Lewis Unlikely This Week

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NJ Gay Marriage Ruling Unlikely This Week | 365gay.com

[Chief Justice Deborah Poritz’s] last day on the bench will be Wednesday and both supporters and opponents of gay marriage have said they believe the ruling would be issued before then.

But the court Tuesday on its Web site said that no rulings are expected on Wednesday. That also makes it unlikely any decision will be issued this week.

Some legal analysts now suggest the court will not deliver a ruling before next month’s election out of concerns it could influence, one way or another, the outcome. They point to the ruling on same-sex marriage handed down in Massachusetts which came more than a week after the 2004 election.

If true, this would be a relief. No need to give Republicans a cudgel right now.

Lewis This Week?

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New York Times | Speculation on Gay Marriage Ruling Swirls in New Jersey

Will the New Jersey Supreme Court issue its same-sex marriage decision this week?

Maybe not.

This in-depth article from tomorrow’s New York Times states that although Chief Justice Deborah Poritz retires on Thursday, the case doesn’t have to be announced by then. A retired justice can apparently vote and write opinions in cases that he or she took part in hearing. The decision could be announced after Election Day – perhaps way after Election Day. Apparently a recent decision in another case was issued 20 months after oral arguments. (It’s been only eight months since oral arguments in Lewis, the marriage case.)

Also from the article: “the small circle of obsessive court-watchers here are stuck staring at the Supreme Court’s Web site, www.judiciary.state.nj.us/supreme/index.htm, where a list of decisions to be issued the next day is posted each weekday at 10 a.m.”

TV 2006

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As I’ve said before, I used to watch very little TV, but once Matt and I got together, I fell under his evil influence. His TiVonfluence. Whatever. Anyway, thanks to Matt, I now watch much more TV than I used to. Fortunately, the TiVo lets us skip the commercials, so our watching is more efficient. Here’s a rundown of what I’ve/we’ve been watching, night by night, since the new season began.

Sunday:

Desperate Housewives – Season 3. I watch this out of habit. I could probably stop. But I won’t.

Monday:

How I Met Your Mother – Season 2. My favorite sitcom on TV. I love the cast, I love the writing, I love the twists that occur, and even though it’s filmed in Hollywood, it captures New York better than Friends ever did. And the cast is half-Jewish – Josh Radnor (Ted), Jason Segel (Marshall), and half of Alyson Hannigan (Lily) (Alyson’s mother is Jewish).

The New Adventures of Old Christine – Season 1.5. I love Julia Louis-Dreyfus on this show and I love the character she plays. Christine has poor judgment and always “goes there” when nobody else would. She’s so cringeworthy. That’s why I love it. The episode last season where she shook her chest at potential dates was priceless.

Prison Break – Season 2. I like how they’ve moved away from the prison setting this year. It makes the show fresher. And they keep randomly killing people off, so you never know who’s going to survive from week to week. So much suspense, this show.

Vanished – Season 1. Well, I was watching this, but in the most recent episode, they killed off the main character, played by Gale Harold, and while his replacement, Eddie Cibrian, is nice to look at, his character seems like he’s going to be trashy and boring. Plus it’s moving to Fridays, when other stuff is on. I’m dropping it.

Heroes – Season 1. This is the biggest surprise for me. I wasn’t expecting much from this, and I didn’t even watch it right away, but then we downloaded the first couple of episodes and watched them and I immediately got caught up in it. I really enjoy this show. It’s like a comic book. It keeps me watching. (We don’t actually watch this on Mondays; we watch the repeats on Friday nights on the Sci-Fi Channel because it conflicts with something on Mondays.)

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip – Season 1. Sigh. This is the biggest disappointment of the season for me. I was expecting so much – perhaps too much. The main problems with this show: (1) The sketches aren’t funny. (2) Harriet, Sarah Paulson’s character, isn’t funny. (3) Harriet and Matt (Matthew Perry) lack chemistry, and there’s too much focus on them. (4) Nobody really tries to get comedy writers’ autographs in real life. (5) Nobody really cares if network presidents have drunk driving convictions in real life, because (6) late-night comedy is just not as fraught with consequences as the American presidency and I can’t bring myself to care. I’ll probably keep watching, but the show just isn’t working for me. The main problem is that I miss The West Wing and I wanted this show to replace it. It’s not happening.

Tuesday:

Veronica Mars – Season 3. Near-perfect writing and acting. Weevil working on the campus is a bit contrived, but I can deal with that. Kristen Bell: television goddess.

Wednesday:

30 Rock – Season 1. Another pleasant surprise. I wasn’t sure what to expect from this, but the two episodes so far have been hilarious. It has a twisted Arrested Development sensibility to it. I love the goofy, grinning NBC page who shows up everywhere in his navy blue blazer.

Justice – Season 1. Victor Garber as an arrogant, high-powered lawyer. I wasn’t planning to watch this, because I don’t usually watch procedurals, but we happened to catch the season premiere and were drawn in. It’s fun. Not a must-see, but fun. I could dump it if necessary.

Lost – Season 3. One of the highlights of my week, TV-wise. Some people say they don’t reveal enough of the mystery from week to week, but that’s okay with me. I can just watch the show and enjoy the ride. So far it’s not quite up to last year’s suspense level. I miss the hatch, with its retro-70s environment, and I’m not too fond of the Others’ plot so far, but hey – it’s Lost. I trust the writers.

The Nine – Season 1. Very intriguing so far. It’s on right after Lost, but we’re usually drained at the end of Lost and don’t want to spoil the mood, so we watch it a couple of days later. I can watch Scott Wolf for hours…

Thursday:

Smallville – Season 6. It’s so-so, but I’ve watched it for five years and I’ll keep doing so. I don’t mind laughing at it when ridiculous plot holes develop, as they often do. And I’ll never like Lana. Justin Hartley has been playing the Oliver Queen, a.k.a. the Green Arrow, lately. He makes me quiver. Get it? Never mind…

Ugly Betty – Season 1. I’ve only seen one episode so far, but I really enjoyed it. It conflicts with something, so we download it.

Friday:

Battlestar Galactica – Season 3. Like no other show on TV. An incredible season so far, even if my brain always has to work hard to keep up with what’s happening.

Theater Talk, a show on New York’s local PBS station. Great way to keep up with the latest Broadway happenings. Hosted by Michael Riedel of the New York Post and Susan Haskins. The best episodes are the ones where they have a panel that includes columnist Michael Musto. He’s such a bitchy queen. I love him.

Saturday:

Saturday Night Live – Season 32! Fortunately, with TiVo, we can breeze through this in about 45 minutes.

So, that’s the TV we watch every week. I’ve also caught The Class, Two and a Half Men, and Brothers and Sisters occasionally. And Matt actually watches a couple of other things I don’t watch.

It strikes me now that this is all rather pathetic.

I do, in fact, have a life.

Honest…

Dallas Voice

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Dallas Voice | New Jersey ruling could be blockbuster

Quotes from an article about New Jersey’s pending gay marriage decision:

Conventional wisdom says the New Jersey Supreme Court will decide whether or not to legalize same-sex marriage on or before Wednesday…. But conventional wisdom has been wrong before.

True. But conventional wisdom is usually right.

Unlike Massachusetts, New Jersey does not have a residency requirement, so a door that opens in the Garden State will be open to all Americans. Surely hundreds of couples will make a beeline to the state, and just as surely the far right will fire up the engines on its next backlash machine.

That’s also true – and a reason why I’m worried.

The mainstream press appears oblivious to this impending development, so expect the ink to flow and the strings to pull out of the chatty Cathys on the cable news channels as reporters and analysts suddenly come to grips with a decision that has been in the works since February.

Again, true. The New Jersey case seems to be very much under the media’s radar. It’ll be fun to watch all the breathless analysis.

R.I.P. Anna Russell

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Anna Russell, the “prima donna of operatic parody,” has died. This is one entertaining obituary.

Ms. Russell gave a number of explanations for why her ambitions changed from being a serious singer to being a serious satirist. Ms. Russell said that one factor was that when she was 16, bones in her face were broken by a hockey stick: “That ruined my acoustic.”

…

The main inspirational trauma for her career may have been a British touring company production of Mascagni’s “Cavalleria Rusticana,” in which she sang Santuzza as a substitute. The tenor, who was supposed to shove her, did not expect her considerable girth and fell backward. She herself then tripped and literally brought the house down, the sets collapsing to the accompaniment of an audience roaring with laughter.

TTT:CR

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Two Towers Complete Recordings cover image

Coming Tuesday, November 7: The Two Towers: The Complete Recordings.

Like The Fellowship of the Ring: The Complete Recordings, it consists of three CDs, holding the complete soundtrack of the movie – just over three hours of music – as well as a DVD-audio disc containing the entire sountrack. I own the first recording and I’m looking forward to this one as well.

Here’s the track listing.

Here’s the press release.

Whither Lewis?

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Why is the New Jersey Supreme Court taking so long to issue a decision in Lewis v. Harris, the same-sex marriage case? The word is that the decision will be announced by October 25 (eight days from now), the day before Chief Justice Deborah Poritz reaches mandatory retirement age and must step down. That’s just 13 days before election day.

Same-sex marriage hasn’t been a galvanizing issue for Republicans in this election cycle, but a decision from New Jersey’s high court in favor of it could certainly make it one. New Jersey has a relatively liberal high court compared to other states; the New Jersey Supreme Court, after all, is the body that ruled that the Boy Scouts had to let in gays, before that decision was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court. New Jersey is more likely than New York or Washington to issue a pro-gay-marriage decision.

The court heard oral arguments in the case in February. That was eight months ago. The U.S. Supreme Court doesn’t take this long to issue decisions. Why are state courts taking this long? New York took a long time to issue its marriage decision, and Washington State took fifteen months. Courts must be aware that the issue is a big hot gay potato, and perhaps the judges take time to craft their language. (That doesn’t explain the shoddy workmanship and thinking behind the anti-same-sex opinion in New York, though.)

I want the decision to be announced already. Enough is enough.

Rejected New Yorker Cartoons

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Possible new book purchase, or at least perusal: The Rejection Collection: Cartoons You Never Saw, and Never Will See, in The New Yorker.

So I decided to collect the best rejects from a number of my friends and colleagues — all regular New Yorker cartoonists, but all of whom, like me, have nine out of 10 of their submissions rejected. I gathered them together into a book, “The Rejection Collection.”

Why were these particular cartoons rejected? I can’t say for sure. I guess some were too racy, rude or rowdy. Some are too politically incorrect or too weird. A few are probably too dumb.

NYer Annoyance

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Okay, I’m going to complain about something really inconsequential. But that’s okay, because what else is a blog for?

Anyway:

I love the New Yorker, but one thing that annoys me is that each article in the magazine has two different subtitles that are slightly different but essentially the same. The Table of Contents uses one subtitle, and the first page of the an article uses a different subtitle. What’s the point? Why not just use the same subtitle?

Some examples from the current issue:

Murdoch’s Game
Subtitle 1: A mogul’s unpredictable politics.
Subtitle 2: Will he move left in 2008?

It Should Happen to You
Subtitle 1: Fame, the YouTube way.
Subtitle 2: The anxieties of YouTube fame.

Paranoid Style
Subtitle 1: Conspiracy-theory journalism since 9/11.
Subtitle 2: How conspiract theories become news.

The Crusader
Subtitle 1: A magazine editor takes on the monarchy.
Subtitle 2: A Moroccan journalist takes on the King.

Tabloid Days
Subtitle 1: A gutter-press apprenticeship.
Subtitle 2: An apprenticeship in the gutter.

The Formula
Subtitle 1: Could a computer predict movie hits?
Subtitle 2: What if you built a machine to predict hit movies?

I really don’t see the point of this.

In other words:

I’m not sure what the point is.