"When I got saved, God became my art agent"

The LATimes, which can generally be counted on to be a bit more culturally relevant than the New York version, takes a look at the dark side of the Painter of Light™. Some claim Christianist portraiteur Thomas Kinkade -- a one-man art empire born in Sacramento -- is actually a ruthless businessman who drives franchisees to financial ruin while "fattening his business associates' bank accounts and feathering his nest with tens of millions of dollars."

The scrutiny comes as fallout after his company recently lost an arbitration to two Virginia dealers, who claimed Kinkade manipulated their religious beliefs to convince them to invest. Stores the couple opened in Charlottesville and Fredericksburg turned out to be financial disasters. Said one dealer: call it "Enron with a Christian twist." Franchisees claim they were undercut by sales to deep discounters like Tuesday Morning, and some even allege that Kinkade -- the nation's self-proclaimed most-collected living artist -- no longer paints the works himself.

The attraction of Kinkade's art always escaped me. Joan Didion said it best, describing scenes that depict "such insistent coziness as to seem actually sinister, suggestive of a trap designed to attract Hanzel and Gretel." Sounds like his business practices may follow suit.

Can You Hear Me Now?

Just what DC needs: another NPR outlet. This time, a Baltimore version may soon be drowning out the last local college station on the air, Maryland's WMUC 88.1. Maybe some of the indie station's vaunted alums, like Connie Chung and The Boondocks creator will rally to their cause and save the day?

Taxi Politics

As despicable as I think most DC cab drivers are, the local law prohibiting non-residents from registering cabs in can't possibly be constitutional. I'll chalk it up to some nefarious collusion between Washington taxi drivers and their would-be regulators.

Hollywood Letdown

I agree with a lot of critics -- linked by Andy Towle -- who think that Crash won because it was the less discomfiting choice for straight liberals. It also felt like a very insider-LA movie that would appeal to industry people. CT commented how ridiculous it was that Brokeback Mountain won for everything except acting. Mostly I'm just disapponted because the Best Picture Oscar® would have encouraged more holdouts to see the film. (Because if it's not that great, they'd just as soon not.) Honestly, after all the puerile gay-cowboy jokes from the less-than-impressive Jon Stewart, I think the Academy owed it to us.

P.S. On a related note, I'm annoyed that Netflix's award listings show only past winners, not nominees.

Slamdunk

Law schools lose their case for barring military recruiters in protest of Don't Ask-Don't Tell. Roberts wrote the opinion, but it was unanimous. Initial legal analysis here.

Net Nannies

B'haus readers with kids may be few and far between, and those may have yet to face the question raised by this WaPo op-ed: Where should a good parent draw the line on monitoring their children on the Internets?

One mother told me she discreetly checks the p0rn sites in her teenage son's history folder to make certain they're not too extreme. I cringed, too, but her approach may be realistic; teenage boys will be teenage boys, and they're not just looking at centerfolds these days.

(Would gay.com count as "extreme," I wonder?) The author seemed particularly keen on tracking her kids' instant messages. Okay, the rest of you can now go back to worrying about what their spouses/significant others are surfing. Or in Ben's case, worrying about his bosses blocking access at the office.

Assimilation

I know, I know. I've bought an iPod and I've stopped caring about TiVo. Standing on principle can be hard. But for those who still think it matters, Verizon Wireless will soon let you program your TiVo from your mobile phone.

Ringing Down the Curtain

With the Nats baseball stadium in Southeast finally a "done deal," the O Street gay businesses are beginning to close. Yet there looks to be at least one last chance to take in the sights: According to MW, one co-owner of the Ziegfeld's/Secrets "insisted Tuesday that the show would go on for at least one more weekend":

"We'll be open this weekend," he said. "We'll be hearing something pretty shortly, but it's not going to happen that fast. None of us has gotten an eviction notice yet. We're good to go."

I'd say this calls for a last hurrah. See you there? (Sorry Ben, since you can't be there I'll tip a go-go boy for ya.)

Update: The Blade has coverage of judicial evictions issued March 10th, noting a temporary reprieve to the O Street clubs.

Four Minutes over Washington

CNET explores the curious deletion of public testimony about Washington, DC's continuing vulnerability to terror attack from the skies. First reported by Aviation Leak Week, commenters can't decide whether statements by a Navy F-18 pilot at the recent hearing near Dulles were removed because they revealed "operational security concerns" or because he criticized the gov'mint. Because we all know if you publicize the Bush administration's illegal and incompetent efforts to fight terrorism, you're only giving aid and comfort to the enemy.

World of Gaycraft

The WaPo looks at the "little known subculture" of gay online gamers. The story comes on the heels of a mini-scandal over discrimination at Blizzard, the company behind the hugely popular "MMO" game World of Warcraft, and the growing popularity of support sites like gaymer.org. The story contains this vignette:

Kevin VanOrd, who works at a tech company in Chantilly and lives in Columbia, was incredulous. He plays "WoW," too -- and his live-in boyfriend of two years is practically cemented to the game. Upon entering their two-bedroom apartment, the first thing you see is a PC to your left and another PC to your right. On a recent Saturday afternoon, both were logged on to "WoW."

The boys report their astonishment that the politics of gay identity followed them into their escapist realm. Said VanOrd: "The gaming community is so accepting of elves and fairies, trolls and ogres. But you can't get them to be accepting of gay people right here in the gaming world." Alas.

Sports Minute

The ACC may have been dissed by the NCAA tournament selection committee, but the expanded NIT has room for many a team that didn't make it to the big dance. And guess what, Ben? The UVa Cavaliers (who won the tourney in 1991) play your Stanford Trees (1992 champs) tomorrow night in the first round. Princeton, alas, gets no love. Among other local DC teams in post-season action, the Terps will get a first-round NIT bye then face off Saturday against the winner of the Manhattan - Fairleigh Dickinson game. There's a clash of titans for you.

Hmm, isn't it lacrosse season yet?

Satanic Panic in the Attic

Since moving away from Hampton Roads I just don't get my fill of wacky Pat Robertson news, but occasionally I'll hear about a kerfuffle. Like yesterday, when the religious broadcast called Muslims "satanic" during his 700 Club show and said Islam is bent on "world domination."

With his threat to arrest young gay "freedom riders" visiting his Regent University campus as part of the Soulforce Equality Ride -- as Jerry Falwell did at Liberty last week -- Pat's headline grabbing makes this a special week in looney-Christian news.

P.S. In related news, the on-again, off-again Christian-looney boycott of Ford Motors is back on, man. The AFA's spokesbigot is quoted as a saying "It's a jihad culture war." Bring it.

Update: Six Soulforce members were arrested at Regent, but interestingly eight students made a point of crossing the barriers to join the protestors in "Christian fellowship," despite Robertson's wishes.

Momentum

A week after the Nats sign a lease, Mayor Bowtie unveils a distinctive stadium design to much fanfare,some snarking and lots of front-page coverage (see left), and, to top it off, the Nationals get to keep their name.

Only 27 days and 2 hours until baseball season reopens in the District.

P.S. Looks like I need to get reacquainted with the team. Pitcher Jon Rauch is sporting a hot beard these days.

So Long, Loose Seal

Arrested Development is officially gone. Variety reports that even though there was a deal proposed for Showtime to air new episodes, creator Mitch Hurwitz couldn't agree to the terms. Hurwitz joked, "Of course, if there was enough money in it, I would have happily abandoned the fans' need for quality. But as it turns out, there wasn't." Rest in peace, Lucille.

And look for Lucille Two, this Saturday, on Showtime's restored Liza with a Z!

Convention Capitol: Sacramende!

Don't be surprised if your next conference brings you to Sacramento, John. The USA Today is reporting that smaller cities like Sacramento are the beneficiary of rising prices in more typical convention towns like San Diego and San Francisco...and Sacramento is eager for the business so they're willing to go to great lengths to win the business.

The Las Vegas of Gay Marriage?

Not Massachusetts, as the state's top court has upheld an "unused" 1913 law that forbids nonresidents from marrying in the state if their marriage would not be recognized in their home state. The slip opinion is available here.

Update: Can the WashTimes please come off it? The use of scare quotes around same-sex "marriage" may fly in most jurisdictions, but when it comes to Massachusetts, homos really can MARRY. Legally. Sorry that upsets you so, but try to grow up.

Attribution - Non-Commercial - Share Alike

That's a common form of Creative Commons license applied by bloggers, Flickr'ers and their publicly posting brethren. It was also the license applied by Adam Curry to photos on his Flickr share, and now he's successfully used the terms of the license to win a court case against a Dutch gossip magazine.

The case interests me, because I use a similar license -- though it permits commercial use -- and my own Flickrs have found their way to unexpected places on the Web from time to time as well. (DCist later ran a discussion of their photo use policy.) Nice to know I may actually have some rights in the wilds of the Internet, should I ever need to enforce them.

P.S. to Ben: I see our license here on the Bhaus is limited version 1.0. Maybe it's time to upgrade.

I Think I Think, Therefore I Think I Am

Asperger's frequently comes up in conversation between Chrisafer and me. I think we're fascinated because both of us are touchy-feely thenthitive types -- sort of the polar opposite of your typical aspie. Anyways, perhaps that's why I found this neuroscience piece in today's LATimes to be of interest. Exploring the question "why are humans able to think about thinking," a U-Dub psych professor postulates a "Burnsian evolutionary gift":

[M]aybe it evolved in the service of our highly developed social intelligence, insofar as it helped free us from many a blunder and foolish notion by enabling our consciously endowed ancestors to realize (in proportion to their consciousness) that, for example, seeming too selfish, too cowardly, too uninformed, too ambitious, too sexually voracious and so forth would ill serve their ends.

Hah, I just knew the emo people were more highly evolved.

Where are you going? Where have you been?

The angst of area code splitting is so last millennium. The Pilot this morning carries an AP story about the social transformation of the area code in the era of number portability. Explains a young theater major who uses a 502 mobile number while studying at UCSB: "People are so mobile that the area code has now become a statement about where you're from, rather than where you're going or where you are." Just like how I'm proud to keep the 757 on my phone, though I've had every chance to pick up the 202. Ben, what vanity digits do you keep on your phone?

Working 9 to 6:30

Working 9 to 5 would be great...too bad most offices now have the expectation of at least a 9-hour workday*, once you factor in lunch.

For that reason, and so many more, we should all have warm feelings of nostalgia surrounding the 25th anniversary DVD of the classic 9 to 5.

In interviews with USA Today the stars speculate what their characters would be up to today, how the world of work has changed and the prospects for the 2007 Broadway musical version of the film.

* Only 30% of Americans have a standard daytime M-F 40-hour workweek, according to the Current Population Survey.

LUV to Washington

In a surprise announcement, Southwest Airlines revealed its newest destination: Washington Dulles. With the collapse of Independence Air, (and JetBlue ending nonstop SMF to IAD service!), perhaps SWA saw the opportunity to pounce. But Dulles isn't the easiest airport to access from the central core of DC, so I wonder exactly what segment of traveller Southwest hopes to entice. Perhaps we'll see that the strategy is similar to the one adopted by SWA in Denver, where the big tops of DIA are also quite distant from downtown. I'm not sure I would have any incentive to opt to fly into IAD instead of BWI on a cross-country flight, but we'll see if SWA's strategy works when flights begin this fall.

True Believer

Has the WSJ become a Mac booster? You might think so after reading this article touting the belief by Apple and analysts that the company may have its best shot in years at expanding its tiny share of the business computing market. They cite the credibility of the OS X operating system among techies and the switch to Intel processors which will permit dual booting with Microsoft's pervasive Windows XP. (Apple has even just announced quasi-support for this neato trick.)

In other geek news, online maps are gettin' crazy. Check out a preview of a Microsoft service that shows you street-level views as if you were actually driving your route. My assessment: this is technology not yet ready for rush hour.

"No gay cruising on this gay cruise"

Tom Shales is bored by Rosie O'Donnell's HBO documentary about a cruise ship vacation by hundreds of homo partners and their kids, premiering tonight. He blames O'Donnell for presenting a politically correct, mainstream-friendly picture of wholesome familes who happen to have two mommies or two daddies. It's

a scrubbed-up, politely tidy image of gay men and women -- a portrait meticulously devoid of the drag queens, pierced nipples and campy vamping one often sees when a local TV station rushes off to cover a gay-themed event.

Well, that's progress for ya. Sounds like we all can skip this one.

Star Jones Reynolds to Get New Co-Host

We've got to keep things in perspective, right? The real story in the career ladders of celebrity journalist is wondering who will now sit next to Star when Meredith Viera, co-host of ABC's The View, leaves to fill Katie Couric's Manolos on the NBC's Today show.

The thing I still can't wrap my head around is that Couric turned down an offer that was reportedly worth about $20 million a year to stay at NBC, an offer which included the "Johnny Carson deal," allowing her to get not only the entire summer off, but also every Friday.

Three hours a day on the air a day, four days a week, nine months a year? I'd take comfort in knowing that I was making history with my handsome salary, rather than making history as the first woman to anchor the evening news solo.

"Martians talking about Earthlings"

Dunkin' Donuts is trying to go upscale, but not too upscale, the WSJ reports. After a couple of decades lagging other morning-meal outlets, the largely East Coast chain has recently put its focus on coffee and is taking a page from Starbucks to roll out a classier store concept. Only don't let Dunkin's working-class customers know. After studying the differences between their customers and those of the omnipresent Seattle shop, honchos at the no-frills Dunkin' declared a ban on couches in the new stores:

"Early research showed consumers wanted nicer stores, but revealed a potential problem: the loyal Dunkin' tribe was bewildered and turned off by the atmosphere at Starbucks. They groused that crowds of laptop users made it difficult to find a seat, Dunkin' says. They didn't like Starbucks' 'tall,' 'grande' and 'venti' lingo for small, medium and large coffees. And, Dunkin' says, they couldn't understand why anyone would pay as much as $4 for a cup of coffee.

The article gives a great preview of the company's tricky strategy -- to find to happy medium between its old "smoke-filled and dingy" stores and yuppie-infested Starbucks knock-offs. With any luck, I'll get to sample the prototype soon, as permits posted on 8th Street SE a portend a coming Dunkin' shop on Barracks Row here in my very own 'hood.

Lacrosse Guys Are a Different Breed

On the heels of the rape scandal enveloping Duke's men's lacrosse team, Dave Jamieson writes in Slate about "the culture of an elitist and relatively obscure sport." Lacrosse, more than any other, "represents the marriage of athletic aggression and upper-class entitlement." Jamieson has a theory about how college lacrosse players end up even more misogynous than players in other contact sports:

Perhaps it's because, unlike their football brethren, an unusually large proportion of college lacrosse players spend their high school years in sheltered, all-boys academies before heading off to liberal co-ed colleges. Most guys from single-sex schools are able to adjust. Others join the lacrosse team. The worst of this lot become creatures that are, in the words of a friend of mine, "half William Kennedy Smith, half Lawrence Phillips." In the warm enclave of the locker room, safe from the budding feminists and comp-lit majors, their identity becomes more cemented.

Looking back at the lax players I knew in high school and at Princeton, I suppose I agree. Overall, they were pretty much a bunch of cocky bastards. (I'll leave it to others to psychoanalyze why that makes guys so attractive.) Although there were always one or two nice guys who proved to be exceptions, in general college lacrosse guys are just SAE, making the bad behavior of Duke's team all that more predictable.

Tolerance is Oppression

At least, as the bigot brigade sees it. What goes around, comes around, when it comes to suing for "respect" for one's "workplace diversity."

Browing Out

The ratings show that Chris (who is responsible for this illuminating image) and I are the only ones still watching The West Wing. Well, us and Ellen Gray of the Philadelphia Daily News, who writes,

For months now, I've been dying to talk to someone - anyone - about what's up with Janeane Garofalo's eyebrows on NBC's "The West Wing," where it appears she's using a black marker to channel Groucho Marx.

Barbecuing accident?

Obscure political statement?

Just trying to figure out if anyone out here is still watching?

I'm going for Door No. 3, since the already declining ratings for "The West Wing" pretty much dropped off a cliff after NBC moved it to 8 p.m. Sundays.

But the show is still worth watching, if only to occasionally see Kristin Chenoweth's Annabeth break into song. However, not worth watching: Josh and Donna hook up and have off-camera sex twice, but never touch each other again, even in private. Let's let them have some passion or lust, not just pent-up need. David Bianculli of the NY Daily News seems to disagree with me, giving credit to Bradley Whitford and Janel Moloney for having "done a lot of the heavy lifting, and...consummate a flirtatious relationship that began when the show premiered in 1999."

Not much of a spoiler, since no one is watching, but last night Jimmy Smits' character, Matt Santos, won the show's presidental election. The NY Times reveals that this turn of events hadn't always been the plan.

At the time of Mr. Spencer's death, the plot for last night's episode had been set: the election was to be won by Alan Alda's Arnold Vinick, a maverick Republican (modeled a bit on Senator John McCain), whom many Democrats (including the Democrats who write the show) could learn to love.

At least we've got Homecoming to look forward to, with Rob Lowe and Emily Proctor returning. And just maybe we'll now get to see Sam Seaborn and Ainsley Hayes as a Carville-and-Matalin-eque duo!

The Jocks Win

In inimitable style, Hank Stuever bids adieu to the O Street gay clubs.

(Obviously, I've been a bit tardy in highlighting this piece. 34+ bloggers have weighed in, including Drew.)

P.S. Straight strip clubs are being forced out by the baseball stadium too.

Hinckley, Clinton, Hilton

Last night, Jamie and I went to hear William Jefferson give a keynote at a dinner gala as guests of a major appliance manufacturer. Held at the Hinckley Hilton, the evening honored the work of a local black think-tank called the Joint Center. Man, that ex-President can talk! We will never hear a retired Dubya expound for thirty minutes on the social origins of childhood obesity.

Researching my evening's logistics led me to discover a cool new website: Virtual Globetrotting. A community-driven geocoding cite, VG "shows and categorizes cool locations around the world with satellite pictures from Google Maps and Windows Live Local" plus street-level views from contributors. Look up your home or workplace today!

Reprieve

Belying the conventional wisdom that it would break off the relationship to pursue its own DVR technology, DirecTV today announced a three-year extension of the frequently-stressed alliance with TiVo. Interestingly, the companies agreed not to assert patent rights against the other. TiVo is currently suing DishTV for infringment, so I'm thinking Murdoch's minions were more motivated by fear than friendship. Unfortunately for us DirecTiVo users, the agreement seems to freeze the status quo, and so is unlikely to extend "modern" TiVo services like music- and photo-sharing to our boxes. Boo!

Flight 93 Transcript Released

The judge in the Moussaoui trial declined to release the audio tape of the Flight 93's cockpit recorder, opting instead to provide news sources with the transcript, now available on TSG. (Also introduced into evidence was a gigantic photomontage of nearly every victim of the 9/11 terrorist attack. Click the image at left to see a scaled-down version.)

The Universal Pictures feature film recounting the dramatic passenger revolt opens in two weeks. Some are questioning whether America is ready for a 9/11 movie. Perhaps to ease those concerns, the studio is donating 10% of the opening weekend gross to the flight's memorial fund. While I think we can handle it, I expect United 93 to be an emotional experience, no less so for arriving about the same time as the expected death sentence for Zacharias Moussaoui. Add one more "martyr" to Al Qaeda's honor rolls.

TiVo Wins

It looks like DirecTV was reading the tea leaves correctly, as TiVo scores a major patent law victory over the makers of the DishTV DVR. If upheld on appeal, the WSJ writes, the case could have "profound implications," as the damage award "bolsters TiVo's financial footing" and puts it "in a better position to negotiate business deals with cable companies and equipment suppliers that make competing DVRs."

It's Time to Move On

As has been noted previously on Beaverhausen, by the time the NYTimes notices a trend, it is pretty much over. So does that mean you can stick a fork in Washington's hip U Street corridor? Upshur Street, here we come.

Legislative Alert

After bouncing around the states for months, the effort to ban Fred "God Hates Fags" Phelps' anti-gay demonstrations at military funerals has reached the federal level. Despite questions about First Amendment rights, the NYTimes cites con law experts who think there may be a precedent for upholding such statutes.

And in other bigot brigade news, the right-wing Alliance for Marriage is gearing up for a possible June vote in the Senate on the Federal Marriage Amendment by courting black and Hispanic pastors in several key states, the WashTimes reports. While gay-baiting on the spurious DOMA issue saved Dubya's butt in the 2004 elections, one wonders if the GOP's current troubles can really be fixed by wedge politics this year.

Not Judge Wapner's Courtroom

The gay lushes and the black biblethumpers face off in DC's gentrifying Shaw neighborhood. (Round one went to the 'mos, but Reverend Long promises to be back at next month's rematch.)

Warning: Explicit Lyrics

Taking a page from Indonesian jihadists, our esteemed attorney-general is on the warpath against smut. First he wants to require ISPs to keep tracking data on their customers, and now Gonzales intends to jail web site operators who do not submit to mandatory labeling of sexual content.

Commercial sites would have to slap an FTC-approved notice on each page containing anything sexually explicit, including not just sexual intercourse but even "close-ups of fully clothed genital regions." (Sports Illustrated better watch out!) Adding to the technical complications of compliance, the law would criminalize posting explicit material on any home page if it can be seen "absent any further actions by the viewer."

(Hmm, just what is the "home page" of a blog? And how does this work with user-supplied content generally? I'm familiar with some Flickr groups that would surely be covered, but management doesn't review what's posted there.)

Forget about that clearinghouse of filth BentBlog, sounds like Chrisafer may need to add warning labels to some of his poetry! What confuses me is what does this anti-pR0n crusade have to do with missing children?

Journal of B.S.

The intellectually-inclined are horrified to learn that crusading anti-gay "researcher" Paul Cameron has finally weaseled his way into a peer-reviewed scientific journal, in this case, Cambridge's Journal of Biosocial Research. His crap article, "Children of Homosexuals and Transexuals More Apt to Be Homosexual," was based on his typical shoddy, "sophomoric" work. According to one professional listserv, the extent of his pseudo-scientific studies involved developing a bibliography of topical books from Amazon.com, buying and reading three of them, and tallying up the sexual orientation of the adult offspring described in the texts (discarding half whose sexual orientation was not characterized). The result: "homosexuality is contagious." What else do you expect from a guy who produced "statistics" of gay longevity based on AIDS obituaries? At least the NARTH-types who actually believe this bullshit are more and more the minority these days (except, I guess, at the White House).

Here We Go Again

The bigot brigade are gearing up, hoping to market the anti-gay marriage vote to Republicans for the 2006 mid-term elections. My old Princeton politics professor Robbie George is once again playing a prominent role, helping put together a slew of Catholic bishops to sign an ecumenical letter from clergy. There's also a companion postcard campaign in support of the Federal Marriage Amendment. In the silver lining department, the NYTimes optimistically suggests that this issue isn't the hot button it used to be -- if for no other reason than because key swing states have already passed various superDOMA amendments and laws.

Never Forget, Eh?

The Post profiles the "one member of Congress" who has blocked an appropriation for the Park Service to buy 1200 acres of land for a Flight 93 memorial in Shanksville, PA. Besides being an opponent to government land ownership in general, Rep. Charles Taylor (R-NC) notes that private donations have fallen far short of their $30 million commitment, so the government could be left holding the bag for an elaborate site. Taylor has suggested a scholarship fund instead.

The Renegades have been doing their part by traveling to Pennsylvania to tend the grounds of the flight's temporary memorial. Now maybe Universal Pictures can help. Ten percent of the opening weekend's gross from United 93 (premiering tonight at the Tribeca Film Festival) will be donated to the memorial foundation. In the end, the Post thinks congressional leaders won't want to look like cheapskates when it comes to honoring the flight that fought back -- and probably saved the Capitol building -- so I expect Taylor's intrasigence to be only a temporary obstacle.

Yahoo vs. TiVo

How can I choose when two of my favorite geek gadgets go head-to-head? Of course, Yahoo's entry into the home media market has been expected, but I still hope they can be partners not competitors with TiVo.

MyDeathSpace - A Trend That Died Too Young?

The gray lady must've heard the criticisms... I've never seen the NYTimes document a trend as quickly as this article on the use of social-networking profiles in mourning the death of young people. Why, it was only a month or so ago that Chris first showed me MyDeathSpace and now the Times is already reporting how communities of "personal Web pages have suddenly changed from lighthearted daily dairies about bands or last night's parties into online shrines where grief is shared in real time." And now that the Times knows, we must regrettably conclude that this young trend has jumped the shark.

For the moment, though, it's still a common occurrence to read news of an untimely death and immediately learn more about the deceased online than any traditional obituary every would say. (At least the scrapbook photos tend to portray them far better than the typical DMV file-photo used in newspaper reports.)

What I find sad about the whole phenomenon is how needless most of the deaths reported on MDS are: reckless immaturity or involvment with crime and other stupidity is behind so many of the fatalities. The one-off stories in the press don't convey that message nearly as powerfully as a website that collects hundreds of unfortunate demises in one place. The Internet has been credited with changing the way people think about a lot of social issues -- can it be that young people's perspectives on death and dying will be next?

Flickr is the new Blogging

Conservative activist are up in arms over a proposal to prevent bias against homosexuality in California school curricula.

In More Positive Lacrosse News . . .

The NCAA men's lacrosse championship bracket has been set, as the popular sport continues to look beyond the Duke scandal. One fun programming note: my Tigers stand an excellent chance of taking on no. 2-seeded Maryland in the second round at Towson University on Sunday, May 21st. (Local favs Virginia, Georgetown and Navy will also be vying to reach the other half of that day's quarterfinal doubleheader.) I realize it's not the Herndon Climb, but maybe I can get some D.C. folks interested in a roadtrip to see these games.

Pet Peeve

Is it just me, or is anyone else annoyed by the new Friday Fresh Air episodes that take a timely subject and cobble together old interviews on the topic, as introduced by Not Terry Gross? Today's show feature ancient interviews with cast members of The West Wing introduced by David Bianculli made me long for a fresh Fresh Air.

Goodbye, Anastasia

Will & Grace ends its eight-year run tonight, so it's time to bid farewell to Anastasia Beaverhausen. But will she and Jack, that lawyer and the decorator really be missed all that much? Critics disagree about the impact, whether the show leaves a big mark and changed attitudes because of its depiction of gays, or that it will be a quickly-forgotten relic of dated pop-culture jokes that won't hold up.

The disagreements seem to be a referendum on whether it is more important for a sitcom to be funny or to be a form of media where sensitive topics can be addressed and made fun of:

"We're proud of what's transpired" in terms of presenting gay characters as real people, Kohan says. "But if our goal here had been to put out ideas or role models, the show would have failed. All you really care about is: Do you like these characters? Do you care about their relationships? Do they make you laugh?"

And as with most sitcoms, the way to make you laugh is to play up the cliches and the catchphrases and same tired storylines. You end up with characters who are "so selfish and hateful to one another, you could never understand why they were friends to begin with. No amount of back story or riffs on low self-esteem could explain that."

The roles of Will Truman and Grace Adler became derivative characatures of other successful sitcoms, taking on some of the selfish tendencies of the Seinfeld quartet and the neuroses and compulsions of the Friends. And that's why I agree with the assessment that "it's hard to sustain characters over the long haul when nothing's at stake, and in its later years the show has bounced between silly and tiresome."

That's why I have to take exception with the arguments that the show was "a pioneer for using humor to address one of America's most incendiary issues...mainstream[ing] a way to laugh about gay, lesbian, bisexual, and straight sexual politics from a place of pure affection, not fear and hatred." I don't think the show hurt the case for gay rights, but I'm also not sure that it created "pure affection" for the gay rights or made a case for gay marriage. Backing me up is Beaverhausen fave Hank Steuver who writes:

The gayest among us now profess to have shirked duty and stopped watching a couple of seasons ago.

...For years, some viewers held on to the idea that the show was an example of pure progress in the way American culture views homosexuals. This turned out to be "Will & Grace's" burden to bear, and it discarded it happily.

...Watching the show...shoulder-to-shoulder with young men who had Ricky Martin haircuts and wore Abercrombie T-shirts, it was possible to make the mistake of reading "Will & Grace" as a solid triumph.

I would say that time would have to pass in order to tell if Will & Grace affects future generations in a way to I Love Lucy or All in the Family did. But I think that with constant reruns on Lifetime, we're likely to be able to tell far, far sooner whether Will & Grace can match the impact of that other long-running NBC sitcom about four individuals with a not-so-stealthy gay sensibility.

Marriage on Both Sides of the Potomac

Gentlemen, start your pandering. GOP leaders in the Senate are cozying up to the bigot brigade again by promising a vote on the Federal Marriage Amendment in the first week of June. This led to some of the more exciting political news of last week, when Russ Feingold stomped out of Arlen Spector's Judiciary Committee meeting where the FMA was reported to the floor. Despite the theatrics, the brigadeers are not particularly happy. The WashTimes quoted one rightwing nutcase source who criticized the President's engagement on the issue:

It's not that we are demanding this, but when the First Lady is disparaging the issue, and when the Vice President lets stand unrebutted Mary Cheney's claims, we think some demonstration of presidential leadership is warranted -- and overdue.

The latter comment alludes, of course, to the Veep's long "missing" lesbian daughter, who made the rounds a week ago shilling for her new book, which has her agreeing with Al Gore on the FMA. Former HRC head Elizabeth Birch crowed, but most handicappers don't give the federal legislation much of a shot anyway. Boy, that's sure to piss off Donald Wildmon and his million mothers more than a big opening weekend for the Da Vinci Code.

Meanwhile, back in Virginy, legions gird for battle over this Fall's referendum on a state constitutional amendment. Despite heartwarming profiles of local homos in the regional press, observers in the Old Dominion think the powerfully worded SuperDOMA will pass by a large margin. I'm not counting on any intervention by activist judges, as happened last week in another "New South" state, either. In any event, the forecast for November calls for plenty of fear and loathing.

Blogging conference draws 400 in D.C.

Damn, we missed it. Was Sully there?

Ba-Baaah and the Windigo

Bonus points to anyone who could have guessed what the characters shown at right had to do with the founding of America.

Answer: They're part of a children's show telling the story of Jamestown from the perspective of a young Indian girl (apparently a relative of Shrek the Ogre) and indigenous animals. It's all just part of the pageantry of "America's 400th Anniversary," a Virginia tourist promotion that kicked off near Colonial Williamsburg yesterday.

Fun for the whole family!Bonus points to anyone who could have guessed what the characters shown at right had to do with the founding of America.

Answer: They're part of a children's show telling the story of Jamestown from the perspective of a young Indian girl (apparently a relative of Shrek the Ogre) and indigenous animals. It's all just part of the pageantry of "America's 400th Anniversary," a Virginia tourist promotion that kicked off near Colonial Williamsburg yesterday.

Fun for the whole family!

WeWho?

The LATimes ponders a straight future for West Hollywood. Unthinkable, I know, but hey, it happened to Dupont.

John: Exit Stage Left

Taking a cue from our inspiration, this Beaverhausen has decided to retire from the blogging game. I've been giving the whole project a lot of thought lately, and it seems to me that four years and upteen thousands of posts is a pretty good run. Lord knows, the blogosphere has grown from our early days among to the innovators to the point now where it's getting harder and harder to contribute anything different from a thousand other voices. At the same time, as Ben has noted, newer forms of online intercourse have proliferated.

I'm not ruling out a return to the web in some form in the future. (In truth, I'll likely never leave, as I continue to utilize tools like Flickr and the various social nets.) I feel pretty good about what was achieved here. Our site tracker counts around 4,500 uniquie visitors a month. So it feels good to just go ahead and end my pseudocareer as a blogger on a relatively high note.

One thing I am going to miss is the honor of being among the bloggerati. Sure, the blogging network was demented and sad, but it was social. I was always surprised by strangers who would randomly approach me to say "Oh, you're Beaverhausen." "Well, half of it, I'd always say."

And that brings me to the saddest part of shutting down my beautiful blog machine: B'haus has been a big part of a very cool daily relationship with my best friend and confidante, who just happens to live 3,000 miles away. Authoring, editing and running a website with someone so close to me has been frustrating at times, but mostly it's been a fascinating and fun way to interact and get to know, even better, what makes each of us tick. So Ben, to you I say thank you so much for sharing this special endeavor with me. Don't be too sad that this chapter is closing. It only brings us that much closer to figuring out what that next big thing is, and when we find it, I trust we'll still be encouraging, baiting, and engaging each other just as much as we ever did here at Beaverhausen.