favorite Website


People of Walmart

Just like life, it's heartbreaking AND hilarious and frequently both at the same time...

I originally heard about this on DListed...God bless Michael K.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

What a lazy sumbitch I've been lately...


Sorry, but my excuses are the following:

1)Nice weather excludes blogging.

2)I've had anything worth blogging about.

3)Depression and Recession.

4)General feeling of "Why bother to blog?"

5)Why bother to write blog entries that might be a paragraph or two long when you can suffice with short sentences on Facebook or Twitter?

6)I have nothing of interest to add to the general discussions ongoing vis a vis:

a)the death of Michael Jackson
b)the death of healthcare reform in this country
c)the abundance of new dessert outlets on Capitol Hill
d)local politics
e)anything to do with reality programs
f)Speidi

7)Hiding my true identity as Dick Whitman is exhausting and very time consuming...

That is all.

For now.

Friday, July 31, 2009

aaaaaah!


A strange thing happened to me about 4am this morning; I woke up, shivered and realized that I needed a quilt in addition to the thin, sweat soaked sheet I had been used to covering myself with for the last several days...it was a delightful feeling.

Maybe I can work my way back to actually cooking food and taking warm showers.

Late Breaking News!

After beers, professor, officer plan to meet again; perhaps start dating.
CNN International - ‎1 hour ago‎
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The officer who arrested a top African-American professor said talks over beers Thursday evening at the White House were productive and the two men plan to meet again at a Back Bay gay bar called Peckers. Sgt. James Crowley confided to a friend that he had long admired older, African-American men with an air of sophistication and butts that just won't quit, and Skip Gates just might be "the man of my dreams!"

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Bing is my default search engine on my workplace laptop...

but I prefer Google. I typed in Google in the Bing search window and Bing's response was they could not find a match for Google, but would I like to check out "Googles"?

How petty...

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Shhhhhh....Don't tell Mr. Poe about my new imaginary boyfriend,

Rob Fyfe the silver haired daddy/CEO of Air New Zealand...and definitely don't tell him that Mr Fyfe appears nude, except for body paint, in a new ad for Air New Zealand...

But, Jebus, the Kiwi accent IS a bit harsh isn't it?

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Sad...

An angel skateboards into heaven...

I'm trying to decide between the Charlie's Angels episode where they're in the women's prison camp or the one with the roller derby theme as my favorite...they're both great!

A toast to Farrah.

Monday, June 22, 2009

Damn you, Trader Joe's!

and your delicious Pita Bite Crackers! I can't stop eating you! And you're good with EVERYTHING! Even plain, you are deliciously addictive with your sea salt dusting and slightly burnt edges. And since you're a new addition to the Trader Joe's family, I worry that you are a temporary seasonal item and that you might go away, never to be seen, or eaten, again!

I hate you and yet, I love you...

UPDATE: I guess they're not that new or seasonal but TJ's must have got a big shipment and they've been pushing them on a big end display for the last few weeks...but I do get paranoid with Trader Joe's because they HAVE taken away things I've loved in the past.

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Miami Cats Have Snit Over Release Of Accused Cat Serial Killer

Cat killings suspect no danger, judge says
United Press International - ‎20 hours ago‎
MIAMI, June 17 (UPI) -- A Miami man accused of killing and mutilating 19 cats was released on bond Wednesday after a judge ruled he posed no danger. ...


Mr Boots, taken weeks before the tragedy. (File photo)

Mittens, a two-year old mixed Persian, sits nervously in her home in Miami Beach. Her beautiful green eyes dart around the room fearfully and she immediately jumps to her paws when a garbage truck drives by her modestly decorated Art Deco duplex. She seems embarassed at her reaction but makes no apologies as she returns to our conversation with frequent breaks for some casual grooming. "It's so hard for me to understand why this judge would think this monster would pose no threat to the Feline-American community of South Florida," she says quietly as she reflexively clenches and unclenches her claws into the arms of the sofa. "He has been accused of slaughtering 19 cats! And, two of them, Tabitha Sue Martin and Mr Boots, were very close friends of mine! We frequently used to meet up in the alley behind that fish place on 34th Street. We had a lot of good times together, eating fish heads and playing with balls of string...and now, that's all gone; I'll never see my friends again!"

Other cats and their friends and supporters, are equally mystified at the remarks made by the judge. Only "Butch", a spokesperson from the Gruff Dog Coalition of Greater Dade County who refused to give a last name and wore no tag on his masculine spiked collar, expressed support for the decision made by the court.

story continued on back page...

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

A million apologies for my lack of posts.

I've been busy with work, SIFF, some sort of lovelife, barbecuing in this divine weather, and being irritated by the Administration of Barack Obama, Chase-Manhattan Bank, my brother's douchey employers and a lack of time and money,(in other words, all the usual suspects...).

Still, I feel shitty for neglecting you.

My utmost apologies.

To make it up to you, here is a picture of Mad Men star, Jon Hamm.

Sadly, he is clothed.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

My New Favorite Band: Empire of the Sun


It's fronted by Australians Luke Steele of The Sleepy Jackson (the chubby blonde) and Nick Littlemore of Pnau, (the wriggly brunette)...I think they're the Next Big Thing in a hipster, gay music sort of way. Check out the video for We Are the People here...Oh, and I first heard about them at Steven Blum's blog, Ohmygod, Seattle!

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Apparently my credit card number decided to take a vacation in Rensselaer, New York and didn't bother to invite me!!

Yes, I have joined the ranks of those many Americans who have become the victims of credit fraud! On Monday, I went to use my WaMu/Chase credit/debit card at my local teryaki joint only to have it declined...five times. Needless to say, I was furious at the restaurant and/or WaMa/Chase for fucking up a simple credit transaction when I had at least $500 in my checking account so I stormed out of the restaurant and walked the 4 blocks to Fremont to check my balance at an ATM and to buy me some food for my lunch. Apparently, though, there's only ONE fucking ATM in Fremont and it's some rinky-dink Frontier Bank ATM and it wouldn't/couldn't give me an account balance. By this point I'm furious AND starving but I was also nervous about using my card because frankly it's embarassing to have your card declined in front of witnessess because no one ever believes you when you tell them that you really do have money in your account. In desperation, I grabbed a cheap sandwich at PCC and used the self-service check-out where I was successfully able to make a DEBIT card transaction. "Ah, hah!" I thought as I walked back to work, scarfing down my chicken salad sandwich, "So there ISN'T anything wrong with my card, it's the crappy credit card machine at the teryaki place!"

Still, I was uneasy about my card and bank account so as soon as I got back to work, I called the bank to get a balance...and, there was a mysterious pending charge on my account for $84.20. Now, I am not a fiscally responsible person; I have much debt and I haven't balanced my checking account in 25 years but I do have a pretty good memory and I generally know my aproximate bank balance at all times and I was having a hard time remembering having made any kind of transaction recently that was anywhere close to $84.20. I then went online to find out that I had apparently purchased $84.20 worth of wine and/or beer at a store called "Grapes & Grains"...in Rensselaer, NY a suburb of Albany. Needless to say I've never been to Rensselaer, NY so I immediately called WaMu/Chase to report the theft of my card number and to discover that they too had been alarmed by my apparent teleporting from Seattle to New York and back again last Friday, and had put a hold on my credit card, (but strangely enough, not on the debit part of my card, because it still worked). So, they cancelled my card, (which means I have to go a week without having a debit/credit card and quick access to my money) but I was relieved that the crooks had only gotten away with one transaction...or so I thought. On Wednesday, I stopped off at the Broadway WaMu on my way to work to deposit a SIFF paycheck and to withdraw $200 to last me for the week. The nice teller lady handed me my money and the receipt with my new balance on it...after my withdrawal I only had about $30 left in my account when I should have had around $300. I asked her to look at the account to see if there had been any new "funny" transactions...well, apparently after buying their weekend supply of beer/wine my thieves went to gas up their SUV because they used my card number to spend $200 at an Exxon gas station in Rensselaer. Also, there didn't seem to be anything going on with me getting back the money already stolen from me. But, the teller was very nice and got one of the desk people to help me and they called the Fraud Department for me and this time I think I actually got a customer service rep who knew what they were doing and they opened a file for me and gave me a case number and told me I should have the money back in my account within 5 business days, (it took less than one; I got my money back today), so I'm relatively happy and only put out that I have to wait until next week to get my new card.

Oh, and I have a strong suspicion that someone at Seattle Central stole my number. I belong to the gym there and they process the payment transactions like it was 1991. They take an IMPRINT of your card with all the info on it and it doesn't get run for several days and I'm assuming that that imprint is just sitting around in a box or drawer for days in plain site of the many dozens of student workers at the front desk. It's the only "odd" transaction I've made in months; 98% of my credit transactions are immediately swiped at the dozen or so businesses where I make my custom, (Safeway, Trader Joe's, the teryaki place, the cigarette store, Subway). So, if I decide to renew my gym membership at Central, I'm paying cash which means I'll have to to the fucking bursurs office to make my payment...(and apparently the bursur's office at Central also takes card imprints when you pay by card, which is ludicrous in this day and age for a state run institution).

And, I'm going to have to eat crow and take some candy to the nice ladies at my teryaki place...I wasn't verbally mean to them but I did angrily storm out of the restaurant like it was their fault and now I feel guilty that it came across that I blamed them and they ARE nice and make good, non-greasy teryaki which I'm eternally grateful for...

Rumor has it, the Georgetown Music Festival cancelled...

...due to lack of sponsorship.

Dat's de word on de street...

If it's true, that's sad.

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Juliet LIVES!!!

Or, at least she'd better live or I will personally take down ABC, Disney and Team Darlton for killing off the most interesting female character on Lost. (which would consist of me whining about how awful they are, on this blog which no one reads...so take that, Disney!)

But then again, we didn't see her, (or Sayid, for that matter) actually kick the bucket...plus, if Daniel/Jack's dumb "let's blow up the Island to correct our time anomaly" trick actually worked, then NONE of this will have happened and poor Juliet will be stuck back on the Island circa 2003 slaving away for The Others trying to solve their problems with maternity.

Right?

And, as for last night's season ending episode, I really enjoyed it, (except for the maybe killing Juliet thing and the presence of Jack, a character I care nothing about, and judging by the way the writers of the show write for him, they don't seem that invested in Jack either...) The introduction of Jacob and his eternal nemesis Esau/the Man in Black/that guy from Deadwood was well done and seemed to set the show up for the inevitable good guys/bad guys showdown in season 6, (even though we're still not sure who's "good" and who's "bad"; I'm guessing that we're going to continue with that ambivalence through the end of the series, which I like). I loved all the scenes with Ben and FakeLocke and the realization that The Man in Black has been playing numerous roles over the course of time, (don't you think it likely that it was MIB who was inhabitating Jack's dead dad Christian and other ghostly presences on the Island since it apparently wasn't possible for MIB to leave the Cabin he was imprisoned in?) And, do you really think Ben has been played for a patsy for all these years, or was that entire ending scene worked out beforehand between Ben and Jacob? And, is Jacob really dead? It would seem to me that a guy who's apparently lived for quite a long time, wouldn't be so easily dispatched...And, what about...oh, I could go on for pages and pages so let me just list some thoughts and questions:

Are Rose and Bernard really "retired"? Was this just a way to write them out of the story? Or, do they have a larger role to play in the future?

Where was Walt?!?!?! He's been in every final episode of every season...his character seemed so important in the beginning and now he's seemed to fade away...will he come back next year, or will that be possible if the Losties are blown back to 2003 when Walt was only 11?

Where was Desmond? And Penny? And Widmore? Are they yesterdays news?

If the bomb plan worked and the original Losties never came to the Island, does that mean that Charlie and AnaLucia and Libby and Eko and Shannon and Michael and all the others killed on the Island are still alive? Does that mean that we'll SEE some of these characters next season? (We already know that Claire will be returning next year but she's never been officially confirmed as dead...)

I hope Sayid IS dead...there's nothing more to be done with his character...but, it WAS sad when Nadia was run down...(and who's driving the killer car that has run over several characters over the years? Is it one of the many drunk driving Lost actors?)

Richard Alpert: is it just me, or is his character sort of stupid? He seemed so all-knowing at first and now he just seems clueless...or is it an act?

Wassup with Ilana and Company? Are they original to the Island? Is Ilana as old as Alpert or Jacob? How many toes does she have?

Jacob was kind of....hot, in a blond, Scandinavian Jesus-y sort of way.

Finally...

REALLY...JULIET HAD BETTER NOT BE FUCKIN' DEAD, MOTHERFUCKERS AT ABC/DISNEY/BAD ROBOT!!!!!!!I MEAN IT!!!!

Shit...8 more months to a new Lost episode...

Namaste

The Road begins to put up signs that it nears completion.


Apparently the marketing push for the film adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's dystopic, best seller The Road has begun as Tom Chiarella of Esquire was given an advance screening of the film and has proceeded to declare: "The Road is the Most Important Movie of the Year." You can read his jizz-covered review over at the Esquire website. And to follow up, The Weinstein Company has released the first trailer for the film; you can catch it on YouTube. I have to say, the visuals look very impressive but it's hard to determine the overall quality of a film from a trailer. Viggo Mortensen seems well cast as The Man, but it was a bit off-putting to see so much of Charlize Theron as his wife in the trailer...in the book, the wife has a very limited physical presence. Either her part was significantly beefed up to attract a bigger named actress, or, we're seeing the majority of her moments in the trailer in an effort to draw more people to the film. And I wouldn't blame them for that; the book has a large number of fans who will want to see the film, but it's going to be tough to lure a significant number of the general population to pay $10 for a two hour filmed bleakfest featuring cannibals, babies roasting on a spit, sex-slaves, and a general lack of hope and basic hygiene...Still, I plan on seeing this. I'm a sucker for dystopic societies. The film is scheduled to open October 16th, and I'm guessing that it will be a limited release at first to gather up steam for award season.

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Torso is Morte!


That keening sound you hear in the air is the anguished voices of millions of gay men over the age of 30 mourning the news that the Mavety publishing group has announced they are ceasing publication of the gay erotic magazine titles, Torso, Mandate, Playguy, Inches and Honcho. Mandate, the oldest of the group, has been published for 34 years. The blog Boy Culture first reported the news on Monday and it was picked up by sites all over the web. I've tried to find some sort of official announcement, but none seems to have been made and Mavety doesn't appear to have an public website...which might help explain why they had to shutter the mags. Matthew Rettenmund, the blogger at Boy Culture who broke the story, previously worked for the Mavety Group and has an insider's take on the demise of the magazines and gives a fitting tribute to their creator and publisher George Mavety, (who himself died in 2000), a heterosexual Canadian who also created Juggs, which has NOT ceased publication.

I have a tub, or two, of old gay porno mags at home that I never look at anymore but I'm loathe to throw them away because they're kind of an important part of my life as a gay man...for gay men coming of age in the late 70's and throughout the 80's and even well into the 90's, these magazines were the only sources of information we had about our sexuality and what it meant to be gay. And maybe the information wasn't always the best and maybe it created a false sense of worth, (just like mainstream magazines do for straight people), but it was all we had...and it was sexy as hell in a world deprived of 24 hour instant internet access to sexual imagery from around the world.

A toast to Torso, and Mandate, and Honcho, and Playguy and Inches...

Tonite on Lost: The Incident

Synopsis
Jack's decision to put a plan in action in order to set things right on the island is met with some strong resistance by those close to him, and Locke assigns Ben a difficult task, on the season finale of “Lost.”

Guest List
L. Scott Caldwell as Rose
Sam Anderson as Bernard
John Terry as Christian Shephard
Nestor Carbonell as Richard Alpert
Jeff Fahey as Frank Lapidus
Francois Chau as Dr. Pierre Chang
Patrick Fischler as Phi
l Eric Lange as Radzinsky
Zuleikha Robinson as Ilana
Brad William Henke as Bram
Jon Gries as Roger Linus
Alice Evans as younger Eloise Hawking
Andrea Gabriel as Noor “Nadia” Abed Jaseem
Kevin Chapman as Mitch
Mark Pellegrino as man #1
Titus Welliver as man #2
Emily Rae Argenti as young Kate
Tanner Maguire as young Tom
George Gerdes as Mr. Springer
Agnes Kwak as Aunt Soo
Amy Stewart as mother
Rylee Fansler as young Juliet
Savannah Lathem as young Rachel
William Makozak as Captain Bird
Daniel James Kunkel as anesthesiologist
Sonya Masinovsky as Russian nurse
Keegan Boos as young Sawyer
Colby French as Uncle Doug
John Pete as prison clerk
Michael Trisler as father he
Sally Davis as woman
Adam Bazzi as cab driver
It's a joyously sad day as we approach tonite's season ending, 2 hour finale, The Incident; a joyous and exciting time to savor what will probably be an engaging episode and of course a day of sadness as rabid Lost fans realize it'll be 8 months or so until their next new episode and the start of Lost's 6th and final season. But, we won't dwell on that...or, at least not for the time being.

What should we expect from tonite's episode? Well, just from scuttlebutt, rumor and the cast list featured above I'm guessing we're going to continue our Jacob hunt with Super Locke and Company in 2007 and somewhere along the way we might be running into both the long missing Rose/Bernard/Vincent the dog contigent AND the mysterious Ilana/Bram/knocked out Lapidus/Shadow of the Statue posse we last saw on Hydra Island...And we know that Jack/Sawyer/MiddleAged but sexy as hell Ms Hawking are up to no good with the Jughead bomb and that something causes the notorious Incident at the Swan Station that sounds like it might be explosive...AND, that promo clips for tonite's show feature our favorite uncomfortable trio of Sawyer/Kate/Juliet back ON the Island and NOT on the submarine bound for Ann Arbor, (does Ann Arbor have a submarine dock?), so apparently they either discovered a way to teleport off a submarine, or more likely, Sawyer just beaned the Captain in the head and shanghaied the sub to take them back to the Island...

And judging by that cast list, I'm assuming we're in for some flashbacks of our heroes, including trips back in time to the death of Nadia, Jin and Sun's wedding, Locke's crippling fall, spikey haired medical resident Jack with his dad, and various pre-teen incarnations of Sawyer/Kate/Kate's friend that she sorta killed/Juliet and Juliet's cancer stricken sister before she got the cancer. Oh, and we'll find out why Hurley came back to the Island, and where did that guitar case come from that he keeps hauling around?

Oddly, enough, there's no sign of Penny or Old Man Widmore on the guest list which leads to the question, "Will Desmond have much to do on tonite's episode?" (Desmond, and Sun/Jin got pretty short shifted this season...very little for them to do...)

Lastly, it seems likely we WILL see Jacob, or at least, some form of Jacob at some point AND, I'm predicting we're going to see Walt and maybe the long missing Claire in some form, in tonite's episode. (The Walt/Claire prediction is NOT a spoiler; I'm just guessing here...I don't have any insider knowledge that they will be on the show tonite.) For that matter, I'm guessing that the Guest Cast List might be short SEVERAL names...we'll see.

Saturday, May 9, 2009

Obviously, I'm a bit bored...

My eyes, (which are hazel) look very blue in the top photo...

and very dark in the last two photos...

Today at SIFF!



C'mon down and buy some tickets at Ticket Island in Pacific Place!

Friday, May 8, 2009

Travis Louie at Roq La Rue...

For more Louie go here. For more Roq La Rue, go here. The Lush Life group show runs through June 2nd and features art by:
Joe Sorren, Chris Berens, Chris Conn Askew, Mia Araujo, Melissa Forman, Travis Louie, Madeline Von Foerster, Martin Wittfooth, Kukula, Ryan Heshka, John Brophy, Tin, Brian Despain, Glenn Barr, Dan Quintana, Femke Hiemstra, Laurie Hogin, Lisa Petrucci, and Andrew Arconti
Go. Now. See. Buy.

Things that make you go: WTF?


I got this picture from Awkward Family Photos, maybe the best website EVUH, but I originally heard about the site at DListed...

This picture raises soooooo very many questions...the primary one being, of course, WHY?
Did Mom or Dad wake up one day with the idea, "Hey, lets make nekkid costumes for the entire family to wear?" And, WHERE did they wear these costumes? Was it for a family event, or a public event? Did the kids wear these to school? What was the reaction of the other guests? Is this a nudist family or are they just 'wacky'? Is Daddy's real wang the same size as the costume wang? And is Mommy's bush really that uh, bushy? And, why is little Susie playing with Daddy's costume wang in the first place?

I'm guessing they MUST be European...can you tell in the photo if the costume wang is cut, or uncut?

Shawn Levy responds...

Yesterday I posted about my ire at Paul Newman biographer Shawn Levy, a film critic at The Oregonian, and his comments to Ray Pride at Movie City News in an interview about Levy's recently published Newman bio and Levy's remarks concerning Paul Newman's height. I sent a short email to Pride expressing my ire, and Pride briefly responded with a reply email but he must have cc'd Levy because I got a response from Shawn Levy this morning:

As I said in the very brief comment, he was likely closer to 5'10" as a young man than he was when he was in his 60s, when he'd shrunken with age. At any rate, having never met him, I'm just guesstimating from pictures and such.

Shawn Levy

Writers sure are touchy! A little criticism from a nobody like me and he feels the need to defend himself! But, I appreciate the fact that he responded. Oh, and here's my response to Levy's email, and I should point out beforehand that Paul Newman: A Life is Levy's 5th book; his previous book, The Last Playboy, a biography of noted mid-century Dominican cocksman/playboy/gigolo/diplomat Porfirio Rubirosa and his legendary monster schlong is a very entertaining read and one I can recommend to fans of pop culture, histories of cafe society and/or biographies of men with extremely large penises...

I guess I'll forgive you but only because I enjoyed The Last Playboy and have to appreciate any biographer who would bother to write about such a marginal but fascinating figure of mid-twentieth century history.

I wonder if Rubi "shrunk" as he got older?

As for Mr Newman and other average or slightly below average height male stars, I've always thought it a bit silly their desperation at maintaining an image that they MUST be of a certain height in order to project masculinity and a sense of power. On the whole, do audiences really care? And do shorter male stars dread going on Letterman; after all, he's over 6 foot. For that 10 second moment when they meet and shake hands at the desk before sitting down, you can pretty accurately judge the guest's height in comparison to Dave's...

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Sorry, Shawn...have to call Bullshit on that...


Ray Price over on Movie City News has an interview with Oregonian film critic Shawn Levy and a conversation about Levy's new book, the unimaginatively titled, Paul Newman: A Life. Here's an excerpt from that interview:
PRIDE: How tall was Newman? Is it just the bad internets having a field day lately with varying estimates?

LEVY: I think that in the fullness of his time he stood about five ten-and-a-half or a smidge taller. But by the time the N. Y. Post started taking potshots at him for being short, he was nearing 60 and probably had ceded an inch or two to age.

I seriously have to question how accurate of a job Levy did on this biography when he's willing to perpetuate a stupid lie about an actor's height, especially since I have personal knowledge of this. I encountered Paul Newman in 1989 when he was filming Mr and Mrs Bridge in Kansas City. I was on my way to work one afternoon and was walking the three blocks from my bus stop to the downtown hotel I worked at, when I noticed a lot of big trucks and trailers parked near an old hotel; obviously, they were filming Bridge in the area, something that had been going on for several weeks at this point and a sight I was used to seeing because I had already run across the trucks not far from my apartment. That day, as I was hurrying to work, I didn't pay much attention to the film trucks. There was little obvious activity going on at street level, but as I got closer to the trucks I did notice a solitary man, in a 1940's period suit, walking towards me in the general direction of some parked trailers. Obviously it was an actor in the film and I thought, "Cool, I'm getting to see some behind the scenes stuff" and as we passed each other we acknowledged each other and did the nodded head/slight smile thing and I walked about another 10 feet and realized that I had just passed by Paul Newman. (the same thing happened to me in NYC when I walked by Paul Simon, who's notoriously short). I immediately spun around to gawk at him as he entered a trailer, and I gaily skipped the remaining two blocks to work to delightedly tell my co-workers that I had just had a Newman sighting!

"Ohmigod! I just encountered Paul Newman on the street!" were the first words out of mouth, and the second sentence I excitedly uttered were words along the line of: "And he's fuckin' tiny! Like 5'7" at best, and maybe 140 pounds!", which surprised no one since this was a downtown hotel and we were used to seeing celebrities in person and the inevitable disappointment of meeting celebrities in person and discovering they are ususlly smaller, duller and surlier in person than they are on your tv or movie screen. And, I should point out, my perception of Mr Newman's height was based on the fact we walked right past each other, and I'm not quite 5.10 (5' 9" 3/4)and Mr Newman was at least a couple inches shorter than me. That was in 1989 when Newman was about 64...is it really common for adult men to shrink three inches by their mid-sixties?

So, judging by Shawn Levy's dorky defense of his dead biography subjects height, I'm guessing that Levy doesn't venture much into the "Paul Newman was gay/bi" controversy in his book...

Oh, and go here for a hilarious discussion of Newman's height...and other celebrities as well including the not quite 5'10 Robert Redford.

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Tonite on Lost: Follow The Leader


Synopsis
Jack and Kate find themselves at odds over the direction to take to save their fellow island survivors, Locke further solidifies his stance as leader of "The Others," and Sawyer and Juliet come under scrutiny from the Dharma Initiative.

Written by Paul Zbyszewski & Elizabeth Sarnoff
Directed by Stephen Williams

Guest List
Nestor Carbonell as Richard Alpert
Francois Chau as Dr. Pierre Chang
Doug Hutchison as Horace Goodspeed
Patrick Fischler as Phil
Eric Lange as Radzinsky
David S. Lee as younger Charles Widmore
Alice Evans as younger Eloise Hawking
Leslie Ishii as Lara
Sebastian Siegel as Erik
Kevin Chapman as Mitch
Elisabeth Blake as Vanessa
William Makozak as Captain Bird
Victoria Goring as mother
Maya Henssens as young Charlotte


Yes, I've cheated and peeked at spoilers for tonite's penultimate Season 5 episode on a Lost fansite, which is pretty complete because Lost producer Carlton Cuse screened the entire episode at Ohio State University last night. I won't spoil things for the folks who don't want to know, but I will give you some vague hints...

The episode is split between 1977/Dharma Times and 2008/Locke-Sun-Ben times. It's a non-centric episode, meaning it doesn't focus on one character. We'll see all our current main Losties except for Des/Penny.

Richard Alpert will get quite a lot of screen time in BOTH sections and we get more confirmation that he is Very Old and he's the designated advisor guy to the Hostiles/Others but, contrary to some rumours, this is NOT a Richard-centric episode.

John Locke will continue in his new role as New Improved Super Confident Leader Guy much to Ben's chagrin and Alpert's amazement.

Three of our Losties will get a major smackdown.

We'll have a little mourning for Daniel (who is indeed dead) but not that much.

Jughead will play a role.

As usual, Hurley gets the funniest scene.

And things start to get very Indiana Jonesish for some of our heroes and Das Booty for others...

Next week, the two hour season finale titled "The Incident" airs and for the first time there aren't any major spoilers/synopsis swirling about the Internet which might mean that ABC/Disney has got this thing under tight wraps. But several actors have hinted that it's going to be big and crazy and game-changing with some putting it that they're not sure how they can pull off next season. Oh, and there is another Big Death to come, on the level of Charlie's death from two years ago...my money is on Sayid, since he's pretty much wrapped up his storyline AND he'll have to be punished for shooting a 14 year old in the chest...even if it was Hitler to be, Ben Linus.

Namaste.

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

It's Tony Time!


Seattle dude/director Bartlett Sher gets his 4th nomination for the revival of August Wilson's Joe Turner's Come and Gone; Dolly Parton (9 to 5) and Elton John (Billy Elliot) face off in the best score categoy; American Idol reject/douchebag from a few season's back, Constantine Maroulis (pictured above; image from Getty) gets a leading actor in a musical nomination for Rock of Ages and 109 year old Angela Lansbury gets a featured actress nod for the 4,789th revival of Blithe Spirit...Oh, and Billy Elliot got the most nominations with 15 including a best actor in a musical nomination shared by all three young actors who play the leading role of Billy Elliot on different nights. Snubbed: Harry Potter himself, Daniel Radcliffe failed to earn a nomination for his highly praised performance in the revival of Equus. For a full list, go HERE!

Monday, May 4, 2009

Tales from the Plague Year

My brother, who suffers from seasonal allergies, was at his job last week and he sneezed violently in front of a female customer who glared at him, a look of horror and revulsion on her face because she obviously thought he might have infected her with the flu. Not one to put up with ANY bullshit, my brother said to her, "I have ALLERGIES; there's no need to panic!" She retorted, "How would I know that? I don't want to take any chances!" After my brother told me of this incident, I told him that he should have come back with, "If you don't want to take any chances with contracting swine flu, then why are you out in public shopping in a furniture store? It's not like furniture is a necessity...if you're that paranoid, then stay the fuck home..."

And, two of the bloggers I follow daily, Michael K of Dlisted and Homer from Homer's World, are both down with the flu, though neither one has apparently gone to the doctor to have it confirmed. You can check out both their sites in my list of recommended websites over to your right. Wishing them both a speedy recovery.

Does Safeway Have An Obligation to Keep Erica C Barnett Out of the Wine Section of their Stores?

Yes.

ECB sticks her STUPID, STUPID FOOT, in her STUPID, STUPID MOUTH, yet again.

Reading that post has made me insanely angry at her for being such a stupid, selfish, mean, self-centered asshat. (I refrained from using the b-word, so as to NOT give her ammunition, but she does fit the definition...)

She really needs to go...there's dozens of unemployed journalists out there with more talent and common sense than ECB. Also, it's time that The Stranger had some new blood; things are getting dull and stale over there.

Her continued employment at The Stranger must mean she has incriminating photos/tapes of Keck and/or Savage.

Who the hell is "Pamela Strangeways"? And, why is she posting on Gawker?

I will NOT have any unauthorized, less-talented relatives dragging me down and riding on my coattails!!! I will NOT be Frank Stalloned or Jim Belushied, let alone Lorna Lufted!!

The bitch, AND Gawker, will hear from my legal counsel!

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Tonite on Lost: The Variable

Synopsis
THE TIME OF RECKONING BEGINS AS DANIEL FARADAY COMES CLEAN REGARDING WHAT HE KNOWS ABOUT THE ISLAND

On the 100th episode milestone for the series, the time of reckoning has begun when Daniel Faraday comes clean regarding what he knows about the island.

Written by Edward Kitsis & Adam Horowitz
Directed by Paul Edwards

Guest List
Nestor Carbonell as Richard Alpert
Sonya Walger as Penelope “Penny” Widmore
Alan Dale as Charles Widmore
Francois Chau as Dr. Pierre Chang
Fionnula Flanagan as Eloise Hawking
Patrick Fischler as Phil
Eric Lange as Radzinsky
Sarah Farooqui as Theresa
Alice Evans as younger Eloise Hawking
Wendy Pearson as E.R. doctor
Todd Coolidge as paramedic
Peggy Anne Siegmund as caretaker
Jennifer Sojot as E.R. nurse
Spencer Allyn as young Daniel Faraday
Michael Dempsey as foreman
Maya Henssens as young girl
Ariston Green as workman
Marvin DeFreitas as young Charlie
Brad Berryhill as anxious guy

It's a big night for Lost fans; not only is it the 100th hour of Lost but it's the long-awaited Daniel Faraday-centric episode that fans have been anxious about for a very long time as well as a follow up to the fate of favorite Brutha Desmond following his bout with a milk carton shooting Ben before Ben left on the Ajira flight to return to the Island...And, we get to spend some time with not just one, but two incarnations of Ms Hawking, (which brings our total number of seen on screen Hawkings to three; we saw a teen Hawking in Jughead).

And, I'm one of those rotten people who LIKE spoilers, so I know quite a lot about tonite's episode but I won't spoil it for y'all but, at least on paper, it promises to be a wild night with a lot of information revealed and a heartbreaking twist at the end. Should be an enjoyable night. We then get a new episode next week, titled "Follow the Leader" which appears to focus on Jack and Kate, then two weeks from tonite is the 2 hour season finale entitled "The Incident" which will feature an appearance by a character we've long speculated about and some very important flashbacks of the Losties at pivotol moments in their lives, including at least three instances of checking in with our characters circa age 10 or so. Oh, and I'm sure they'll be some crazy ass twist or an appearance by someone long thought dead or a time travel twist or two and maybe a polar bear and some more Ancient Egyptian stuff.... Oh, and we WILL see Bernard and Rose and Vincent.

Namaste.

Three...Two...One...

The countdown to the moment when a fucktard, fundie, douchebag begins preaching that Swine Flu is god's retribution for gay marriage...

Also, Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius was sworn in as the new Secretary of Health and Human Services yesterday in move to get her up and running to deal with the threat of a major pandemic...do you think at one point she wanted to turn to Obama and say, "Ya know, Barry, I think I've changed my mind..."

Who's no lady?


I found a great resource on line, a blogsite called History of Gay Bars in New York City. All sorts of interesting links to other gay history sites and quotes from books and photos of the "Olden Days". Whether you're gay or not, you ought to check it out. As a social history nerd, I eat this stuff up and it doesn't matter if it's gay or straight; books about HOW people lived their lives, from the big stuff to the mundane, has always fascinated me...I remember asking my 6th grade social studies teacher, "What kind of underwear did the Romans wear?" She wasn't mad at the question; she thought it interesting and legitimate and was honest enough to admit she didn't know but it would be interesting to find out...I think the reason so many people HATE history and studying it in school is because of the boring way most teachers and schools insist on teaching it, with way too much droning on about dates and battles and treaties and elections...no wonder people zone out. I've always encouraged people to study histories on their own and search out the answers to the questions they are interested in...and to always remember, history is really just very old gossip.

Monday, April 27, 2009

Beatrice Arthur: 1922-2009


Words fail me...Vera/Maude/Dorothy is mort.

A toast to our Queen Bea. A dozen toasts in fact. And a cheesecake, or two.

And go here for the Queen at her bawdiest. Oh...the fuckers at Viacom made YouTube take down the clip of Bea reading from Pam Anderson's book at the Comedy Central Roast of Anderson from a few years ago...I'm sure if you Google it, or go to the Comedy Central website, you can find it. It's worth it just to hear Beatrice Arthur declaiming about anal sex...

Mr Garrison Goes to Chicago

Here's why Nick Garrison wasn't in last weeks Brown Derby production of The Goonies at Re-bar:He's been busy in Chicago doing Hedwig for The American Theater Company. If you go their website, you can see clips of Nick doing numbers from the show, which has been extended through May 31st. Go check it out.

Friday, April 24, 2009

Welcome to the American Dystopia: Concept Art for The Road


Hugh Marchant worked on the upcoming film of Cormac McCarthy's The Road directed by John Hillcoat and starring Viggo Mortensen as The Man and Kodi Smit-McPhee as The Boy. I can't find anything official about his credits/contributions to the film, but it looks like Marchant worked on the script and helped with the design and visual concepts of the film with the production designer Chris Kennedy. Marchant has posted some cool art from the film, using paint, pencil and photo montage based on actual location photos. It's beautiful, haunting and at times, surreal. Check it out here.

And, The Road still doesn't have an official release date, but rumors are floating that it will probably play the big fall festivals (Toronto/New York) and open in October or November to take advantage of award season.
And, remember these aren't actual STILLS from the film, but montaged art based on photos taken on set at the locations used. It all LOOKS great but more importantly, it will hopefully play well as a MOVING film and not just a bunch of great images...

Cannes 2009


Some pretty amazing filmmakers/films this year: Almodovar, Tarantino, Loach, Haneke, Park Chan-Wook, Campion, von Trier, Noe, Resnais. Sadly, I doubt any on them will play SIFF since SIFF and Cannes happen at the same time, though sometimes SIFF gets smaller films from Cannes or films that are not in competition for the Palme D'or. I'm most interested in von Trier's Antichrist, Almodovar's Broken Embraces(poster pictured above), and Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds, despite the fact I have reservations about Basterds reported 2 and a half hour running time...Oh, and Lee Daniels Precious, the M'onique starring film based on the novel by Sapphire, which wowed/shocked Sundance for its shocking scenes of child abuse, drugs and sex, is competing in the Un Certain Regard category, ie, the Cannes category for smaller films or films by less known directors. Here's the full Palme D'or list:

In Competition

"Bright Star," Australia-U.K.-France, Jane Campion

"Spring Fever," China-France, Lou Ye

"Antichrist," Denmark-Sweden-France-Italy, Lars von Trier

"Enter the Void," France, Gaspar Noé

"Face," France-Taiwan-Netherlands-Belgium, Tsai Ming-liang

"Les herbes folles," France-Italy, Alain Resnais

"In the Beginning," France, Xavier Giannoli

"A Prophet," France, Jacques Audiard

"The White Ribbon," Germany-Austria-France, Michael Haneke

"Vengeance," Hong Kong-France-U.S., Johnnie To

"The Time That Remains," Israel-France-Belgium-Italy, Elia Suleiman

"Vincere," Italy-France, Marco Bellocchio

"Kinatay," Philippines, Brillante Mendoza

"Thirst," South Korea-U.S., Park Chan-wook

"Broken Embraces," Spain, Pedro Almodóvar

"Map of the Sounds of Tokyo," Spain, Isabel Coixet

"Fish Tank," U.K.-Netherlands, Andrea Arnold

"Looking for Eric," U.K.-France-Belgium-Italy, Ken Loach

"Inglourious Basterds," U.S., Quentin Tarantino

"Taking Woodstock," U.S., Ang Lee

For more info on Cannes, go here.

UPDATE: The line-up for the Director's Fortnight at Cannes has just been announced, (another of the competitions, and not as prestigious as the Palme d'Or usually filled by new talent or more experimental films) and Lynn Shelton's Humpday will compete along with Coppola's Tetro. Coppola is reportedly not very pleased his film is competing in this category and not Palme d'Or.

More art: Jorge Santos


Jorge Santos: Peking Duck, acrylic on canvas, 18 x 24", 2008


Hunter‘s Helper, Oil/ Acrylic on canvas, 40 x 60", 2006

David Lyle at George Billis Gallery/NYC

New art by the photorealist painter. Show opens April 30th and runs through May 23rd in NYC.

It's funny because it's true. They Say That Grandpa's Forgetting Things Lately. Like Just The Other Day He Forgot Where He Parked the Car,
oil on panel, 40 x 44", 2008

They Say That My Uncle is the Black Sheep of the Family, oil on panel, 28 x 31", 2008

Humpday centers itself for SIFF


Local filmmaker Lynn Shelton's Humpday, which was acclaimed at Sundance this year, is the Centerpiece Gala selection at SIFF this year, premiering at the Egyptian, Friday June 5th. The locally produced film won the Spirit of Independence Award at Sundance and has been picked up for national distribution by Magnolia Pictures. It's the story of two straight guys who decide to make a gay porno film for The Stranger's annual erotic film festival, HUMP! and the mumblecore comedy promises to bring down the house... This is bound to sell out very quickly, so get your tickets as soon as possible...passes and ticket packages are available NOW, but single ticket sales begin May 7th for SIFF members and May 8th for the general public.

In less interesting news, SIFF will also honor Spike Lee with an award and Francis Ford Coppola will be in town to screen his latest film, Tetro, which more than likely will demonstrate that Coppola peaked in the 70's and it's been a wine fueled trek downhill since then, but we'll keep an open mind, shan't we? Bitchy queen note: they couldn't have found two slightly hotter guys to play the leads? (and the dark haired one looks like Oliver Stone...I hate Oliver Stone.)Some hot nerds would have been lovely and preferred to these two mildly interesting schlubs, but maybe they have some sexy onscreen chemistry, so we'll continue to keep our minds open...ish.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Tonite on Lost: A Dumb Clip Show about the Oceanic 6

Wake me when it's next Wednesday and the 100th hour of Lost, an episode titled "The Variable" which is promissing to explain a lot of Island stuff, courtesy of centric hero Daniel. AND, we'll also check in on Desmond to see how he's doing after Ben shot him in the milk jugs. Oh, and judging by some official promo pictures we're seeing, I'm thinking we might find out who Penelope Widmore's mom might be...and it's someone we've already met...(this is my guess, not a spoiler by the way).

But, that's NEXT week...sigh.

To help pass the time, here is an insanely hot still of Jason Stathem from some dumb movie he's currently in, SURGE 2: Electric Boobaloo, I think it's called...


UPDATE: MARY, MOTHER OF GOD!!!! I'VE JUST READ A HUGEASS SPOILER FOR NEXT WEEK'S EPISODE AND IT'S PRETTY SHOCKING!!! I won't tell you anything except, someone Major will die, (which is shocking enough) and the name of the killer is more shocking, (and tragic) than the name of the victim.

I'm channeling Ed Grimley here, I'm so excited about next week's episode!!!

Friday, April 17, 2009

This weekend: Trannyshack and the Wynnsome Ms Greenwood both make some Art.


You have your choice: The killer punk drag performance artists from Trannyshack performs at Chop Suey Saturday night and the wunnerful Wynne Greenwood debuts her new performance piece, Sister Taking Nap at On the Boards tonite, Saturday and Sunday. The Stranger and Regina Hackett are raving over Greenwood's piece and The Stranger post has a link to an Artforum article on Greenwood and the show. Or, go see both.

Braggart's corner: I know a Trannyshacker and I know Wynne Greenwood and I adore them both. (And, they BOTH make serious art.) When you meet Wynne, you would never guess she is an "Important Artist"; she's just that cute, funny girl with the wicked grin and a droll sense of humor. The Stranger giving her the Genius grant was one of the best/smartest things they've ever done...though, I fear her grant will prevent her from working at SIFF this year.

Check'em BOTH out.

The Unexamined Life...

It occurred to me last night after meeting a cute, humpy Columbian, that the only men who seem to be attracted to me are either bisexual or foreign born...gay, American men; not so much.

To find a longterm mate, I may have to hang out at the overseas airline terminal, start cruising polyamorous groups, or move to South America or India...

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Tonite on Lost: Some Like It Hoth

Synopsis

Suspicions about a possible breach intensify after Ben is taken from the infirmary, and a reluctant Miles is forced to work with Hurley when he's asked to deliver an important package to a top Dharma official.

Written by Melinda Hsu Taylor & Greggory Nations
Directed by Jack Bender

Guest List
Francois Chau as Dr. Pierre Chang
Marsha Thomason as Naomi Dorrit
Doug Hutchinson as Horace Goodspeed
Patrick Fischler as Phil
Jon Gries as Roger Linus
Eric Lange as Radzinsky
Leslie Ishii as Lara
Brad William Henke as Bram
Dean Norris as Howard Gray
Tim DeZam as Trevor
Lance Ho as young Miles
Linda Rose Herman as Evelyn


First of all, last week's episode, "Dead is Dead" was incredible and proof that Ben-centric episodes are always well worth your time. Any episode that features a new and improved Zombie Kickass John Locke, Revenge O'Daughter/Smoke Ghost Alex and the revelation that the Island expects Ben to be Locke's Bitch is an A-OK episode in my book. Definitely the best episode of the season so far.

Now, on to tonite's episode, the dorkily named "Some Like it Hoth". Of course the fanboys are going nuts because of the Star Wars reference, but no one seems to be picking up on the equally visible reference to Billy Wilder's classic gender bendering movie, Some Like It Hot...perhaps we're going to see someone in drag, or is it referring to the fact the Losties in Dharmaville ARE in disguise as hippie dippie Dharmavillians and pretending to be something they are not?

Also, tonite is the first Miles-centric episode so maybe we'll get some background on the smart-mouthed ghost listener, like is he really the son of Pierre Chang or is everyone jumping to conclusions just because the characters are Asian, and all
Asian characters on TV shows MUST be related to one another, right?

Oh, and it looks like this will be a lighter episode with a lot of Hurley and Miles banter as they undergo a journey involving a stinky corpse on the backroads of the Island...and there WILL be at least one fart joke.

Lost is off next week, (I think there will be a clip show, though) and will be back in two weeks with the eagerly awaited, The Constant, the 100th hour of the show and one devoted to the missing Daniel and what he's been doing on the Island for the last three years...the promos are promising there will be lots of answers to many of the mysteries of the Island.

And the rumors swirling around about the season ending 2 hour episode (titled "The Incident") are pretty crazy, most of them involving some combination of time travel INTO THE FUTURE and the presence of various Lost kiddies (Aaron, Ji-Yeon, Clementine, Walt) as adults and our current Losties as senior citizens. I've seen at least a dozen different possible endings, all involving at least one of those scenarioes and to be honest, I think they all smell of fakery and subterfuge.

But, I bet Walt IS involved somehow...he's played a part in every season ending episode so far, and I bet Penny Widmore will be around, too...she's also been featured in all the season enders since she first appeared in Season Two...we'll have to see....

Namaste, for now.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Marilyn Chambers: Dead at 56


First it was Jack Wrangler biting the big one last week and now it's ex-Ivory Snow cover model and X-rated porn queen Marilyn Chambers's turn to enter the Big Porn Movie Shoot in the sky...if these things come in threes, then someone needs to go check on Seka and Jamie Gillis and Veronica Hart...make sure that none of them haven't choked to death on a Spam sandwich or something similarly sinister and sad.

A toast to Marilyn Chambers.

Elswinger/Larry Davenport passes away at age 45.


The Stranger's Slog notified its readers last Friday night that frequent commenter, Elswinger passed away last Wednesday after a long battle with various medical issues. Elswinger also chronicled his battles with his health and the health care bureaucracy in his blog, Elswinger's World. It's a fascinating, moving, funny and heart breaking account of his life over the last few months...in the past, I would check it out every so often to see what he'd written, but I had a difficult time reading it on a regular basis due to its depressing subject matter, but after his death, I felt compelled to read it all, and I'm glad I did. It's a tough read, but I encourage everyone to read it, if only to honor the man who wrote it, but it'll also toughen your resolve to demand that this country make some drastic changes in its' healthcare system.

Also, Larry could be very funny. The section where he is blogging while he is high, is both poignant and comedic. Yes, it IS a laugh and cry moment but not in a Robin Williams movie sort of way...

A public memorial to Larry will be held this coming Saturday, April 18th from 5pm to 8pm at the Six Arms on Capitol Hill in Seattle.

A toast to Larry "Elswinger" Davenport.

Friday, April 10, 2009