Computer Games and Visibility

I am not what you could call a “Gamer” by any stretch of the imagination. The only home video game system I had as a kid was the late 70’s early 80’s the epic commercial failure - RCA Studio II “home TV programming system”. It was about as basic and basic gets.

It had some simple built in games like ping pong, bowling and a very basic drawing/doodling program, and you could play others off of cartridges that you plugged into the console.   

During this time, my parents, were going through a phase in their approach to child rearing, I like to refer to as their “Stalinist thugs who didn't believe in joy” era. Hence their idea of fun computer games was essentially limited to the “schoolhouse” series of cartridges,

The 'games' included things like "History Quiz" and of course, Dad’s favorite , one thrilling and very exciting little gem called "Math Fun"...

Now I am not making this up. It was having to play “Math Fun” in tandem with one particularly incompetent 5th grade teacher that is largely responsible for my rabid aversion to mathematics which persists to this day.

A few years later my Dad noticed my interest in the works of the late, great Science Fiction/Comedy author Douglas Adams, (in whose honor this blog is named.) , and for Christmas in 1984 got me the interactive computer game for Adams’ book “The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy”.

In 1984 to say a computer game was “interactive” meant the display was all text. There were no graphics or sounds. The game roughly followed the basic outline of the story and featured a series of puzzles and quests, the solutions to which, were largely determined by actions and choices that you, the player made over the course the game.

I thought it was brilliant, and was hooked instantly. Even with no sounds or graphics I found the story, and the fact that my path through that story was in part determined by ME, to be irresistible. I would spend hours and hours on it.

Earlier this year, my Dad shared a story of how he and my Mother were concerned about the amount of time I was spending playing the game, and how it might be affecting my study skills. So late one night, after I had gone to bed, my Dad booted up the game and tried to play it. After a spending a futile two hours trying to get past the first puzzle, he told my Mom that if I could solve the problems in the game they needn't worry about my cognitive abilities.

HHG2TG  Game Screenshot

There was one real side effect of all this though. As a result, of being bored by the games we had with sound and animation, and getting practically addicted to a text-only experience, I never really got the “video game bug. “ 

Fast forward 15 years. While living in South Korea, my boyfriend at the time, introduced me to my first “modern” computer game. It was “Oddworld – Abe’s Odyssey” . It combined state of the art (for 1997) graphics with interactive story telling and it had a soundtrack. We would end up spending entire Saturdays playing it non-stop.

But that is pretty much where my experience with computer games ended. I have never owned a playstation, Nintendo or any other kind of gaming system. I haven’t really followed what was going on in the gaming world , and for the most part could mention only a handful of popular games, based on nothing more than having seen television commercials for them.

And, being honest, I didn't really know or care what I was missing. Computer games really were not something I was interested in or paid any attention to.

Then last year, Games makers Bioware and Electionic Arts (EA) released the third installment of their Mass Effect trilogy of games. For those of you who are not familiar with this, the “Mass Effect” games tell the story of the crew of the spaceship SSV Normandy, who have to save both Earth and the galaxy from being destroyed by a race of synthetic life forms known as “Reapers”.

The first two installments (Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2) take you through a series of adventures in the run up to what in the third game is an all out galactic war to save pretty much …well, everybody from the big bad reapers.

I immediately ran out and purchased the whole trilogy. Not because I was interested in shooting big ugly aliens and blowing up various pieces of space hardware, but rather because of news reports about the new customization options that were introduced with Mass Effect 3. In the first two games, you could always pick what gender wanted the main character to be.

There is both a Male and Female Commander Shepard. As such you were able to flirt with and have a relationship with, a whole selection of other characters in the games. But whereas flirting could go pretty much any way you wanted, (Male, Female, Human, Lizzard, whatever…) actually having a romantic relationship, was limited in games 1 and 2 just to opposite genders.  

Male & Female Commander Shepard

All That changed in Mass Effect 3. In the final installment your Shepard has the option for a romantic relationship with either a male or female partner.   You know what's coming...

 Right on cue, we have the oh-so-predictable outrage on the American wingnut conservative right….

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WED 04 APR 2012 7:49PM GMT / 3:49PM EDT / 12:49PM PDT 

EA is standing up for same sex relationships in games despite outrage from some

EA has been inundated in recent weeks with whatGamesIndustry International understands to be "several thousand" letters and emails protesting the inclusion of same sex or LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) content in its video games, most notably Mass Effect 3 and Star Wars: The Old Republic. When asked, EA confirmed that this has indeed been occurring, and unsurprisingly, EA has no plans to censor any of its games.

"Every one of EA's games includes ESRB content descriptors so it's hard to believe anyone is surprised by the content. This isn't about protecting children, it's about political harassment," Jeff Brown, VP of corporate communications told us.

The letters have been directed to EA's executive team, creative heads, its board of directors and just about anyone at a high level. Many of them threaten to boycott EA's titles if the publisher refuses to remove same-sex relationship content.

-------------------------------------------------

So essentially,  when I heard  the  American Taliban had it’s  knickers in a twist  over two soldiers of the same sex in a computer game falling in love while they save the galaxy,  how could I not run right out and buy it?   If for no other reason  than as  a vote of support  to  the makers of the game for  designing  inclusive content.

The discs sat on my bookcase for  three months  until  about two months ago I noticed them and figured  I may as well  try playing the game.   I installed  the needed odds and ends on my laptop and thought as I wasn't really all that interested in seriously playing the game  I'd just  jump in and start  with  Mass Effect 3.  I was intrigued to see who  made up the  voice cast .

Simply put the production values  were  incredible,  This is not  what I thought a computer game was.  This is  essentially a motion picture that you  are part of.     The thing  that  really grabbed me and would not let go,  was the story.   Just like in a  really good movie  you find yourself actually caring about what happens to  these characters.   Then there is the  added element of  the "customization options" that has the Wingnuts and on the right  so upset.     

The story arc  for  a same sex relationship is something you have to deliberately choose.  There isn't anyway you can accidentally  end up Gay in Mass Effect 3.    But  just like any good, believable  romantic story,  the same sex romantic plot line doesn't  force itself into the narrative.  If you choose to "go that way"  it progresses  as naturally  as you would expect any love story to,  

Only this one  also involves  blowing stuff up and saving the galaxy.  

I am thoroughly  enjoying my trip through the Mass Effect Universe and plan later this Summer when I have the time,  to go back and play the first two installments in the series.   I have no plans to become a "gamer", but  I can;t help but  be  grateful to  EA and Bioware for having the courage to make a game that  sends a clear message to  Gays and Lesbians  that they exist in the virtual  world too. 

A Brilliant Response to Bigotry and Stupidity...

New Zealand  just became the  13th country in the world to legalize  Marriage Equality for its citizens.   MP Maurice Williamson  rose  to speak in favor of the  bill that  would eventually be passed.  Just watch it.

Well now it's official...

While the United States argues and counter argues about whether or not  it will ever  treat me the same as every other citizen ,  the United Kingdom  without any fuss, drama or debate, today gave me this...

Ok the really really bad digital picture aside,  in the eyes of   Her Majesty's Government, all that was  needed  for my  relationship to be  given the full  legal rights,  responsibilities and  protections  as any other legal spousal relationship, was simply  the fact that Eric and I are Civil Partners.

No need for a public vote on our rights,  no  national debate on whether or not  England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are "ready" for something as "controversial" as equality.   Just a simple application process and the amazing feeling  of being  treated no differently  than any other legal spouse in the UK.  

As I  walked up Oxford Street heading to my office this morning after picking up my new biometric permanent  residency permit card, (The UK equivalent of a US "Green Card"),  I looked around at the hustle and bustle  of London  and  one thought ran through my mind;  The bigots of the American Taliban can go to Hell.  There is nothing they could do to deny us this,   Because  We live here.   What's more,  the full force of  the Government of this nation,  by the act of  issuing a simple plastic card,  just said  to us..

"Congratulations Gents,  and  Dave... Welcome Home."

Meanwhile, back across the Atlantic..

Kinda puts the whole DOMA debate back in the United States in perspective,  doesn't it?

Feeling a little Homesick...

The same day I read that The director of Immigration Equality said today that she does not expect that gay couples will be in included in the immigration reform bill about to be introduced in the US Senate,  the Huffington Post  puts this video up...

Sigh....

A glimpse inside North Korea

Thoughts from DOMA Exile...

The past two weeks have been fairly busy.    Eric and I recently attended  two separate events sponsored by the London chapter of the group  Immigration Equality.    (From their Facebook page)

Immigration Equality is an organization that works to end discrimination in U.S. immigration law, to reduce the negative impact of that law on the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and HIV-positive people, and to help obtain asylum for those persecuted in their home country based on their sexual orientation, transgender identity or HIV-status. Through education, outreach, advocacy, and the maintenance of a nationwide network of resources, we provide information and support to advocates, attorneys, politicians and those who are threatened by persecution or the discriminatory impact of the law.

The first event was a lecture and Q&A  by  Professor Joeseph Landau of the Fordham Law School,  on the upcoming US Supreme cases dealing with the issue of Marriage Equality.   The two cases of course, are the Perry Case, challenging  California's Proposition 8, and  the  Windsor Case, which challenges the  Federal Defense of Marriage Act..

The second event was last night here in Central London.  We attended a special screening of the soon to be released movie  "I Do".  The movie  tells the  story about Jack, a Gay British  man living in New York, where has been since he was student. After his brother is killed in a traffic accident, he cares for his Brother's American widow and daughter.  When his visa runs out, he is forced – by discrimination – to  enter into a sham marriage with Ali, his Lesbian best friend to get a Green Card  so he can remain in the US to care for his family.

Things  are complicated when  Jack  falls for Mano, a handsome Spaniard  who happens to be an American citizen.  For Jack,  balancing his responsibilities as a surrogate dad, being a "green card” husband, and beginning a new relationship, becomes too much for him.

After Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers detain and interview Ali and Jack, Ali realizes she’s in over her head and files for divorce. Mano, ready for a commitment and believing since he can legally marry Jack in New York,   he can keep him in the country and  proposes. Their immigration attorney, however, informs them that even though Mano is an American citizen, immigration is a Federal level right not afforded to gay marriage on the State level. Therefore, their getting married won’t make any difference. Jack will be deported unless he marries another woman.

The film which is making the rounds on the film festival circuit,  powerfully shows the very real impact DOMA has. What’s left in the balance are families and couples often split apart, especially those with bi-national makeups. Immigration, which most heterosexual couples take for granted as a given, complicates same-sex relationships, even in states where marriage is now legal.

Both events were attended by a number of couples like us. Bi-national same sex couples where the American partner had to leave the United States in order to be with their legal spouse.  There were  even some couples who like us,  had  been featured on other pro-immigration equality websites,  such as  The DOMA Project,  profiling their stories.

In talking with the other couples,  we discovered that  all of us  had come away from both events with two basic reactions,    The first, was a greater appreciation of how lucky we are to live where we do.  The United Kingdom, like most of the European Union, gives same sex couples all the same rights and responsibilities as heterosexual couples.   Even if, like here in the UK, it is not called "marriage". (Here the official term is "Civil Partnership".)   We can have a long debate over  what's in a name, and I have blogged on that topic in past.  But,  from the point  of view of  many here, since  the rights are the same, the rest is just semantics.

The second  thing we found, was that the other couples we met all shared the same frustration we struggle with.   The fact that  we had no choice but the  leave  the US and become "DOMA Exiles".   The question  we all get asked a lot is;  "So,  if the Supreme Court struck down DOMA and you could  move back to America with your spouse, would you?"    That is a very complicated question, that  frankly doesn't  have a simple Yes or No answer.

For most  Americans living  in  DOMA Exile,  having been forced to make the choice between Love or Country was both deeply emotional, and logistically difficult.  Leaving, friends,  family, jobs and basically everything  else you have known behind, simply to be with the person you love is an exhausting experience. Also one that is naturally is tinged with a certain degree of  resentment  at your own country,   for treating you as a second class citizen, and for treating your legal spouse as something even less than that.

Like many bi-national couples here in London,  the idea of  packing up our lives (again) and moving across the world after having done so once, is a daunting prospect.  So  for us,   it's not so much  about waiting with our bags half-packed, in  breathless anticipation  for DOMA to be struck down so we can jump on a plane and move back the the U.S.  It's more about being treated equally under the law,  and thus having the option to move back to America.  An option that thanks to the blatant  discrimination  of DOMA, we don't current have.

Yet like many of our fellow DOMA Exiles, and  those couples in the United States who are facing  DOMA induced separations, we will be watching  carefully next week when  oral arguments in both the Perry and Windsor cases  begin  at the U.S. Supreme Court.  

So, next week, when you hear  self-proclaimed "Defenders of Marriage" say how striking down  laws like  CA Prop 8,  and the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is "an attack" on "traditional marriage",  realize that the truth is, the  Tony Perkins', Brian Browns' and  Bryan Fishers' of the world have no interest in defending anything other than their own bigotry.

What's more you will hear  these mouthpieces of hate, all next week spew their bile of how the  idea that  all Americans should have equal rights under the law, is  somehow an attack on them.

It is very difficult to predict how the rulings will go  when they are handed down in June.   But  we are excited and hopeful that the court will see this is a moment that history will remember.    It is for moments like this that America's founding fathers  created  the separation of the Judiciary from the Legislative and the Executive branches.      Just like with decisions past, such as  Dred Scott,  Brown v. Board of Education or Roe v. Wade,  for those nine justices, this fork in  the road of American history is clearly marked.

We can more forward, or  we can stumble back, and history is watching...

Republican Amnesia..

You really gotta love Rachel Maddow!

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Ok.. I'm Officially Excited

Best Oscar Opening EVER....!

Hollywood hated it,  the critics  have panned it...    But it was (to quote Peter Griffin..) Just Freakin' Sweet!



And a brilliant Closing Number to boot!


Seth MacFarlane Kristin Chenoweth Loosers song... by dm_512af5eb6ea50

Haters Gonna Hate...

One of  my closest friends called the other day,  both he and his wife  have been dealing  with people they  know who habitually parrot back nonsensical  "the gays are attacking us because they won't let us attack them!"  talking points.   They live in one of the more conservative parts of the United States, and  tell me of how they struggle when they hear  these things,  as it  stands in total  contradiction to reality of the  Gay and Lesbian  people they personally know.

Halfway through the conversation my friend  asked the questions that the LGBT community as been asking since before Stonewall...   "Why do the haters , because that's what I call then... believe that nonsense?  Don't they know any Gay people?".    I had to explain how the ultra-far right in the United States  is facing a demographic and cultural shift  that is moving solidly away from them and towards equality,   As a result,    those who have a vested interest in keeping LGBT people as the one group it is still "safe to hate" are looking at  the end of their multi-million dollar gravy train of bigotry.

On that note... it's been an interesting year so far...

2013  has certainly started with a bit of a bang.   Marriage equality  for same sex couples  was put to a vote and  passed in a whole bunch of interesting places.   Here in  the United Kingdom we had a vote in the House of Commons  on a bill to legalize  Same Sex Marriage proposed by the Tory (conservative) government led by Prime Minister David Cameron, where it passed by a vote of 400 to 175.



 The measure now goes on to the House of Lords for what is more or less a symbolic reading before gaining final approval.

Then hardly a week later,  across the Channel, France’s lower house of parliament  approved a sweeping bill to legalize gay marriage and allow same-sex couples to adopt children, handing a major legislative victory to President Francois Hollande’s Socialists on a divisive social issue.

The measure, was  approved in the National Assembly by a 329-to-229 vote.  The overall bill now goes to the French Senate, which is also controlled by the Socialists and their allies, which makes Marriage Equality in France pretty much a done deal, and  puts France on track to join about a dozen mostly European nations that allow gay marriage.

Meanwhile, back across the Atlantic,  the Illinois Senate approved a bill on Valentines day  that would legalize same-sex marriage, inching the home state of President Obama closer to becoming the 10th in the nation, plus the District of Columbia, to allow gay couples the right to wed.



At the same time all this  was going on,  the seemingly settled decision by the  Boy Scouts of America  to maintain the current membership policies  barring  Gays and Lesbians turned out to be not so settled after all.  Media reports were saying  the BSA about on the verge of allowing  local sponsoring organizations to  make their own  determinations  on membership criteria.  The resulting  media  circus / firestorm  prompted a backtracking on making  any decision.  Kicking  the  can down the road to May and having the larger National Council vote on the proposed  changes.




If all that  wasn't  interesting enough, let's  throw President Obama into the mix.  The President threw the American Taliban into fits of hysteria  when in his 2nd Inaugural  Address the President of the United States  said this...



Add to that, the reintroduction of the Uniting American Families Act .  House members reintroduced the bill earlier this month,  for the first time, with bipartisan support .  The bill would allow same-sex couples to be treated in the same way as heterosexual ones under immigration law, permitting them to petition for green cards for partners and spouses. Under the Defense of Marriage Act, the federal government does not recognize same-sex marriages that are legal on the state-level. That leads to many couples being separated by immigration law or American citizens (like oh...  ME),  being forced to leave the country  if they want to be with their partner.

The issue of  same sex bi-national couples has  even become a theme in advertising  campaigns.  Like this one from home decor company  John Saint Denis. In this short film benefiting The Human Rights Campaign:  an American and his young French partner are living in an idyllic apartment in Paris, but his company is transferring him to back to the States. He has an American Passport, but his partner does not, so he is forced to face the reality he will have to go without him.

At the end of the video people can  donate directly to the Human Rights Campaign  to support the fight for equality.

I have blogged at  length  about  my views on  marriage equality and about  my feelings about the Boy Scouts of America.  So I  won't   rehash the debate here.    Predictably  the  classic cast of characters  have reacted to  recent developments  their usual over the top- completely devoid of logic shrieks of  hysterical homophobia.   Claiming any sort of rights for  LGBT Americans  is an "attack" on religious freedom.   Even going so  far as to cry that not letting  anti-gay bigots  actively attack the rights and lives of  Gays and Lesbians is discrimination against them.   

Right wing nutcase, and  Gay sex obsessed hate monger  Bryan Fischer rides the Waaaambulance in the express lane to crazytown.

As I  told my friend on the phone the other day,  logic reason, and facts are not part of the world the Fischers, Dobsons  and their ilk inhabit.   Or  to put it in a more simple way.

Haters gonna hate...

The Conservative "Evangelical" Merchants of Death...

And here I was feeling pretty good this week....

President Obama came out for LGBT inclusive Immigration Reform, and the Boy Scouts of America began the process of ending it's blanket ban on Gay and Lesbian membership. Then I read about the tragic death of young Jadin Bell in Oregon.

Late yesterday, local media in  Oregon reported that  Jadin's family in consultations with doctors, made the decision to take Jadin off life support...

There comes a point where you run out of adjectives  to verbalize just how  horrific  this is.  Words like  "senseless" and "preventable"  just ring hollow and I find myself just starring at the keyboard fighting the urge to pound my fists  into it, in rage for the fact that  I know full well there are people in America who will actually take  delight and satisfaction  in the death of this young man and others like him.

Meet the most evil,  hateful,  ungodly, un-American cheerleaders of  death you will ever meet:

James Dobson
 Focus on the Family

Brian Brown
 National Organization for Marriage

Tony Perkins -
American Family  Association

Bryan Fischer
American Family Association

All of these self-proclaimed "Christians" have fought tooth and nail to stop any effort to educate students and teachers on the dangers of anti-LGBT bullying . These perverse hate mongers know full well that Anti-bullying efforts in public schools are a direct threat to their ability to fund-raise by dehumanizing Gays and Lesbians. This in spite of the clear evidence that bullying based on sexual orientation was the direct cause of a number of tragic teen suicides across the the United States last year. With Jadin being only the most recent.

These people are insane bigots, They are so filled with hatred for people who don't share their sad twisted anti-American, anti-Constitutional world view, they would seek to stop efforts that could help save kids lives. Jadin Bell is the latest in a far too long list of young people who have been bullied to death with the full encouragement and approval of these sub-human death-profiteers.

They are the American Taliban and Jadin Bell's blood is only the latest stain on their blood-soaked hands.   

Right Wing Nuts Freak Out over Obama Inaugural ...

Lawrence O'Donnell  breaks it down for us...

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Pop! Pop! Pop Pop! Pop!

That delightful popping noise you hear is the sound of Teabagger/Republican  Heads exploding  across America today...

Hello From Hong Kong..

Hi there folks,  in Hong Kong this week for work.

View from the Hotel Room

Funny Odd Film Review - Les Miserables

The Summer of my  13th birthday,  National Public Radio aired an adaptation of  Victor Hugo's  classic (and massive) novel  Les Miserables.   It aired  in the early evenings, just as  our family was getting ready for dinner so  we would have  it on in the Kitchen.  I remember  being not that  interested after hearing the  first  couple of episodes, but  eventually found myself getting drawn into the story.

The next year,  I  was sitting in my school library with friends and someone wondered aloud what book  had not been checked out in the longest  period of time.   So I went up to the  information desk and asked the librarian.   She handed me a dewy decimal number on a slip if paper  and  pointed to a dimly lit section of the stacks.    Turns out it was a dusty hard cover penguin classics copy of ... Les Miserables.   It had last been read in  1971.   So I checked it out, and  set to reading it.  All nearly  2,000 pages of it.

 It is an incredibly  powerful story.   The two main characters each embody a different view of  God.   The  former convict, Jean Valjean, representing  the  New Testament view of a forgiving  loving God , while the  police inspector Javert, being the Old Testament's fire and brimstone God who shall wreak wrath and vengeance  upon the sinner.

Little did I realize at the time  just  how dangerous an age  fourteen years old is to read  something like Les Miserables.   As a young man struggling to come to terms with my own  complex relationship with faith,  I found things in both characters I related to.   I ended up keeping the book  for most the rest of that year.

Three years later, while a student in Germany  I would make a special trip to London  for one reason, and one reason only.  I was desperate to see the new Musical  version of the story, that had recently opened in the West End at the Palace Theater.

I remember standing outside the Theatre as I snapped this picture,  wondering if a stage adaptation could possibly live up  my expectations.  Would the actors portray Hugo's characters the way  I had heard them so clearly in my head when I read the book?      I remember stumbling out of the theatre later that night, on an emotional high,  convinced that the original  Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) cast  had somehow read my mind and brought my own images of the characters to life before my eyes.  

It would be the start of  a more than twenty five year  love affair with this show.   I would go on to see it on stage again  nearly 20 times.  Seeing it in Chicago, Madison, Milwaukee,  San Francisco,  New York,  Munich, Amsterdam, Seoul South Korea, and multiple times again here in London.   So  when the show's  producer  Cameron Macintosh announced there was finally going to be a film adaptation of the show,  I was both excited and  worried,  very  worried.

The transition from  stage to screen  historically  has been problematic for many successful  shows.   For every, brilliant adaptation like "Fiddler on the Roof" and "Funny Girl",  there is the sheer awfulness of a  "Jesus Christ Superstar" and (ugh!) abominations like the film version of  "Camelot".  So I deliberately  did not  read reviews of the film before  going to see it  this evening.

As the lights  dimmed at the movie theater I actually  held my breath...

Film is a very different  medium obviously so  first of  all lets be clear,  this is not an adaptation of the stage show.  It is an entirely new version of the Musical.   The well publicized move to have the actors sing live on the set instead of to a pre-recorded track does give it a  theater - feel though and adds a wonderful realism to the movie.  Likewise, the overall look  of  the movie  is  darker,  grittier and  more  realistic  than the stage version.  The mud, rain, grime and poverty of  19th century Paris  is not left  the imagination.  It also feels  much more intimate  thanks to the use  close up shots.  So as odd it sounds the  stage show  actually feels  "bigger"  in scale than the film does.

Yet  when all is said and done, the film works.   But for very different reasons than the stage show.

Hugh Jackman and Colm Wilkinson

One reason is the cast.   Hugh Jackman  delivers an emotional  and powerful  performance as  Jean Valjean.  As Javert,  Russel Crowe , bless him,  really can't sing. (Insert, your favorite Pierce Brosnan "Mama Mia" reference here...)   But  he carries it off.   His performance is not  the strongest in the film, but  he sings on key and  doesn't  do any damage.  No, he isn't a singer, but  when it counts  his acting hits the right notes. So  good on him.

Sasha Baron-Cohen and  Helena Bonham Carter  get the job done as the Thenadiers, delivering the needed comic moments.  Eddie Redmayne, Amanda Seyfried  and Samantha Barks  all deliver solid performances as the lovers  Marius and Cossette,  and the tragic Eponine .   There is also the inspired casting choice of  Colm Wilkinson, the original  stage Jean Valjean in the role of the saintly Bishop who sets Valjean on the road to redemption.

The hands down, clear  surprise in this cast in Anne Hathaway  as  Fantine.    Her Oscar-nominated performance as the tragic mother of Cosette  is  quite simply stunning.   It is little wonder they  used snipits  for the  film's teaser trailer.



So my verdict?  If you are going expecting an experience exactly like that of seeing the show on stage you will be disappointed.  Film is not Theatre  but  the music  of the show clearly  transfers mediums  with the same powerful emotional punch  it packs live  on Broadway or the West end.    I  thoroughly  enjoyed the  film version and   left the cinema with the same emotions  I did when seeing the show live on stage.

 Is it everything I hoped it would be?  No.  But it certainly  came close enough to have me want to go back and see it again,  both on stage and on screen.

One of the coolest things I have ever seen....

After exploding onto the performance scene by grabbing the Youth Speaks Grand Slam Champion prize, watch as 15-year-old Noah St. John electrifies the Snap Judgment Stage with a stunning performance - winning this year's "NPR Snap Judgment Performance of the Year."

The surprising life of a true American Hero...

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

For me , Charles Durning will always be best little Governor Texas ever had...

The Last Word on Christmas....

On this Christmas Eve,  the last word on the holiday goes as always....  to  Linus.

Lights please....



Merry Christmas,  Everyone....

James Dobson - The Blasphemy of A Bigot....

According to James Dobson,  founder of  the self -proclaimed "evangelical" group "Focus on the Family";  God allows children to be shot because  he is pissed off  about  Gays getting married..

I have written a length  about  Dobson's group  and  the truly awful, bigoted anti-Christian hate they regularly vomit out onto the airwaves and the internet. So I will spare you the repost.   If you want to find out just how vile and evil these people are, you can do so  HERE.

The latest bucket of bile to spew out of Dobson's hate hole,  is to link the tragic shooting in  Newton Connecticut  to (of course...)  Gays and women's reproductive rights.
(Hat Tip to the Huffington Post)

Focus on the Family founder James Dobson said Monday that the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary resulted from America turning its back on God, joining other conservative Christian leaders in assigning blame for Friday's Connecticut shootings.Speaking to listeners of his "Dr. James Dobson's Family Talk" program, Dobson said God "has allowed judgment to fall upon us."  

Dobson said:"I mean millions of people have decided that God doesn't exist, or he’s irrelevant to me, and we have killed fifty-four million babies and the institution of marriage is right on the verge of a complete redefinition. Believe me, that is going to have consequences too.  And a lot of these things are happening around us, and somebody is going to get mad at me for saying what I am about to say right now, but I am going to give you my honest opinion: I think we have turned our back on the Scripture and on God Almighty and I think he has allowed judgment to fall upon us. I think that’s what’s going on."

So just to be clear, according to this self-proclaimed "Christian Leader",    God "allowed"  20 children to be gunned down because he is upset about Gay Marriage and Abortion.  So in James Dobson's  sick twisted theology  God registers  displeasure with  mankind by slaughtering  innocent   children and plunging  their  families and  their community  into horrific  grief.

Wow.

I can't help but wonder when decent honest people of  faith are going to  stand up  and take back  Christianity  from  evil nutjob opportunists like James Dobson.  A man  who  claims to speak for God and speaks nothing hatred and lies.    When will the  "Christian Left"  finally stand up  and call  right wing lunatics  like Dobson  what they are;  The American Taliban.

Seattle based writer and activist  Dan Savage  often wonders the same thing....

I don't know what to say....

Sitting here  in  London  watching the news coverage of the  horrific  shooting at the Sandy Hook Elementary school in Newtown,  Connecticut.  A shooting that  claimed the lives (so far) of  26 people  20 of them children.   I truly do not know what to write, or say....

But I do know what I don't want to read, or hear...

I don't want to read comments on how this tragedy would have been averted if the teachers had been carrying guns, so don't write them,  I won't post them.  I don't want to read mindless pap  that says  "guns don't kill,  people do",  because only an idiot can't  see  how having the gun in the first place helps make horrors like this possible.  So don't bother writing it,  I won't post it

I don't want to hear perverse misinterpretations of the 2nd Amendment . Spare me the  Fox News BS that stricter controls on guns wouldn't have helped prevent this.  When in 2011 the UK death toll from homicide by  handgun was 8,  and in the US  was over 10,000,  regurgitated  NRA propaganda  just makes whoever is spewing it look heartless and stupid.  So spare yourselves  the embarrassment , and  turn your computer off  and  for now,  just be quiet.   

Because on this day,  when 20 children are dead partly because of  the American FETISH with firearms, on this day, you have nothing to say. So just don't...

May the grace and peace of  almighty God, be with the people of Connecticut , and may we all be granted the wisdom to do what needs to be done to ensure horrors like this never happen again.