Well, this weekend, I managed to FINALLY see the new Harry Potter movie. I was going to write a review, but I am unsure if I would be treading too much on already heavily travelled ground, so I thought I would ask; do you want me to write one? If so, then I would be glad to do one ASAP. After the great response to my RENT review, I figured I would ask. Just comment and let me know. If 5 or more people want to see it, my review that is, then thy will be done; so to speak. So let me know. (This is where you start commenting…)
listen up!
Wicked comes to Atlanta
by duane • • 5 Comments
I usually don’t post these “event info” type of posts, but this one is something everyone should be a part of; Wicked is coming to the ATL, and as of 15 minutes ago, the tickets are officially on sale to the public. Here’s the link. Listen to me when I tell you that this show will be worth whatever you pay to see it, it is fantastic. I saw it on Broadway, 7th row. It was everything I had ever dreamed it would be AND MORE. Now get your tickets bitches, and let’s go see a great show!!!!
UPDATE: As of today (Monday, Dec 5), the seats are pretty much almost gone. Get it on!
jake gyllenhaal
jake watch: countdown to brokeback
by duane • • 9 Comments
Hey bitches, I just wanted to pepper your Saturday (or what’s left of it) with some fantastical news: Jakeypoo and hunky Heath are on the cover of the newest issue of Entertainment Weekly for Brokeback Mountain. Now, I think that this is pretty awesome, considering that the movie is a gay love story between something so all American that it is begging for a backlash; but hopefully, this may be a sign of little or no lashing. I think that it is momentous that this movie is getting so much attention (they gave it an A!!), and hopefully, it will show that gay men are just normal people that can feel and express love, and it is just as, if not more, profound and deep that heterosexuals. As I was reading the article, I must say that I did find one thing quite disconcerting; in the beginning intro, they describe the two actors as “putting their careers on the line” to be in this movie. I thought that it was the challenge and DUTY of anyone that wants to call themselves and actor/actress, to take on challenging roles and prove that they can convince us they are indeed someone that they are not. It is their job to show us a different side of themselves, and embrace something that may or may not be true about them. They are meant to play characters, and however challenging they may be, it is their obligation to do so; if they be actors at all. I just find it insulting that someone would consider this a potential “career-ender” to play gay. Why? The characters are not coming out in real life (although, that shouldn’t be a career ender either, but I do live in the real world, and I do realize that it would possibly happen). Jake and Heath are just as straight as they were before making this movie; so why should showing that they can take on a challenge be a possible career-ending move? I say that is complete rubbish, and I also don’t understand how something that gains this much praise could be considered bad.
I know for a fact that coming out and being gay, as well as just playing gay, commands a great deal of courage; and I wish upon wish that those that make statements like this about anyone that attempts to put themselves out there and show that they understand and possibly identify with our way of life could understand and at least respect everything that we go through. Have a freaking heart; we go through this persecution all of the time, and sometimes, we don’t give a damn about making everyone else happy, sometimes it is just enough to make yourself happy, and I don’t think that anyone should ever be punished for that; even someone that is willing to portray us on the screen. I would like to think and believe that we, as a society have more compassion than to persecute and punish those that are true to themselves, as well as those that step out there and try to represent us.
And with that, we begin the Brokeback countdown. I seriously can’t wait. Don’t worry Jake and Heath, when you get your Oscar nods, you can site this ugly “career-ending” nonsense as what it is, utter bullshit, and slam that in their faces. YEAH!
britney n' k-fed
Happy birthday, to you!!!
by duane • • 12 Comments
Okay, so I lied when I said earlier that there was nothing of real interest to talk about today… big mistake. First of all, I want to give a warm and happy birthday shout to Britney on start of her 24th year. Happy birthday girl!! But this year, Britney must have been feeling generous, because I believe that she has given me the present that I have been asking her for, for the last year and a half; apparently, she kicked K-Fed to the curb. Apparently, he had someone come over to the house so that he could buy some pot, and Brit ain’t goin’ be having that shit around little SP, so she kicked his ass out. WOO HOO!!!! Now, I guess I do want to ask Britney something, you listening honey? 
Why did it take you this long to realize that this guy is a complete fuck up and a total piece of white trash?!?!?! He is a DOG! You should have kicked him out ages ago! But… I must say, thank you for doing it now. The madness has gone on long enough. Now, you can focus all of your time and energy on getting back to your sexified self. I provided you with some examples, so you can see what I mean. I love you, wish you a happy birthday, and thank you from the bottom of my heart for getting rid of the Fed. Just make it stick girlfriend… in this case, it is probably better that this baby don’t know his father. I’m just saying…
thanks josh!
Brit’s Birthday Songs:
Britney – Toxic (that’s right girl, you tell K-Fed that he is Toxic!)
Britney – And then we Kiss (Junkie XL remix)
Britney – Don’t Let Me Be The Last To Know (Hex Hector Remix)
Britney – Stronger (Mac Quayle Remix)
"pointless"
There’s really nothing too interesting about today, but:
by duane • • 11 Comments
I do find it interesting that our president skirts his requirements as a US citizen by skipping out on yet another activity; jury duty. Old Bushie can get out of doing jury duty, but we, the American people have to take a day off of work and sit in a crowded courthouse, because we can’t get out of it and we are give this dog and pony speech about how important this service is to the judicial and legal system. Sounds to me like he doesn’t take the system all that seriously, so, should he be appointing all of these judges? Hmmm… I am going to go with no, but we all knew I felt that way, right? Ah, to be the president, right? All that vacation time; sound like a pretty sweet gig to me! AND you don’t have to worry about doing jury duty or your personal responsibility to protection and liberty!! WOOT!
Last night, my friend Steve called me up and wanted to go drinking. So we did. To a straight bar in the VA Highlands. And we drank. A lot. And there were girls. Lots of girls. Some of them, well, they were pretty fucking annoying, but for the most part, I had a blast. And spent $60. WOOT!
That’s two woots… and I am out!
listen up!
World AIDS Day; remembering and fighting for the future
by duane • • 9 Comments
I work in HIV prevention. I have for years. And I will continue to do so, as long as I am needed. So please, please listen to me; get tested. Wear condoms. Be careful. Seek treatment.
I care, I really do. I care about all of you, and I want you to escape infection of this horrible disease; and I want to you get tested and seek treatment if you are positive and don’t know it. HIV disproportionately affects men who have sex with men and African Americans, both male and female, in this country. Every year there are over 40,000 new cases of HIV diagnosed in the US alone. It is estimated that there are as many as 1.2 million people living with HIV in the United States; which is only a minor fraction of the 40 million people living with HIV worldwide. In this country, it is estimated that as much as 25% of people living with HIV are undiagnosed, and it is recommended that everyone get tested immediately, in order to foster appropriate and effective prevention and treatment. I deeply urge you, any and all of you, on this day, to please reflect on those that we have lost, those that are living with this disease, and those that we will lose; especially if those 25% remain undiagnosed and continue to spread the disease without their knowledge. Make sure that you are tested regularly. It only takes 20 minutes with the new OraQuick testing method. If you get tested be sure to get your results. Make sure that your lover/partner/friend/whomever is also tested regularly. Together, we can make this thing stop. But we all have to take a stand. AIDS is not over. It is still going strong. Don’t think for one minute that it is gone. Every ten seconds, someone in the world dies of AIDS. Please, get tested. Be safe.
I highly recommend going to see the AIDS quilt if you have the chance. They have some of it on display at where I work today, and needless to say, it has been difficult not to just sit down and cry all day. We must never forget, and we must continue to fight. Prevention is the key. Do your part. And protect yourself; you are the only one who can.
venting
First my Diet Vanilla Coke; now this?!?!
by duane • • 13 Comments
I think that it is pretty fair to say that *gulp* I am fairly upset. I found out yesterday… wait, I need to sit down for this… that Alias has been cancelled. I literally have a lump in my throat as I am writing this. And oh, let’s not even mention the twisted, sick irony that I happened to write about this very same thing not even 2 days ago happening to other shows that I like. NOT EVEN 2 DAYS! AND I used Alias as an example of a show that had a following that the networks actually gave a chance!! WTF!? Come on ABC! What is going on!? I really hope that it doesn’t get to the point where I don’t even watch TV anymore, because that is seriously the direction that you crazy network execs are pushing me in. I have an idea, ABC, why not cancel all of your good shows; like Desperate Housewives, Invasion, Lost (which really isn’t all that great in my opinion), etc. (wait, are their any other good shows?!?! I know, I know, Grey’s Anatomy, right… but I don’t watch it. I am not going to, if I get into it, they’ll cancel it). Then, you can just force-feed us horrible shit like WifeSwap, Dancing with the Stars, and reruns of Everybody Loves Raymond and Friends 24/7. Then, it wouldn’t be hard for me to completely stop watching your network. In fact, with this move, it is actually getting easier each day. Now, I can just limit my exposure to ABC to 2 times a week. You completely suck. In fact, I am giving you the middle finger right now; and a “Å“neyeh”Â-style grunt (in the key of Avril Lavigne).
blog on blog
rebuilding…… take two!
by duane • • 2 Comments
So last night, I posed the question of whether or not to switch away from the breast milk that I have used to feed my child since birth, i.e. Movable Type, to formula or something “better”, i.e. WordPress or another equally good blogging software. While many of you agree that a move to WordPress is undeniably the way to go, I wish to provide you with a few more pieces of anecdotal evidence, as to help you understand, and perhaps, to gain compassion for my steady hold on good ole MT.
First of all, I know MT. We are old friends. In fact, I switched to it from b2evolution because of how easy it was to use (remember, I said use, not install). When I was with b2evolution, the main reason I left, was because I didn’t feel like I had any control of templates or anything, and most of all, I really hated the MySQL database feel; which incidentally, was one of the main reasons I opted not to use it for my MT database. I felt like I had no control over MySQL, and while I feel I may not know enough about it, I know enough to know that my server has MySQL database use restrictions, and I have seen what those can do… it ain’t pretty. An ugly “you abused your MySQL privileges bitch” message instead of your blog. Not nice. So there’s that; my aversion to MySQL (which WP totally cannot work without). (btw… I use Perl, so Amber or whomever, I don’t know if that means anything to you)
blog on blog
rebuilding…………. sort of?!?!?
by duane • • 11 Comments
Now, I know what you may be thinking; telling MT to rebuild won’t make it necessarily rebuild. In fact, clicking on rebuild doesn’t even make it rebuild half of the time. I wanted to post this, in order to see if there are others out there that are still using MT, and if you are experiencing similar issues as myself: whenever I try to rebuild my site (which has about 200+ entries and over 800 comments; not to mention categories), it usually snags up, and times out. I can’t seem to get it to stop doing this, and is progressively more annoying each time it happens. Should I just switch to WordPress (or something equally awesome and better than MT)??? Should I try and learn something that would be practically “impossible” to me; i.e. learn how to use php or something else to build/modify my own system (if so, we need to be reasonable here… I don’t want to undertake something that will take months to do)? Or, can this problem be solved easily? Help me out here folks! I know there are tons of smart, smart web people out there! I am at my wits end, and I have started pulling out my gorgeous hair.
And, the irony here lies in the fact that I must now rebuild the site, in order for you to see this entry. NICE!
mixed media
what is going on in TV land?!?
by duane • • 9 Comments
Last night, I was watching a rerun of Wonderfalls on logo, when it really became apparent to me, how good of a show it was. Luckily for me, having never seen the show while it was on the network, I had never experienced, until now, the devastation of having the show canceled. This observation made me think about something, and honestly, I really want to know what the hell is going on; what is up with TV stations and TV executives? How can they cancel shows like this? Funny. Poignant. Interesting. Clever. VERY WELL WRITTEN. SOOOOO many shows having this same criteria have met the same demise, and I want to know why!?
Obviously, the first show that probably pops into most people’s minds, at least as of late, isn’t Wonderfalls, but is Arrested Development. Now, I am not really, nor have I ever been, that into Arrested Development (stop the screaming, gasping, and awing). I watched a couple of times, but it didn’t do anything for me. I thought it was cute and all, but it didn’t do it for me. With that being said, I definitely feel like it is a member of this select group of shows; I thought it was a show that was deserving of its place on TV. Mainly, because it was well written, and even more rare, actually funny in a weird way. But, now that it too is going to be canceled, it begs me to ask, what the fuck is up, you crazy-ass TV execs??