[ California Supreme Court Upholds Citizen's Rights to Discriminate ]

You probably already heard that Prop 8 was upheld in California. Here's what my good ol' friends are saying on the book of faces:

1. embarrassed, disappointed and ashamed to be a California citizen today.
2. California Supreme Court : cowards.
3. 's love for California is once again shaken by the arrogance of a few. Prop 8 is upheld...just to rub it in our face some more.
4. NOOOO! At least the 18,000 marriages are still valid... but this is a crappy crappy day. #rejectprop8
5. RT @almightygod Looks like a certain state is getting more wildfires and earthquakes in the near future. #rejectprop8
6. will be protesting the continuing ban on gay marriage at 5:30 today in response to the California Supreme Court's decision to uphold Prop 8. Information at dayofdecision.org
7. thinks we need to get our shit together, Cali.
8. When the highest court in California upholds the blatantly discriminatory Prop 8, who can we turn to for equal protection under the law? We have to rise up and put an end to the legal discrimination and bigotry against gays and lesbians in California. We have to rise up!
9. brain damage. (quite honestly, this one may not have anything to do with it).

[ I Have A Dream. Gay Rights in America ]

I never watched American Idol, so I didn't realize the two finalists were a Christian Conservative versus a potentially gay man. The NYT thinks the fact that the Christian won means nothing as it pertains to the gay civil rights movement in America. There are theories, however, as to why Obama has stalled out on all his campaign promises on the issue:

The most common rationale for his current passivity is that his plate is too full. But the president has so far shown an impressive inclination both to multitask and to argue passionately for bedrock American principles when he wants to.

Personally, I think he knows he's going to take a hit in his nomination of the Supreme Court Justice (whomever it is), so he's going to take his time on the gay rights issue. What's interesting, though, is how the media keeps putting it back on the table. John Stewart. Rachel Maddow. Everyone's talking about it.

[ I Hate to Have to Do This To You... ]

"...but can I put you on hold for a few minutes while I research this?" I wonder if the "I hate to have to do this to you" part was in their little script binder, or just an added line from the person I was talking to. In either case, it reinforces why I'm a mac person.

I have been on hold long enough, however, to bang out this entire post, so I must have really stumped them. This may be due to the fact that it's a made up problem and I'm just trying to secure a new battery for my computer.

[ Hubble Telescope Retired ]

This is the final image the Hubble telescope will ever take. Endings are, somehow, always profound.

[ Antony and the Johnsons ]

You've heard him before. He's collaborated with Bjork and Cocorosie and he's the fucking bomb. Here's the Teri Gross interview if you get as obsessed with him as I have become:

Antony Hegarty, lead singer of Antony and the Johnsons, has a striking sound — his singing has often been compared to Nina Simone's.

Music writer John Hodgman once described Hegarty's voice as "somewhere between male and female, between childish innocence and weary adulthood, at once ethereal and earthy," while Chicago Reader critic Noah Berlatsky writes that he "frames his soaring, throbbing, mannered, and decidedly androgynous voice with complex chamber-music arrangements. ... [But he] doesn't do winking flamboyance or irony — his music is earnestly, languidly, overwhelmingly romantic."

Quick poll - did everyone think he was a black guy too? I certainly did...

[ Obama: Current President, Former Constitutional Law Professor ]

Here's a really interesting article about Obama, the Constitutional Law professor as it pertains to the opportunity the President now has to choose a new Supreme Court Justice:

Former students and colleagues describe Mr. Obama as a minimalist (skeptical of court-led efforts at social change) and a structuralist (interested in how the law metes out power in society). And more than anything else, he is a pragmatist who urged those around him to be more keenly attuned to the real-life impact of decisions. This may be his distinguishing quality as a legal thinker: an unwillingness to deal in abstraction, a constant desire to know how court decisions affect people’s lives.

[ Comic of the Day: H1N1 ]

Click on the image for a better view...

[ Condoleezza Rice in Stanford ]

After Condy got out of the White House, she went back to Standford - where she was once the provost - and answered some questions. Now, when a friend pointed me to this clip, she made it sound like Condy was positively schooled at her old school, but looking at it now... I'm not so sure.

[ The Lead Singer of the Silversun Pickups is Not In Fact a Woman ]

That is all.

[ Youtubeage Up the Wazoo ]

I have been posting a large number of videos on facebook lately, so here they are.

The first of which is the already viral 47 year-old virgin on Britain's Got Talent. Never been kissed is more than a "shame" lady, it's my fucking worst nightmare, but you are totally precious and have yet to cease to give me the chills.

Here is what happens when you rework the Different Strokes theme music with something a bit more... sinister.

Here is an amazing video about what it might be like to interact with 3D software in a 3D space. It's really poetic and quite beautiful. Microsoft should pay attention.

Here is the President reading Where the Wild Things Are to somebody's kids.

Here is the Where the Wild Things Are movie trailer.