Diving Under America Ferrera’s Dress
There was an interesting incident at The Cannes Film Festival Recently. A man stormed onto the red carpet and threw himself under America Ferrera’s dress head first. From the way it sounds, the man had no intention of leaving any time soon.
Security officials quickly pulled him away Friday as the man tried to hide under Ferrera’s voluminous dress before the premiere of “How to Train Your Dragon 2.”
It was a surprising development on a red carpet renowned for its strict decorum. Festival organizers didn’t immediately return messages about the incident.
In erotic romance there’s a vulgar phrase for this kind of dive. But I won’t mention that now.
Gay NFL Therapy
This one kind of confuses me. I didn’t think it had gone this far or that anyone was actually taking steps like this. Evidently, a gay activist spent the day “helping” the St. Louis Rams prepare for openly gay Michael Sam’s arrival.
During a daylong visit to Rams Park on Monday, Fisher told players they could feel free to approach him if they have any issues regarding Sam.
“Hey, if any of you guys are uncomfortable, coach Fisher wants you to know his door is open,” Davis said. “Everyone in this needs to have a voice.”
NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said the league has been working with teams and players “on ensuring a respectful culture.” Davis met with owners and head coaches at league meetings in March, and Aiello said diversity was discussed with owners, head coaches and team executives.
“The work is continuing and will include training resources for every team,” Aiello said.
Frankly, I think they should all be told to get over themselves and make their millions quietly. Michael Sam isn’t the only gay man ever to enter the NFL and he won’t be the last. In fact, the only thing different is that Sam is the first *openly* gay man.
Gays Ten Years Later
This article shows how we’re still fighting almost the same fight we were fighting ten years ago in some places. There are a lot of interesting facts, including the first case tried in Massachusetts. But this is one thing that has changed.
What is undeniable, though, is a change in public attitudes.
Recent polls show that a majority of Americans support same-sex marriage; in 2004, only about 30 percent favored it. The U.S. Supreme Court last year struck down a key part of a federal law defining marriage as between a man and a woman. Forty percent of Americans now live in states where gay people can marry.
You can read the rest here.
When you think about it, we haven’t had all the much support from any politician, especially those who should be on our sides but skirt the issue every chance they get.
Everyone Who’s Anyone
It’s hard to believe, but many of us have been working on the Internet for a long time. I started about fourteen years ago. I knew that if I didn’t and I continued to submit manuscripts to publishers in hard copy I wouldn’t remain relevant for long. One of the things I remember most about the earlier days of the Internet and publishing web sites is a site called Everyone Who’s Anyone. Back in the day it was hugely controversial and scorned by the most well known publishing bloggers, partly because it was so different and partly because it exposed a few things many didn’t want to public knowledge. If I recall correctly, it was the first place that challenged the system as we’d always known it.
The sub-heading on the homepage reads: A Writer’s Guide to The All-Pervasive Propaganda Network. What this means is that the web site author, according to him, holds nothing back in his quest to expose a lot of the alleged bullshit that we see, read, and hear about in publishing…from literary agents to publishers and their attorneys.
While a good deal of this Propaganda Network still exists, and sometimes in different forms than the way it has traditionally existed (well known book review blogs with huge conflicts of interest in bed with each other behind the scenes), it’s interesting to note how so many things have changed since this web site went up. Digital publishing for one. And, the site was launched in the days when literary agents were the ultimate gatekeepers and writers couldn’t even get near an editor without going through an agent first. In other words, If you wanted to get published you depended upon luck and the questionable taste of an agent. In fact, there’s a link on the web site to a list of literary agents, with comments you might find interesting from a purely academic POV.
For the record, there are many things on this web site with which I don’t agree, especially a good deal of the commentary that often crosses politically and socially correct lines I don’t like to see crossed. And to be perfectly honest I have never found much information there that has helped me as a writer. Not once. Not ever. And I’m not part of any propaganda network nor do I have a hidden agenda. I haven’t actually checked it out in years. But I’m posting about it because it’s interesting in a retro kind of way, and also because at one time there really wasn’t that much information about agents, editors, or publishers anywhere.
We used to think the biggest worry writers had was an agent who charged fees to read queries. Now we’re dealing with everything from sleazy self-publishing web sites that promise unrealistic dreams to crowd-funding that may or may not be legit. It’s a very different world now.