Jiminy Kick-it!

During many summertime evenings, hundreds of "young professionals" in the District put on brightly colored t-shirts and gather in front of monuments and museums to keep alive a cherished childhood pastime: kickball. Sure, when you were in grade school the game probably wasn't sponsered by a bar;( and there defintely was no spiked jello as a refreshment) but we still play with big red playground balls. As a bonus, when you're a grownup, no one cares if you have absolutely no athletic ability whatsoever. Especially if you bring the jello. If you play your cards right, you may even get a celebratory lap dance at the bar after the game... (Hey, we're 6-2!)
www.kickball.com/dcconstitution

Three Hours of Dull.

Last Night The Gayrab and I went to see Three Days of Rain. Kids, it's never a good night at the theatre when the highlight of your evening is the Chicken Parm.
Anyway, Julia Roberts-not so much. How can you be from the south and foil a southern accent?
Paul Rudd- slightly better; despite the fact that we had to overcome his Keanu Reeves in Point Break hair during the first act. (We were rewarded after intermission when the rain starts and he finally takes his damn shirt off)
And coming in from left field...Bradley Cooper.
Star of the show. I was charmed by his eleven minute monologue; the gayrab was charmed by a pair of Bass Bucs and and a blue sweater that "left nothing to the imagination". All in all, the rain effect was the highlight of the show. Le Grand Sigh.
-Lethal

This is why God invented ABC.

Yesterday was Flag Day, which is a patriotic miracle of a day for two reasons:

1. It's my anniversary with Roommate. As of yesterday, we've officially been cohabitating for three years. (I know, right? Yay for us!)

2. On this day of saluting our proud country, ABC aired the series finale of the best one-hour drama on network television, "Commander-in-Chief."

Point #2 is really what we're going to be focusing on here, because the creators of this awesome program pulled out every emotional stop for the finale, and this audience-abandoned show went out with a trumpet blast of glory. As the episode opens, we find President Mackenzie Allen (Geena Davis) re-opening a controversial political issue, following the death of a conservative Illinois senator who had blocked it in the past. Was it abortion rights? Gay marriage? Gun control? No, it was the E.R.A. Now, you can tell that this show is fiction when a sitting president finds the issue of guaranteeing- in writing- equal rights for all American women and girls to be a pressing one. I mean, let's face it, who needs to secure a better world for our daughters when there's money to be made and wars to wage, right? But Mac went on the stump for it, and as the hour-long episode ended, the E.R.A was just two states away from being ratified, with the obvious implication that it would pass, and Mac stepped out (after one killer speech/monologue... more on that in a minute) to thunderous applause from a gathered crowd.

Speaker of the House Nathan Templeton (Donald Sutherland), and a number of conservo mouthpiece characters on the show, decried the E.R.A. as uncessary, as an obsolete holdover idea from a different era. Templeton solidifed his hyper-right position, and declared his candidacy for the presidency, setting up a clash of the titans between Mac and he. But in their first town hall meeting on the issue, Mac calmly, with complete control, brought the issue down to the most human level... Having the first female president doesn't negate the issue, because it's not about American women who are already well-monied or opinionated or looked-after. It's about working mothers who earn 74 cents to a man's dollar, which is the current reality in America.

I have nothing but the utmost hugs for ABC, Geena Davis, and the "Commander-in-Chief" creators for sending this great series off with such a battle cry of an episode. I caught Roommate crying buckets. (I was in a red velvet cake-induced coma, so I couldn't register emotions.) I'd let my tear ducts flow if the American public would snap to and realize that a progressive, human series like this one- with a progressive, human agenda- is JUST what we need right now.

Way to go, guys. Way to go.
KEVIN :-)

Is today the best day of my life?

Coffee may cut alcohol liver damage

CHICAGO, Illinois (Reuters) -- Could Irish coffee be the perfect drink?

Researchers report that drinking coffee cuts the risk of cirrhosis of the liver from alcohol -- by 22 percent per cup each day -- but they stopped short of saying doctors should prescribe coffee for that reason.

The report from the Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program in Oakland, California, was based on a look at data from 125,580 people.

"These data support the hypothesis that there is an ingredient in coffee that protects against cirrhosis, especially alcoholic cirrhosis," concluded the report published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

What could cause the apparent protective effect is not clear, the report said.

"Coffee is a complex substance with many potentially biologically active ingredients," the study said. "The fact that coffee is also frequently taken with added cream, milk, sugar or other substances adds more possibilities for health effects."

Other studies with similar findings have led to speculation that caffeine could play a role. However, the protective effect was not found among tea drinkers, though the authors said they were not nearly as numerous in the study as coffee users.

The report did not suggest alcohol users increase their coffee consumption or seek out drinks like Irish coffee that combine booze with coffee.

"Even if coffee is protective, the primary approach to reduction of alcoholic cirrhosis is avoidance or cessation of heavy alcohol drinking," the researchers said.

In Praise of Beauty (WARNING: This post contains mild hyperbole)

Last night, my gorgeous, talented roommate and I celebrated her birthday (3 weeks after the fact) by going to see Kathy Griffin, easily the funniest woman on the planet Earth, who was playing live at the Nokia Theatre in Times Square. Clearly, Kathy's demographic is pretty damn gay, so I should have looked better. (My skin was blotchy, and though my new hair is KICK ASS, I just looked a little dump-ba-dump.) I should have been more in "Gotta get a boyfriend!" mode, and I should have seen it coming that this night would result in me coming face to face with the most beautiful man of all time.

OK. So Roommate and I are walking in to the lovely theatre (which I really do like v.v. much), when she squeezes my arm, and says, "Kevin. Kevin. Kevin. Kevin." I turn to my right, and there he is, descending to his Front Orchestra seats (oh, they put chairs in, btw). Project Runway Season 2 contestant DANIEL VOSOVIC. Now, it may have come up on this blog or elsewhere before, but I am in love with this man. I mean... He's amazing. I feel a literal deep, abiding affection for him, to say nothing of how spellbindingly attracted to him I am. Anyway, I could literally feel the blood drain from my body, and as we went to our seats, I def began to hyperventilate. (I am SO serious. My crush on him is THAT pathetic.) But then Kathy Griffin went on, did two hours of the funniest shit I've ever heard in my life, and thank jeebus I didn't see Vos again on the way out. I couldn't have handled it. Am I a pussy? Should I have said hi? I mean, I really want to end up marrying him, but I think I might have crapped all over myself if I'd gotten within 5 feet of him.

C'mon, guys. If we all pool our contacts, we can get me a date with Vosovic, right? We TOTES can!! It's my American Dream!!

Fonda-ly, KEVIN :-)

When it rains, it pours. And when it suns, I blog.

So I think it's painfully obvious that despite an '06 resolution to write on this damn blog every day, it just hasn't happened. Please excuse the monstrous absence (A MONTH!!! AAAHHH!!!) Well, I'm back for now to share some photos from an amazing day that I had. Kate and I went to the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens, so... Enjoy.

Now, that's a Birthday Cake of a Different Color...

I think this photo pretty much sums up my bday festival on Sat evening.
You know things are going well when candles are placed in a giant vat of vodka-filled jello...



For the record, I'm still 24 for another 22 hours and 47 minutes...

"Now you go feed those hogs before they worry themselves into anemia!"

That is an actual quote from The Wizard of Oz. That Auntie Em. What a character.
I heart the IMDB. (which also told me Basic Instinct 2 made a paltry 3.2 million this weekend, and that in NY and DC they are pulling the trailer for that god awful 9/11 movie, which I totally agree with...But I digress...) Anyway, the reason I needed a Wizard of Oz quote is that DC is currently under a TORNADO WARNING. How is that possible? Tornados are supposed to happen to people in red states, people on farms, people who...know what the hell your supposed to do in a tornado. (Low ground I think, right?) At any rate, if Bill Paxton drives by and cows start flying around I'll let you know.
Although, a tornado just might take all the cherry blossoms off the trees, which may make the 17 million tourists currently clogging up the metro go home. That would be nice.
In other news, a week from tomorrow I will be closer to thirty than twenty. I'm accepting condolences and donations of fine spirits and wine. Speaking of which, that makes my bday party co-host, Paul, 25 today. Alles Gute zum Geburtstag, mein Liebschen!
Finally- this blog officially has over three hundred posts.
Kevin, what does that say about us?
-Lethal.

BROOKLYNITES, finally, again.

SUCCESS!

Kate and I are Ft. Greene residents. Nothing has broken. We're alive.

Yay.