Author Topic: In the New Yorker...  (Read 1922174 times)

Offline serious crayons

  • BetterMost Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 22,711
Re: In the New Yorker...
« Reply #570 on: November 12, 2012, 11:40:10 pm »
Absolutely. As soon as that issue arrived and I saw that article, I dropped all my other New Yorkers to read it.

It read like it could be an excerpt from a book. It's so amazing how much has changed for gay people (and black people, and women) over the course of our lifetimes.


I am pretty behind on my New Yorker reading, but not hopelessly. Recently I reread the fiction "The Semplica Girl Diaries" by George Saunders. It is haunting and grows on you. It's a diary written by a well meaning but financially strapped dad and is set in the near future, so it's a little sci-fi. Anybody else read it?

I haven't read that yet, but I will. Love George Saunders.


Offline Jeff Wrangler

  • BetterMost Supporter!
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 31,165
  • "He somebody you cowboy'd with?"
Re: In the New Yorker...
« Reply #571 on: November 13, 2012, 10:18:35 am »
I am pretty behind on my New Yorker reading, but not hopelessly. Recently I reread the fiction "The Semplica Girl Diaries" by George Saunders. It is haunting and grows on you. It's a diary written by a well meaning but financially strapped dad and is set in the near future, so it's a little sci-fi. Anybody else read it?

I have not.

I'm now working my way through the issue (Oct. 29 & Nov. 5) with the cover cartoon of Mitt Romney getting the tatoos of all this former positions crossed off.

It's interesting to read articles intended for before the election after the election.  :)
"It is required of every man that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellow-men, and travel far and wide."--Charles Dickens.

Offline Jeff Wrangler

  • BetterMost Supporter!
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 31,165
  • "He somebody you cowboy'd with?"
Re: In the New Yorker...
« Reply #572 on: November 14, 2012, 02:08:14 pm »
I'm reading George Packer's profile of Jeff Connaughton in the Oct. 29--Nov. 5 issue. I have not yet finished reading the article. In passing the article paints a rather unflattering portrait of Vice President Biden, I believe.

It's also got me wondering whether this Connaughton guy is gay. The article seems conspicuously silent on his personal life, and it also strikes me as ... unusual ... for someone who "played" at the level in Washington that Connaughton did to be unmarried (to a woman, I mean).

Not that Connaughton's sexuality matters, of course. I'm just sayin'.
"It is required of every man that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellow-men, and travel far and wide."--Charles Dickens.

Offline serious crayons

  • BetterMost Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 22,711
Re: In the New Yorker...
« Reply #573 on: November 15, 2012, 11:35:47 am »
It's also got me wondering whether this Connaughton guy is gay. The article seems conspicuously silent on his personal life, and it also strikes me as ... unusual ... for someone who "played" at the level in Washington that Connaughton did to be unmarried (to a woman, I mean)

I recently used similar logic to argue to my son that Keanu Reeves is gay. A handsome, A-list actor who has been famous since the 1980s, and I've never seen him linked to any woman; in fact, his entire personal life is far more obscure and low-profile than other actors of roughly his age/fame/level of attractiveness: Matthew McConaughey, Jake Gyllenhaal, Ryan Reynolds, Robert Downey Jr., Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell, Ashton Kutcher,Tom Cruise, Bruce Willis, Ben Affleck, Dennis Quaid, Matt Damon, Brad Pitt, Mark Ruffalo, George Clooney, etc. etc.

In all of those cases, I have heard of at least one wife or girlfriend (couldn't necessarily name them, but at least am aware of their existence). That doesn't prove the star in question is NOT gay (cough Tom Cruise cough); it just shows that the modern celebrity media usually keep us at least vaguely posted on stars' romantic involvements. If they've done that with Keanu, I missed it.

I guess there are a few other male stars with similarly low-profile private lives -- John Cusack, and um, well, I'm sure there are others. Maybe they're gay, or maybe in some cases the media/public just aren't that interested for one reason or another. With Keanu, I'm pretty sure it's the former, FWIW.



Online southendmd

  • Town Administration
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 18,962
  • well, I won't
Re: In the New Yorker...
« Reply #574 on: November 15, 2012, 02:56:10 pm »
I always thought Keanu was a robot.  Maybe he's a gay robot.

Offline serious crayons

  • BetterMost Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 22,711
Re: In the New Yorker...
« Reply #575 on: November 15, 2012, 04:10:05 pm »
I always thought Keanu was a robot. 

I guess that's another possible explanation for the lack of celebrity-media information about his private life. When he's not making a movie they turn him off and pack him away in a ... um, closet.




Offline Monika

  • BetterMost Moderator
  • BetterMost 5000+ Posts Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 6,587
  • We are all the same. Women, men, gay, straight
Re: In the New Yorker...
« Reply #576 on: November 15, 2012, 04:23:32 pm »
Gotta say that Keanue Reeves doesn´t show up on my gaydar.

Offline serious crayons

  • BetterMost Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 22,711
Re: In the New Yorker...
« Reply #577 on: November 15, 2012, 08:05:17 pm »
Gotta say that Keanue Reeves doesn´t show up on my gaydar.

Wow, that's either some pretty well-tuned gaydar or some pretty bad acting, if it can penetrate the heterosexual role an actor is playing.


Offline Front-Ranger

  • BetterMost Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 30,288
  • Brokeback got us good.
Re: In the New Yorker...
« Reply #578 on: November 15, 2012, 10:25:38 pm »
I have a bad cold so I'm settling down with Demeter by Maile Meloy in the latest issue. If I make it through that, I'll go to Cloud Atlas.
"chewing gum and duct tape"

Offline Monika

  • BetterMost Moderator
  • BetterMost 5000+ Posts Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 6,587
  • We are all the same. Women, men, gay, straight
Re: In the New Yorker...
« Reply #579 on: November 16, 2012, 01:19:53 am »
Wow, that's either some pretty well-tuned gaydar or some pretty bad acting, if it can penetrate the heterosexual role an actor is playing.


Now, you do understand  "gaydar" isn´t an exact science, do you not? 8)

the heterosexual role an actor is playing.


that´s a pretty bold statment