Harvey Milk film: update

From yesterday's Leah Garchik column in the San Francisco Chronicle:

And Mark Abrahamson reports that at the Edge, political and cinematic fans are speculating that John Travolta would be right to play Dianne Feinstein* in the movie.

See previous entry about the film.


*Has Diane Feinstein's work in the Senate disappointed me? Nope. I never was a fan of hers. Ms. Manitoba was one of those San Franciscans ... many years ago ... who wore a "Dump Diane" button.

Groucho: My daughter is half-Jewish

Was just watching this show on PBS about Groucho Marx. A woman was interviewed and she talked about a conversation she had with Groucho about anti-semitism in Hollywood. He said he once tried to join the Santa Monica Swim Club and they said "No Jews allowed." So he said to them: " Listen, my daughter is half-Jewish -- is it all right if she goes swimming in your pool up to her waist?"

Margaret Cho's Queerotica

One of my all-time favorite performers is Margaret Cho. She is so damn funny. There's a great article in the 10 Oct 07 edition of the San Francisco Chronicle written by Jeff Yang.

The scene: The Zipper Factory, a Manhattan midtown-west cabaret lounge whose decor is a psychedelic blend of Weimar Republic languor and zesty queerotica.

It's late, well past the do-you-know-where-your-children-are hour, and the butts in the theater's seats are mostly male, tanned, waxed, and gymmed to perfection. Pulling back the tatty velvet curtain, Margaret Cho steps onto the stage, her face a Cheshire mask, a sly smile tweaking her lips. Flexing the mike like she's wringing a neck, she shouts out, "It's Margaret, bitch!"

And all us bitches cheer, like the bitches we are.

Tonight's show, "The Sensuous Woman," isn't like any Margaret's put on before. Billed as an "adult variety show," it features Cho and some of her personal-favorite performers, an oddball mashup of comics and dancers and bawdy wenches, no holds barred, but plenty bared.

Wanna read all of it? Go here. It's a great article.

Only wished I'd seen the show in June here in the San Francisco Bay Area ... maybe there will be a clammer for her to bring it back to San Francisco.

And I am a major nester ... don't leave home at night much anymore ... but I would for Margaret.

A visit to Margaret Cho's blog is always fun.

Congratulations, Kathy Griffin! Jesus has a sense of humor

Here's an article that was on Yahoo Entertainment news today:

Kathy Griffin's Jesus remark cut from Emmy show
Tue Sep 11, 6:19 PM ET

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Comic Kathy Griffin's "offensive" remarks about Jesus at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards will be cut from a pre-taped telecast of the show, the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences said on Tuesday.

Griffin made the provocative comment on Saturday night as she took the stage of the Shrine Auditorium to collect her Emmy for best reality program for her Bravo channel show "My Life on the D-List."

"A lot of people come up here and thank Jesus for this award. I want you to know that no one had less to do with this award than Jesus," an exultant Griffin said, holding up her statuette. "Suck it, Jesus. This award is my god now."

Asked about her speech backstage a short time later, an unrepentant Griffin added, "I hope I offended some people. I didn't want to win the Emmy for nothing."

The speech drew fire from a leading Roman Catholic group, the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, which condemned Griffin's remarks as "obscene and blasphemous."

"It is a sure bet that if Griffin had said, 'Suck it, Muhammad,' there would have been a very different reaction," Catholic league president Bill Donohue said in a statement posted on the group's Web site. He called on TV academy president Dick Askin to denounce Griffin's "hate speech" and on Griffin to apologize.

An edited version of the Creative Arts Emmys is set to air on cable television's E! Entertainment Network on Saturday, the night before the live Fox network broadcast of the main Primetime Emmy Awards.

"Kathy Griffin's offensive remarks will not be part of the E! telecast," an academy spokeswoman said on Tuesday. An "abbreviated version" of her acceptance speech will air, instead, she said.

Griffin's reaction to the imbroglio, according to a statement issued by her publicist: "Am I the only Catholic left with a sense of humor?"

There is so much I want to say! First of all, if you believe in a Supreme Being ... do you really think something like this really bothers Her? I think it bothers folks that are insecure in their own religious beliefs.

If you believe the Catholic teachings about Jesus, do you really think he would preach punishment or revenge? What about all that stuff about love and turning the other cheek?

CHRISTIANS, CATHOLICS -- READ THE FUCKING BIBLE! Get familiar with the real teachings of Christ.

Here's what I believe: I believe that Jesus would have a sense of humor.

And, yes, of course, if she had said "Suck it, Mohammed" those radical Islamists would be up in arms. True. Is that who you want to copy?

I thought lesbians were supposed to have a lousy sense of humor ... you know "FemiNazis" and all that. Maybe male Catholic leaders have a worse sense of humor. Maybe it's to take their minds off all that young flesh that tempts them so much.