The Lost Coast

I got my new scannner in the mail today. I already have a scanner–I already have two, actually–but this new one has a contraption for scanning negatives. Which means I can digitize my old pictures quite easily.

The first batch of negatives that I pulled out of the box (okay, the first that didn’t seem to be pictures of people I didn’t want to look at) was this awesome collection of photos I took while driving from Eureka to Fort Bragg. This was the Lost Coast, and it was the highlight of the two months that I covered Northern California for Let’s Go. It was the most beautiful, most peaceful place I’ve ever been. I have another roll or two from this day; I’ll post them later this week when I find them in the pile. For now, enjoy these 24.

The Surface

I’m not sure how I managed to miss out on this video for the last six weeks. I only saw a mention to it today, when it appeared on the Yahoo! buzz list. I clicked through and found the best, so far, parody trailer I’ve yet to see. Even better than the romantic comedy version of “The Shining.” Really. It’s moments like these that I thank my lucky stars for post-modern pastiche. Anyway, here it is, my first embedded YouTube video, “Titanic 2: The Surface,” created by Derek Johnson:

Brokeback

I wrote about “Brokeback Mountain” in my column this week. If you haven’t seen the movie, you must. It’s amazing and touching and all that the gays talk about nowadays. It seems like the heteros are talking about it, too. So, go. Yeah. And read my column, too–but after you’ve seen the movie. Here’s a taste:

There has never been a filmed gay love story directed by a major auteur, starring important actors, that was the favourite to win the Oscar for Best Picture. In fact, there has never been a filmed gay love story that could even be called good. When you have never seen your emotions depicted on screen other than as dirty or tangential or cause for a joke, anticipating something like Brokeback Mountain, in which your emotions are promised to be treated with respect and truth—well, that kind of anticipation is palpable. It can lead to countdowns on gay.com.

UPDATE:

I guess the column has struck a chord. The comments are many, and it’s #1 on the Maisonneuve website.