Saturday, January 20, 2007

She’s in

Oh well, she’s in. I’m sure I’ll support her.

Brownback got in today too. Jeff Jarvis:

On the same day, polar political opposites Hillary Clinton and Sam Brownback announced their campaigns for the White House on internet video. Compare and contrast.

Click To Play

Sticks & stones will break my bones

The news is full of stories wondering can Grey’s Anatomy heal the rift?

Epithets hurt. They should be dealt with. But let’s not forget that stones hurt worse. Kevin Naff of the Washington Blade:

This story seems to resonate much more among straight people, who forget that homophobia remains one of the last legally protected forms of discrimination around. [...]

The whole dustup is overblown and yet another example of misplaced outrage. Where was the public’s indignation when gay men, including Michael Sandy, Kevin Aviance and Dick Jefferson were violently assaulted last year? Where was the anger when self-appointed moral guardians like James Dobson used the Foley scandal to call us all pedophiles? Where was the outrage when President Bush and Karl Rove were winning elections by demonizing us? Why weren’t people upset when state after state voted to single us out for second-class status in their constitutions?

Sorry, but those things piss me off much more than a small-minded actor calling someone a faggot. Get over it.

Wireless charging

Watching CNet TV via TiVoCast I came across this story from the Consumer Electronics Show about a future in which you can wirelessly recharge all of your electronic devices. Called “Powercast,” it won “Best of Show for Emerging Technology” at the Consumer Electronics Show. Ars Technica has more:

Use of the Powercast system involves a transmitter and a receiver chip embedded into the user’s devices. The company emphasizes that the system is for smaller, less juice-sucking devices such as cell phones, PDAs, game controllers, and hearing aids, indicating that it might be something like a lower-powered, shorter-range version of MIT’s wireless power model model announced last November. The Powercast’s transmitter broadcasts a certain radio frequency over a short distance (the company says about 3 feet, compared to MIT’s 3 to 5 meters) and the receivers are programmed to sync up to that frequency and draw power from it.

In order for Powercast to work, the device it’s charging must have a receiver built in. Powercast expects “multiple manufacturers” to ship Powercast-enabled technology later this year.

Atlanta minister on trial this weekend

You’ll recall his grave sin was entering into a committed relationship. All was fine when he was gay and single. WaPo:

Members of the oldest Lutheran congregation in Atlanta washed their pastor’s feet—and he washed theirs—in a gesture of mutual support as he prepared to go before a tribunal that may defrock him for living with another man.

The church trial of the Rev. Bradley E. Schmeling, 44, began yesterday behind closed doors at a downtown Atlanta hotel and was scheduled to continue through the weekend.

It is the latest in a series of similar trials in several mainline Protestant denominations, where growing numbers of congregations are installing gay men and lesbians as pastors despite rules against non-celibate homosexuals in the pulpit.

Emphasis mine. The tide won’t stop until it turns.

TUESDAY UPDATE: Hearing’s over. Could be up to two weeks before we know the verdict.

“Guy Love” from Scrubs: My Musical

A patient suffers head trauma and Scrubs: My Musical is born. The whole episode is terrific:

LIFE IS BUT A SONG AS THE CAST OF “SCRUBS” STAR IN A MUSICAL EPISODE WITH SONGS WRITTEN BY THE TONY AWARD-WINNING COMPOSERS OF “AVENUE Q,” ROBERT LOPEZ AND JEFF MARX —STEPHANIE D’ABRUZZO (AN ORIGINAL CAST MEMBER OF “AVENUE Q") GUEST STARS

Highlights:

Guy love, “When I say I love you...it’s not what it implies… there’s nothing gay about it:”

See also, Guy Love (cat version).

Everything comes down to poo:

The opening number, Welcome to Sacred Heart, is also a highlight. Alas, I can’t find it.

Colbert & O’Reilly

If you’re like me, you saw O’Reilly on Colbert (highlight: Colbert to O’Reilly, “If you’re an act, then what am I?") but missed Colbert on O’Reilly. Neither lived up to its billing. Troy Patterson in Slate:

“O’Reilly vs. Colbert"-a crossover media stunt that transpired Thursday night on two cable networks and at least as many planes of reality-was an unsatisfying trudge down a hall of mirrors… The thing fizzled.

LATER: Colbert stole the microwave from O’Reilly’s green room. Really? Yes, but:

According to FNC spokeswoman Irena Briganti, Colbert told O’Reilly off-camera of his plan to take the microwave from the Green Room. “We were well aware of it and entirely amused - it was all in good fun,” said Briganti in an email earlier today. “We honestly just thought the whole thing was hysterical.”