Page 1 Consider (12/04)

Le Voila! Everybody's favorite Go-Go girl Belinda Carlisle has a new album of French standards coming out early next year and it sure sounds fantastic. (Thanks, Mark!)

Second Chance: A bill to legalize same-sex marriage in California, which was vetoed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger last year, will be reintroduced on Monday by openly gay assemblyman Mark Leno. The Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act, sponsored by the gay rights group Equality California, would allow same-sex couples to obtain a marriage license from their county clerk. "All loving, committed couples deserve not only the legal protections that marriage provides but also the dignity that marriage affords," EQCA executive director Geoff Kors, said in a statement. "The time has come to end the exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage. This legislation validates loving relationships and strengthens California families by honoring the commitments of every couple under law."

Sad News: A sport utility vehicle carrying Lane Garrison of TV's "Prison Break" and three teenagers struck a tree, killing a 17-year-old boy, police said. Two 15-year-old girls inside the vehicle were also injured, one critically, during the late Saturday night accident, police said. Garrison, 26, had minor injuries. The vehicle jumped a curb and hit a tree. Authorities were trying to determine who drove the SUV, which was registered to Garrison. (AP)

Pay for 'Gay': A Manhattan jury has socked the NYPD for $1.5 million, ruling the top transit cop refused to give a coveted job to a respected sergeant because he assumed the man was gay -- then wrecked the careers of two supervisors who supported the sergeant. The Nov. 22 verdict in Manhattan Supreme Court came after James Hall, a two-star assistant chief and one of the NYPD's highest-ranking members, rejected Sgt. Robert Sorrenti for a position with the youth-services section. It seems Hall was concerned about someone he perceived to be gay being around children. Kudos to the jury for not caving into the gay = pedophilia mentality that is so widespread in the Roman Catholic Church. (NYP)

Good Enough to Eat: The Dallas Cowboys new starting quarterback, Tony Roma Romo, has sure made a splash. He's taken his team to number one in its division after yesterday's win over the Giants -- and his boyish good-looks are really starting to grow on me. Seems I'm not alone -- his fans have been dubbed "Romosexuals." (Wikipedia)

Bad Aim: Call me Butt-head, but the New York Jets have a fullback B.J. Askew who was playing yesterday against the Packers? Huh-huh. I don't know about you, but I've had some BJs go awry, but new askew. (NYT)

No 'I Do' Till Gays Can, Too: It's not just Hollywood types who are boycotting marriage till gays have the same rights as straights. (NYT)

Boys, Girls and Everything In Between: More and more parents and schools are embracing youngsters for the gender identity they choose for themselves at very young ages. Although this has to be healthier than making obviously gay and transgender children feel ashamed of who they are, with no real data to support it, it will be interesting to see the long-term effects (benefits?) this seemingly more sensible approach has. (NYT)

RFK: Michael and I are both Kennedy fans, so we went to see "Bobby" over the weekend despite its lukewarm reviews. We actually figured low expectations would work to our advantage on this one: that even if it wasn't the best film, with such a great theme, great costumes and great cast it'd still a fun way to spend an evening. BOY were we wrong. I don't think I've ever seen a more disjointed, poorly paced, poorly written film in my life. I suppose the first clue might have been the unusually large "main" cast. With so many characters involved you never get a chance to learn anything about any of them or why they're even at the Ambassador Hotel that fateful night -- let alone what motivates them. (You've probably seen the dozens of stars in the film, but the trailers don't even show you half the people. Rico from "Six Feet Under" has one of the more fleshed out parts, and even his isn't much.) I could honestly recount about a dozen scenes in this film that could have (should have) been eliminated completely. I've seen Emilio Estevez making the talk-show rounds sobbing talking about how making this film was his life's passion. I truly do give him a lot of credit for taking on this project, but screenwriting and directing do not seem to be gift. (NYT)