News: Gun Rally, Norovirus, Balkanization, 16-bit

The New York Times' Charles M. Blow on the GOP's plans to discard the winner-take-all system that has been favoring Democrats: "One day I will have to visit the evil lair where they come up with these schemes.They pump them out like a factory. Voter suppression didn’t work in November, and it may even have backfired in some states, so they just devised another devilish plan."

Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, an anti-gay Republican, also opposes the measure: "I think winner-take-all is part of how a state matters. Our side would have gotten more votes this go-around but you know I want people to want to fight to win the whole state. It makes the state as a state matter more... We need to build them up and not to Balkanize America. It's the states that created the federal government and not the other way around."

And neither does Haley Barbour, the former governor of Mississippi.

Good news: "Emmanuel Lutheran Church will vote Sunday to openly confirm its acceptance of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender parishioners… The vote would confirm Emmanuel as a Reconciling in Christ congregation and make it the first Rockford church listed with Reconciling Works, which advocates for the full inclusion of LGBT Lutherans in all aspects of church life. Reconciling Works lists 5,893 open Lutheran congregations across the United States."

Never fear, Beyoncé is on site rehearsing for her Super Bowl performance.

Headline of the day: "There's Absolutely No Logical Argument Against Gay Marriage".

Runner-up: "Adam Lambert Got A Birthday Lap Dance From David Arquette Last Night".

No amount of crunches can save your tummy from the norovirus: "It's here. A variant of norovirus first spotted in Australia is now sweeping the U.S. The wily virus causes stomach upset, vomiting and diarrhea. The sickness is sometimes referred to as the stomach flu, though influenza has nothing to do with it."

Which "straight" actors have taken to snogging one another?

New satellite technology lets us finally see what clouds are up to at night.

Thousands turn out for pro-gun control rally in D.C.

On her 55th birthday, 55 reasons to love Ellen DeGeneres.

Troy Stevenson, the new executive director for Garden State Equality, vows to keep fighting for marriage equality there.

  Bryan Singer confirmed that Ellen Page and Anna Paquin have signed on to the next X-movie, "Days of Future Past," based on the classic X-Men story arc of the same name.

Downton Abbey as a 16-bit Super Nintendo video game.

Here's part of what President Obama said a video pre-recorded for the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force annual conference: "Today you are helping lead the way to a future where everyone is treated with dignity and respect... The work will be hard, the road will be long, but I'm more confident than ever that we will reach a better future as long as Americans like you keep reaching for justice and all of us keep marching together."

'Jack and the Beanstalk' Gets a Bryan Singer Facelift: TRAILER

And the very chiseled face of Nicholas Hoult.

Check out the trailer for Singer's Jack the Giant Killer, AFTER THE JUMP...

News: Michael Phelps, Tennessee, Evelyn Waugh, Referendum 71

"Death to Obama" sign holder detained by Secret Service.

Biography: Brideshead Revisited author Evelyn Waugh had three male lovers at Oxford.

Michael Phelps sends woman to hospital after smashing her car with his Escalade.

Heath Ledger's final film finds stateside distribution: "Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions Group is in advanced talks to pick up 'The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus,' with plans for it to go out theatrically, likely this year, via Sony Pictures Classics. Pic is expected to be a lucrative homevideo title due to the Ledger angle and the other star power. Terry Gilliam’s adventure also features Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell, who replaced Ledger in various fantasy scenes after the thesp died during the film’s production in January 2008."

John Edwards to admit paternity of Rielle Hunter's child?

Accidentally, Like a Martyr: Play about six generations of gay men to get reading in New York.

Alexander Skarsgard nude in Generation Kill.

Bryan Singer and Justin Timberlake in Battlestar Galactica summit?

DA disagrees with musician Rhythm Turner that assault was hate crime: "Turner said the attack happened outside Canes Bar and Grill in Mission Beach. Turner was hugging her girlfriend when a 21-year-old man walked up, told the two women to kiss and eventually threw a punch when they refused to do so."

City of West Hollywood creates first-of-its-kind Transgender Advisory Board.

San Jose Mercury News supports 2012 Prop 8 battle. New poll: CA support for marriage equality inching up.

Hugh Jackman signs on to Wolverine sequel.

With 50,000 signatures counted, the rejection rate on Referendum 71, which would repeal Washington state's "everything but marriage" law, stands at 10.68 percent.

Some folks just always have to be the center of attention.

Lawsuit against Tennessee schools for blocking access to LGBT websites is dropped: "The schools already had agreed to remove the filters to the sites. If that agreement is broken, the case will return to court, according to the American Civil Liberties Union, which fought in favor of students suing the schools."

University of Alabama Birmingham offers public health scholarship in honor of the late chairman of the board of directors for Birmingham AIDS Outreach, Billy Cox.

Portland journalist arrested for criminal mischief with regard to Sam Adams recall effort: "According to police, Perlman approached volunteers with the recall effort acting as if he wanted to sign a petition and instead, he allegedly scribbled on the sheet, potentially invalidating the signatures of eight other people who had signed it."

New Showtime Series to Explore Studio 54

A new dramatic series, Studio, written by Chad Hodge and produced by Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, will explore a fictional nightclub much like the legendary Studio 54 of the 70's but is not meant to be a documentary. The nightclub's co-founder Steve Rubell, however, will be depicted in the series,which is in development at Showtime:

"Rubell will be the only real person featured, with the rest of the characters fictional or composites. 'The show is less about the history of Studio 54 than it is about New York in the late '70s, what people were going through, the political and social issues,' Hodge said. 'Studio 54 is the backdrop for exploring that.'...Hodge penned 'Studio' on spec and took it to Zadan and Meron, who had given him his first writing job on their ABC series 'Veritas.' Zadan and Meron, who had gone to Studio 54 with friend Liza Minnelli, loved the idea. 'It really was a time that has never been seen again,' Zadan said. 'Socially, politically, everything about it was unique.' Added Meron: 'It was the last hurrah before the era of AIDS.'...'Studio' also will tap Zadan and Meron's strong musical background. 'Music is going to be a very big part of the show,' Meron said. Because of Studio 54's history of hedonism -- it was notorious for rampant sex and drug use -- Hodge, Zadan and Meron took the project to Showtime, where they felt they could best tell the gritty story."

Bryan Singer is being pursued to direct the pilot.

Related
54 Director's Cut a Lost Gay Classic? [tr]

Bryan Singer to Cameo in Gus van Sant's Harvey Milk Film?

Bryan Singer, who was working on a competing Harvey Milk film project (The Mayor of Castro Street) when Gus van Sant's Milk sped in into production, may cameo in van Sant's film, Portland's Williamette Week reports:

"In the battle of the gay directors and even gayer projects, score one for Portland’s own Gus Van Sant , who has extended an 'olive branch' to Bryan Singer —the X-Men director he beat out for the biopic on San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk. Singer himself is expected to make a cameo appearance in Gus’ film, Milk, about the life and death of the 'Mayor of Castro Street.' When asked to confirm, Van Sant said he had his fingers crossed that Singer will join his cast. 'We hope so,' Van Sant told WW in between takes on the San Francisco set. 'He said that he will, but scheduling is hard.'"

Last we heard, Singer's project was looking unlikely to come to fruition.

Recently
Milk Screenwriter Dustin Lance Black Spills [tr]
Josh Brolin on Tackling the Role of Milk Assassin Dan White [tr]
James Franco Hangs on to Milk Mustache [tr]
Milk in Action on Castro Street [tr]
Sean Penn and James Franco as Lovers in Milk [tr]
Milk: The Transformation of Castro Street [tr]

Singer's Harvey Milk Film in Jeopardy as Van Sant's Gains Steam

The Mayor of Castro Street, the long-in-development film about SF Supervisor Harvey Milk which is the second of two films in development about the gay rights pioneer, looks less and less likely to be a reality as Gus van Sant's competing production start date of January 22 quickly approaches.

One half of the producing duo behind the Singer project, Craig Zadan, expressed dismay to website Film Stew, and also broke the news that the project was to be the first major crossover dramatic role for actor Steve Carell:

"Bryan was supposed to direct The Mayor of Castro Street immediately following Valkyrie. And out of the blue, Gus Van Sant came along with another Harvey Milk script. So although we have been working on this movie for 16 years, where finally we found the moment in time where we got the right script, the right director and even - we haven’t really discussed this – shall we say, interest in the movie from Steve Carell to play Harvey Milk… Once we started thinking about it [the idea of Carell as Milk], we thought, 'Wow, that’s a great idea.' “So we were all primed to make it; Warner Bros. was primed to make it; and, in theory, we would have been going into production right after the writers strike. But now, with the Gus Van Sant movie going ahead [Milk, with Sean Penn in the lead role], nobody wants to have another situation like Capote. They [Van Sant, Focus] haven’t starting shooting yet, so anything can happen. But the handwriting is on the wall that if they go into production and start shooting, we won’t get to make our movie."

Last week, I reported that preparations were already well underway by the Milk team to transform San Francisco's Castro district back to the way it was in the 70's by performing a cosmetic facelift that would return classic gay bars like Toad Hall to their original sites.

Got Milk? [film stew]

Recent spilled Milk...
Gay San Francisco Supervisor Tom Ammiano to Join Milk Film [tr]
Castro Street to Undergo "Time Warp" for Milk Biopic [tr]
Exclusive: Inside Harvey Milk's Castro Street Camera Shop Today [tr]
Emile Hirsch, Josh Brolin, James Franco Sign on to Milk Film [tr]