What Do I Want for Christmas?…and another rant.

My grandmother told me to make her a Christmas list of things I want. I like to do that because then people don’t buy my things I don’t want and I’m also easy to buy for. I am looking for your input, what should I ask for for Christmas this year? This is what I have so far:

 

• iPod touch
• Leather jacket
• Bound DVD
• Idina Menzel sweater (www.idinamenzel.com)
• Clothing by Futch Apparel (www.myspace.com/futchapprel)
• Firewire cable (6-pin on one end, 4 pin miniature Firewire on the other). Also called i.link by Sony.
• In Her Line of Fire DVD

 

What else should I ask for? Let me know.

 

Also, I just found out that Karman Kregloe and Bridget McManus got MARRIED! Hooray for the adorable happy couple! They are perfect and so cute. Read a little more about their wedding here.

Sadly, they are another couple who’s rights may be taken away due to Prop 8. =( To sum up my feeling eloquently, read what Melissa Etheridge posted on her blog:

“Okay. So Prop 8 passed. Alright, I get it. 51% of you think that I am a second class citizen. Alright then. So my wife, uh I mean, roommate? Girlfriend? Special lady friend? You are gonna have to help me here because I am not sure what to call her now. Anyways, she and I are not allowed the same right under the state constitution as any other citizen. Okay, so I am taking that to mean I do not have to pay my state taxes because I am not a full citizen. I mean that would just be wrong, to make someone pay taxes and not give them the same rights, sounds sort of like that taxation without representation thing from the history books.
Okay, cool I don’t mean to get too personal here but there is a lot I can do with the extra half a million dollars that I will be keeping instead of handing it over to the state of California. Oh, and I am sure Ellen will be a little excited to keep her bazillion bucks that she pays in taxes too. Wow, come to think of it, there are quite a few of us fortunate gay folks that will be having some extra cash this year. What recession? We’re gay! I am sure there will be a little box on the tax forms now single, married, divorced, gay, check here if you are gay, yeah, that’s not so bad. Of course all of the waiters and hairdressers and UPS workers and gym teachers and such, they won’t have to pay their taxes either.
Gay people are born everyday. You will never legislate that away.
Oh and too bad California, I know you were looking forward to the revenue from all of those extra marriages. I guess you will have to find some other way to get out of the budget trouble you are in.
…Really?
When did it become okay to legislate morality? I try to envision someone reading that legislation “eliminates the right” and then clicking yes. What goes through their mind? Was it the frightening commercial where the little girl comes home and says, “Hi mom, we learned about gays in class today” and then the mother gets that awful worried look and the scary music plays? Do they not know anyone who is gay? If they do, can they look them in the face and say “I believe you do not deserve the same rights as me”? Do they think that their children will never encounter a gay person? Do they think they will never have to explain the 20% of us who are gay and living and working side by side with all the citizens of California?
I got news for them, someday your child is going to come home and ask you what a gay person is. Gay people are born everyday. You will never legislate that away.
I know when I grew up gay was a bad word. Homo, lezzie, faggot, dyke. Ignorance and fear ruled the day. There were so many “thems” back then. The blacks, the poor … you know, “them”. Then there was the immigrants. “Them.” Now the them is me.
I tell myself to take a breath, okay take another one, one of the thems made it to the top. Obama has been elected president. This crazy fearful insanity will end soon. This great state and this great country of ours will finally come to the understanding that there is no “them”. We are one. We are united. What you do to someone else you do to yourself. That “judge not, lest ye yourself be judged” are truthful words and not Christian rhetoric.
Today the gay citizenry of this state will pick themselves up and dust themselves off and do what we have been doing for years. We will get back into it. We love this state, we love this country and we are not going to leave it. Even though we could be married in Mass. or Conn, Canada, Holland, Spain and a handful of other countries, this is our home. This is where we work and play and raise our families. We will not rest until we have the full rights of any other citizen. It is that simple, no fearful vote will ever stop us, that is not the American way. Come to think of it, I should get a federal tax break too…”

Her wife, Tammy Lynn Michaels Etheridge wrote something I liked too:

“a rose is a rose is a rose.

when the government declared the illegality of interracial marriages unconstitutional in the late 60s, it was not a unanimous decision. in fact, 80% of the country was against it. thank goodness the country led us into better perspectives, and didn’t leave it up to the humanly flawed citizens. but now… we’re going to VOTE on equality? “is this person the same value as that person? say ay or nay…”

would rosa have wanted the people to VOTE whether or not she could get on the bus? would martin have waited for a VOTE to see if everyone thought blacks should be equal? i think not.

no matter how many voters there are wrenching away MY RIGHTS into their bigoted hands…. you can’t take my family away from me. you can’t make us stop loving each other. you simply can’t.

try to vote on that.

PRESIDENT OBAMA!!! if you can finally make it to first-class citizenship, then so can i. one day”

 

How good with words that couple is. Anyway, if you haven’t forgotten by now, tell me what I should ask for for Christmas. (it doesn’t need to be reasonable, I can always ask for but never really expect…)

I Can’t Think Straight

That saying is so true. Also the title of a movie that I want to see. It is about a woman who falls in love with another woman from an entirely different background and life. One of them is engaged which obviously complicates things. Let the trailer explain.

I don’t know when it will be released in Toronto but I am looking out for it.

 

On another note, the talented Bridget McManus is in a No On 8 commercial playing one half of a married same-sex couple.

Everyone in California please, VOTE NO ON 8!

Best.WGN.Video.Ever.

I was looking around on YouTube and found this AMAZING We’re Getting Nowhere video. It is really good if you have ADD =P it is really fast and has good editing.

OMG AMAZING!!! I heart Jill. and Karman. and Dara. and Bridget.    <3

Summer Movies And A Message From WALL-E

I have seen quite a few movies so far this summer and have almost completed my list. All that’s left to go is Mamma Mia! which I am going to see sometime this week. Here are my reviews of what was good and what was bad in order of how I saw them.

 

1. Wanted

I thought that Wanted was a spectacular movie. The only two things you need are a high tolerance for fake blood and an ability to accept that this movie is fantasy. I thought the movie was well put together and well shot. They made the tricks look cool and the colours were bold and in my opinion very high-definition.  It was very well acted by everyone involved and Angelina’s thumb tattoo (and other tattoos)–HOT. Also, even better, AfterEllen vlogger Bridget McManus of Brunch with Bridget was in it for about fifteen seconds as the checkout clerk. That made it much better. My dad (who has very good taste) hated this movie though, but that’s because he cannot accept movies that could not possibly actually happen, like the bending of the bullets in this film.

Stars: ****1/2    4.5/5

 

2. WALL-E

I saw WALL-E with my three year old cousin and one of the things that surprised me the most was the way that they portrayed the humans of the future. I thought it was a really good message to send to the world now that says “think outside the box, get active, look at life and not just TV.”I thought that that was a great message to send, that we need to stop polluting the earth and becoming blobs in front of our televisions and computers. (I’m one to talk about the latter…) The people of the future all wore the same clothing and looked the same. They all traveled in these floating chairs and were too obese to move if they fell out, which did happen once. They all watched the same thing on the screen floating an inch away from their faces. The world outside of the screen was a mystery. Once it was discover the people who switched off their screens (involuntarily) were in awe. Also, one of the biggest accomplishments in the film was one someone took a step.

Overall a very very cute movie with a wonderfull message presented tastefully and without pointing any fingers.

Stars: *****   5/5

 

3. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

This was the weirdest Indiana Jones movie that I have ever seen. And I’ve seen them all. It was not the typical Indy movie, although there was lots of the action and adventure with the classic whip and Indy hat. The only thing that was different was that it really tapped into an extra-terrestrial aspect that I would not have expected. The whole thing was based on aliens being on Earth one time and now everyone wants to find their skull. I don’t want to say what happens so that I don’t give anything away, but it was interesting. Overall I thought it was cool but didn”t have the same Indy feel that I remember from the other films.

Stars: *** 3/5

 

4. Get Smart

Get Smart. There is one word I have for this movie. HILARIOUS. This movie was so funny, and all the jokes were definitely not shown in the trailer like most comedies. I can’t give away too much but the performances by Steve Carrell and Anne Hathway are stellar. They are a really good comedy team and I want to see them do another movie together. This is a really great movie to see for all ages.

Stars: *****   5/5

 

6. Stepbrothers

I didn’t really want to see this movie. I did, but not really. It looked like one of thoses really stupid fart-for-laughs kind of movie, like Talladega Nights. And look! The same actors as Talladega Nights, the same people who made Talladega Nights! Joy. But I saw the movie anyway and I thought it was funnier than I expected.  There were a lot of good jokes, but a lot of stupid moments too. I did laugh out loud at a couple parts.

Stars: ***   3/5

 

So those were my summer movies, and next on the list is Mamma Mia! I am really looking forward to that, although of course it will never be as good as the stage musical. but nothing is as good as it’s prededing stage equivalent.

 

Also, on an ending note, THEY ARE MAKING A WICKED MOVIE!!!! They haven’t announced casting yet, but IT BETTER BE IDINA MENZEL AND KRSITIN CHENOWETH or I might die. There is an article on AfterEllen.com that tells a little more about it. Read it here.

So take these into consideration…or don’t.

Cashmere Mafia

So the Cashmere Mafia premiere was on January 6th. I watched it and had awkward moments with my family during the scenes with Bonnie Somerville (Caitlin). Why? This show marked the first recurring lesbian/bi character on daytime television for almost a year. This could have failed in so many ways but it didn’t, not at all. The show was a bit girlier than I thought it would be, but I’m sucking it up because I like the storylines. Obviously, my favourite it Caitlin, who  falls for a woman and realizes that shes not straight. The way that this is handled by her characters is way too rushed, but it is television so it’s forgiven. I like the way that her friends handle it. Taken aback, but completely supportive. Makes me want to come out. Even more. Anyway, I like her character and the woman she falls for. I also like the dialogue between all of the friends when they get together. They’re a lot of stuff that’s unrealistic but if it wasn’t, it wouldnt be good tv. I also think that they should have more of their work lives. Anyway, it was good enough and I’m going to continue to watch it week to week. I missed episode two because my sister forgot to tape it, but I saw the parts with Caitlin in it. Here’s a summary of Caitlin so far:

 

Cute, huh?

Also, Brunch With Bridget, Bridget McManus’ video blog has aired two episode so far on AfterEllen and they are absolutely hilarious. And Dara, Karman and Jill of We’re Getting Nowhere started recapping The L Word. The same insanity, with new dolls.

JILL IS BACK

Ok, so this is kind of old news, but JILL BENNETT RETURNED TO WE’RE GETTING NOWHERE.

It completely made my life.

 ANYWAY, they had their finale episode and Bridget McManus (that may or may not be spelled correctly) who filled in for Jill will be getting her own vlog Brunch with Bridget. Oh my goodness another vlog to watch.

Also, Jill, along with fellow AfterEllen vloggers Karman Kregloe, Dara Nai, Michelle Paradise, Sarah Warn and Lori (also with Marnie Alton from Exes and Ohs), was in the Best and Worst dating stories vlog where they reenacted the stories sent in by AfterEllen readers. One reader even wins a prize! It is hilarious, and you should watch it here. Amazing.

 

I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season, and cannot wait for Cashmere Mafia on January 6th.