beaverhausen

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

2007-06-07T00:42:00.000-07:00

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?

2007-06-07T00:41:00.000-07:00

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

2007-06-07T00:40:00.001-07:00

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

2007-06-07T00:39:00.004-07:00

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

2007-06-07T00:39:00.003-07:00

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

2007-06-07T00:39:00.001-07:00

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

2007-06-07T00:38:00.000-07:00

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

2007-06-07T00:37:00.001-07:00

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

2007-06-07T00:36:00.002-07:00

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

2007-06-07T00:36:00.001-07:00

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

2007-06-07T00:35:00.000-07:00

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

2007-06-07T00:34:00.002-07:00

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

2007-06-07T00:33:00.001-07:00

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

2007-06-07T00:32:00.002-07:00

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!

2007-06-07T00:32:00.001-07:00

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?

2007-06-07T00:31:00.000-07:00

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

2007-06-07T00:30:00.000-07:00

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

2007-06-07T00:29:00.003-07:00

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?

2007-06-07T00:29:00.001-07:00

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

2007-06-07T00:28:00.002-07:00

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

2007-06-07T00:28:00.001-07:00

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

2007-06-07T00:27:00.000-07:00

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"

2007-06-07T00:26:00.002-07:00

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

2007-06-07T00:26:00.001-07:00

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"

2007-06-07T00:25:00.002-07:00

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.