Monday Muffins and Random Musings

A - OK, when is all this ghoulish Jackson worship going to stop? I know it's impolitic to speak poorly of the dead, but as Jonah Goldberg so eloquently pointed out, we would have no history books if we didn't. The man served ALCOHOL TO 12 YEAR OLD BOYS, calling it "Jesus Juice" before taking these kids to his bedroom. The last wish of Farah Fawcett must have been for all the children of the world to be safe....I think she got her wish. RIP Farah.

B - Saw Gran Torino last night, and though there are so many things to love about this movie, it suffers from Eastwood's fatal flaw that has appeared in every movie he directed since Unforgiven - the Byron-esque tragic hero almost running towards his own damnation, or perhaps in this case, salvation. There are lots of open questions he doesn't seem interested in answering, but the themes about the death of the American male, the erosion of honor, and scenes of Clint paying homage to his old "Dirty Harry" days make it worth seeing the movie.

C - The response to part one of my article exploring the constitutional problems of gay marriage has been overwhelming, receiving close to 60 emails and private messages. Almost everyone was civil on both sides of the issue. Some people claim it boils down to whether you're of a religious temperament or not, which is a fair enough statement. Some people have made arguments about biology and natural law. Some made arguments that this is a "civil rights" issue - it is not, and we will talk about that in part two. Very few people stayed on track and addressed the constitutional issues I am attempting to tackle. Those who did made very scholarly arguments about how almost no State's population has approved gay marriage, instead having it imposed on them by activist courts which have no right making laws, only interpreting them. I'll finish up with this in my next post. Thank you to everyone who wrote in and participated in this discussion.

D - I wonder if that crazy Shamwow guy is going to step in to be the next Billy Mays. I doubt it.
Mays was the embodiment of the American Dream, and by all accounts a kind man whose products worked. The Shamwow guy is the embodiment of too many triple latte enemas and useless gadgetry.

E - Why am I lettering this blog? Is this Sesame Street?

F - The Straight Hype's favourite artist, Regina Spektor, has just released her latest album, "Far", where she explores her questions about faith and life. The production quality of the album and the accompanying videos are stunning, and the album retains Regina's quirky, ambiguous lyrics and hypnotic piano accompaniment. Buy this CD!!!!!

G - Cost of Obama's stimulus package - $700 billion. Cost of Tom Daschle's unreported taxes - $83,333. Seeing Sonia Sotomayor's ruling as an appeals court judge being reversed - priceless.

H - Check out Regina's latest video, and have a great week!

Cordially

Joe