If It Makes You Happy...

What a day for babies here at the Pop Culture Institute!

The day started with news of Dezi James and ended with news of Wyatt Steven, who was recently adopted by none other than Sheryl Crow herself.

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Screened: "Thirty Day Princess" (1934)

Any qualms I may have had concerning the picture quality of "Thirty Day Princess" going into it were immediately dispelled as its credits began to roll.

Universal's film restorers are continuing to outdo themselves. This film couldn't have looked as good in its initial theatrical release as it does today on DVD. Despite a couple of obviously missing elements (which are nonetheless well-glossed over) both picture and sound here are peerless. There is a full-range of tones present, making the black-and-white photography look almost creamy.

The story is slight, a bit formulaic, but addresses the Depression (which is rare for a film of that era) and features a sprightly, nuanced performance by Sylvia Sidney and fine work both by Cary Grant and Edward Arnold, as a crusading newspaper editor and a plutocratic banker respectively. There's even a bit of split-screen, in which Nancy Lane and Princess Zizzi (both played by Sidney) get to play a scene together.

I'll never know why Sylvia Sidney wasn't a bigger star (in this film she's billed above the title, and Grant's is the first name below it). Then again, not being a blonde might have something to do with it. Still, from her first picture, 1929's "Thru Different Eyes" to her last film "Mars Attacks" (1996) she never seemed to hurt for work, mainly thanks to television.

Now I can't wait to get to the rest of "Screen Legends Collection: Cary Grant". Up next: "Kiss and Make Up" (1934), co-starring Genevieve Tobin.
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Blog Fodder - A Moment of Gloating

I have just read in Xtra West where BC Bears Society has decided to "hibernate" for awhile, due to declining membership. If I can be permitted a moment to gloat:

In 1999 I tried to join BC Bears Society. My (then-, now ex-) partner and I had just moved here and my social network took a commensurate hit; I was looking for something to join. Vancouver Pride Society and Out On Screen (the queer film festival) had both rejected me despite my sterling credentials for both.

I went to Pride Day that year and afterwards, at the community fair, I spotted the BC Bears table. When I approached it and asked about joining them the skinny guy working there looked me up and down and in the bitchiest, faggiest way told me to come back when I'd gained a hundred pounds.

Well, I must have been three hundred pounds that day, at least a hundred pounds heavier than this guy. The fact that I'd been met with the same attitude everywhere else (only everywhere else I'd been told to lose a hundred pounds, rather than gain it) was not lost on me.

Since I obviously didn't fit into mainstream gay and I wasn't going to be accepted even at the fringes of the community, I withdrew from all gay community activities at that point. Maybe that wasn't the most sensible course of action, but what else could I do? Why would I continue to fight to be included in something that had already rejected me so many times?

I decided that day to focus on those aspects of humanity that I thought might be more appreciative of my efforts, namely the arts and social justice. Within Pandora's Collective and even COPE I have managed to make my contribution to society in more meaningful ways; even if neither has done anything to enhance my sex life, Pandora's Collective has at least introduced me to many fine friends I wouldn't have met if I'd stayed on Davie Street.

I suspect many other men were rejected by BC Bears in a similarly callous manner, probably by this same volunteer, which is likely what led to the declining numbers at their meetings. I can't say I'm not glad to hear it; editorial policy permits me to freely gloat whenever snobs and bigots and any kind of petty tyrant gets their comeuppance.

For those men whose lifeline this community was, I do feel bad, though. May I suggest leaving your ghetto behind and traveling amongst regular people for awhile?

There. I'm done now.
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Welcome Dezi James Cubiche

Leggy "My Name is Earl" stunner Jaime Pressly and her DJ boyfriend (the similarly leggy, similarly stunning) Eric Cubiche welcomed a little bundle today. Dezi James was born in Los Angeles at 7:31 AM local time, and weighed in at 6 pounds 4 ounces. He's named after Desi Arnaz (despite the misspelling) and Pressly's father.
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