HAPPY NEW YEAR!
It's not easy being blue. What with Mushroom Mortgages folding everywhere you look and the general Shmurphin' public on the verge of putting an orange Smöerck in the village's highest seat of power...the President of Shmurph Village. And if not him then who? Shmurphette? Last we heard she'd taken to burning any book not in support of the original Blue Text of Shmurphism. As they used to say on MTV: SHMURPH THE VOTE!!! Every little blue face must be heard. Know the facts. Know the candidates. Make a difference! Shmurph election '08 maybe be our finest hour...or maybe we're all just Shmurphed.
The Gossip Factory offers Shmurph Election '08. A cartoon satire of the state of our union as we reach one the most important elections in our nation's history. Shmurph Election '08 was presented at the Annex Theatre as a part of their Hannah Barbera Play Festival and will be performed this Saturday November 8th (10pm) at The Duplex Cabaret (NYC) in conjunction with Nothing Sacred.
Today marks the 10th anniversary of that horrible day when two thugs beat an innocent kid to a pulp and left him tied to a fence to die. Matthew was beaten so badly that he was unrecognizeable and died five days later in the hospital.
Today on the The Early Show, Judy Shepard, Matthew's mom said, "This whole week is just (one of) remembrances. It's a great sadness and sense of confusion, of loss. We've actually tried to address issues that haven't changed. It's been ten years. Why haven't things progressed further than they have?"But, Judy says, there's been progress since Matt's death: "There's definitely been positive changes, and for a lot of reasons. Theatrical productions, literature, television, novels, movies, all portray the gay community in a very positive, forward-thinking way, and that has really helped. People understand the gay community.
"The level of ignorance is just -- it's amazing that people just don't know more about the civil rights that are being denied the gay community, and we're moving forward and working at the grassroots level now trying to really educate people and make them aware of the gay community."
Judy observed that Wyoming "is, I think, one of four states left with no hate crime legislation at all. Wyoming had the perfect opportunity to actually set the tone, set the example, just to be what every state should have been had that happened in their state, and they didn't take advantage of it."
Matthew's death has served as a defining moment in the gay rights movement, and while things have changed drastically in the last ten years, not enough legislation has been pushed forward to protect the queers. Below is a state by state map of hate crimes laws in the US provided by HRC.
Please take a moment and say a prayer for Matthew's parents today, or if you don't pray just take a moment to reflect on all that we have gained from Matthew's death and all that we have lost. RIP Matthew, you are missed.
http://www.matthewshepard.org
http://www.hrc.org
1. The opening sequence of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles to a cover of Samson and Deliliah by Shirley Manson.
2. The reveal that Miss Manson is a T-1001 liquid terminator (shes in the new season.)
3. Miss Manson on the Late Late Show talking about their homeland with fellow Scot Craig Killborn.
4. Give. Listen. Help. The fifth volume of an Urban Outfitters compilation CD of which all proceeds will go to the Pablove Foundation, an organization created to help Dangerbirds Records co-founder Jeff Castelaz's five-year-old son Pablo, who's being treated for cancer. The Pablove Foundation has been set up to donate money to Los Angeles' Children's Hospital, where the boy is being treated. You can read about his progress here.
6. Miss Manson' s still to be released solo album. Get with it
Now normally I wouldn't be promoting UO as the owner donates a lot of his money to the republican party but I'll make an exception just for this CD. It has a new Garbage track on it!!! It supposed to come out on the 15th of October, though some kids are reporting its already out in select stores... though not the one on 14th and 6th in the city, I just looked its not there yet. BOO!
Disc one:
Garbage — "Witness To Your Love" (previously unreleased)
Radiohead — "House Of Cards"
Of Montreal — "Jimmy"
Bat For Lashes — "What's A Girl To Do?" (Plaid remix)
Oasis — "Falling Down" (The Chemical Brothers remix)
Rilo Kiley — "Draggin' Around" (previously unreleased)
Bloc Party — "Flux" (JKL remix)
The Faint — "The Geeks Were Right" (DIOYY remix)
CSS — "Rat Is Dead (Rage)"
The Decemberists — "Billy Liar" (live)
Ra Ra Riot — "Can You Tell" (The Little Ones remix)
Ladytron — "Ghosts" (Modwheelmood mix)
The Little Ones —"I Don't Want To Dance" (previously unreleased)
Other Lives — "Paper Cities" (previously unreleased)
Two Sheds — "You"
Jack Johnson — "All At Once" (live at Bumbershoot 2008)
Disc two:
Silversun Pickups — "Table Scraps"
Eulogies — "Is There Anyone Here?"
Darker My Love — "Blue Day"
The Dears — "Crisis 1 & 2"
Sea Wolf — "The Promise"
The Curse Of Company — "All The Mines"
The One AM Radio — "Old Men"
Ed Laurie — "Albert"
Eric Avery — "All Remote And No Control"
Dappled Cities — "Vision Bell"
La Rocca — "Cross The River"
{via towleroad, via afterelton]
p.s - for anyone who hasn't seen this show, go see it, its amazing. for those of you that have, then you already know that chyenne's thigh [singular] is bigger than a redwood. food for thought.
california's top court overturns gay marriage ban
SHIRLEY Manson has admitted her debut solo album has been put on hold after her record label described her music as "noir".
The Scots singer played her new material to bigwigs at Warner Bros records but says she has come to an "impasse" with the label, because she has "no interest in making silly pop music", or wearing "a silly sexy outfit".
It was hoped the former Garbage singer would release her new material this year but she is adamant her new tracks will represent her as an individual and not as a "corporate template".
She said: "I've been working on solo material but I don't actually have anything coming out, although I'm working on it. Unfortunately, I'm at a bit of an impasse with my record label.
"I played some of the stuff to them not long ago and they described it as being very noir. At the time, I took the comment as being a huge compliment. That they liked the intensity of my material. But then I realised it wasn't intended as a compliment.
"But I'm 41 - I'm a woman not a kid. I have no interest in making silly pop music and I don't want to wear a silly sexy outfit and sell myself short.
"I'm sure it will all get sorted out in the end. But I do think record companies, in general, have different ideas about how they promote women.
"In the end, it is down to each and every woman to fight to be treated as an individual. I just want to be who I am."
The Edinburgh-born star is a big fan of the new band of feisty female artists.
"I'm obsessed by Amy Winehouse, as is the entire world," she said.
"She is a bona-fide rock star to me - an incredible iconic figure and I find her exciting. But I do worry that she is going to self-destruct."
Last night, a spokeswoman for Warner Bros Records refused to comment.
Sources: The Daily Record thanks to Ilona from the forum for the information.
- from the jokesters at cnn. new baby nearly the same size as mom. uhhh, no she's not.
- fun fact of the day. hey kids, lets learn about poison! ricin, 'a poison
that can be made from waste left over after processing castor beans,' was found in a vial in a 'extended stay' hotel room in vegas with a
bunch of castor beans. apparently the next guest that stayed in the
room came across it while putting his things away for his extended
stay. more fun facts on ricin:
"The toxin can come in the form of a mist or pellet and can be dissolved in water or weak acid, according to the CDC. The agency also said the toxin works by getting inside the cells of a person's body and preventing the cells from making the proteins they need. As little as 500 micrograms -- an amount the size of the head of a pin -- can kill an adult. Ricin has limited medical uses -- it can be used to kill cancer cells and bone marrow transplants."
The chemical is linked to extremeists and terrorists. "On September 7, 1978 the Bulgarian dissident Georgi Markov was shot in the leg in public on Waterloo Bridge in the middle of London by a man using a weapon built into an umbrella. The weapon embedded a small pellet in Markov's leg which contained ricin. Markov died four days later." fucking awesome. who the hell wouldn't want an umbrella gun? Ricin was last used in a terrorist scare in February of 2004 in the mail room of the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington by Colonel Mustard. So all you bitches in vegas beware, dont drink the water, inhale anything white or touch anything dirty!
- prince harry had been serving in Afghanistan since december. now that everyone knows, he has to go back home to palace.
- jesus was just a hallucination.
- mccain won the republican nomination, hillary won texas and ohio, obama won something, and no one knows who will be the democratic nominee. so in short: nothings changed.
- a gay teen was shot to death in florida, a 14 y/o shot a kid in the back of head in class because he was gay. and yet hate crimes legislation has gotten nowhere.
- bruce willis likes pot. surprise surprise, who doesnt?
- patrick swayze had five weeks to live, and the rumor spread like wildfire over the internets, people love them their swayze. thankfully, and truthfully, hes doing well and his pancreas should be dancing dirty again in no time.
have a good weekend!
- surprise, surprise: anorexic boys are the new anorexic girls.
- gothamist interviews richard foreman about his new show, Deep Trance. "...I must admit that my spiritual concerns have to do with various authors who pose the question about whether we are essentially dead to the real life that is going on. Are we living a pretend life of surfaces? Are we the living dead and real life is elsewhere, where we think death resides?" interesting.
- britney checks into the loony bin, checks out, and is still crazy.
- eva checks out of rehab, kirsten checks in, amy's moving out of rehab and into the osbournes. that just might be what amy needs, i mean, has she not she met daddy O before? just seeing how retarded he is now should get anyone off of drugs.
- Michael Eisner claims the writers strike is over. "A deal has been made, and they'll be back to work very soon," Eisner
said, adding, "I know a deal's been made. I know it's over." Its about fucking time, bring me back my SNL and while you're at it ressurect gilmore girls as well.
- uh, since when does mike albo write about fashion for the nyt? kinda funny, though his britney/paris/whatever conglomerate is, as tricia puts it, genius.
- today is the one year ANNAversary of Miss Smith's death. Super sad, we still totally miss you anna. Your show on E! was just about the best damn reality show EVER! and of course your gay husband is still trying to take advantage of you. WE MISS YOU!
and last but not least here is an amazing video of a rare 16 foot shark, shot off the coast of molokai in hawaii (from towleroad). have a good weekend y'all and stay out of trouble!
