Saturday Memory: The Little Drummer Boy via Rankin and Bass

Drummer Boy

I’m a huge fan of Rankin and Bass stop motion specials, but one really stood out for me – The Little Drummer Boy from 1968. I have several memories of sitting cross-legged in front of our family television watching it and trying to put it in perspective with the lessons I was learning about Christmas […]

Nellie McKay: “At Home I’m a Dyke – In Public I’m Flaming”

Nellie McKay

Nellie McKay. It is a bit of a challenge to find a way to describe her using just words. Even her music – it is the performances (I’ve only seen her in video) that have a life of their own, more than the music but completely embedded in the music. So I’m thrilled to have […]

Nobody here but us chickens

(I’ve been trying to write this for a week. If it seems disjointed, that’s why.) Last Monday, the Episcopal bishop of Pittsburgh authorized same-sex blessing ceremonies, and made clear that being gay or lesbian, and in a committed relationship, is no barrier to becoming a priest or deacon in the church. I’ve written about my […]

Wingnuts Go Crazy Over “Kinky Boots” Performance in Macy’s Day Parade

Kinky Boots, Controversy, Macy's Parade

The social conservatives went bonkers over this (relatively tame – it was cold!) performance from the Broadway musical and Tony winning “Kinky Boots” featuring Pittsburgh’s own, Billy Porter. One person tweeted “Now I have to explain Kinky Boots to my kids. Thanks Macy’s.” Huh? If your kids are not old enough to understand drag, they […]

Favorite Television Thanksgiving Moments: “Their Names are Eric and Troy”

Oh, this is wonderful!

Favorite Thanksgiving Television Memories: “You Won”

Spike, Thanksgiving

As usual Spike lends a unique perspective to the moral quandary of the week. It is actually interesting to think what someone whose hundreds of years old might have to say about such things. Except he kills people (minus the chip). So there’s that. Still, this is a good episode and impossible to find online. […]

Favorite Television Thanksgiving Moments: “A Great Big Old Lesbo”

This scene is pretty powerful if you deconstruct how much artifice has defined Bev’s life. It is very sad.

Favorite Television Thanksgiving Moments: “Oh The Humanity”

One of the best. “As God as my witness, I thought turkeys could fly.”

Saturday Morning Memory: One of Many Indelible Little House on the Prairie Moments

No, I’m not writing about Sylvie (OMG – that was scarring), the historical inaccuracies of the show or when Pa shot Bunny the horse. The list of horrifying moments in this beloved series is pretty long – Mary going blind, Baby Charles dies, Baby Wilder dies, the wagon accident with James and Cassandra’s biological parents, […]

The Gift of the Tardis For Me

The Prompt: You get to choose one superpower. Pick one of these, and explain your choice: the ability to speak and understand any language the ability to travel through time the ability to make any two people agree with each other I would select language because it would create the most opportunity to do good […]