Happy New Year From the (212)

May your balls drop at midnight, too.

And Then He Kissed Me ...

Lust to Love: Jack and Ennis up on Brokeback Mountain.

(Thanks, Mark!)

Movies in the (212)

Ten films I loved in 2005:

Brokeback Mountain (related)

The Squid and the Whale (related)

Happy Endings

Match Point (related)

The Dying Gaul (related)

Capote

The Nomi Song

In Her Shoes (related)

The 40-Year-Old Virgin

The Wedding Crashers

UPDATE: I knew I'd forget something: "Walk the Line" probably should have been on here somewhere, too.

(Haven't seen "TransAmerica" or "The Family Stone" yet, but am planning to.)

Related: Top Albums of 2005

Page 1 Consider (12/30)

Sacked: FSU star linebacker accused of sexual assault, sent home from Orange Bowl / Linebacker A.J Nicholson led Florida State this season with 100 tackles, but no one's saying if that number includes when he pinned this 19-year-old girl. (AP)

Short on Truth: Midget 'Bias' Turns A Tall Tale / Like I always say: There's nothing worse than a lying midget. (NY Post)

No Happy Ending: Chelsea 'Gay Slay' Fire Victim ID'd as Israeli 'Massage' Therapist / The people that you meet when you're walking down the street. (NY Post)

Dial 'D' for Duh: Cops: Woman didn't eat phone voluntarily / Thank goodness we have our men in uniform to get to the bottom of these tricky investigations. (Chicago Tribune)

Wasn't Next Year Wonderful?

The Malcontent has compiled a list of New Year's resolutions for 2006 from around the gay blogosphere -- including yours truly.

Read: Ringing It In

Sporting Wood: Adam Vinatieri

Shirtless (or uniformed) Adam Vinatieri reminds us that Tom Brady isn't the only reason to stalk the New England Patriots.

Page 1 Consider (12/29)

R.I.F.: Bush reading reveals history fan: "George W. Bush is a history buff," a White House spokesman revealed as he disclosed the president's holiday reading list. / Wait a minute. President Bush knows how to read? (BBC News)

Returned to 'Hevin': Aunt, boyfriend held for autistic toddler's murder / Homicide charges have been filed against a woman who claimed her car was stolen with her 2-year-old nephew Hevin Dakota Jenkins inside. Shouldn't the mother be charged too for naming the boy Hevin Dakota? (EarthTimes)

Must-See Train Wreck: Ex-'Top Model' Judge Janice Dickinson Gets Series / This chick makes Brett Butler look stable and easy to work with. Can't wait. (AP)

The Quiet Men: 'Brokeback' a Quiet Box Office Boon / Who's afraid of a couple of gay cowboys? Not moviegoers, who helped "Brokeback Mountain" post the highest per-screen average over the film-flush holiday weekend. (AP)

Baby Bottle: 2-year-old gets drunk; babysitter charged /Infant had bloodshot eyes, blood-alcohol level of 0.094 / So it's the babysitter's fault that the kid can't hold his liquor? (AP)

Sporting Wood: Matt Leinart

Even Nick Lachey has a mancrush on Trojan quarterback Matt Leinart. Who can blame him?

Page 1 Consider (12/28)

Baseball Diamonds: Former Yankees Pitcher Jeff Reardon Robs Jewelry Store / First he stole all of those bases and now this ... (Newsday)

Mother May I Flirt With Polygamy?: Tori Spelling Is Engaged Again / I'm sure her husband has watched "Dynasty" and must have seen this one was coming. (Reuters)

Glitter-free: No child-rape charge against U.K.'s Gary Glitter / Apparently it's not rape in Vietnam if the child is paid enough for her dad to eat. (TimesOnline)

Mother's Intuition: Before Virginia Rampage, Mother Feared Son Would Kill Self / Well, she was right about that part. (Washington Post)

Insight-Full: In a Shootout, Arizona State Outguns Rutgers / FU, Tony Soprano! (NY Times)

Trimming the Fat: Company offers free vacations for lost pounds / I never thought I'd miss management until I saw this. Oh, who am I kidding? Like weight wasn't judged on the performance appraisals I used to do. (AP)

No Shit University: Alcohol can damage bones, new study shows / Yeah, like when you get hammered and fall down a flight of stairs. (Reuters)

Livin' La Speedo Loca

If Ricky Martin were any gayer in these pics he would be getting his ass rammed by Charles Nelson Reilly with JM J. Bullock waiting in the wings for sloppy seconds.

Related: Size Queens of the World Unite

Source via Trent

New DVD Releases: Willow Hill

We sure had a nice Christmas. (I was particularly happy that I was able to get through an entire holiday gathering without anyone talking about how happy they'd be if they won the lottery.) Like every year, my family and friends were extremely generous and thoughtful with their presents, for which I am very appreciative. My brother Bill always seems to come up with the most creative gifts. This year, he had our family's 1970s Super 8 mm home movies transferred to DVD. For whatever reason, the camera saw heavy use from 1973 (when my mom married my stepfather, Gary) until my sister Jenn's 4th birthday in 1978. We moved to Arizona in 1979 (where there was actually something worth filming), but the camera was never used again. The footage is a real hoot, but the artwork my brother designed for the box (above) is even better than the video itself, capturing the full essence of the '70s.

 

Page 1 Consider (12/27)

Multiple Murder-Suicide: Fairfax Gunman's Rampage Detailed / I'm sure I would have done this long ago if I had red hair. (Washington Post)

Haunted by the 'Ghost': Character Actor Vincent Schiavelli dies at 57 / Maybe he can get that message to Sam. (IrelandOnline)

More or Less: Bush Seeks to Win More Battles in 2006 / Doesn't the word more imply that at least one battle was already won? (AP)

Best for Last? `King Kong' Nudges 'Narnia' at Box Office / I thought Hollywood saved the best films for the end of the year. So why is this weekend's Top 10 a list of movies I wouldn't see if my life depended on it? (AP)

Season's Greetings!

Merry Christmas from the (212)

Just wanted to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas.

This will be my final post until after the holiday. I'm spending Christmas Eve with my Michael's family on Long Island -- my first time out to his old neighborhood. I'm really excited. His brother and his wife have three adorable daughters, so that should help fill the void of being absent from my family and my 3-year-old nephew (in particular) this year.

I'll leave you with one of my favorite pictures of me and my guy, a Polaroid taken at a friend's house in Weehawken, New Jersey.

Have a great holiday!

Justice for Christmas

The two major crime stories I've been following here in the city have both reached the first stages of justice, just in time for the victims and their families to (hopefully) find some peace for the holidays. At the risk of sounding like (my admitted favorite) Nancy Grace, I think it's a safe bet that the police have their men:

My Bloody Valentine: Ex-Boyfriend Indicted In Dancer's Murder / It seems a bloody fingerprint -- and a shoeprint left on her back are key pieces of evidence against the aspiring musician and personal trainer Paul Cortez (top), who has been charged with one count of second-degree murder in the death of Catherine Woods. A tragedy for all involved. (7online)

Sex Offender: Man in Fake-Firefighter Case Is Indicted in Sexual Assault / Peter Braunstein, who pretended to be a firefighter to gain access to a former co-worker's apartment, was charged Friday with kidnapping, sex abuse, theft and arson. What did the pervert ex-Women's Wear Daily scribe steal after assaulting the woman for 12 hours? Police say he took her Gucci fur coat, a Louis Vuitton bag, a driver's license and other items. Merry Christmas, Peter. Let's see how you like to be held captive and sexually abused. I'm sure the guys in the slammer would love to see you in that mink ... (NY Times)

Kiss and Make Up?

As readers know, my girl Kathy Griffin and I had a falling out recently, only she doesn't know about it and couldn't care less (wink).

Like many fans, I was devastated by her breakup with hubby Matt Moline. I just felt cheap and used by the whole thing. To see her be so in love on her reality show and then turn around and file for divorce -- well, it just made me feel like her whole act had been ... well, just that -- an act.

Now I'm reading that Kathy and Matt have reconciled and are coming back for a Season Two of "My Life on the D-List" on Bravo (Kathy had said previously that they weren't paying her enough to come back for an encore, but then E! canned her and suddenly the gig is on -- love her!), so I'm thinking it's time for Kathy and me to kiss and make up in time for me to watch it.

What do you say, Kath?

Read: Kathy Griffin: New 'D-List' season to begin filming in February (Realty TV World)

Naughty or Nice?

You Prob'ly Think This Stamp Is About You

My friend Nina is notorious for buying offbeat gifts. This year's Christmas present -- PhotoStamps ("Real Postage. Really You.) -- was especially fun because she incorporated a photo from a recent 20-year reunion of all our friends (above).

Ever the trendsetter, Nina's gift turns out to be the hottest thing around. The New York Times picked up on the "vanity stamp" craze and ran a piece about it in Thursday's paper.

One guy interviewed really stood out (a man after my own heart):

Dan Friedman, a 24-year-old events coordinator for Cellhire, an international phone rental service in Manhattan, ordered stamps for his Hanukkah cards with pictures of himself. "I am that vain," Mr. Friedman said.

"This is the only time of year I actually send anything out in the post," he said. "If there's ugly dead presidents and birds and flowers on stamps, then there might as well be me too."

(Lick that, biatch!)

Read: Vanity Postage (NYT)

Page 1 Consider (12/23)

What a Dump: Applicants need only apply if your shit doesn't stink (Curbed)

Good Idea: Iraqis Take Stock of a Trial Where the Accused Holds Court (NY Times)

Another Face-Off: Republican Jeanine Pirro drops out of race to unseat Hillary Clinton / Opts for fourth face lift instead. (Washington Post)

Cut Throat Airlines: New screening procedures for air travel to begin /Pack your knives, screwdrivers and other sharp objections, it's time to fly. We wouldn't want to make the TSA work too hard, would we? (CNN)

Uptown Guy

My friend Kevin Delaney will be performing at the Underground Lounge on Wednesday, Dec. 28 at 10 p.m.

Kevin says the Underground Lounge "is a quaint, cozy (that’s Manhattanspeak for "small") club with a sweet sound system and groovy, just-off-Bleecker-circa-’63 vibe. It is located at 107th and Broadway, easily accessible by the city’s soon-to-be-up-and-running audience delivery system."

Admission is free but there is a 2-drink minimum. He will be accompanied by Rick Shields, the wild-eyed Scottish fiddler who dazzled the crowd at Kevin's last show.

You can check out reviews or hear sounds from “Himalayan Moon,’’ Kevin's latest cd, by clicking here.

Sporting Wood: Brad Ausmus

My kind of catcher: Brad Ausmus of the Houston Astros.

Not Everybody's All-American

The Association of Tennis Professionals has suspended Argentine player Mariano Puerta for eight years for twice violating its policies against doping. His career is over. Talk about a deterrent.

You can't help but look at this case and reason that if MLB really gave a rat's ass about this problem, they would tear a page out of the ATP's doping policy -- who tore a page out of the Olympics' strict approach.

What's most disconcerting, though, is that both of this French Open finalist's infractions don't sound anything close to what I was expecting from a doping violation -- well, depending on what you read, that is. The latest charge involved ingesting a medication that belonged to his wife, which has been described as everything from a prescription hypertension drug to an over-the-counter medication, and in 2003 he was suspended for using clenbuterol, which I've heard described as "an anabolic steroid" in some places and an asthma medication with "some steroid-like properties" elsewhere. (Are you as confused as I am?) The panel even concluded that Puerta's use of his wife's drug was "inadvertent" and "too small to have any effect on his performance."

Now I'm as suspicious as anyone when I hear about these world-class professional athletes who just happen to put these unknown substances in their bodies all willy-nilly, so I tend to agree that something is up. But at the same time, it just doesn't seem equitable that the BALCO boys continue to set records right and left -- and we know without a doubt what drugs they were doing -- and we've yet to see anyone punished beyond a 10-day slap on the wrist.

Read: Record ban effectively ends career for Puerta here.

(Pay close attention: one of the people quoted is named Dick Pound.)

Read: Mariano Puerta's complete statement here.

Page 1 Consider (12/22)

Re-gifting 101: Don’t worry, it’s okay to regift / I love when the media "catches on" to a story that's 10 years old and acts like they thought of it. You definitely want to read this one, though. Tip 2: Don’t leave any signs of the original gift is something I always forget. I'm still trying to explain to my mom why her Christmas gift in 1993 was addressed To: The Office Gossip Queen, From: Your Secret Santa. (AP)

Shameless: First this gold-digging starstruck pig Debbie Rowe has two kids for Michael Jackson with a sperm donor. Then she signs away all rights to them in order to collect a million bucks a year as payment. Now that she's figured out that Michael won't have anything to do with her so she's suddenly causing trouble. He's cut off her "alimony" (read: payment for being a baby factory) when she broke their confidentiality agreement, so now she pretends to care about the children. Whatever Michael Jackson has done in his life, this woman is truly 10 times worse. (PageSix)

Stripper Slay: As predicted, secret stripper Catherine Woods' on-again, off-again lover, fitness instructor Paul Cortez, is set to be charged with murder. Apparently the transit strike in NYC prevented the grand jury from convening on Wednesday, but the DA was able to charge him for a separate sexual assault of another woman from earlier in 2005, who just came forward after he was implicated in the Woods case. (NY Post)

Bunch of Wusses: Senate votes to extend Patriot Act (AP)

Stuck in Transit: New York grinds to a halt over $20 million dispute /The demand that new transit workers contribute 6 percent of their wages toward their pension, rather than the current 2 percent, would save the MTA just $20 million over the next three years -- less than what the police department will spend on overtime in the first 48 hours of the strike. (TimesOnline)

Johnny Angel?

New York's got no means of transportation right now, but there's enough buzz around town about Johnny Damon's defection to the Yankees to power the entire Metropolitan Transit Authority.

I've seen this guy a few times and was startled to learn that he was Boston's idea of a sex symbol. I'm guessing the Barry Gibb look is still big up there in Beantown, but he looks like a freak to me (Jesus Christ meets Charles Manson is the best way I've heard his look described). I defiinitely get the impression that his good-natured personality is what makes him very appealing in a lot of people's eyes -- and adding another nice guy to the roster never hurts.

But being the shallow type that I am, I dug around to see exactly what we were getting for $52 million. Hey, I'm gonna have to look at this guy for at least the next four years, and I've already had to put up with the world trying to convince me that Derek Jeter is hot. Don't get me wrong, Jeter's a nice guy and everything. But he nailed it himself on SNL when he described himself as looking like the love child of The Rock and a Muppet. I don't get it.

Turns out Johnny Damon might actually have some "clean up" potential. In case you don't know, the Yankees are one of the few professional sports teams that has a strict policy against facial hair and other unkempt grooming practices (and Johnny still wanted to come here!). So the blogosphere has taken a few cleancut photos and enhanced them with some Yankee attire and you know what? He's not looking half bad.

Furthermore, there is the matter of Johnny's surprisingly fit body. Admittedly he was severely waxed and bronzed for his Puma campaign earlier this year, but the bod's not bad either.

So, I'm not saying he's anywhere close to being hot, but there may be hope. Let me know what you think ...

Read: What Did Johnny Damon Do? A Nation Is in Shock here

Read: Just another hero for Boston to turn on here.

Brotherly Wisdom

From my brother's blog Off-Topic:

TONIGHT'S TRUISM: If you think being gay is a "choice," you are by definition bisexual -- and you must think everyone else is also bisexual.

Think about it.

Sporting Wood: Andy Roddick

How I hate January. Christmas is over. It's been cold for months on end. And you just know you're going to get another year older before long.

The only thing good about January is that it's the beginning of the tennis calendar, straight from Down Under. The player I have my eyes on most -- and not just because of photos like these -- is Andy Roddick. I was watching "Tennis Insiders" preview for 2006 on the Tennis Channel last night and all they could talk about was Roger Federer and what a great shot Rafael Nadal has at creating a true rivalry. I'm sure someone as competitive as Roddick can't be taking too kindly to this.

American tennis needs Andy Roddick. He's this generation's Jimmy Connors: boyish, flirtatious, cocky and exciting to watch. Now we just need him to win like Connors.

So, January is almost here again, and this time around instead of just dreading it, I'm welcoming it -- and dreaming of a Very Andy New Year ...

Just Cheese It!

I learned this yesterday when a co-worker went to look up the spelling of cheesy. (I don't think I have stopped laughing since.)

Cheese it; slang

1. To look out. Often used in the imperative.
2. To get away fast; get going. Often used in the imperative.

"Cheese it! The cops!"

UPDATE: A friend at the Times got this e-mail about the matter from her retired literature professor mother:

CHEESE meaning look out or run has been part of English slang since 1805-1815. The etymology is murky but some believe it to be a variant of the word "cease."

Don't you people at the TIMES have a dictionary or a man named Safire?

In my youth it was used primarily in gangster movies-James Cagney, Edward G. Robinson, et al-in the memorable line quoted above, "Cheese it! The cops!"


Random thought: It would be nice if Spell Check would acknowledge perfection by congratulating you when there is nothing to correct in your document.

Page 1 Consider (12/21)

Justice Hijacked: Germany Frees Hijacker Who Killed U.S. Sailor / Germans, the ultimate defenders of justice, decide to free the one man in prison for this heinous crime. Absolutely disgusting. (NY Times)

Air Scare?: Jet With Problem Lands Safely in Boston / A similar incident involving a JetBlue plane made national news recently when it made an emergency landing in Los Angeles. Turns out, according to my pilot friend Ken, these types of landings happen about a dozen times a day and aren't particularly dangerous. He says the prevalence of news choppers near LAX is the only reason we ever heard about this; now it seems to be a news favorite. (AFX)

Good Riddance: Executed Calif. killer Stanley "Tookie" Williams hailed at funeral / I sincerely hope this is the last time I have to write about this worthless piece of shit. What I want to know is who is hailing this monster's four victims -- the four we know of? May Albert Owens, 26; Yen-I Yang, 76; Tsai-Shai Yang, 63; and Yee-Chen Lin, 43, rest in peace, and may their families find some small comfort in knowing that justice was finally served. (Reuters)

'Intelligent' Idea: A Town in the Spotlight Wants Out of It / Here's an easy way out: stop being such fucking morons and quit trying to subvert the U.S. Constitution. (NY Times) (See also: Judge Rules Against Pa. Biology Curriculum )

Oscar Tarnished: Jamie Foxx to release new album / Four words for you, Mr. Tookie Lover: Party all the time. (NY Daily News)

Lurking in the Bush: FBI Papers Show Terror Inquiries Into PETA; Other Groups Tracked / Good night, and good luck on this one. (Washington Post)

Smokin' Hot: Smoking tied to more severe psoriasis cases: study / Nothing screams sexy louder than a chainsmoker with a chronic skin disease characterized by scaly, reddish patches. Ooh, baby. (Reuters)

Mixed Messages: Chocolate may cut heart disease / Yeah, especially if you eat it constantly and become morbidly obsese. (BBC News)

Getting 'Brokeback' Straight

In case you missed it, You Can't Make It Up has a rather hilarious tale of seeing "Brokeback Mountain" -- from the straight girl point of view.

Read: Sprained Neck Theory here.

Thanks, Leah!

Morning Wood: Kyle Brandt

Remember the cast of "The Real World: Chicago"? I know I don't. But I was reading a gossip column the other day and came across a familiarly hunky guy who turns out to be RW Chicago alum Kyle Brandt. (I think he was on the same year they had that cute alcoholic gay guy.)

It seems that Kyle is now a bonafide soap stud, appearing on "Days of Our Lives" for the past couple of years. From what I've seen, he's still got the square-jaw good looks to make housewives -- and gay boys -- swoon from coast to coast ...

(That said, as happy as I am to see him doing so well, like most of us, my heart still belongs to Danny.)

Visit Kyle's official site here.

Woody's New Game

If you're a regular moviegoer, you've probably experienced this bizarre moment, too: you're waiting for your movie to come on. The lights dim. An intriguing, suspense-filled trailer comes on the screen. A gorgeous London is the setting. The evocative music plays. Sexy Scarlett Johansson and hottie Irishman Jonathan Rhys-Meyers appear; the music gets louder as the shocking tidbits of the plot twists flash on the screen: lust, passion, adultery, betrayal, obsession, murder all unfold before your eyes.

Then the screen goes black and the words "Match Point," "A film by Woody Allen" appear on the screen. It almost more shocking than the scenes themselves. You literally have to check with your neighbor to see if your eyes deceived you. It looks that good -- and so not Woody.

"Annie Hall," "Manhattan," "Play It Again, Sam," and "Hannah and Her Sisters" are easily four of my all-time favorite films. But it's been way too long since Woody made something worth seeing. However "Match Point" turns out, it's nice to see some genuine excitement building around one of Woody's films -- and despite the countless disappointments in recent years. I'll be there opening weekend.

Read: The Ball's In Woody's Court (USA Today)

Switching Teams: Brett Favre

MSNBC columnist Mike Celizic thinks Brett Favre needs to "keep playing, but switch teams." I couldn't agree more -- and anytime this sexy Packer wants to join my team, he should just give me a call.

From the look of this photo, Brett seems to have the basics down already.

Enter the official Brett Favre site here.

Page 1 Consider (12/20)

Playskool Pharmacy: Alcohol use and cigarette smoking among teenagers are at historic lows, but the number of high school students abusing prescription drugs like Oxycontin is rising, and sedative abuse is at its highest in 26 years, according to an annual national study released Monday. / Good news from the 'burbs, you know how I feel about smokers. (NY Times)

Putting the 'Woman' in Women's Wear Daily: Halloween sex perv Peter Braunstein's brother says that if his sicko brother had really wanted to take his own life, he could have chosen a "surer way" to go about it. "Instead, he decides to do it in front of a police officer who has a radio and can call for help." (What a candy!) Meanwhile, Dad's on MSNBC 24 hours a day making fun of his son's failed play about Andy Warhol and Edie Sedgwick. Nothing says unconditional love like a nasty media blitz from your family. (NY Daily News)

Making It Legal: UK's First Gay Couples Tie Legal Knot / Let's hope Water Piks and gifts certificates to the local dental clinic were common wedding presents. (BBC News)

Attack of the Lying Cloans: South Korea faces blow to stem-cell prowess / They only fabricated their epochal breakthrough in the cloning of human stem cells once. Give 'em another chance. (Christian Science Monitor)

The Crystal Method

I can quit anytime I want to. I just don't want to.

The End of an Era

It may seem silly, but I'm really sad to see yet another one of my local stores fall by the wayside. This time it's my Korean deli, Pine Tree Market. For nearly eight years I have been in there nearly once a day, buying my milk, coffee, cat food and litter, as well as the occasional Hostess cupcake or Dinty Moore beef stew in a drunken stupor. (I can also remember I bought a turkey sandwich there on 9/11 and watched the procession of people walking north up 8th Avenue covered in debris escaping from the destruction.)

The Pine Tree joins a long list of departed neighborhood businesses, like my Laundromat, my hardware store, my favorite Cuban-Chinese joint, as well as the famed eatery 18th and 8th (and this is just my corner; the entire avenue has been ruined up and down).

More and more it seems that unless you're a nail salon, Manhattan real estate prices have made it virtually impossible for any type of business to survive, let alone flourish. This is a sad thing, indeed.

Discontent on 'Brokeback Mountain'

Readers of my blog know that I am a big fan of "Brokeback Mountain," but not everyone shares my enthusiasm.

One prominent gay blogger, Joe My God, had this to say about "Fakeback Mountain":

Unlike many others, I'm not dying to see two fake gays playing "straight guys who fall in love", especially after enduring unending soundbites of these fake gays reassuring worried America that they do indeed enjoy poontang in real life.

I resent that what may turn out the be the best critically received gay love movie ever, has no gay actors in it. I resent that if two gay actors had been cast, this movie would have zero visibility, regardless of its merit. I resent that America will only come to watch fake gays making fake love and I resent that casting the fake gays was the right business decision to make.

And I resent that this is how it probably always will be.

To which I posted the following reply:

While I respect differing opinions, I just don't get this obsession with casting two gay actors. It's called "acting" for a reason.

Did you complain that River Phoenix didn't really have narcolepsy in "My Own Private Idaho"? ("They should have cast a REAL narcoleptic.") Or that Ali MacGraw didn't really have cancer in "Love Story"and that Julia Roberts wasn't really a diabetic yet she played one in "Steel Magnolias"?

You said it yourself: if this movie had starred two gay actors, it would have been -- at best -- an art house flick that only gays would have seen.

But since THERE ARE NO gay stars to generate this kind of buzz, where is the harm in making a film that will reach more people?

I'll take "Completely Missing the Point" for a thousand, guys ...

P.S. I would have used the Hilary Swank in "Boys Don't Cry" example, but I'm not entirely convinced that Miss Two-Time Oscar Winner doesn't have a shenis hiding there in her Calvin Kleins ...

Page 1 Consider (12/19)

The Burning Lezzie Bed: A lesbian couple who entered into the nation's first same-sex civil union are splitting up amid allegations of violent behavior. Kinda warms your heart to know that the gays are just like straights! (Advocate)

Crime 101: 'Trophy' tape may clinch it: Sex fiend Braunstein kept film & diary of misdeeds / What an idiot. Ted Bundy would be so ashamed of this sicko. (NY Daily News)

Riding High: "Brokeback Mountain"came in at No. 8 with $2.4 million in its second weekend of limited release. Bolstered by critical acclaim and a pack-leading seven Golden Globe nominations, the film played strongly across all markets and demographics, said distributor Focus Features, the arthouse division of NBC Universal. (Reuters)

Justin's World: Through His Webcam, a Boy Joins a Sordid Online World / You mean all 13-year-old boys don't have Internet sex sites? I guess I watch too much WB. I wonder why a "nice" kid like this would wind up doing something like this -- skip to the part about his dad getting arrested for insurance fraud at his "massage" business and how his response to finding out his son was a camwhore was to procure live hookers in Mexico for his son to fuck online for cash that they could share the proceeds to get drugs. (Uh, no, I don't have a degree in child psychology.) (NY Times)

The Hate List: America is obsessed with lists these days, so The Advocate was nice enough to compile a Bigots Hall of Shame for 2005. (Advocate)

I promise you will laugh at this one.

Ride 'Em, Cowboy

Manohla Dargis has an interesting piece about masculinity and its discontents in cowboy country in today's New York Times. Read it here.

Sunday Worship: Casper Van Dien

Casper Van Dien is the male version of Pamela Anderson. When you're in the mood for over-the-top ridiculously exaggerated beauty, he is always the place to start.

Black Tie Affair

So I've become a little obsessed with this hot James Franco kid.

You can add the film Whatever It Takes to my NetFlix immediately.

See the complete frame-by-frame shots here.