Today's Mighty Oak


Alright, let’s see what we have today. First up: Star Wars made an appearance at the Olympics figure skating!

Also from the Olympics: judging the fashion of the opening ceremony.

Also also from the Olympics, out skeleton slider Andrew Blaser raced with rainbow tape on his sled!

Randy Rainbow once again hits it out of the park:

Also, to no one’s surprise, gays and lesbians have the highest vaccine rate. It’s like we’ve lived through a plague before…

South Korea now has a walkable roller coaster as an art installation and place to stretch your legs!

That’s it for now, short update, but I’ll be bakc with more soon!



Let’s see what we have today.  First up, this amazing Samsung ad from the Winter Olympics featuring (my fake boyfriend) Gus Kenworthy:

A drag queen dressed as Elsa single handedly pushed a police van out of the snow in Boston.

Emma Gonzales, one of the Parkland survivor, discusses how being bi has influenced her gun violence activism.

And here is Ben Platt and Lin-Manuel Miranda performing their song “Found Tonight” which benefited the March for Our Lives:

Here is the duo performing it at the march itself.

There’s going to be a ‘music only’ cut of The Last Jedi.

Speaking of The Last Jedi, Laura Dern said ‘pew’ every time she shot her blaster.

There’s a new trailer for the next Fantastic Beasts movie.  And the upcoming Avengers movie.

Won’t You Be My Neighbor?:

All of Wes Anderson’s protagonists ranked by how quirky they are.



Alright, let’s see what we have today!  First up, The Department of Education will no longer investigate complains from trans students.  Heartless.

At my old job I celebrated Bow Tie Tuesdays, here is a history of the bow tie!

I did not realize HBO was making a Fahrenheit 451 movie:

Also in movie news, two kids literally tried hiding under a trench coat as one person to get in to see Black Panther and my life has been made!

One man ate all the food from The Lord of the Rings as a tribute to his late father.

NBC straight-washed the opening ceremony, and it’s a problem.  Gus Kenworthy was with Adam Rippon and Shawn White almost the entire time, and never once was the fact that Gus or Adam are gay came up, although both were some of the highest profile athletes of the games.

But, speaking of, Gus’ tweet from the opening ceremony was wonderful.  And the kiss he shared with his boyfriend, aired on TV, and that’s really huge.

The Smithsonian unveiled the official portraits of the Obamas, and they are stunning.

Randy Rainbow is back and as good as ever:

I’m all for the queering of the Oscars.  In particular, Gus Kenworthy and his boyfriend looking to ‘connect’ with Ricky Martin and his husband, and Adam Rippon in his harness tux.

As a reminder, it’s never been about cake (or wedding dresses).  Just like it was never about water fountains, seats on a bus or a group’s work ethic.  It’s about bigotry.  A Pennsylvania bridal store will close, rather then sell dresses to lesbians.

But of course, the Republicans are back with a push to legalize anti-gay discrimination across the country.

HUD has removed all anti-discrimination language from its policies and website.

And just in case you wanted to see how bad it really is.  Here is a list of everything the current administration has done to roll back all the rights we’ve fought for.  This is why it’s so important to vote in every single election.  Our work is not done and these are real policies wreaking havoc on people.

Also, on a stupid note, Republicans in South Carolina want non-straight marriages to be called ‘parody marriage.’  Because apparently not only are they evil, bigoted, heartless bastards, they’re also children.

But, it’s not all doom and gloom, I promise.  As always, children will save us:

And a federal appeals court has ruled that the civil rights act applies to anti-gay discrimination, which is a great step!

And in a touching moment, survivors of both Parkland and Pulse meet in solidarity:

That’s it for today, have a great one!



Alright, let’s see what we have today, first up, amazing wood-carved nintendo cartridges!  That you can really play!

Two Political Junkies fixed a recent Post-Gazette headline.

Speaking of Pittsburgh, there is going to be a Mr. Rogers biopic!  I am so, so excited about this!

My favorite Super Bowl ads were from Tide:

Philadelphia Eagles flocked to a bar called ‘The Eagle’ due to its name.  Here’s a hint, if there’s a bar named ‘The Eagle,’ chances are it’s a gay leather bar.

Speaking of the Super Bowl, Deadpool live tweeted it.

And speaking of Ryan Reynolds, as much as I’m against the remake, he will be staring in the new Clue, which I think he’ll do well in.

An amazingly cute and heartwarming story of a woman who called a gay bar after her son came out to her.

The new Harry Potter movies are hiding the fact that Dumbledore is supposed to be gay, and it’s bullshit.

There is going to be a Harry Potter cruise however.

The Olympics may be over, but this video will be with us forever:

I’m calling bullshit on the ‘gay Porgs’ in Star Wars.  The fact that this is a multibillion dollar franchise so embedded into our culture and we get gay background animals if we squint and know some obscure fact, instead of actual representation is humiliating.  LucasFilm and Disney can do better.

Bermuda has rescinded their marriage equality, much like California did with Prop 8.

Trulia now shows you the rights you’ll have as a queer person when looking at homes on the market.  Our rights are a patchwork and it can be really confusing remembering what rights I have where, so this is a really nice feature, but so sad that it’s needed.

A California court has sided with an anti-gay baker.  I will remind you that this is not really about cake.  It’s about basic human dignity.  And the fact that I have to worry about what hospital and doctors I see, because they can turn me away.  It’s about the fact that funeral homes can turn loved ones away all by citing religious freedom.  It’s about bigotry.

And research has showed that acceptance of the queer community has actually dropped.  Less than half of the adults surveyed are comfortable with my existence.  Neat.

Alright, that’s it for now, go back and watch those Olympians strip down!



Alright, let’s see what’s been going on.  First up, did you know that Harry Potter makes you more understanding of others?  It’s true!

Joseph Gorden Levitt writes about Star Wars: The Last Jedi (spoilers,obviously).

Like me, do you need a chart to see who owns the rights to which superhero?  Well this chart is handy (but won’t be accurate for long, I’m sure).

Super Mario Bros. in ragtime:

These are really bad times for queer people.  Just recently, the federal government has taken steps to allow doctors to deny services to anyone because they’re part of the LGBT community.

A new study has shown that 40% of LGBT high school students have considered suicide due to bullying because they’re queer.

The majority of people still think it’s okay for businesses to discriminate against queer people.  And the Supreme Court denied an appeal and Mississippi’s law allowing businesses to discriminate is able to stand.

Waste of oxygen and poor excuse for a human being, Mike Pence, will officially lead the US Olympic delegation and openly gay figure skater Adam Rippon is having none of it.

And in other slightly better news, Senator Doug Jones’ son, who is gay, stared down Mike Pence at his father’s swearing in and it made my day.

Here’s the Star Wars Cantina Theme played with pencil and paper, writing out a math equation:

In better news, a new ruling from the International Court of the Americas (didn’t know that was a thing) is bringing marriage equality to a lot of different countries (potentially)

And new year’s resolutions for gay men (and everyone, in some cases).  And speaking of resolutions, Surviving the World has a great coming about them.

Watch a Katana disappear.  Makes me think of the novel, “The 50 Year Sword”

Quite possibly the best thing ever, a T-Rex conducts the Jurassic Park theme music.

Pittsburgh non-profits come out hard against the PG and it’s owner’s racist editorial, published on MLK Day.

And finally, a great little comic about our place in the universe.



Half a world apart, two interconnected stories have emerged.  The treatment of LGBT individuals in sport, and in the broader world, is one being examined with the coming out of Michael Sam and the games of the Sochi Olympics.

Even spaces created to be safe havens for the LGBT community, both physical 2 and online 3, are now being targeted.  A ninth grade girl was found guilty of violating the ban on progpganda and was placed on an offender list and was subsequently beaten by her father, landing her in the hospital with head wounds 4, just for coming out to her classmates.

Recent documentaries about the subject show hope for the Russian people, even from the Russian LGBT community.  In the face of such adversity, they wish to stay to fight for their cause, knowing that changing hearts and minds comes about from knowing out gay people.

But sadly, that won’t heal that ninth-grade girls head.  It won’t heal those targeted by “morality patrols,” or other vigilantes.  It won’t heal those who trusted in the basic decency of humanity and were instead met with hatred and broken bones.

The day of the opening ceremony brought more than 60 arrests across Russia of LGBT activists.  The IOC defended the arrests and beatings 5 and Rachel Maddow gives a great and concise report here.  Few other protests were held, but the arrests (and then dumping in the wilderness) were defended by the IOC 6.

The Google Doodle that is referenced was in place for two days and mentions both Principle 4 and Principle 6 of the Olympic Charter.  Principle 6 7 reads:

Sport does not discriminate on grounds of race, religion, politics, gender or otherwise.

In response to the Russian law, as well as the IOC’s utter refusal to stand up for basic human dignity, a few athletes have taken matters, literally, into their hands with protests on mittens 8.  The Canaidan Institute of Diversity and Inclusion produced this tongue-in-cheek video and the US State Department’s clip promoting the games and the athletes made sure to include sexual diversity 9.

And back here in the United States, we are now looking at the distinct possibility of the first openly gay NFL player.

Sports has always had a place in culture as one of the last bastions of homophobia, at least male professional sports.  Since women are already “subverting their traditional roles” by being athletes, lesbian professionals in sports seemingly make sense.  In at least some sort of backwards psychosis type of way.

So a gay male player, in the most popular of the “big four” sports, is a huge deal.  And that player may be Michael Sam.  While Jason Collins came out last year, he is at (or near, although he was practicing with the Nets recently) the end of his career, so seemingly what progress was made with him, came to a sudden stop.  Well that escalated quickly.  Jason Collins signed a 10-day contract with the New York Nets, and on Sunday became the first openly gay man to play in one of the big four sports.  And as we’re finding out, the owner of the Nets is Russian, and a political opponent of Putin 10, so the contract may have been partially a political move.

Michael Sam on the other hand, is well respected by press, his teammates, coaches and his entire school.  He was out to his team this entire year, leading them as a captain to a season with only one loss and capped by a victory in the Cotton Bowl.  And he’s about to enter the NFL draft process.

A few collegiate athletes voiced their concerns 13, some were punished, others were not, but I have a feeling that in the long run, those that judge Sam on his sexuality instead of his athletic proess will be left behind in the dust of history.But this seemingly upending of the heteronormativity of the NFL has brought the bigots out of the woodwork.  Both Jon Stewart 11 and an eloquent Texan sportscaster12 have pointed out the hyprociticy of a league and a public that would rather have murders, assailants, dog fighters and a parade of other criminals instead of a well-behaved gay man.

Sam’s own father, who, admitedly, was not involved in his life, came out with a confusing and hatefilled statement, claiming that he does not think the NFL should have any gay players, but he still wants his son to be able to play professionally 14.  Honestly, I can’t wrap my mind around that, and thinking about the mental gymnastics he is putting himself through hurts.

But for the majority of us, we will never compete in an NFL stadium.  We will never have a chance to win gold for our home country.  But this is a situation that affects us all:

A news flash for every straight man out there: You’ve been naked in front of a gay man.

This is not the end of the world, some sort of chemical imbalance being brought into your sacred locker room space or even open “hunting season” for straight men.  As Frank Bruni of the New York Times continues, if a gay man happens to be next to you after the showers, a squeal is probably not the correct reaction 15

What I think has been the most interesting aspect of this, and the Jason Collins story, is the resistance set up by some corners of society.  And here’s the big secret: straight people don’t get to tell the gay community what’s news to us.

Of the 3,000 (give or take) professional male athletes on the rosters of the big four, we have yet to have an openly gay one 16.  So yes, this is news.  This is progress.  Announcing he is gay is not shoving it down anyone’s throat any more than every single act of sexual declaration heterosexuals unknowing commit each day: talking about their spouses, dates, children, hand holding, kisses on the cheek, photos of loved ones on their desks.  Yes, there is much more to Michael Sam than his sexuality, as being gay is more than who we sleep with.

This is about love and equality.  The very principles sport is supposed to embody.


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Notes:

  1. http://www.towleroad.com/2014/02/anti-gay-demonstrators-in-sochi-identified-as-americans.html 
  2. http://www.towleroad.com/2014/02/putinsrussia.html 
  3. http://joemygod.blogspot.com/2014/02/did-russia-hack-gay-hook-up-app.html 
  4. http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2014/02/03/teenage-girl-comes-out-to-her-classmates 
  5. http://www.towleroad.com/2014/02/ioc-defends-arrests-and-beating-of-lgbt-activists.html 
  6. http://www.towleroad.com/2014/02/ioc-defends-removal-of-italian-lgbt-activist-vladimir-luxuria-from-sochi-olympic-village.html 
  7. http://www.principle6.org/ 
  8. http://www.towleroad.com/2014/02/maas.html 
  9. http://joemygod.blogspot.com/2014/01/state-department-issues-gay-inclusive.html 
  10. http://joemygod.blogspot.com/2014/02/about-owner-of-brooklyn-nets.html 
  11. http://goodmenproject.com/featured-content/jon-stewart-wins-internet-forever-response-michael-sam-coming-shesaid/ 
  12. http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2014/02/13/sports-commentator-dale-hansen-of-texas-on-michael-sam-and-the-nfl 
  13. http://www.towleroad.com/2014/02/msus-rufus-warren-football-is-a-man-sport-and-being-gay-is-not-a-man.html 
  14. http://www.towleroad.com/2014/02/michael-sams-father-struggling-with-his-sons-sexuality.html 
  15. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/11/opinion/bruni-panic-in-the-locker-room.html?ref=opinion&_r=0 
  16. http://outinleftfieldblog.wordpress.com/2014/02/10/the-straight-persons-guide-on-how-not-to-react-to-the-michael-sam-news/ 


It’s been a while, so I have a lot of fun stuff to share, let’s get started.  First up, amazing facts about frogs:

Holy crap, scientists have invented Lightsabers!

The commissioner of the NBA slams the Olympics for their handling of the Russia LGBT laws.  And speaking of, Brian Brown, head of NOM, worked with Russia lawmakers to draft the legislation working its way through the Duma to forcibly take children from LGBT adults.

And lastly about Russia, a music video about the torture of the Russian church:

Sometimes, grandmothers play one of my favorite games, Cards Against Humanity.  Yeah, weird and creepy, and I would have given her the point for that round.

Just like you can’t open a business and refuse to serve the Irish, or women, or Jews, you can’t flat our refuse to serve the LGBT community.  Unless the Republican party gets it way, of course.

The new trailer for the next Hobbit movie:

You’ve probably seen the Chipotle ad that’s making its way across the Internet, but here is the “truth” version.

Here’s a great essay about the impact Harry Potter has.

And another great essay at the Good Men Project about gay sex.

This will make you smile, I promise:

That’s it for now, have a great one!



Alright, let’s see what we have today.  First up, seriously, it’s not hard.  With very few exceptions, there is nothing, absolutely nothing that your brand can add to the 9/11 conversation. Every marketer should memorize this immediately:

And if you ignore that, this is what happens

And interesting and awesome use for a prison, that saves money.

So check out this trailer for Dan Radcliffe’s new movie.  His accent is jaw-dropping.

It’s a scary and bad situation, but it really does look like Mt. Doom in the SF Bay area:

The head of the Sochi Olympic Games has asked the new head of the IOC for help stopping the criticism of Russia’s anti-LGBT laws, which means, at least I think, they’re starting to feel pressure.

A drone’s view of Burning Man 2013:

That’s it for now, short update today.  Have a great one! 



Alright, larger update now, let’s see what all we have.

First up, P!nk covers Queen:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLia8jCX9Lo

Not that I’m getting married anytime soon, but this looks awesome, hope it comes to Android soon, I so would have done this for my brother’s wedding!

In honor of the Olympics:

Here’s an awesome game, see if you can name the movie character from their famous wardrobe.  I only got one correct.

The answer is no.  I would not swim in this pool:

Awesome, (but confusing to view on a screen as opposed to a printed form) flowchart of alcohol.

Oreo has been doing some awesome ads, this one is no exception:

Pretty neat looking, and cheap, way to build a shelf.

This is just amazing, Edison’s Cradle:

And lastly from ManMadeDIY, a new bicycle that is built of mostly cardboard and very cheap.  Could be a gamechanger in developing nations.

Ceiling Cat is real!  See the proof:

This is what happens when toys get technology.  Lots of fun.

The Tetris light, I’d spend way too much time playing with these each morning:

Holy crap, we’re on Mars!  No seriously, we’re on Mars!

That’s it for now, have a great one!



Hello there everybody, another clearinghouse type article here for you, so enjoy the wonderousness that the Internet has to offer:

This apartment must have been so, freaking expensive:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lg9qnWg9kak

Craigmod takes a look at the current state of eReaders and how we need to move forward.  I really like the idea of collaboration between eReader and their documents.

This was passed around before, and I can’t embed it, but check out how these athletes entertained the crowd during a rain delay at a baseball game.

Looking for Halloween costumes?  Or just a little something for your alter ego?  Look no further than the Brooklyn Superhero Supply Co.


PIXELS by PATRICK JEAN.
Uploaded by onemoreprod. – Discover more animation and arts videos.

I saw this last year, but forgot to post it.  How cool is it that the White House now has a Seder?

This is being billed as London’s Eiffel Tower.  I don’t see it.  At all.  It’s being built for the 2012 London Olympic Games, which more and more, a looking like a disaster (see: the ugly logo):

Would you like to see stories from The Bible acted out by Legos?  Really, who wouldn’t?  Check it out here.

T-shirt war:

I kind of love this Lost alarm clock!  However, I think it would get really annoying every morning.  Also, it only takes batteries, no plug, which is just strange.

Scientists can use giant magnets to make humans ‘less moral.’ So if someone comes up to you and asks for a shady favor, while holding giant magnets near your ears, just say no!

This is a little sad and a little frightening.  Watch out Stephen Colbert:

I’m fairly certain this is better than any lawn gnome ever.

With the recent relaunch of ChatRoulette, here’s an interview with its creator, a 17 year old Russian boy.

This is pretty awesome, a self-sufficient waterfall that creates energy and works as an observation tower for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.  London take note, Brazil is doing it better (but I still won’t go there because of the tornadoes of fire):

IGN has an awesome article refuting the claim that video games can’t be art.  I generally like Ebert and love reading his writing, but this is one thing he’s wrong about.  Make sure to check it out.

Just remember kids, cleavage is wrong.  Especially when it is on a puppet.

Want to hack the internet a little bit to get more traffic to your site?  Try this linkbait generator.  Currently it reads for me: 8 ways Star Trek can save your life in a Plane Crash

Here’s a fun link to sports team’s logos from Middle Earth, I’m partial to this one:

Mennonno sapiens has a great article about the Tea Party.  Check it out if you have a minute.

And we’ve found the primordial ooze.  Cool:

May I introduce you to Butch Bakery.  Kind of awesome.

Or maybe you need to create your own warning sign.  Do it here

That’s it for now, but I’ll be back soon with more.  Have a great one everybody!

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