Michael Hutchison: May 2007 Archives

'Game Show Fixture' Charles Nelson Reilly, Gay, Dies at 76

Kidding. That's not really what the headline says.

Charles Nelson Reilly and Paul Lynde had three things in common:
1) They were both on Hollywood Squares.
2) They both had colorful, exuberant, ostentatious and ribald personae.
3) I didn't know either of them were gay until they were dead.

What is this "gaydar" equipment of which you speak?

What can I say? I was a child of the 1970s who had it drilled into me (no pun intended, honest) not to think that any effeminate man is automatically homosexual. It's wrong to stereotype. Gays can be big lumberjacks or truckers or cowboys, at least according to that All In The Family episode where Archie finds out that the macho guys in a bar are all gay.

So, being a fair-minded individual, I try to never assume that someone is gay even if on TV they have the persona of a raving queen. After all, that's just TV. It's not like Milton Berle was a woman, or Ron Perlman a catlike creature who lives in the sewers. So I figured that this was just what Paul Lynde, JM J Bullock and, apparently, Charles Nelson Reilly were doing as character bits. I know that seems naive, but it's basically how the entire nation regarded Liberace for decades. Dresses up in frilly outfits? That's just showmanship.

I didn't even think Boy George was gay. I know, I know, that sounds stupid, but he's a musician! What, do you think KISS is really made up of alien clown soldiers or whatever they're supposed to be? No! So it's reasonable to think that Boy George just wants to get attention in a competitive music industry, so he's dressing like a girl. Oh shut up.

Despite a lifetime of finding my "benefit of the doubt" indistinguishable in the end from "having no judgment whatsoever", I still think it's a good philosophy.

Now, I'm going to get away from all this talk about effeminate individuals and relax with some manly music. First up, Macho Man by the Village People.

Oh shut up! They are not!

Careful analysis of the explosion of the Death Star shows smaller explosions on the surface before its destruction! And how can you explain that the "stolen" plans were delivered to the rebels by two droids owned by Darth Vader himself? Was it actually a plot by Darth Vader to seize control of the gas pipelines of Bespin?

The destruction of the Death Star was an INSIDE JOB!!!!

Don't believe me? See for yourself in "Loose Credits"!

HOLY CRAP UPDATE!: Our friend Josh Elder of Mail Order Ninja is mentioned in the article! Way to go, JOSH!!!

How awesome is it to fire up my morning links and find a news item about manga as the featured top story on FoxNews?! So awesome I'm blogging about it from work even though I shouldn't...just to share it with YOU!

(The things I do for you people...)

Sorry to disappear on you, folks. My computer went into the shop...in order to get transferred to my new monster gamer system computer!

I told the guy at Miracle Computer that I didn't need a gamer system. The only non-Solitaire, non-M.A.M.E. game I play anymore is Small Rockets' Red Ace Squadron. I haven't even cracked open Worms in ages. Don't get me wrong, I love games, but I'm 37 years old and can't be devoting massive amounts of time to huge adventures, and I don't have the dexterity to tackle these games that require the use of 30 buttons simultaneously.

I grew up on Pac-Man. I couldn't even get the hang of "Defender" with its flakey button controls! When game consoles started coming with a bare minimum of 8 buttons instead of a joystick I started losing my love of video games. I like some first-person shooters, but I like creeping around and taking my time to kill everything on every level; watching friends and co-workers as they run like maniacs through twisting corridors that they've committed to memory and finishing a level before I can even comprehend it...it makes my eyes hurt!

But I love Red Ace. It's a flying game without any stupid need to learn to fly a plane. Just start up the propeller, leap into the sky and begin shooting down the hairy hun! Fun. They even came out with a multi-player version a while ago so that once you've mastered the missions you can battle with your friends!

If only I had friends that played Red Ace Squadron. Oh sure, there's probably some public server where I can play against strangers, but there's no fun in getting shot down by some hardcore gamer equipped with cheat codes, carpal tunnel-free hands and no mercy. I suppose it doesn't matter that I'm without friendly competition, since I cannot figure out how to play online. Go ahead and laugh. Last time I played a game online it was "Worms: Armageddon" against my college buddy Blaine, and W:A had the easiest point-and-click method to play online I'd ever seen.

I've strayed a bit from my subject. Anyway...I installed Red Ace Squadron on this new system, fired it up...and found out how much fun it is to play when I can crank the settings up to maximum! The game doesn't hickup when I start playing, either!

If any of you play Red Ace, give me a shout out on the Forum and maybe we can arrange something.

Ah yes, the Forum. Speaking of which...

As soon as I get my software installed on this new computer, I'll be updating the PHPBB system. They just revealed the new 3.0 system. I'm going to install that, then get some good plugins for it that will screen out the spam. Due to the massive influx of spam registrations, no one has been able to get a membership on the board for ages. I'll get that fixed.

I'm also working on some blog system updates. No promises...I've still got a garden to get in the ground...but hopefully we'll have some new capabilities soon.

Starz Bunny Club Exclusive: March Of The Penguins

Sorry to disappear on you all. Unbeknownst to all but the contributors, we ran into a small problem in upgrading the Movable Type system and the system was down. (Don't touch that light switch, The Cheat!)

It's now up. And the infrastructure has definitely changed. All you contributors had better log in and post something!

No, I don't know what's wrong with the formatting buttons in Firefox. I'll fix it.

R.B. brought to my attention a rather small controversy-that-wasn't, and at first I wasn't going to post about it. Partly because it's political and I try to avoid that on this site, where I mention politics maybe a few times a year when it comes up in news related to comics. Partly because I like Chris Muir's "Day by Day", even linking it on the site. Mostly, because I'd read the strip in question and I'm surprised at the hullabaloo; in context, the strip is perhaps a little on-the-nose obvious, but it's hardly worth the foofaraw that has resulted. However, ultimately I decided to discuss this in terms of what it means for comics and self-censorship, and how political correctness can get in the way of satire.

If the mere mention of racial politics bugs you, skip this one.

Perfect commentary on the state of DC's movies:

Hey, it's YouTube goodies night!

I'll admit: This scene is pretty cool.

This rocks:

But this is hands-down the geekiest and funniest scene ever!

(Someone's been watching me get dressed in the morning.)

Hopefully, posting this was pointless because you all have the DVDs. But just in case you don't...

And don't forget Season One

Granted, the Simpsons already did everything. Still, this makes a good case:

Plagiarismo!

The Blue Beetle Companion from TwoMorrows publishing has just debuted, and Amazon has it for $11 instead of $16. Here's a link. However, just in case you want to buy it along with something else so that you get that free shipping (available on orders over $25), I'll also put it in our aStore.

5 days and no new posts?

Actually, I'm halfway through one, but it's a biggie. Sorry to leave you all hanging. I was going to have it done tonight, but my seedlings needed transplanting. (Yes, I'm a gardener in addition to the household chef, accountant, web designer, breadwinner, blogger and spare time comic book writer.)

So, Wednesday. I'm on pins and needles waiting for 52 week 52, so I may need to talk about that, too. AND there's Micro Con 2007 to recap.