Yeti Menace

I think Obama did just what he needed to do in the debate: he held his own against McCain and proved he has a sophisticated knowledge of the issues of foreign policy. Granted, this is McCain’s strong suit, but Obama scored some zingers on him: “John, you refused to meet with the leader of Spain!” and “John, you act as if the war started in 2007!”

McCain is not to be underestimated in a debate. He has had a multi-decade career in public service and has gotten excessive face time on the Sunday pundit shows, largely due to the credit of the late Tim Russert. The interesting thing here is that this is not the John McCain of the past 25 years, this is FrankenMcCain with body and brain parts grafted on after being grown in some toxic neo-con vat.

The striking difference here was the demeanor of each of these candidates on stage: Obama appeared calm, collected and IMHO Presidential. He was gracious and level-headed while McCain was mean and smarmy, smirking paternalistically at an upstart youngster. Obama made a point of saying where he and McCain agreed on the issues even to the point of being complimentary; McCain never said one nice thing about Obama instead opting to claim repeatedly that Obama “doesn’t understand” X or Y issue, and repeatedly lying about Obama’s record.

There was a decisive display of character on show in Oxford last night, one that should leave no doubt in anyone’s mind the manner in which they will lead in the White House: Obama as even-tempered analyst and John McCain as erratic prevaricator.

McCain did as expected in the debate: he relied on his experience. But Obama shined, held his own and appeared far more down to Earth and in touch with the people and the issues that are needed to take us forward in the next 50 years, not back to the last 50.

Thanks to Zafar for pure inspiration for this post. Read his astute pre-debate analysis here.

Yesterday’s interview of Vice-Presidential nominee Sarah Palin by Katie Couric is Palin’s definitive moment in the campaign. When viewed objectively, it can be seen as nothing less than the incoherent ideological ramblings and regurgitations of talking points spat from the lipsticked lips of a mediocre pol who has been cramming for a final exam, but forgot to attend class all semester. This is indeed the stuff of nightmares.

From the moment of her announcement I have been saying insistently that Palin is ignoblely unqualified to be VP, and by necessity, President of the United States. But her popularity soared, bouyed by her grim, mean, cynical and homely speech at the RNC. She’s a woman! She’s a governor! She’s a MILF! She’s a religious consevative from a red state! She’s a hockey-mom! She’s a pitbull! These are metonymical definitions that have no or little bearing on her fitness to serve. They are in any analysis irrational and irresponsible reasons to consider her capable of leading the country. Now we have proof: Palin fails so miserbly in the Couric interview it is painful to watch.

But the most important issue here is not the cult of personality surrounding Palin, it’s the fact that Sarah Palin is the one chosen by John McCain to be VP, and thus by design, second in command and first in line to be President. This was the first and most important decision of McCain’s campaign once nominated, and clearly he failed. In a cynical and erratic move devoid of oversight or depth, McCain foisted a running mate on his supporters that is unequivocally unqualified. This wrongheaded and dangerous decision flat out disqualifies McCain to be President. There is no rational explaination for electing him and risking the county’s leadership to someone so incapable.

As I write this, the debate has started. Tonight the country will know more about who to to elect. Let’s hope what happens in November ends the absurdity of what has become a political nightmare.

In these times of economic despair, I find that a good adult movie is a welcome distraction.

This is a promo vid for Diesel’s Dirty 30 anniversary party.  But who cares about jeans?  This is just cool as sh*t.

Semi-SFW.  Turn the volume WAY UP.  I mean down.  No, up.   Up, down, up, down.  You get it.

Multiple choice time.  Check out this clip from failblog.org Then answer below:

What did you just witness?

Is it:

A. An audition tape for Ontario Idol?

B. A novice singer embarrassing herself in front of drunken hockey fans?

or C.  A staged allegory for the the fall of the United States.  

Answer in the comments section.

The McCain of today sayz: “I was against it before I was for it!” OK, so I’m paraphrasing… but hey, with this tricky guy, I can barely keep track… who knows what he’ll say next? Maybe…

“Evil must be defeated!” — John McCain 8/16/08

“Enough is enough! We’re going to put an end to greed!” — John McCain 9/17/08

via Chris Kelly @ HuffPost on how McCain is going to fundamentally change human nature.

The incomparable masculine images of my friend Blake Little are on display in his show The Company of Men opening September 18, 2008 at Wessel + O’Connor Fine Art in Brooklyn, NY. Blake has captured the reality, masculinity and sexiness of these men, many of whom I know. Blake has an eye that cuts to the realism of who these men are. It’s amazing to see them this way. Blake is working a book of these stunning photographs. There are several pages of images to browse thru, check it out. I only wish I could go to NY for the opening… Thanks, Blake!

The International Movie Poster Awards site has large scans of movie posters from throughout history. Browse by title, director or year. Above: A sampling of movie posters released the year I was born (1968).

IMP Awards

It is with a heavy heart that I post this message today. David Foster Wallace, author of Infinite Jest, has died after “eliminating his own map” by hanging himself Friday night.

For many years, DFW has been my favorite author. I’ve read “Infinite Jest,” a 1000+ book with literally hundreds of pages of footnotes, more than 5 times. I can say without shame or hesitation that his writing changed my life. He made me feel smarter just by reading him, and I credit his book to helping me get sober and understand lessons about personal excellence that stick with me to this very day.

I’ve seen him read in person and had the great privilege of asking possibly the dumbest question ever during one of his Q & A’s. And I always fantasized about going out to Pomona College and trying to find him just so I could say thank you. But I didn’t, because I didn’t want to be one of those freakish fanboys that stalks their cultural idols. So I just settled on thanking him from afar and waiting every day for a new piece of fiction from him.

Now, those points are moot. There will be no more fiction from DFW, and no more opportunities to say thank you. The world in general, and me in specific, have lost something very special this weekend.

So in lieu of those things lost, I encourage any of you reading this to crack open some DFW of your own. “Infinite Jest” can be a tough read for a first-timer, so let me suggest his essay “A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again.” Guaranteed you will laugh your ass off.

And to sign off, since I couldn’t do it in person, I’ll do it here. Thank you, DFW. What you wrote helped make me a better person. You will be missed.

I was quite excited when Jim started this here YetiMenace.com.  I know you are, too.  But does anyone really know what a Yeti is?  And is he really such a menace?  I dug up some archival Yeti footage  and discovered that this is no Bigfoot/Sasquatch/Abominable Snowman/Skunk Ape/Lake Worth Monster.  We’re talking about the Yeti.  It’s clear now how the average bear can distinguish the Yeti from the others.  He has a sexy fetish for all things frozen.  Just follow the ice cream.  And Morgan Freeman.

Wednesday, August 27, 2008 was the inaugural ride of Beers, Gears and Queers, a bicycle ride/pub crawl with destinations across Los Angeles. BGQ is the creation of Mike Skiff (far left in the photo). On the auspicious day of 8/27 we met at The Eagle in Silverlake and rode to the Gold Coast in West Hollywood. After a few drinks at the Gold Coast, we turned around and made the return trip to The Eagle. We started with 13 riders and covered 14 miles. The photo was taken on the return ride in front of the historic Studs Theater (fka TomKat and Pussy Cat).

BGQ is returning this week, Wednesday, 9/10. Meet up at The Eagle @ 8:30pm and we ride out at 9:00pm. As always, our destination is TBD. Be there and be queer!