Dogged Blog

Gavin Newsom for President?

The big question seems to be, is Gavin Newsom too young and pretty to be President, or too gay-friendly? Or both?

Interesting article over at Huffington Post about the San Francisco mayor's chances at "derailing the Hilary express" in 2008.

All this makes for good gossip column fodder in the tabloids. But is the Coiffed One qualified to become the nation's Chief Executive? Will middle America ever forgive him, or at least, overlook his very blatant support of gay marriage? Won't Red Staters turn even more scarlet in moral outrage and apoplexy? The memory of seeing all those same-sex couples lining up for their marriage licenses at SF City Hall will seem more of a terrorist threat than Osama issuing his infrequent video jihadist tirades from some cave on the other side of the world. And just imagine the GOP attack ads; they will make the Swift Boat commercials look like syndicated "Love Boat" promos by comparison.

Here in the Bay Area, Newsom is riding high in local polls; his approval ratings hover in the upper stratosphere. He's a pro-business fiscal conservative with progressive bona fides. It's a high wire act in a hyper-liberal town. He must constantly deal with a politically contentious Board of Supervisors (where he served three terms) that's as fractious and divided as Iraq's fledgling government.

I will always love Gavin Newsom, although finding out he's a fifth generation native San Franciscan when I'm only a fourth kind of pissed me off. And I sure hope SOMEONE derails the Hilary express sometime soon, because however much I want to see a woman president, I don't want it to be her.

The issue that hangs me up is whether the American people's tendency to admire guts and straight-shooting can overcome the American people's squick factor with gay marriage. I don't know if Russ Feingold, who simply stated that he didn't oppose same sex marriage being legal, can overcome that, let alone Newsom, who actually issued marriage licenses with his own hand and even presided over some same-sex marriages.

Then again, really, Newsom is awfully pretty and America is extremely shallow. But no. Ain't gonna happen. I wish I lived in that country, but I don't.

Hopelessly Devoted to You

I love Mark Morford. That is all.

Friday iPod Challenge, Actually on FRIDAY

Wow, I'm actually doing my Friday iPod/MP3 shuffle challenge on Friday for the first time in two weeks. Maybe my life is getting back to normal.

The terms of the challenge, which originated with Roxanne at Rox Populi, is that you set your MP3 player (or a program like iTunes on your computer) that randomly shuffles songs, and you list the first ten songs that come up, even if you'd rather die than admit what they are. NO CHEATING! And Travis, why don't you ever play this game? I know you want to.

Here's mine, and oh baby it's a whiplashy one today. Inaya Day to Sheila Chandra, then Andy Bell to Dixie Chicks to Prince:

1. Nasty Girl (Peter's Reconstruction Radio Edit)  - Inaya Day
2. Sacred Stones - Sheila Chandra   
3. Oh My God - P!nk & Peaches
4. True (Deep Dish Mix) - Morel
5. SOS - Rihanna
6. It's All Gonna Break - Broken Social Scene
7. Crazy - Andy Bell
8. Not Ready to Make Nice - Dixie Chicks
9. Let's Pretend We're Married - Prince
10. The Back of Love - Echo And The Bunnymen

Your turn.

It's My Party

Archived post from Big Gay Picture

Yeah yeah, the Dems suck, don't they? Disorganized, inept, bumbling, and, Russ Feingold aside, pretty spineless. Even Howard Dean, who used to have more spine than ten men and was once my hero, has been pissing me off lately.

But I remember the early 90s, when leftists were ranting and raving about the "Republicrats" and why there really wasn't that much difference between the two parties. Heck, I read Jim Hightower's There Ain't Nothin' in the Middle of the Road but Yellow Stripes and Dead Armadillos. I know the Democrats are in bed with corporate America just about as bad as the Republicans are (although their penises are bigger, right, Brent?).

I was never the biggest Clinton fan evah, but I admit he broke my heart a little bit when he advised John Kerry to come out against same sex marriage during the campaign. I know Dean has been a freaking wimp on this issue too, no matter how much I wanted to love him for some of his public acts while governor of Vermont, and just because, well, I have a soft spot in my heart for him. But I also know something else: that six years of W have confirmed with crystal clarity what I already knew, that the difference between the parties is night and day.

Two examples. Brent already mentioned one in his grab bag this morning, that the bill to overturn the military's ludicrous "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy "has 111 Democratic co-sponsors...and a whopping 5 Republican ones."

The second example is from Gallup, via, and with excellent commentary by, Pam Spaulding at Pam's House Blend. Seventy-nine percent of Republicans believe same-sex marriage should not be legally validated. Independents are pretty much split down the middle, but 53 percent of Democrats believe same-sex marriages SHOULD be legally validated. There's more:

Regarding a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage, the organization's poll found that two-thirds of Republicans (66%) were in favor of one, while a majority of Democrats (55%) were opposed.

Yes, the Dems don't give us the love they could and should. I am truly sick of feeling like a second class citizen in not just my country but my own party. And I'm not, like the family I grew up in, a yellow dog Democrat. (In fact, I think just about any color dog could govern better than most Dems, but that's just me.)

But while the Dems may be spineless wimps, it's time we realized, they're OUR spineless wimps.

The Most Fictional Story Ever Told

I swear, I try to come up with socially relevant, hard-hitting commentary over on Big Gay Picture but I keep writing about TV shows and silly things I found on Amazon.com. I'm really making lesbians look extremely shallow.

So even though I could blog about this there, I'm doing it here, because my fluff quotient needs to be kept within some kind of reasonable bounds.

From Defamer (which if you haven't ever gone is the juiciest, snarkiest gossip site evah. Think Wonkette without even the vestige of politics), Sir Ian McKellen explaining why it's not The Da Vinci Code that needs a disclaimer to avoid offending the biblical hordes ... it's the bible that needs the disclaimer, one that states, "This is fiction." The guys at Defamer think maybe he's on thin ice with this proposal:

While McKellen has never been one to shy away from controversy--he's long been an outspoken proponent of legalizing wizard-wizard marriage--we can't help but wonder if perhaps this time he's gone too far. Certainly there are far more sensitive approaches to addressing the film's pious detractors than by merely offering them the equivalent of, "You have built your lives on nothing more than fanciful lies! But that shouldn't discourage you from catching me reprise my role as Magneto in the much anticipated X-Men: The Last Stand, coming soon."

Nah.  "This is fiction" works for me.

Queer as Soap Opera

Archived post from Big Gay Picture

I really do mean to blog about politics a lot more someday, but I just keep getting sucked into this television thing. At least I can say this one came looking for me instead of the other way around.

Probably because their logarithmic analysis of my purchase history told them I'm queer and I buy DVDs, Amazon.com sent me a little note today trying to get me to buy the about-to-be-released DVD of the fifth and final season of Queer as Folk.

Now, don't get this wrong; I know that the guys here, and a lot of other gay men, really hate Brian Kinney, but like Scribe Grrrl over at AfterEllen.com, I'm a lesbian who loves him. He's rich, he's a slut, he has great hair, he loves to shop - other than his tragic inability to dance, what's not to love? (Please answer that question without using the phrase "Peter Pan.")

Nonetheless, I do have to question Amazon's little blurby thing describing the show:

This critically acclaimed series brings with it mature stories about facing the challenges of same-sex parenting, discrimination, AIDS/HIV, cancer and morality.

OK, I'm sorry. This may be what its creators wanted it to be about. This may be what Showtime told Amazon it's about. But this is not what it WAS about. It was about sex and romance and hair and shopping and music. It was a soap opera. I don't mean that in a bad way. I confess I thought the fifth season was total crap and should never have been allowed to air, and at least half the fourth season was nearly as bad, but hey, those first three seasons were pretty good. Some of the best music ever on any TV show, shoot me if you want to but I thought that prom scene was the most romantic thing I'd ever seen, lots of very very pretty people doing all the stupid things people do on soap operas - frankly, the only thing wrong with it was that its creators and producers continued to act as if it was "mature stories about facing the challenges of same-sex parenting, discrimination, AIDS/HIV, cancer and morality" instead of Dynasty with gay people. (I mean real gay people, not Stephen Carrington.)

So yeah, I won't be buying this DVD. In addition to the savaging of the characters that went on in the final season, almost everyone's hair got really bad all of a sudden. On the plus side, Rosie O'Donnell and Cyndi Lauper made guest appearances, Brian finally told Justin he loved him, Michelle Clunie elevated the wearing of tank tops to heights previously unknown, and unlike just about everyone else, Randy Harrison's hair was pretty cute. But that's just not enough to cough up eighty bucks for.

Sorry, Amazon. But hey, if you need an accurate description of QAF's final season, feel free to use this:

In its fifth and final season, the producers of the groundbreaking gay soap opera "Queer as Folk" got furious at the popularity of their schmoopy romantic leads Brian and Justin, and punished them and all their fans with the most idiotic regressive story lines possible, while simultaneously showing that lesbians basically want nothing more than to have babies, and when things aren't working out for them have another baby, and then fight and scream about the babies, because lesbians can't shop or be fabulous and slutty because that's Brian's job. The music is still great, but the rest of it sucks.

Now, THAT'S truth in advertising.

Bush Blows

Filthy Gorgeous

I've been keeping an eye on the clicks to photos that I've got in the blog ... it's not scientific, because sometimes I forget to keep track. But as a general overview, the most yummiest filthy gorgeous people on Dogged Blog are Kevin Smith (Ares, God of War from Xena: Warrior Princess) and Gale Harold (Brian in Queer as Folk).

Now, can someone explain to me why people are clicking on these examples of male pulchritude on a LESBIAN blog? Have I failed to provide you with sufficient photos of women to click on, hello, can we look at Madonna's arms again please? Work with me here.

I'm also not entirely clear as to why it is that people like both Kevin Smith - buffed up hairy guy, kind of evil looking - AND Gale Harold - hairless, lean, kind of a young Brando thing going on. Then again, maybe they are different people clicking, I don't know.

But the freaky thing is what comes after Gale Harold and Kevin Smith, who at least I can say OK, I get it, I know why you're clicking on them. The next one is that nightmare of pallid tattooed skin, David Gahan of Depeche Mode. (Do you know some little fan girls over on a DM website somewhere are ranting about my bad taste in men? One of them told me I'd never get a boyfriend with an attitude like that. And no, I'm not kidding.) Maybe it's like when you see an accident and you can't look away, I don't know.

And this is what I'm doing instead of writing an article about the canine endocrine system.

You Call, You Write, You Worry

I seem to have freaked out all my friends with my last post. Trust me, I'm OK. I'm coping. The worst thing that will happen is that my brain will simply explode all over the place. But that's it.

Due to circumstances entirely beyond my control, my Friday iPod Challenge (stolen as always from Roxanne, although she doesn't seem to have done it this week) is a day late again.

Terms of the challenge: Set your MP3 player... doesn't have to be an iPod, it can even just be a program on your computer that randomly shuffles songs ... to random shuffle. List the first ten songs that come up, no cheating, even if there's a song on the list that you'd rather die horribly from food poisoning than admit to having. Which happened to me this week, the one song I've been most afraid of having come up, came up. Fortunately I'm so stressed out that I don't even care. Stress apparently is a form of anesthesia, did you know that?

Here's mine for the week:

1. Your Loving Arms - Karen Overton
2. Never Stop - Echo and the Bunnymen
3. Poses - Rufus Wainwright
4. Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me - George Michael and Elton John (this is the one)
5. Carmen (after "L'Oiseau Rebelle" from "Carmen")  -  Malcolm McLaren
6. Dreaming of the Queen - Pet Shop Boys
7. At Home He's a Tourist - Gang of Four
8. Believe - Jason Walker
9. Hurt - Johnny Cash (OMG, this is so good, if you haven't heard it, listen to it soon)
10. Visit Me - Electronic

Your turn.

Say What You Like About Mary Cheney....

Archived post from Big Gay Picture

Say what you like about Mary Cheney, but her book is good for one thing: Some of the most freaking hilarious "book reviews" I've ever read over on Amazon.com.

I'm pretty sure at least some of these are going to vanish soon, so move fast. Here are a few excerpts (sorry, you can't link to individual reviews on Amazon):

From Gen. JC Christian, patriot (Tremonton, UT United States): "I'm not sure I understand why Miss Cheney became a Republican political operative. After all, the party isn't exactly welcoming people like her--87% of all Republicans want to stone her to death and 92% want her to just shut up while they watch her make-out with another woman."

From workout (Door County, Wisconsin): "I'd rather go hunting with her dad than read anything Mary Cheney writes. Seriously."

From bush-fan: "If you are on any kind of antidepressants, I strongly urge you to avoid this book. It will leave you feeling drained and demoralized. Approach with caution."

From Mary Jane (Casper, WY): "If you're thinking about buying Mary Cheney's book and expect it to be the sequel to her mother's blistering rootin' tootin' wild-west girl-on-girl lovin' 'Sisters,' I'm here to tell you, this is not 'Sisters: Reloaded!' If 'Sisters' were the original 'Star Trek,' Mary's book is not 'Star Trek: The Next Generation.' It's not 'Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.' It's not 'Star Trek: Voyager.' It's not even 'Star Trek: Enterprise.' It more closely resembles a Saturday Night Live 'Star Trek' skit in which the crew experiences turbulance near a black hole and half the crew are bouncing to the left, half the crew are bouncing to the right, and Mr. Sulu is staring straight ahead, seemingly unaffected, daydreaming of a 'Night to Remember' with Mr. Chekhov."

This one has probably crossed the line into extreme bad taste, but I've never let that stop me. From someone posting under the name of Cheney's partner, an ostensible "excerpt" from the book (and trust me, I've read it, it's not this good):

"Just when I could feel the dam of passion about to burst inside me, the phone rang. I answered it testily. It was Dad, and he was nearly incoherent. 'Hullo, Pop,' I sighed. He was ranting about those non-existent WMDS again, it was an obsession with him, like Mom's obsession with lesbianism and I decided to wait out the storm, and while I waited, Heather sighed breathlessly against my lips. She stared deeply into my eyes and moaned, 'Isn't that old S.O.B. ever going to let it go?'."

So, head over and read before it all goes away ... just scroll, there's well over a hundred, and some of them are serious.. Mike Signorile did one.