The Valley Advocate: Masculinity and Its Discontents

Friday Fun!

Fri, 10 Sep 2010 12:00:00 AM MST

In a country in which Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin are increasingly powerful people, in a week in which a redneck preacher with less than a hundred parishoners held the world hostage (and made not only his name but I presume some big dollars as well), I give you some lighthearted tidbits for your reading and viewing pleasure:

The Republican candidate for gov in VT is apparently named Dubie, which makes me think, especially around Burlington, he might get a few votes a GOP-er might not normally get. Yuk yuk.

Here is a very strange and well-beyond suggestive (flagrantive?) ad gracing the televisions of our great and free land full of freedoms that Muslims want to take away from us. I don't particularly like the ad, find it oddly sexual but not sexy, but its weirdness makes me watch it again and scratch my head. One question: does it sell the product? Would anything sell this product?

And here, below is a dance tutorial video, it's not suggestive, not funny, not political, I just really enjoyed it, in a kind of melancholy way. I used to dance. Why do we stop dancing?

forget you

Sat, 04 Sep 2010 12:00:00 AM MST

It's so sad. Apparently CeeLo's "Forget You" has started gracing the radio waves. I can't bear to even give it a listen. I so wish he hadn't made a "clean" version. It would be great to see how big a hit FU could've been without radio play, OR, with a bleeped version on the radio!

Now that I've learned to post video, one more time, just for ducks, here's the pre-release text video is in all its simple glory. Hey, is anyone ever gonna tell me what the typeface is? There's never a design geek around when you need one. Ha! And I just found a Spanish version!

There's also a new "regular" video with, like, people in it and stuff, that's kinda cute, but I way prefer the text-only version.

Sorry, no politics today, you lil critters who live under the bridge.

Frivolous Friday video to give my little rightie Shreks a day or two to catch breath and gather "thoughts"

Fri, 27 Aug 2010 12:00:00 AM MST

Here's something that has nothing to do with the awesome hypocricy of John McCain or idiocy of Sarah Palin. It's not CeeLo, but it is a music video, and it is awesome! Click HERE to see the amazing Leslie Hall kickin' her "Tight Pants/Body Rolls"!!! Unlike FU, this might take two viewings to be hooked. It took me one-and-a-half. I'll withold comment until y'allz get a gander.

"I Sarah Palin, do solemnly swear, to uphold . . . "

Wed, 25 Aug 2010 12:00:00 AM MST

Re my recent post: Sarah backed five candidates in primaries yesterday. They all won.

The percentage of Americans who think the prez is that nasty, dirty, evil thing, a Muslim, has risen to the twenties, the percent who say they "don't know" his religion, is in the forties. I think he's an atheist myself, but that's my own little fantasy. People aren't reaching these conclusions without help. Can you help someone believe that Palin's had, say, multiple abortions and interracial lesbian affairs?

I'm almost beyond the "let's fight dirty" phase. I'm ready to brace for defeat, get my passport renewed and look for English-teaching jobs abroad.

Barack seems to strongly support our right to bear arms. Maybe it's time for our side to start buying 'em. Ready to grab your semi-automatic and march on Washington against the Palin administration, anyone?

Thank God for CeeLo Green!

Tue, 24 Aug 2010 12:00:00 AM MST

This song is called "Fuck You!" If this offends you, and you don't click on the link, you will be missing out on something very very very very special, simple as that, that will likely make you smile from ear to ear.

CeeLo's site tells us he's working on a "clean" version. I really hope not. This can be a top ten hit without radio; it's just that good. Come October, and the official release, all of America will be singing "Fuck you!"

apocalypstick, anyone?

Sat, 21 Aug 2010 12:00:00 AM MST

So my friend Molly posted a video from Almie Rose, aka, Apocalypstick, on Facebook. Then I found myself watching all her videos and reading her blog. Here's a blog post on being hit on that I thought was swell. The content is nothing new, but her tone, her details, her lil parenthetical asides, I dug 'em.

As for the videos,, well, I enjoyed them a lot too, had to watch 'em all, in fact, but like Kicesie, I'm guessing it's a like it or despise it kinda thing (not to say "love/hate) "that can probably be dissected demographically pretty simply. A lot of people in the "like" column will be women 16-24 and men of all ages, but especially men 30+.(oh, and maybe some boys under 18 too). A whole lot of the "despise"ers will be women 30+. Am I wrong? Shall we take a casual poll of "like" vs. "despise" or, to be more scientific, how about just "like/dislike" not "despise"?

I'm talkin' 'bout Almie Rose's videos (link up top there), not the blog. Let the voting begin. Be honest now, with yourself and with us. "Like" or "dislike" and your age and gender. Of course, geographic info will play heavily into this, seeing as many of you reading this (heck, maybe nearly the whole dozen or so of y'all) are left-leaning residents of our Happy Valley), but still . . . .

Stephanie Miller comes out; Dr. Laura gives up; Cathy is put to bed - and the world is a better place

Thu, 19 Aug 2010 12:00:00 AM MST

One of the AM leftie yappers I listen to even though she (and they all) tend to drive me nuts is Stephanie Miller. Last Friday on her show she came out as, as she put it, "a gay woman." As much as part of me wants to pick on her for maybe riding the Rachel Maddow success coattails just a wee bit, her announcement and the congratulory callers afterward were heartwarming. You can find it on her website.

In other warm fuzzy news, Dr. Laura is quitting her radio show on the heals of her racist backlash. Yay. The link is to stopdrlaura.com - I thought they should be allowed their moment in the sun.

Last, the comic "Cathy" is ending!!! As a teen and then a collegian, I remember being infuriated when female friends would be mad at me for hating the "women's" comic. And tryin to explain that just because the strip was by a woman didn't make it feminist didn't help my cause one bit. Cathy was, badly drawn, unfunny, and the most woman-(self)-hating comic imaginable. It's heroine was a whiny victim of fashion, of media-defined ideal body size, of men, of food she wasn't "supposed" to eat, the list goes on, AND of her pathetic shlub of a boyfriend Irving whom she eventually fucking married! Worse than Garfield, worse than Family Circus, good riddance Cathy. Here's a bizarre Salon.com piece, "Goodbye Cathy, Feminist Trailblazer," and here's a nifty rebuttal of said piece.

On one last note, have y'all ever checked out Garfield Minus Garfield? Kinda fun.

"Hallowed Ground" photo essay by Daryl Lang

Tue, 17 Aug 2010 12:00:00 AM MST

As seen on his blog, History Eraser Button, here are

A few photos of stuff the same distance from the World Trade Center as the “Ground Zero Mosque." Lang's point is that:

"This neighborhood is not hallowed. The people who live and work here are not obsessed with 9/11. The blocks around Ground Zero are like every other hard-working neighborhood in New York, where Muslims are just another thread of the city fabric."

"At this point the only argument against this project is fear, specifically fear of Muslims, and that’s a bigoted, cowardly and completely indefensible position."

Thanks, Daryl Lang.

Barack talking NYC Mosque, acting wise and presidential, aka committing potential political hari kari

Sun, 15 Aug 2010 12:00:00 AM MST

Here's a clip of the president answering questions about ithe comments he made about the NYC Islamic center mess at the annual White House Iftar dinner last Friday. He's clear and articulate and sensible and stands on unquestionably firm moral, classlically American principles and precedents. He is firm and eloquent and presidential about it.

WHAT THE HELL WAS HE THINKING!?!?!

I think it's remarkably stupid politically for him to touch the subject with a ten-foot Koran, as it were. I have to believe that at least some of his advisors supported him in his decision to comment on the issue in a speech on Friday (and ESPECIALLY in one on a Friday, in the hopes of it disappearing over the weekend, of course (here's the text in its entirety, and here's video of it). In the speech, given at the , he addressed the issue at length, focusing on freedom of religion as a defining American tenet and value. All good stuff, but, again, in the name of playing the game, playing it dirty and winning at all costs, in the paranoid and anti-Muslim America of 2010, potentially a huge misstep. Here's the part where I feel he lays it out all to plainly:

As a citizen, and as President, I believe that Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as everyone else in this country. (Applause.) And that includes the right to build a place of worship and a community center on private property in Lower Manhattan, in accordance with local laws and ordinances. This is America. And our commitment to religious freedom must be unshakeable. The principle that people of all faiths are welcome in this country and that they will not be treated differently by their government is essential to who we are. The writ of the Founders must endure.

I mean, if that don't come across as Muslim-lovin' and communistical, well then I just don't know what do. Anja, responding to my bafflement at why he made the speech, replied, half in jest, to the effect that maybe Obama knows he can't win in 2012 so he's decided to just do the right thing. Seems she's catching the cynical bug - she should never have married that old guy.

Please don't misunderstand; I find it incredibly heartening see Barack take a simple, principled stand on this needlessly controversial "issue," but I still think there's gonna be heck to pay. But maybe I'm wrong. I really haven't heard too much about, it, but then again it is the weekend when the radio ranters are silent. We'll just see what Alan Colmes' listeners have to say on Monday night - it ain't gonna be pretty.

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Thu, 12 Aug 2010 12:00:00 AM MST