Two More Down the Garbage Disposal

Cost cutting and sinking ratings pound two more nails in the coffin of the daytime soap opera.

All My Children will go off the air in September and One Life to Live breathes its last in January 2012. This will leave four shows - The Young and the Restless, The Bold and the Beautiful, Days of Our Lives, and General Hospital.

Maggie Brown

In the morning the Boy in the Checkered Shirt and I got up early and rode our bikes down to the Brooklyn Navy Yard where CBS was auctioning off the remaining sets of the Guiding Light. We looked around the warehouse storing the numerous chairs, tables, light fixtures, baby carriages, a phone booth, park benches, even liturgical furnishings - the remaining stuff from the show's 60+ years of production in NYC (not to mention the 12 years in Chicago and LA). It was fun being in the Navy Yard, most of which is run down and falling apart. Knowing we weren't going to bid on anything, and famished, we opted to leave before the bidding started.

We got back on our bikes and headed south on Washington into Clinton Hill where we found this cute place. Their garden wasn't ready for summer yet, so we sat at a corner of the bar. We both ordered egg dishes and coffee. Then we got back on our bikes and continued down Washington to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.

The Weekend

We were supposed to watch the Boy in the Checkered Shirt's nephew this weekend. Plans changed. So we took upon ourselves to feel young.

The Weekend

We spent much of the weekend indoors catching me up on old episodes of LOST.

The Weekend

Spent the weekend in San Francisco practicing my French with L&J.

The Weekend

The Weekend

We saw Young Victoria on Christmas evening. Sort of appropriate, since many of our Christmas traditions are attributed to Prince Albert introducing them from Germany into English homes.

The Weekend

We had our first snowfall of the winter and I finished my Christmas shopping and wrapping. This song topped off a great weekend as we stayed warm and got in the holiday spirit.

The Weekend

Fritz got this song in my head at brunch on Saturday. And so it stuck for the rest of the weekend.

The Weekend

Party song for Meer's birthday.

The Weekend

The weekend started on Wednesday when Luswin's camera set the pace.

The Weekend

Something old school and gay for the weekend.

The Weekend

Song for a Love Cocoon weekend.

The Weekend

Song for a Saturday spent cruising.

Ecclesiasticus 44:1-10,13-14

All Saints Day

1 Let us now sing the praises of famous men,
   our ancestors in their generations.
2 The Lord apportioned to them great glory,
   his majesty from the beginning.
3 There were those who ruled in their kingdoms,
   and made a name for themselves by their valor;
   those who gave counsel because they were intelligent;
   those who spoke in prophetic oracles;
4 those who led the people by their counsels
   and by their knowledge of the people's lore;
   they were wise in their words of instruction;
5 those who composed musical tunes,
   or put verses in writing;
6 rich men endowed with resources,
   living peacefully in their homes--
7 all these were honored in their generations,
   and were the pride of their times.
8 Some of them have left behind a name,
   so that others declare their praise.
9 But of others there is no memory;
   they have perished as though they had never existed;
   they have become as though they had never been born,
   they and their children after them.
10 But these also were godly men,
     whose righteous deeds have not been forgotten;
13 Their offspring will continue forever,
     and their glory will never be blotted out.
14 Their bodies are buried in peace,
     but their name lives on generation after generation.

The Weekend

Perfect song for a Halloween in NYC.

The Weekend

Song in my head all weekend.

The Weekend

Theme song from last weekend.

The Weekend

Running through my head the weekend of the National Equality March.

My Take on Pop Culture Events of the Summer

I was in the US for three months and needed to soak up enough TV to last through another year in France. Where to start? Star Jones, Katie Couric, Rosie O’Donnell. Mark Foley, Jim McGreevey, Project Runway, Pluto — so much of over blown non-importance happened.

Daytime television turned into a merry-go-round of perky women. Katie Couric jumped to the evening news and her presentation of world events was critiqued less than her wardrobe. News anchor as fashion plate, she sported a swanky white jacket and a belt on the outside of her sweater in her first week on the air. I lost my appetite for television news sometime around the Jon-Benet Ramsey murder investigation (the first one), so I could only stomach two outings with Ms. Couric.

What I did stomach this summmer though was Rosie O’Donnell’s camera hogging on The View. Is “brassy” overused to describe her? Did Barbara Walters make a mistake hiring her? Ratings suggest it was a good idea, but it no longer looks like Ms. Walter’s show. The best news for the show though is that with O’Donnell on screen no one can remember the Star Jones dismissal.

Speaking of stars, in the outer reaches of the solar system, Pluto lost it’s status as a planet. Scorpios the world over noticed a change in our personalities. The only sign of the zodiac influenced by two planets, does the diminished Pluto still hold a secretive sway over us? Or is the agressive nature of Mars our sole guide now? One theory holds that the stripping of Pluto of its planethood is actually just another admission of our human denial of death. By pushing Pluto, already the smallest and furthest, out of the solar system hierarchy we are in fact burying our heads in the sand on the topic of any afterlife. If Pluto has no importance, then neither does death, the argument goes.

What did matter, a ton, this summer was fashion. In addition to Katie Couric’s outfits, I really got into Project Runway, the Bravo! reality series with competing designer wannabes. Coupled with the popularity of The Devil Wears Prada, everywhere I turn I pay extra attention to cut and fabric. And stitching. And details like button plackets and cotton/poly blends. That’s all.

In politics gay men continued to dominate, without actually having any power. Jim McGreevey, the gay ex-governor of New Jersey, was on tour promoting his book. While discussing it on The View he was criticized by co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck for including overt descriptions of his covert sex life. She used the boring objection “children could read it”. If we have to live in a child-proof world does that mean all personal development stops at puberty?

Speaking of taking advantage of children and gay politicians (this is painful), Mark Foley sure came out of his Closet of Power with a bang. And a bottle of sacramental chardonnay too, if you believe his “I was drunk and abused by priests” defense. After getting caught sexually electronically harrassing teenage Congressional pages, the GOP publicity whore from Florida resigned and drove out of town in his convertible. A few summers ago when I volunteered at a charity event where he was present, he never once flirted with me. Granted, by his standards I’m an old fart. What I find most interesting about the Foley scandal - Trollgate, if you will - is the national impact it has had on House races. Is the American electorate so fickle that a letch from Florida could cause doubts about a candidate in the suburbs of Omaha? We’ll found out in November. I’ll be in France, observing from a distance.