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!

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.

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.

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.

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!!!

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...

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.

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.

Happy Good Friday and Happy Easter!

Club Promoter/Actor/Musician Mario Diaz is my secret love...could he be any cuter?

Then, by Arbus...and Now, Superstar

Then.
Now.