Memories of New Beginnings

Its been a rough few months for me -- the job search continues, the love life is non-existent and I've been fighting the good fight to maintain a positive attitude. I've been on the short end of that battle lately. I've had a couple of glimmers of hope, when I allow myself to see them and I'm thinking that July has to be better. Anyway, in so many ways I've been asking for a new beginning in my life -- I'm coming to see a lot of parallels to where I was right before I went off to college. I was on the verge of going off in a brand new direction and I could hardly wait... I wish it had been all excitement and giddiness but then, like now, there were many times when the wait was excruciating. Recently I've had a tough time seeing past this part to the promise of what will happen next. I've gotten caught in the endless waiting and I've been searching for something that can shake me loose. And then I found it...

September 7, 1991

This is from my first football game as a Freshman at Notre Dame. I was far from home, I hadn't really made any good friends yet, and this one moment captures the magic of all the great experiences of what happened there, but reminds me of that feeling of the wonders that COULD happen, the excitement of possibilites, wonders yet to come. That's what I've been missing.

Dreams

I love me some Stevie Nicks. In addition to being a Phoenix native, she's always been someone who gives a voice to what I feel. I've been having this song in my head and in my heart a lot lately...

Marc's Midweek Lockerroom Beef Haiku

Sweat runs down my back,
I know I can trust my buds.
Just dropped my towel...

Connection...

I've been having MAJOR Internet connection issues the past couple of days. Hopefully that should be cleared up later today. This has worked my last nerve!

Three Cheers for Porn!

With all the blather from religious conservatives trying to impose their prudish values on the rest of society, its rare that you get someone who is willing to stand up and express something to the contrary... Today is one of those days! Glenn Reynolds, a columnist over at MSNBC/Slate, recently noted a stunning trend -- since the 1970s, rape has decreased by 85%. Reynold suggests that this remarkable drop and the simultaneous proliferation of porn in America are no coincidence. While some over the years, including the Meese Commission, argued that porn encouraged rape, Reynolds argues that the emerging ubiquity of porn appears to have had the opposite effect.

Its about time that someone in the media has picked up on this -- having an outlet for sexuality is ultimately a good thing. Its when we repress ourselves when we really start creating big problems. While we're a long way from a society that can openly discuss and address sexuality, the rise (pun indended) has been a good first step.

RTK2006!

New on EcheRadio -- Respect the Kat 2006!

I Heart My Snake

One of the intellectual wuderkind on Fox News recently suggested that allowing gay marriage would lead to marriage with animals, highlighted by a recent report from India of a woman marrying a snake. Stephen Colbert from Comedy Central takes aim...

Return of the Midweek Beef Haiku! (Yarrrrrrr!)

Search the seven seas
Always looking for booty....
I'm a butt pirate!

Stoned In Love

I've always been a big fan of Chicane -- Strong In Love is one of my all time favorite songs. Its been a while since Chicane came out with anything new and I was surprised to see that they had Tom Jones on vocals. Honestly, I was really turned off when I saw that but I broke down and actually listened to the track. OMG, I would have never have believed that Tom Jones could not only be not-cheezy, but be part of a full-on great track. To boot, this song really struck a chord in me -- something about the sentiment of feeling "love's weight in stone" that pretty much sums up how I've been feeling lately. Check this video out!

Jail Bait

A few years ago I ended up watching the movie Camp, and I was somewhat alarmed because I took quite a shine to Daniel Letterle, who played Vlad in the movie. I'm not really the type to moon over the real young ones, so this was quite out of character for me. Flash forward to now -- Now Letterle is in The Mostly Unfabulous Social Life Of Ethan Green, a new gay romantic comedy making the film festival circuit. I haven't had the chance to see it yet but the cast includes Meredith Baxter (from Family Ties), which is a big plus. I have friends who are rather dubious about the whole gay cinema phenomenon -- I can't deny that some of it is awful; miniscule budgets will do that, after all. Still, I think its great that I can reinforce my unrealistic relationship expectations with a gay romantic comedy. Even if movies like this aren't exactly prizewinning material, its nice to be able to spend some time where our lives are center stage instead of being marginalized by another right-wing "pro-family" group.

Oil of Olay

I was shocked to see this recent picture of Luke Perry in an article about his new show on NBC, Windfall. He has not aged well, I'm afraid. I have to admit that I used to get the biggest hard on for him back in his 90210 days. Of course, time waits for no man and it really has taken its toll on poor Luke. Of course, nobody
manages to look young and boyish forever, and I'm actually one of those who prefers men to "boys." Still, there is such a thing as aging gracefully and Luke apparently hasn't learned the tricks of the trade on that front. He could have taken tips from someone who made the transition from hot young actor to devestating mature man -- Matt Dillon. That man just keeps improving over time. Its quite impressive. Unfortunately, I think Luke's days as TV hunk are over.

I Love Tom!

Some more love for Tom Zbikowski. Could his shoulders and arms be any more impressive? I've never been a real big fan of boxing and I'd be lying if I said that Zibby was going to change that. Still, he's quite the hunk. Hopefully this and the shirtless pics of Brady will be the start of a trend of pics of hot, shirtless ND football players. GO IRISH!

More Notre Dame Beef

For those of you who've been following my blog, you know that I went to school at Notre Dame and whether it was back in my day or today, the school produces more than its share of top-quality, attractive men. Of course, at ND the focus is football, so there's always some great specimens on the team at any given time. On the present team, the golden boy is Brady Quinn, who I've featured shirtless a couple of times -- in fact, that's the #1 search leading to my blog here.

While Brady has the looks and the body, he's not the only hot one on the team. In fact, a friend of mine alerted me to today's USA Today, which had a major article on safety Tom Zbikowski (pictured right) and his boxing career. In many respects, Zibby is the anti-Brady -- while Brady's preparing himself to become the top pick in next year's NFL Draft, Zibby's working on beating the crap out of people.

These pictures give you a great feel for Zibby -- tough, sweaty and DAMN HOT. Of course, I've never met either of the guys and wouldn't ever expect to, but hey, we can all dream, right?

(Career) Death of a Baldwin

Remember in Clueless where Alicia Silverstone refers to attractive guys as "Baldwins?" Remember when it seemed like the Baldwin family would infiltrate every corner of Hollywood, at least until they were cut down in the South Park movie? Those days appear to be long gone.

I was flipping channels late this evening and ran across a rerun of Will & Grace airing on Lifetime. Of course, Lifetime has always been "Television for women (and gay men)," but it appears that its approaching the gayness level of Logo, with Will & Grace appearing approximately every other hour.

Anyway, I digress. Anyone who's seen even the smallest snippet of Lifetime knows that its also well known for its made for cable specials -- essentially two movies with infinite permutations: 1) Not Until The Dingo Eats My Daughter - Something takes mother's child... ex-husband, escaped convict, deranged wildebeast... determined mother won't rest until she gets child back, even without the help of the authorities and; 2) Reverse Fatal Attraction - Wife hooks up with someone, he's a psycho and threatens to destroy her family.

Essentially, appearance in a Lifetime special marks the nadir of your acting career. So, as Will & Grace went to commercial, I was shocked to see that Billy Baldwin was starring as the psycho lover in Lifetime's newest special. This was almost as difficult to accept as seeing Alec since he's put on all that weight. A tragedy indeed.

Eartha!

Could I love Eartha Kitt any more? Yes, I know that makes me gayer than gay, but how can you not love this woman? She's been through it all and did it with style and class. ROWR!

Full Service!