The Daily Sheet, September 3-16, 2007

[Marge_Innavera]

Monday, September 3, 2007

Gay Marriage In Iowa: Don't Blink or You Might Miss It In a legal free-for-all whose outcome is still uncertain, same-sex marriage was legal in the US State of Iowa for exactly 22.5 hours this week. Sean Fritz and Tim McQuillan were married by  Rev. Mark Stringer, pastor of the First Unitarian Church of Des Moines, and returned the signed license to the courthouse, but other applicants will have to wait for the decision of the Iowa Supreme Court. Another 27 couples will have to wait for a decision by the Iowa Supreme Court.

It all started when the Lambda Legal civil rights organization filed a lawsuit on behalf of six lesbian and gay couples. Several of the plaintiffs had children who were also included as plaintiffs, with Lambda's attorneys arguing that the childrens' constitutional rights were being violated because their parents' inability to marry deprived them of rights and protections associated with having married parents. 

In his August 30th ruling, Robert B. Hanson, a trial judge in Des Moines, Iowa, ruled that the state's [Defense of Marriage Act] "must be nullified, severed and stricken from" the state's marriage laws, which "must be read and applied in a gender neutral manner so as to permit same-sex couples to enter into a civil marriage."  Some of Hanson's remarks were remniscent of the Supreme Court opinions after the Loving vs. Virginia ruling that struck down anti-interracial marriage laws nationwide.  Laws such as DOMA prevented gay citizens from marrying the person of their choosing, Hanson stated, and he referred to the right to marry as a "fundamental right."

Polk County succeeded in getting a stay on the enforcement of the judge's ruling until their appeal. They had argued for the DOMA on five points: "promoting procreation, child rearing by a mother and father in a marriage relationship, promoting stability in opposite-sex relationships, conservation of state and private resources, and promoting traditional marriage."  Hanson decided that Polk had not proven these to be compelling state interests and even if they were, there was no evidence that same-sex marriage would interfere with any of them.

Lytishya and Danielle Borglum, less lucky than Sean and Tim, had told their pastor in Cedar Falls to be ready to marry them when they returned with a marriage license. Now, Lytishya said, "(We) plan to take the application home and pray that things change. Even though it is a setback, it is a step in the right direction."

Thread of the Day Variety reported last month that AMPAS has banned mailings of all "recordings, sheet music (and) music videos of eligible songs or scores to members" for potential Academy Award nominees. The purpose, according to spokesman Ric Robertson, was to "make sure that members are basing their evaluation of scores in the context of the movie. . .  There's always the danger that if one is just listening to the CD, you're obviously not doing that."

"This begs the question," commented greylocke5, in Awards Aftermath.  "If they can ban CDs why not ban screeners, too, and require people to attend actual screenings and be accounted for -- as someone who actually saw the nominated films -- before they can vote? As is now true for foreign films and documentaries." The Variety article also mentioned that "Last year's Babel win was also criticized in some quarters because, in addition to the original Gustavo Santaolalla music, there was music licensed from earlier works and music by other composers." In response, Roland noted that the music in one section of  Babel was the same as in the "I ain't queer" hillside scene of Brokeback.  He wondered if "borrowing from oneself" could result in an award disqualification.

Weddings Yes, Anti-Gay Banquets No

The web page for the "Americans For Truth" organization's  annual banquet described the gathering's purpose as a celebration of "God’s power to transform men and women struggling with homosexuality; and expose the relentless attack on children’s innocence, parental rights and religious freedom by a 'gay/transgender' lobby that seeks to discredit and silence the voice of faith in America." When he contacted the Naperville (Illinois) Holiday Inn Select, executive director, Peter LaBarbera mentioned that the hotel might see "homosexual activists" protesting.  Dennis Igoe, the hotel's general manager, then "took a look at what we had at the hotel on the same evening. We had a wedding in the other ballroom. . . .  For the safety and security of all of our employees and guests, we decided that it is not a function that we wanted to have, based upon the potential of having a protest."  The hotel then asked LaBarbera to find another location.

LaBarbera remarked to OneNewsNow.com  that "when a hotel chain is willing to cancel a Christian group's event, due to a potential protest by a homosexual activist group, it's a sad day in America." He believed that AFT had grounds for a lawsuit but probably would not pursue it because they have "plenty of other things to do."

To send a comment to the Holiday Inn, contact Dennis Igoe General Manager at dennis@naperselect.com  LaBarbera urged supporters to call or email the hotel to protest. Read the rest of the story in PinkNews.

Tales of the Village

People attending the Private group Castro walking tour this month can enjoy a private group tour of the Castro district of San Francisco. Forum member ptannen reports that this is a regular tour conducted by the nonprofit group San Francisco City Guides, and that the tour guides are "well trained and are generally quite interesting, personable, and knowledgeable."  The special Tales of the Village tour is only $12 a person. ptannen emphasizes that "this is NOT the 'gay tour of the Castro' that Trevor Haily gave for many years.  It is a tour of the Castro neighborhood, its history (including becoming a gay mecca), architecture, etc.  The tour is 2 hours long and will probably involve walking up a few small hills, but not a major hike.  It will start near Fuzios at 1:30pm Sunday, September 16 and will return to or near the starting point, so that you will be able to gather at Fuzios on Castro Street with the rest of the larger group at 3:30pm." Visit the Castro Theatre weekend thread for more details.

Castro and Market Streets, 1944

Sources Report: Heath Ledger and Michelle Williams have split
by Stilllearning

Sadly, Us Weekly has reported that Heath Ledger and Michelle Williams have split-up as a couple. The article reports, “A source close to the couple tells US that Heath and Michelle ‘quietly and amicably split' a few weeks ago.” Also reporting this story, The Sydney Morning Herald quotes the source as saying, “The relationship had been rocky recently. They tried very hard to make it work but finally decided to separate. They just grew apart." Health and Michelle, who met while filming Brokeback Mountain in 2004, own a home together in Brooklyn, New York and have a daughter, Matilda, who is 23 months old.  Us Weekly reports, "They have a beautiful daughter and they are both committed to being great parents." There has not been a statement released by Ledger or Williams, or their representatives.

International Pride 

The 9th annual Cardiff-Wales Lesbian & Gay Mardi Gras  was held on Saturday, September 1st on Coopers Field. The Co-Op Main Stage alternated between musical entertainment and speakers from several political parties and from Amnesty International.  Other entertainment was available at the Admiral Cabaret Tent and dancing at the "Inferno Dance" tent. For more serious moments or for a break, the "Reflection Area" offered "an opportunity for you to meet with various religious groups and counters the argument that Lesbian & Gay people are not accepted by faith groups."  This year, the Buddhist Centre hosted a number of discussions.

Cardiff-Wales Mardi Gras 2006

Sunday concluded the Straits Games (TSG) 2007, in Phuket, Thailand. According to Phuket Pride, host organization this year, the purpose of the TSG is " to foster friendship and promote a healthy lifestyle in the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender (GLBT) communities. With the growing interest of TSG, this annual event has gradually expanded their participants from Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Japan and Thailand."  This year's activities emphasize volleyball, badminton, tennis and bowling competitions, and the event will also include a tour, pool party, snorkeling trip to Khai Island and an awards banquet.

. . . . Click here for a photo gallery of the 2006 Straits Games event.

This weekend’s 21st annual Duluth-Superior Pride festival in Duluth, Minnesota, which Out Magazine called the "Hottest Small Town Pride" in the country two years ago, started Friday with a poetry reading and lesbian film festival and a bonfire at a Lake Superior beach.  It also started with a proclamation from Mayor Herb Bergson recognizing the weekend.  Bergson emphasized that "We want to make it known that we support the struggle for equal rights for everyone” and called the festival “a way to value everyone's dignity, which is an absolutely basic human right."  Bergson had first recognized the festival in 2004, in contrast to his predecessor, Gary Doty, who had stated publicly in 2002 that “I do not believe that tying someone's contribution to our community with their sexual practices is an appropriate thing to do.” Other weekend events included a block party, parade, a drag show benefit for AIDS research at the Main Club, Duluth’s oldest publicly gay bar, a Sunday breakfast and worship service at the Peace United Church of Christ, and a Sunday afternoon cruise on Lake Superior, sometimes referred to locally as the “Fruit Float.”

Forum News Ang Lee is back in entertainment news, with his new film Lust,Caution screening at the Venice Film Festival and at Toronto.  It will open in New York City at the end of September, with a wider opening starting October 5th.  Adrian has started a new thread  devoted exclusively to the movie.  There should be plenty of good conversation about the film this fall.    Our Hot Topics threads have been moved to the "Meet Your Neighbors" section.  Members can continue the discussions about the Presidential Forum on GLBT issues and the arrest and recent resignation of US Senator US Senator Larry Craig at the new locations.

. . . . Coming Out Day 2007

The Human Rights Campaign considers National Coming Out Day, on October 11th, to "also mark an important hallmark, as (it) falls on the 20th anniversary of the 1987 Gay and Lesbian March on Washington, and the unfurling of the AIDS Quilt on the National Mall. National Coming Out Day was celebrated a year to the day later as a way of continuing the spirit of openness,  honesty and visibility that the march and the AIDS Quilt presentation inspired."

Quote of the Day "The small truth has words that are clear; the Great Truth has great silence." ~ Rabindranath Tagore

Photo Caption of the Day

From Photo Captioning Fun 2
by Canstandit

If Brokeback was a Masterpiece Theatre production.....


MASTER PIECE THEATER

Final Part

"Hey, there...I'm Ennis Del Mar for Master Piece Theater....." 

Ok, I about had it, ain't you? That last part-it don't feel so lonely now, do it? NO, sir, not much...

If it do, grab the nearest lamb--they're good for holdin and cryin and goin, Why, why, why???. Just make sure you pull the twigs outta their hooves, first. Jack got em  all spoiled.....(sniff...)

Sorry, to tell ya, Bud, you know I am -- But it ain't over, yet. And when it is, if you're thinkin about buying the DVD we offer at the end of the show -- think twice . You'll be wringing yer hanky out a hundred times thinkin about Jack and Ennis ........

I got a say this one time:

Two guys living together? Maybe they shoulda...

Now join me for the final installment of Brokeback Mountains Extra Super Deluxe Presentation of Brokeback Mountain, Part VIII:  'Yep, I'm A Real Thinker, There' "



 

 
The Daily Sheet depends on you and your ideas.
Contributors:  BrokenOkie, ptannan, Canstandit, KittyHawk, gnash, Stilllearning, Adrian



Calendar of Events

If you have ideas about initiating a gathering, go to Start Your Own Threads
and get the ball rolling to plan a get-together near you.

 

September 16, 2007 San Francisco, CA - BBM Screening at Castro Theatre   Oct 12-15 - Washington, DC Slash Bash II - DC   Let us know of any events you'd like listed here.

The Daily Sheet is a production of The Ultimate Brokeback Forum at www.davecullen.com/forum
 
Editor: Marcia (Marge_Innavera)
 
Forum profile assistant: Dawn (stilllearning)
 
International editor: Martina (desertrat)
 
Columnists: Dave Cullen, Jim Bond, michaelflanagansf
 
Proofreader/Researchers: whiplash, gnash, denim girl
 
Today's edition produced by Marcia (Marge Innavera) email: marge@davecullen.com

Today's edition formatted and proofed by whiplash
 
We count on you to send us your news items, questions, and nominations for posts of the day.
 
To subscribe to The Daily Sheet, press the "Notify" button at the top of the page.
When a new TDS is posted, you will be notified by email.
 
Previous issues of The Daily Sheet.
 
Response thread for The Daily Sheet.

[Ellen (tellyouwhat)]

Wednesday, September 5, 2007




Beyond Brokeback:  Forum to Promote Our Book at SF Gay Rodeo and Castro BBM Screening

Huge thanks to Killersmom, BayCityJohn, gnash, and sfericsf for seizing the opportunity to promote Beyond Brokeback during the upcoming Forum get-together scheduled for the weekend of September 15 and 16, during the Gay Rodeo and the screening of Brokeback Mountain at the Castro Theatre. sfericsf posted: “We locals are working very hard to get everything in order for the display cases for the costumes/props, the Rodeo booth, book sales, and advertising.  The screening has been advertised/broadcast all over Northern California!  This will certainly be an evening you won't want to miss!"

Big thanks to gnash, who designed the ad for the SF Gay Rodeo & Festival Program. (Click on picture to see larger version of ad)



gnash wrote:  This is the ad as it appears in the SF gay rodeo program -- inside front cover,
on glossy stock.  We weren't prepared for that, having paid for just a full page "anywhere" ad. 
It seems they felt that was the best spot for our ad, so that's just hot!

The Rodeo program is stocked at shops and bars across the city.

sfericsf posted in the Castro Theatre Weekend (9/15-9/16) thread: I think I've decided... I'm bringin' the billboard to the theatre!  We'll put it up in the lobby near the display cases with all the wonderful props and costumes.  Yippee!

 

Lamba Rising Window Display

Weeks ago, we reported that goaboydc contacted niche book store Lambda Rising to promote Beyond Brokeback.  His successful results have been witnessed by DCLuke, who snapped this picture:

"This evening I was taking a stroll and stopped by Lambda Rising, a local gay bookstore.  Their window is decorated for the upcoming Atlantic Stampede Rodeo with Western-themed books and cowboy ephemera.  Much to my delight, I saw that they had Beyond Brokeback prominently displayed next to Proulx's Close Range.  I was so excited to stumble across our book as part of a window display!" ~DCLuke

Another True Life Marketing Story
By BayCityJohn

I met a nice woman on the train this afternoon coming back from Golden Gate Park. I was wearing one of my Brokeback T-shirts and she saw the picture (Dozy Embrace) and said "I loved that movie. I saw it 4 times". So I procedded to tell her about the forum and the screening on the 16th. Her husband was with her, and she's been trying to get him to see the movie. She's going to try to make it to the theatre, with or without him. I also gave her a business card for the book, so she's going to check that out too.

Anyone Can Do This

. . Strike up a conversation with our Brokeback apparel.  T-shirts, hats and accessories are available from our Ultimate Brokeback Store.  Leave them with this thought:  BeyondBrokeback.com.

Fanfiction: Empty by wannabebrit
Review by planetgal471

Many canon one-shots focus on Jack's feelings and the deep emotions Jack feels about his relationship with Ennis, particularly about being apart for such long periods of time. Jack clearly conveys to the audience, and to Ennis, the most pain out of the pair about "their separate and difficult lives," as he is the most emotionally open between the two of them. In Empty by wannabebrit, however, we get to see a raw vision of Ennis dealing with the distance he must keep between himself and Jack, and with the knowledge that he can't find another way out.

. Empty is set just after their reunion, once Jack leaves for his parents' place, and Ennis is left behind to remember the trip, to recall Jack's hopeful words about the possibility of making a life together, and to ruminate on this own response to that proposal. The one-shot (the name for a story with just one installment), consisting of just under 2500 words, explores the depths of Ennis's usually-veiled despair. This Ennis also has a couple assets that are not often explored in fanfiction. There is the sense that Ennis almost wishes Jack would be more proactive. Ennis himself can't make a move, but if Jack could "turn back around" and force Ennis's hand, Ennis intimates that maybe he could find a way for things to be different in that case (though whether he is serious about that, the reader will have to judge for themselves). This is a theme that has been of discussion lately by Brokeback slash fans, but seeing an explicit reference to it in October of 2006, when this was penned, was a treat.

. .

Though the story is about Ennis and Jack and their relationship, a good portion of the story is also focused on Ennis and Alma and the way they relate to each other. Ennis considers Alma as someone who doesn't understand, and doesn't weigh her opinions or feelings very heavily in the equation, even consciously. Yet, he still maintains with her the status quo. He considers his life with Alma empty, even in an apartment containing "too much stuff," because he is alone in that apartment, essentially. But, when Ennis has to take an action, he thinks of his possible choices, and he know there's only one thing he is capable of doing: going back to that life with her. His inability to make drastic changes in his life is heartrending. The most poignant elements of the story are the visceral descriptions of both Ennis's anguish once Jack is gone, and the joy Ennis feels, presented in flashback form, in Jack's presence. The contrast between the two is the bulls eye of the story. Without Jack, Ennis feels a desire to escape, difficulty breathing, "cold to the bone, empty and open." This is in contrast to en ethereal sex scene in which Ennis bottoms, feeling instead that Jack is "guiding him, filling him, giving him soul and body all at once." And yet, Ennis cannot see a way to have what he needs. He does not even believe that a man life him could ever fulfill a desire of his own. he doesn't expect good things to happen to him, and it becomes for him a self-fulfilling prophecy.

. This story is unique for dealing so unreservedly with Ennis's needs, dreams, reservations, and even most romantic thoughts in a thoroughly believable way. Ennis's loneliness and sadness is portrayed with startling frankness. The reader gets a look into Ennis's childhood trauma, decision-making process, and coping mechanisms. I found it enlightening and engaging, if sobering, and I recommend it to anyone who wants to take a peek into Ennis's mind.

You can find this and wannabebrit's other stories at her writing journal, wannabestories

Can Ang Lee Change Perception of NC-17 in U.S.?

Ang Lee and actress Tang Wei at Lust, Caution premiere in Venice

In an article by Mike Collett-White titled Ang Lee Tackles Forbidden Love, the director responds to questions about the acrobatic and sometimes disturbing sex scenes that occur between the main characters, which he has hinted were real. When asked in Venice about the authenticity of the sex, Lee replied: "Did you see the movie? Then why do you ask?" And from Associated Press: … Ang Lee says his new spy thriller Lust, Caution has received the most restrictive NC-17 rating in the US, but he hopes the movie will change public perception that the category is reserved for pornography... Lee said, however, China, which doesn't have a ratings system, and his native Taiwan have cleared the movie. He said Taiwanese censors didn't ask for any edits. "Taiwan is more open than the US these days," he said. Lee said a shorter version of the movie will be shown in China. He didn't say if Chinese censors asked for any cuts.

Thoughts and Good Wishes to RodneyFL

Many of you know RodneyFL, and are familiar with his wonderful reading of Brokeback Mountain at the Denver BBQ.  Recently, while visiting Denver, Rodney was hospitalized.  Doctors are keeping him in Boulder, Co, where he has begun a schedule of treatment that will last a few weeks. Currently on our Forum his screen name is still RodneyFL, but he may make the switch to RodneyWY when he gets access to a PC, because he has decided to adopt Ennis and Jack's home state as part of his identity. Rodney is in good spirits and would love to hear from Forum well-wishers.  PM RodneyFL, Brokeback_1, or tellyouwhat for contact information.

************


A close encounter of the Brokeback Kind...

Oregondoggie posted in the How Brokeback Affected Me:  While hosting a Vancouver member of the Cullen site, (Platitudes), I gave him a pin to wear that proclaims "I (heart) Jack and Ennis".  Inside a video store, a tall drink of water approached us.   He said, with great enthusiasm, "I'd surely love to have a pin like that.  I belong to a web site devoted to Brokeback Mountain." "Oh," we said grinning, "which one?".  "Dave Cullen," he replied.  "It's all yours, Buddy," I said, asking Platitudes to unpin it and hand it over. "Don't worry. There are several more at home."  The fellow identified himself as Sagebrush Dan, one of our members, and proudly pinned it on.

*************

. . . Heath Ledger appears on the red carpet in Venice, a vision of style from head to toe, to promote his new movie, I'm Not There.  Thanks to Katiebre and other Heathens for cheering us up with photos in Planet Heath after news of the Heath/Michelle split.

*************

. . . Question:  Why didn’t Larry Craig see Brokeback Mountain? Answer:  He missed the movie because he was in the bathroom.

   Late breaking news:  Larry Craig is rethinking his resignation.  Talk about it in the Hot Topic thread.



Photocap of the Day
by magicmountain

Slashback Mountain

Ennis: I wonder what story we're in this time Jack. Those dave cullen slashettes can get pretty creative if you know what I mean. Jack: Well Ennis, looks like one of 'em put us in a pool hall. So as usual there are balls flying around, there's some hustlin' goin on, and poker playin' in dark corners. And I bet there's plenty of pokin' in dark corners goin on as well! Ennis: So I suppose that makes me poke!Ennis Jack: No darlin. It makes you poke!Jack. Ennis: And you're the Jackpot! Jack: Ennis .......... I'm the one that cracks the jokes. OK? Ennis: Have it your way. You can be joke!Jack and I'll be poke!Jack. Happy? Jack: Happy.

 
 

The Daily Sheet depends on you and your ideas.
 
Contributors:  gnash, BayCityJohn, killersmom, sfericsf, planetgal471, KittyHawk, royandronnie, magicmountain, Katiebrie, Oregondoggie, brokeback_1, mountain boy, DCLuke


 

 
Calendar of Events
 

If you have ideas about initiating a gathering, go to Start Your Own Threads
and get the ball rolling to plan a get-together near you.

September 15-16, 2007 - San Francisco, CA
BBM Screening at Castro Theatre (9-16) and Gay Rodeo (9-15)

Oct 12-15 - Washington, DC
Slash Bash II - DC

Let us know of any events you'd like listed here.

 

The Daily Sheet is a production of The Ultimate Brokeback Forum at www.davecullen.com/forum

Editor: Marcia (Marge_Innavera)

Forum profile assistant: Dawn (stilllearning)

International editor: Martina (desertrat)

Columnists: Jim Bond, michaelflanagansf, planetgal471, MadLori

Proofreader/Researchers: whiplash, gnash, denim girl

Today's edition produced by Ellen (tellyouwhat) email: ellen@davecullen.com

Today's edition formatted and proofed by denim girl

We count on you to send us your news items, questions, and nominations for posts of the day.

To subscribe to The Daily Sheet, press the "Notify" button at the top of the page.
When a new TDS is posted, you will be notified by email.

Previous issues of The Daily Sheet.

Response thread for The Daily Sheet.
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[Marge_Innavera]

Friday, September 7, 2007

Member Profile: Juliacat

Guest star: Tootsie

I was born and raised in Rome – the eternal city, 41 years ago. I was blessed to grow up in a close and affectionate family, with my elder brother who patiently put up with my adolescent years (and he still does, now that I think of it! , and our parents who adored us (even with all of their flaws, obviously, but love was always there). I studied until high school, choosing languages and tourism as my path to follow, as this is what I loved most, and still do love to travel. I was a travel agent for 14 years, although, in actual fact, I didn’t do so much traveling myself but arranged trips for others! Although I can boast to having seen memorable places, like Brazil, for example, a wonderful place, or even Colombia, Mexico, Morocco and obviously Europe. Last year I was in San Francisco and San Antonio, my first time in the US (by the way...thanks Linda! ). My next trip will probably be in Trans-Siberia ... from Rome to Peking by train for next years’ Olympics! Working as a travel agent is more suited to younger people and when I realised I would have gladly shot every single client, I decided it was time to change my job and so, for the past 6 years I have been working in an American law firm as a legal assistant to 4 crazy lawyers ...Actually, it’s not that bad when you take into consideration the fact that I have never been the type of person who considers their job a way to success. I have very few people I can call “real friends” and I am not a very sociable person...I love to listen but not necessarily speak ... and seeing as my friends all like to talk it’s a well balanced friendship! I live in an apartment on the 7th floor with my cat Julia who I adore and is the light of my life! We are perfectly tuned, we understand one another and we never step on one anothers toes I am single and don’t actually miss having a partner, even though my heart bleeds for Jack and Ennis and for a moment I wanted someone to love me like Jack loved Ennis... *  *  *  *  * Are you a morning person or night owl, peacemaker or comfortable with confrontation, more of a sunbather or rock-climber, life -of-the-party or desiring a quite cup of coffee with a few friends?  I am a night owl and have always loved the atmosphere of a sunset and the melancholy thoughts that the aura of eve brings with it. But I’m also a morning person! I love to wake up at dawn, the silence when everyone else is asleep, and then the day begins...especially during the summer in Rome, when the roads are deserted its possible that you won’t meet a single person while out walking. I’m quite comfortable with confrontation though I try to avoid it as much as possible. Having said that sometimes it is unavoidable and that’s where my fiery Leo character comes in – I stick up for the weakest, I spur the more fragile, I am right next to those who need an extra hand in life. And no, definitely not the life of the party...a one-on-one evening is more my cup of tea. What famous quote has inspired you?  There have been various quotes at different times of my life ... recently I have been inspired by “To love oneself is the beginning of a life-long romance” by Oscar Wilde. That's the quote that means something to me as I only recently learned to have more respect for myself. Currently listening to?  "Babylon by bus" (Bob Marley and the Wailers) – I adore good old reggae!, “Roforofo night” (Fela Kuti, one of the leading representatives of Afrobeat, a mix of jazz-funk and African rythms) – “N’ssi N’ssi” (Khaled, the Algerian king of Rai music). Currently reading?  The Power of the Dog by Thomas Savage...the fact that it was being discussed in the Book Thread is pure coincidence! And as soon as I have finished this book I have another one ready Un altro giro di giostra ("One More Ride on the Merry-go-round") by Tiziano Terzani, Italian journalist and writer (but oh so much more!). It’s about his way of coping with his illness, he has a tumor, and travelling around the world he observes the techniques of modern western medicine and alternative medicines with his usual journalistic spirit; the most difficult trip being the search for internal peace, which will bring him to peacefully accept his imminent death, 3 years ago.. Terzani writes: "Travelling to me has always been a way of life and now I have this new trip, my illness, which is unexpected and for which I was not given a map and for which I have not prepared myself in any way and is the most challenging and intense trip I have had to do." Biggest challenge?  To not let problems with my loved ones become my problems ...but, I am still fighting with this... What’s your indulgence?  I simply adore a cold beer accompanied by salty peanuts and/or crisps...not very healthy, I know, but very rewarding after a day’s work. If you could take a class on something that interests you, what would it be and why?  Well I would choose something from the humanistic field perhaps sociology, psychology or something like that, to better understand the psyche, human character, myself perhaps, the mind….an infinite number of reasons. But also a course in photography, to learn to capture those things that are hidden at first sight. Last major purchase?  My ticket to the US last year to take part in the BBQ in Texas. If you were able to re-do something in your life and do it differently, what would it be and why?  Everything I did mistakenly was knowingly done with the maturity (or immaturity) of that moment ... it's difficult to imagine how I would do those things with the maturity of today ...but, if I had the possibility...I would tell my father how much I love him and how I owe him my moral integrity and other things that I have become. Other than BBM, what movie has impacted you the most? Why?  No movie is remotely compared to BBM, no kind of fiction in my life has affected me in that way and definitely not a movie. If I could rephrase the question I would say that maybe a book had that kind of importance for me...it was Embers by Sandor Marai...because a lot of me was in those pages. What is the best piece of advice that you’ve ever received?  I can’t remember any advice that I could consider the best also because advice is made to be ignored ...or as Wilde said “The only thing to do with good advice is pass it on. It is never any use to oneself”. If you could ask God one question, what would it be?  ha! so you’re really there? Other than your parents, who has had the greatest influence on your life?  My analyst, who had me in cure for 9 years and we are still friends and occasionally get together, knowing also that she is the only person in the world who really knows me. No one else could say the same. If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?  My sentimental side would like to hear: “You finally got here Catia….all your friends are waiting for you but you must go straight to your beloved father who’s been waiting to hug you for a long time – he’s over there!” But the cynical side of me, which lately seems to be my stronger side...would like to hear him say... “Well, now I can explain to you why I took your father away and your friends and people who have been important to you”. What’s your inspiration?  Not one particular thing ...it could be anything ...even my cat, for example...with whom I am embarrassingly sweet and tender...or my mother, with her memories of the war reminds me of how spoilt and weak we are ...my friends, who, asking me for help occasionally make me realise how important I can be to them ... music and books, which are food for my soul. What do you know for sure?  The only thing I know for certain is that life should be lived minute by minute without ever putting things off until tomorrow, which is never certain. What brought you to the Forum?  The need to find some kind of peace after the anxiety caused by the film ...I thought I was going crazy...and with great relief I discovered I wasn’t the only one who suffered and needed to talk about it. Are you more like Jack or Ennis? Why?  Definitely an Ennis...in my way of being introverted, silent, and fundamentally shy of change...but also a little bit of Jack is present in my personality...my passionate nature and my need to always find the positive side of things even if their isn’t one ...even though I am more that way to please others than myself. How many times have you watched BBM?  I’ve seen it in theaters 5 times and uncountable times on DVD...I also see it in my night-time dreams and in my day-dreams…so I can’t put a precise number on it. Your favorite BBM scene?  The very first scene with the game of glances between the two of them ...Jack’s expression in the rearview car mirror whilst he shaves ... the cynical, hard and masochist part of me liked their last meeting ...we never saw them exchange so many word before...in those words lie their frustration but also their painful love. What was your take-away message from BBM? What affected you the most?  The immense love, the torn emotions, the regret. My take-away message is perhaps “love as though there’s no tomorrow”.

Poetry Corner

Forum members have contributed memorable poetry both in the forum theads and in Beyond Brokeback, and Lance has started a special thread for Classic Poetry translated by Forum members.    montezumae has posted a "very simplified and personal translation/interpretation" of a song by Schubert:

To my friends

Bury me
In the woods
No cross
No stone
Winter’s might
Will undo your work.

But in Spring
Pick flowers
Be happy
I won’t know
Any different.

But no!
Your love spans
the overarching trees
And what draws you to me
Will pull us together again.

See other poetry by Forum members at Deep Thoughts and Poems.

This Week In Brokeback History

Hard to believe now, but two years ago this month hardly anyone had seen BBM and the first reports of the finished product were starting to attract attention.  On September 12th, CNN.com ran an article titled " 'Gay cowboy movie' shatters stereotypes", which did nothing to stem the tide of stereotypical jokes but featured short interviews with Heath and Jake at the Toronto Film Festival. Jake admitted that he'd had misgivings when he first saw the script, but "as soon as I heard [director] Ang [Lee] was attached, I knew it would be a different type of movie that would go beyond the confines of two guys and their sexuality towards the more difficult topic of love."  Heath added that "First and foremost, when I read the script it was one of the most beautiful stories I'd ever read," he said. "It's really refreshing to come across something like that."

Brokies Out on the Town

Forum members continue to get together for dinner, sightseeing and fun.

CellarDweller, MaineGirl, DejaVu, Peanut (behind DejaVu) SmellyKellyJay (behind Meryl),
Meryl, Teresa, and JMMGalagher outside the Hill Country BBQ in New York City.




Following in Jack's bootsteps (sort of), Forum member Love Em Boys tried out
her skill on the mechanical bull at another outing in Denver last weekend.

For more photos and fellowship, visit Forum Meetings/Reunions.

  "Hot Topic" Is Still Boiling

Our current Hot Topic discussion about US Senator Larry Craig is now over 20 pages long in just a week, despite Craig's initial announcement last week that he was resigning from the Senate. It now appears that the notoriously anti-gay Congressman, accused of soliciting sex from an undercover police officer in an airport restroom, worded his "resignation" announcement carefully; qualifying his announcement with the word "intention." 

Sen. Craig is apparently as clumsy with his telephone as he is with strangers in a men's room, as the Idaho Statesman newspaper in his home state reported. Intending to leave a phone message for an unidentified person named "Billy," Craig punched in a wrong number and said part:  ""We have reshaped my statement a little bit to say it is my intent to resign on Sept. 30 .... I've got quality people out there fighting in my defense, and that this thing could take a new turn or a new shape; it has that potential."  "Billy" might have been his attorney, Billy Martin, who is also currently defending NFL quarterback Michael Vick against criminal dogfighting charges.

Weigh in on this curious ongoing issue at Hot Topics.


Grocery Day in Riverton

by Jim Bond

 

One Brokeback location that the filmmakers worried about finding was Monroe’s grocery store. To get an operating grocery store to shut down for several days of set preparation, a day of filming, and a day of restoration threatened to cost them big money. And, although it certainly does not look that way, Brokeback Mountain was made on a lean budget. As luck would have it, a food store in the southern Alberta town of Crossfield was about to shut down and move to another building. The filmmakers were able to obtain use of the perfect location for, well, peanuts.

 

Monroe’s Grocery on Filming Day May 2004

Finding the store was only the first step. Set dressers crafted 1960s-vintage package labels to stock store shelves. Window signs were printed using period typefaces. U.S. cigarette brands, and even an American flag, were used to meet Ang Lee’s high standards for detail and accuracy. For more information about obtaining and preparing Monroe’s Grocery Store and other filming locations, see FindingBrokeback.com's interview with Location Manager Darryl Solly.

Set photo showing vintage package labels, American flag. Courtesy of The Carson Collection.

Crossfield is an unassuming town some 45 miles due north of Calgary. It is also easily accessed from neighboring Beiseker (site of Ennis’ Trailer and the Siesta Motel.) The store, which is now empty, still brings to mind the contrasting images of masculinity offered by Monroe and Ennis. One of them lives in a climate-conditioned world of housewives and small children, wears an apron, and speaks of "condiments." The other does tough, bloody work, outside in the cold and dark, in order to keep a job and feed his family.   If we can provide encouragement or answer specific questions, we’ll be happy to try -- email us at admin@FindingBrokeback.com. And of course, you can go to Finding Brokeback.com for travel and production-related information.

Open Letter From the Editor

To all the wonderful people here at the Ultimate Brokeback Forum: When I joined this forum in March of 2006, a few weeks after seeing Brokeback Mountain for the second time, I had no idea how much it was going to change my life or how deeply involved with it I would get.  First came the Oscar disappointment and participation in the DVDs to Libraries campaign, then doing some proofreading for Beyond Brokeback.  Then, on a more personal level, came the rebirth of my creative writing -- after more than a decade of an unbreakable writer’s block -- with a fanfiction Brokeback sequel that’s still in progress.  Then in November, Daily Sheet editors Kathy and Linda asked me to join the TDS staff as an assistant editor.  Hard to believe that I’ve been TDS editor for nine months now. This open letter is both to thank everyone on the forum, and particularly the amazing TDS staff, for all their support and participation and to let everyone know that Friday, September 21st, will be my last TDS issue.  This has not been an easy decision to reach, and there are basically two compelling reasons for it. I can’t begin to say how rewarding an experience the last nine months have been.  TDS and this forum have given me as much as I’ve given them and then some, and in a way, that’s my “what Brokeback has done for me” story.  And at this point, I’ve decided that it’s imperative for me to take that next scary step: finish up the fanfiction novel and then take steps to re-enter the world of freelance writing that I never should have left.  This would be impossible for me to do and give TDS the attention it needs and deserves. Some ‘real life’ issues have also been an influence.  I’m the main breadwinner in my household and like many people nowadays, I have to work two jobs, one full time and one part time.  Juggling this schedule with the time and energy required by TDS has become difficult, and some previous professional commitments of several years standing now need attention. Many people have commented on the astonishing amount and range of talent on our Forum, and writing is certainly no exception.  Anyone who is willing to take on the editor’s job, or to contribute to TDS on a regular basis, please let us hear from you.  The issues that readers see posted three times a week are never the product of just one person’s efforts – the new editor will be working with one of the greatest and most supportive staffs ever. I plan to remain active on the Forum and to contribute to TDS from time to time, and want to say a special thank you to all of our readers and contributors.  Love to all of you and to Ennis and Jack. ~ Marcia (Marge Innavera)

Forum News

Tuesday will be the sixth anniversary of the September 11th attacks in New York City and in Virginia, and BrokenOkie has started a special memorial thread.  "You might like an opportunity to share where you were and what you were doing when you heard the horrible news. Your thoughts and expressions of sympathy and images honoring the courage, love and special memories are welcome," he says, adding that "the focus here is to honor the survivors, the innocent victims, their families & friends, and to pay tribute to the heroes, many of whom made the ultimate sacrifice.  No devastating images of the destruction that occurred and no discussion of politics, war, or terrorism here, please."  The thread already has an excerpt from an article about Father Mychal Judge, "The Fireman's Friar," and links to a special website about Mark Bingham, one of the passengers on United Flight 93 and to other information about GLBT citizens who were casualties that day.

Share your memories, history and insights at In Memoriam - September 11, 2001. No Longer With Us Religious Right leader Rev. D. James Kennedy, who headed the Florida megachurch Coral Ridge Ministries, died Thursday morning at the age of 76. Kennedy was known for his opposition to the theory of evolution and separation of church and state. Kennedy had also published a book titled What's Wrong With Same-Sex Marriage and last July partnered with the Family Research Council in sending petitions to the White House and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell opposing hate crimes legislation. Last year, the Anti-Defamation League took Kennedy to task for a documentary that suggested a link between Charles Darwin's theory of evolution to Adolf Hitler and the Holocaust. Quote of the Day "You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them." ~ Ray Bradbury

Photo Caption of the Day

From Photo Captioning Fun 2
by magicmountain

Aguirre: That's sure an unusual birthmark you got on your backside, Twist.

Jack: I don't have a birthmark on my backside.

Aguirre: Huh?

Jack: You work it out.

 

 
The Daily Sheet depends on you and your ideas.
Contributors:  BrokenOkie, magicmountain, CellarDweller115, LoveEmBoys, montezumae, Stilllearning, Jim Bond, Lance, gnash, KittyHawk



Calendar of Events

If you have ideas about initiating a gathering, go to Start Your Own Threads
and get the ball rolling to plan a get-together near you.

 

September 16, 2007 San Francisco, CA - BBM Screening at Castro Theatre   Oct 12-15 - Washington, DC Slash Bash II - DC   Let us know of any events you'd like listed here.

The Daily Sheet is a production of The Ultimate Brokeback Forum at www.davecullen.com/forum
 
Editor: Marcia (Marge_Innavera)
 
Forum profile assistant: Dawn (stilllearning)
 
International editor: Martina (desertrat)
 
Columnists: Dave Cullen, Jim Bond, michaelflanagansf
 
Fanfiction Editors: planetgal471, MadLori
Proofreader/Researchers: whiplash, gnash, denim girl
 
Today's edition produced by Marcia (Marge Innavera) email: marge@davecullen.com

Today's edition formatted and proofed by gnash
 
We count on you to send us your news items, questions, and nominations for posts of the day.
 
To subscribe to The Daily Sheet, press the "Notify" button at the top of the page.
When a new TDS is posted, you will be notified by email.
 
Previous issues of The Daily Sheet.
 
Response thread for The Daily Sheet.

[Marge_Innavera]

Monday, September 10, 2007

. . . Ang Lee Wins Two Out of Three History did a rerun Saturday, when Ang Lee's new film Lust, Caution won the Golden Lion award at the Venice Film Festival. It was the second time he has won the award in three years.  The Bob Dylan bio I'm Not There, with Heath Ledger in a supporting role, got one of the two runner-up jury prizes and Heath, in Venice for the festival remarked that he was "sorry I can't be standing up here, throwing my arms around Todd, weeping in public and behaving just like a woman."

Unlike two years ago, when Brokeback Mountain was a popular choice for the Golden Lion, some of the reaction was quite negative.  Under the headline "Venice ends on sour note with shock film choices," Reuters observed that the the critics and reporters attending booed the announcement from the press room, and booed again when Brad Pitt was named best actor for the film adaptation of Ron Hansen's novel The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.  One of the miffed media members, Natalia Aspesi of La Repubblica, wrote that "in all of the pre-award speculation, nobody had thought about Ang Lee's film, not even for one of the lesser awards."  Hollywood Reporter had referred to it as 'lugubrious', adding with semi-conscious irony that it followed most soldiers' description of war:  "long periods of boredom relieved by moments of extremely heightened excitement." Lee told the seven-member jury that "I have invited you to come along with me and in the end to stay down there with me ... You are the seven samurais, I needed your help," and jury president Zhang Yimou remarked that "even if we had all the force and power of heaven we would not have been able to give a verdict that would please everybody." Join the forum discussion of Ang's new film at the new Ang Lee's new film thread.   Forum Remembers September 11 "I worked in the Pentagon at that time," recalls greylocke5 about the morning of September 11, 2001. "I used to take the bus and subway to work and I began work every day at 7:30AM. So I was at my desk that morning when, just after 9 o’clock, a co-worker came to my office and told me that the World Trade Center had been struck by an airplane. . . .   At 9:45 I heard the LOUDEST sound I have ever heard as the airplane struck the Pentagon. The whole building shook, which is saying a lot, because the Pentagon is built like a fortress. I worked on the 3rd floor, in the C Ring, in the middle layer of offices, between corridor 7 and corridor 8. Not far from Rumsfeld’s office in the E Ring. The plane struck between corridors 3 and 4."  greylocke5's account is one of the most immediate, but other Forum members are sharing where they were that day on In Memoriam - September 11, 2001. . . Some forum members are sharing other memories of that time.  jack posted a link to "The Fireman's Friar," a tribute to Father Mychal Judge, who was killed in the aftermath of the destruction of the World Trade Center. "Three weeks after his televised funeral," author Jennifer Senior recalled in the tribute, "some of the friar's friends decided to hold a smaller memorial evening of Celtic music and storytelling. Priests, nuns, lawyers, cops, firefighters, homeless people, rock-and-rollers, recovering alcoholics, local politicians, and middle-aged couples from the suburbs all streamed into the Good Shepherd Chapel on Ninth Avenue. . . .'Only Father Mychal could get a room like this together,' said Joe Hartnett, an electrician and father of five from New Jersey, when he took his turn at the altar to speak." Father Judge's extraordinary life is reviewed in detail in the documentary Saint of 9/11. . . The thread has become a good resource for more information about some of the names from that day that still resonate, such as United 93 passenger Mark Bingham, believed to be one of the passengers who fought back and prevented Flight 93 from reaching its target (either the Capitol or the White House) in Washington. The Mark Bingham website includes not only a memorial but a biography, tributes from friends and information about the Mark Bingham Leadership Fund Scholarship. Because of the drama of Flight 93, Bingham was one of the higher-profile GLBT casualties on that day, but BrokenOkie has discovered a website about gay victims of September 11th. . . . Along with their three-year-old adopted son David, Ronald Gamboa and Dan Brandhorst were passengers on United Airlines Flight 175, the second plane to crash into the World Trade Center tower.  Brandhorst and Gamboa were founding members of the Pop Luck Club, a Los Angeles organization for gay men interested in adopting children. . . . Patricia McAneney was the fire marshal of her floor of 1 World Trade Center, where she worked for the insurance company Guy Carpenter. She is survived by Margaret Cruz, partner of 18 years.  McAneney was one of many 9-11 casualties honred in the United In Memory quilt. Forum members are encouraged to visit the thread and share some of their own experiences.  For other tributes and photos, see the Gay Victims and Heroes site. Allies and Friends "Be an ally & a friend" reads the first of a series of online ads and public service announcements sponsored by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) to reach straight allies and encourage them to not only be supportive but to oppose homophobia.  The "Be an Ally and Be a Friend" campaign will include 25 ads, with more than 20 well-known professionals in sports and show business making appearances. "Straight allies are some of the most effective and powerful voices in the struggle for equality for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community," GLAAD president Neil G. Giuliano told pinknews..  "Not only can allies offer vital support to people in the coming out process, they also help others understand the importance of equality, fairness, tolerance and mutual respect."   Click on the image for more details and GLAAD's list of links and helpful resources.   . . . . The ads will be released on a bi-weekly basis, and can be seen at LiveVideo, YouTube, AOL Video and MySpace. The first, starring TR Knight, Jerry O'Connell, Martina Navratilova and John Amaechi, can be viewed here. But It Really Was the Sexiest In a way, it's surprising that this "best of" list wasn't made long before. Brokeback finished 21st in Moviefone's list of the 25 Best Movie Sex Scenes of All Time. The commentary remarked that "while Ang Lee's groundbreaking drama would prove to be the most high-profile gay love story of our time, it was the buzzed-about sex scene between Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger that really piqued the curiosity of more open-minded moviegoers. Sure, the Wyoming mountains are frigid, but their rugged embrace inside that tent isn't the least bit about body heat. Of course, the unforgettable scene also gives a whole new meaning to the term 'Ride 'em, cowboy.' " . . Author Joins Book Club Discussion Our forum Book Club had a new member join its discussion of Fish by T.J. Parsell this week -- always good news, but in this case the new poster was the author himself. whiplash had commented on a quote from Rilke in Chapter 26, commenting that "I think this is precisely how TJ was feeling": His vision, from the constantly passing bars, has grown so weary that it cannot hold anything else. It seems to him there are a thousand bars; and behind the bars, no world. T.J. responded that "The Rilke quote was absolutely what I was feeling at the time. Years later, when I wrote Fish, I did it with the assistance of a writer's workshop. Though, EVERYONE in the workshop thought I should NOT use the Rilke quote (because it was so inconsistent with my other vignettes). Obviously, I disagreed. That part of my story was an important turning point and I thought it fitting to do something different." Heath in Venice Heath is currently at the Venice Film Festival, and the Press Association reported that he arrived alone and apparently not very happy after his split from Michelle Williams after three years. The account described him as looking "grim-faced, and spoke only briefly during a press conference for his new Bob Dylan film I'm Not There.  Williams, 26, also appears in the movie but did not accompany him to promote it." The Melbourne Herald Sun also reported that according to relatives, Heath isn't likely to return to Australia: 'His future's in Hollywood. He doesn't really have a reason to come back,' a Ledger cousin said." Heath signing autographs at Venice (posted by Roco in Planet Heath) Fan Art Roco recently found several striking pencil sketches of Ennis and Jack, and posted them in Planet Heath. Artwork by Nass New "Westerns" Western movies are seeing a small resurgence, according to Scott Bowles in USA Today, naming Brokeback as an example.  "No one's quite sure why the Western became an endangered species on the cinematic landscape," Bowles remarked. "Many recent Westerns, including Brokeback Mountain, Open Range and the Australian film The Proposition, were critical favorites, if not always blockbusters." Bowles named  3:10 to Yuma (a remake of a 1957 film) with Russell Crowe, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, with Brad Pitt and No Country for Old Men with Tommy Lee Jones as soon-to-be-released Westerns to watch.  Pitt said that the Western as a genre can be "a slow burn and out of its time, but to examine the people behind some of the myths of history can be poetry." Quote of the Day "In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit." ~ Albert Schweitzer Photo Caption of the Day From Photo Captioning Fun 2 by paintedshoes Libretto for "Nessun dorma" from Turandot by Puccini "in honor of Lucianno Pavarotti..." None must sleep! None must sleep! And you, too, in your cold room, gaze at the stars which tremble with love and hope! But my mystery is locked within me, no-one shall know my name! No, no, I shall say it as my mouth meets yours when the dawn is breaking! And my kiss will break the silence which makes you mine!(No-one shall know his name, and we, alas, shall die!) Vanish, o night! Fade, stars! At dawn I shall win     The Daily Sheet depends on you and your ideas. Contributors:  paintedshoes, BrokenOkie, whiplash, TJ Parsell, Roco, KittyHawk Calendar of Events If you have ideas about initiating a gathering, go to Start Your Own Threads and get the ball rolling to plan a get-together near you.   September 16, 2007 San Francisco, CA - BBM Screening at Castro Theatre   Oct 12-15 - Washington, DC Slash Bash II - DC   Let us know of any events you'd like listed here. The Daily Sheet is a production of The Ultimate Brokeback Forum at www.davecullen.com/forum   Editor: Marcia (Marge_Innavera)   Forum profile assistant: Dawn (stilllearning)   International editor: Martina (desertrat)   Columnists: Dave Cullen, Jim Bond, michaelflanagansf   Fanfiction Editors: planetgal471, MadLori Proofreader/Researchers: whiplash, gnash, denim girl   Today's edition produced by Marcia (Marge Innavera) email: marge@davecullen.com Today's edition formatted and proofed by whiplash   We count on you to send us your news items, questions, and nominations for posts of the day.   To subscribe to The Daily Sheet, press the "Notify" button at the top of the page. When a new TDS is posted, you will be notified by email.   Previous issues of The Daily Sheet.   Response thread for The Daily Sheet.

[Ellen (tellyouwhat)]

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Tearoom Anthropology

.

Posters in the Hot Topic discussion have learned (through sharing of links to the New York Times and The St. Louis Post-Dispatch) that in the 1950s, a graduate student named Laud Humphreys based his PhD dissertation on a study of  “tearoom” ritual (called "cottaging" in the UK), and found over time that the covert, non-verbal signs, generally known only to those wishing to participate, were common in many public restrooms across the nation.  The recent police report describing Larry Craig’s arrest in June 2007 follows Humphries’ observations so closely, it seems to prove that the tearoom ritual has not changed over the past 50 years, and no one knows how long before that the same signals may have been in use between men seeking sex.

Some of Humphreys' studies were conducted in Forest Park in St. Louis, where Humphreys attended Washington University.  When he submitted his work, the University threatened to withhold his doctorate and he was forced to leave.  Humphreys, who was married with children at the time he conducted his study, later admitted that he had participated in some of the encounters.  But he didn’t say he was straight; instead he came out as gay, and said he had been living a lie.

More information about the story of sociologist Laud Humphreys is available at Wikipedia.

. . . . His dissertation was published as a book, "Tearoom Trade, Impersonal Sex in Public Places."  You can "look inside" on Amazon; the writing is interesting and much more accessible than the usual dissertation.

Fanfiction:   Beans & Crazies by Montana Crows
Review by MadLori

When the subject of fics that are still unfinished comes up, readers often struggle with their desire not to pressure an author who hasn't updated in many months as it conflicts with their desire for the story to continue.  One of the stories that is invariably mentioned in this category is the seminal, much-beloved AU story Beans & Crazies (the title refers to Jack and Ennis's least-favorite meal and the Crazy Mountains of Montana) began in April of 2006, when AUs were the order of the day, the sweet life was usually the goal, and the AU!AU revolution was just getting started.  It updated regularly through the fall of 2006, and after that sporadically until its last update in February of this year.  It is true that this author has one of the world's best excuses for the lapse in her posting...she is a military journalist and is currently stationed in Iraq.  Nevertheless, many readers, including this reviewer, sorely miss this rough-talking, hard-riding, slice-of-life story.

The story is remarkable for a number of reasons.  It diverges from the Brokeback canon about as early as it's possible to do so; Ennis and Jack simply choose to stay together after their summer on the mountain.  In selecting this jumping-off point for her story, MC has done something extraordinary: she has stripped away the usual trappings of fanfiction as we typically experience them.  There are no wives, no children, no fishing trips, no angst-ridden "divorce visit" (a much more common point of canon divergence in AU fics), no long years of separation.  She doesn't have to find a way to extricate Jack and Ennis from the lives they'd drifted into, because those lives never existed. For this reason, B&C becomes a frank, practical story of two men struggling to make a life together, have a relationship, and keep their heads above water.  The usual canon fenceposts we are so accustomed to seeing, such as the four-year reunion and the postcards, are absent because they never occurred.  This leaves us adrift, separated from the sort of angst we're used to reading about in Brokeback fanfiction, but Montana Crows gives us new and expertly-drawn angst to replace it.  Jack and Ennis chance into the ownership of a cattle ranch in Montana, and their lives are full of the usual trials and tribulations that anyone else has.  They have money troubles, they have communication issues in their relationship, they have daily work around their ranch that is never overlooked, they deal with Jack's parents and their hired hand, Joanna, one of the most compelling OCs in the fandom.  Some of the townspeople are friendly, some are bigoted and hostile.  Each of them are injured in turn and must heal.  Over the four-plus-change years of the story's timeline, we see them having the ups and downs that any two people trying to make a life together would experience.  The realism of the storyline is enhanced by MC's unadorned, declarative prose that feels like the way the boys would write if they chose to do so.

. . .

The calf was bellowing almost as soon as they stopped, and Ennis grabbed a crowbar out of the tack shed, prying open the nailed-shut door of the crate and handing the damn animal down into Jack's waiting arms.  They turned him loose with the heifers, the white coat sticking out among the browns and blacks of the herd. He tried to snuggle up with one heifer after another, but was rebuffed, Jack and Ennis watching from the fence. The older calves chased him from their mothers, and those who had never calved wanted nothing to do with the young stranger in their midst. After awhile he gave up and stood on the fringe of the group, lowing piteously. "Aww," Jack said. "Poor thing." "We ain't takin' him in the house," Ennis grumbled. "Didn't mean that. Just seems like us… nobody actually dislikes us, but nobody really gives a damn either." "Guess not." They watched the cattle graze on the rolling prairie as the sun dropped, their shadows lengthening. The Simmenthal sidled up to an aging cow and nuzzled her, and the cow turned and lowed back at him, but didn't move. "Looks like he's found an in," said Jack. He got no response but Ennis' hand on the back of his neck, companionable at first, then pulling him in for a kiss.

One of the hallmarks of this story is its refreshing lack of sentimentality.  Jack and Ennis are hardscrabble, uneducated ranch hands and their interactions are true to this background.  They wrestle instead of cuddling, they have rough sex instead of long bouts of gentle lovemaking, they snap at each other and don't talk about things they ought to.  As their relationship and the story progress through time, their ability to vocalize their feelings for each other improves, but even the story's most touching moments are restrained and in-character, and are all the more affecting for it.

Ennis shifted in his seat, getting comfortable, and Jack let his neck ride the strong thigh as it lifted his head and then settled again.  Then something slid over his middle finger, and he pulled his hand down to look at the silver band there.  Stunned, he could only feign country-dumb, cigarette dangling from his lips. "Now what in the hell's this?" Ennis didn't answer, just sighed and went back to playing with his hair, and Jack reached back, grabbed the hand off his head, saw a matching ring on a hand that was trembling, threatening to drip embers onto him. He sat up, looked into those dark eyes. "Ennis." A muscle worked under the planes of Ennis' face, but his eyes were soft. Fathomless, like a horse's, the lack of words just as complete, and Jack felt his throat close up, his own eyes stinging. He grabbed Ennis' other hand, swallowed hard, couldn't tear himself away from those eyes and couldn't think of a damned thing to say. Maybe it was better, he decided.

Although it is a generalization to say so, sentimentality tends to be the mark of a female author, and this story provides a happy counterexample to that theory.  "Sentimental really isn't my strong suit," says Montana Crows.  "I certainly can be sentimental over stupid things but generally I'm cold and logical.  I'm definitely female; my hubby will attest to that. But I grew up socialized in a very masculine way, so I think it comes from that."

. .

Another key element of Beans & Crazies is its amazing realism.  Ranch life has never been depicted in such ordinary detail that it becomes a seamless part of the story to hear about riding fence, calving, selling stock and making hay.  The author says "Ranching has always been a part of my life.  What I haven't done, I've usually seen people do, so it's not hard to write.  Sometimes there's research to be done, but not often. And let me say, there's a scene where Ennis is prying a calf out of a heifer and ends up on his ass in the straw with the calf in his lap, covered in goo and amniotic fluid. I wrote that one for a reason.  My little revenge."

Jack and Ennis have a life together in this story, but it'd be hard to call it a sweet life.  It is a real life, with ups and downs. Throughout the course of the story Jack and Ennis have been together and separated, quarrelling and peaceful, hopeful and despairing, but their love for each other has grown, changed and withstood much from inside and outside their home.  And this review can't be called complete unless it is mentioned that Beans & Crazies also contains some of the sexiest, most realistic, most daring, raw and affecting sex scenes in the entire Brokeback fanfiction pantheon. Montana Crows is due to return home from overseas very soon, and she hopes to continue the story.  In a letter to this reviewer, she said that although her life is very busy (and messy, to use her term) right now, she misses the Lazy K ranch and is eager to return once she's home again. Even if the story is never continued, she has painted such a vivid picture of the life Jack and Ennis have made for themselves in Montana that it's easy to imagine them there still, drinking coffee, getting up at the crack of dawn to feed the cattle, and curling up together under the ugly quilt in their bedroom.  If ever a story was a candidate for an "alternate canon," surely this one is. Beans and Crazies begins here.  Be advised...the chapter numbering isn't always consistent and there are a number of un-numbered interludes, so I advise using Calendar View to navigate.  Another option is to use MC's author's page in the Slash Links by Author thread.

Eileen Chang

.

Eileen Chang, the author of the 28 page short story Lust, Caution, upon which Ang Lee’s new film is based, was born in 1920 in Shanghai, emigrated to the U.S. in 1952, and died alone in her small Los Angeles apartment in 1995.  Lust, Caution is said to partly reflect the author’s own life.  In her twenties she fell in love with a man who was accused of being a traitor for collaborating with the Japanese. During college, Chang studied literature, despite the constant danger the war imposed on the students’ lives.  She eventually traveled to Hong Kong, where she worked as a translator and writer.  In addition to her writing, she is also a gifted artist.  Some illustrations of characters in her early stories were collected by Michael Lam, and can be seen on the website “Mini-Tofu.”  Here are some excerpts: “Picture this.  You have never read anything by Eileen Chang, in fact you may not have heard the name.  Lucky you.  Here you will discover a fresh and talented artist, who sprinkles her special brand of humour on her subjects, and conveys a certain joie de vivre that is timeless.  Minute expressions are captured with simplicity; complex emotions in a few twisted lines.”

If your interest is piqued, see Wikipedia’s list of Chang’s works in English translation.

. . . The short story Lust, Caution is available from Amazon through the Forum’s Amazon Connection.  Also available is the book, Lust, Caution: Story to Screenplay, with James Schamus as co-author.

New Editor and Colulmnists at TDS

Thanks to Dawn Stilllearning for accepting our request to become editor of Friday TDS.  Since March of this year, Dawn has been doing a wonderful job gathering and editing the Member Profiles which appear on Friday, and she wrote Fanfic reviews over the summer.  We have two new Fanfic columnists, MadLori, whose column appears today (see above), and planetgal471.  The Fanfic reviews give non-slashers a glimpse into the imaginative world of slash and Alternative Universe, and also help point guests to our Forum to our slash board.  Welcome to you both. When she accepted her new role as Daily Sheet Editor, Dawn said one reason she was excited was because we are entering an election year in the U.S., and we hope the forum will remain a vibrant place to discuss the records and intentions of our leaders with regard to human rights and gay-friendly laws into the coming year.

Want Ad:  One More Editor

We hope to keep TDS on a M-W-F schedule.  The job has become a lot easier with changes many of you suggested last February.  Finding Brokeback related stories is easier than ever, now that we only have three days to write:  in fact sometimes it is a question of what to leave out!  Our current TDS team is a dream to work with.  And Marge_Innavera plans to continue to contribute leads to stories, as well as contributions, when she is able.

If you have questions about editing TDS, please pm tellyouwhat

FISH - Forum live chat with author TJ Parsell is coming up next week.  Some of us have had difficulty getting a copy of the book, so check your libraries or local bookstores.  I have been waiting for my library to acquire if from the central branch, I hope I will get it to read on the plane on my way to San Francisco.  However late you get your hands on the book, plan to participate in the author chat, which will most likely take place late next week.  michaelflanagansf will advise us of the exact time as soon as he has the information.

2nd book thread – Recently members' interest in a possible 2nd book (to follow Beyond Brokeback) by The Ultimate Brokeback Forum has been revived by Marc.  Brokeback_1, who started the thread, and other posters have been expressing opinions. The concept for the 2nd book is that it would summarize the best of our analysis of the Scenes and Elements/Themes threads, so there is one place a reader could look rather than sifting among the archives looking for the occasional jewels that can be found there.  Before the project can proceed, Forum Administrators are concerned about a few questions:

Who is the target audience of this book? Will it be an E-book or physical book (such as Print on Demand, like the current book?)

If you would like to share your thoughts, please visit Should we do an on-line book based on our analysis of the film and short story?

***********

Forum approaches 1 million posts – Tech Team member BayCityJohn is watching the post count.  Sometime within the next week, one of our members will post the 1,000,000th post.  Will it be a new member or one of the officially knighted “obsessed?”  Will it be a ‘Lasher or a Heathen?  A photocap, or a thoughtful post in the book club?

It could even be you!

**********


Photocaps of the Day

Everything's different in Texas

by doodler

Jimbo:  Dammit Twist, for the LAST time, I was NOT signalling anything to you
in the damn john. I was stomping on a scorpion that I felt crawling up my leg!

by lauragigs

LaShawn:  You ever notice how men will go to the john to 'powder
their noses' at a party, and then they'll go again before the party's over?

 

The Daily Sheet depends on you and your ideas.


Contributors:  KittyHawk, huntinbuddy, Cowboysnkisses, BayCityJohn, doodler, lauragigs, marc

 

Calendar of Events
 

If you have ideas about initiating a gathering, go to Start Your Own Threads
and get the ball rolling to plan a get-together near you.

September 15-16, 2007 - San Francisco, CA
BBM Screening at Castro Theatre (9-16) and Gay Rodeo (9-15)

Oct 12-15 - Washington, DC
Slash Bash II - DC

Let us know of any events you'd like listed here.

 

The Daily Sheet is a production of The Ultimate Brokeback Forum at www.davecullen.com/forum

Editor: Marcia (Marge_Innavera)

Forum profile assistant: Dawn (stilllearning)

International editor: Martina (desertrat)

Columnists: Jim Bond, michaelflanagansf, planetgal471, MadLori

Proofreader/Researchers: whiplash, gnash, denim girl

Today's edition produced by Ellen (tellyouwhat) email: ellen@davecullen.com

Today's edition formatted and proofed by denim girl

We count on you to send us your news items, questions, and nominations for posts of the day.

To subscribe to The Daily Sheet, press the "Notify" button at the top of the page.
When a new TDS is posted, you will be notified by email.

Previous issues of The Daily Sheet.

Response thread for The Daily Sheet.

[Marge_Innavera]

Friday, September 14, 2007

. . . . . . . . . . . . Member Profile:  Katiebre

I'm German and live in Germany. After finishing our studies me and my boyfriend (now my husband) moved to Ireland where we lived and worked for 4.5 years. That was a great time and we enjoyed it very much, and whenever we are back in Dublin it still feels a lot like home, although the city is changing everywhere. Still, there came a time when for a number of reasons it felt like time to move back to Germany, where we've been for the past 9 years. But sometimes we do look at each other and ask ourselves why we ever left Ireland... We have a 7 year old son who is a lovely, bright, charming, stubborn and strong-willed boy.   I have a university degree in translation and for the past few years I have been working as a freelance translator. As a freelancer I'm my own boss, I can choose what I do and don't have to put up with those crappy ideas anymore that sometimes came wafting down from the management floor. I also like my job for being very varied. Aside from dealing with words and language and paying attention to detail (and being my own accountant, system administrator and marketing advisor), I get to deal with a great variety of subjects: Over the years things as varied as user documentation for radiation therapy equipment, user interface strings for graphics software, online-help for CAD software, press releases by CPU manufacturers, training materials for sales staff or user manuals for steam sterilizers have been on my desk. I have also been writing and maintaining a user documentation for a complex car dealer management software for almost four years now. While I don't have to be an expert in all of these fields I do need to get a good idea of what it's about, and I like this combination of language and technical skills. I think this job and this way of working also suit me because I get to sit here at home alone at my computer and can happily work away. I am not exactly a people person and I don't think I would be very good at a job that involves interacting with people a lot. Still, it can get a little lonely sometimes, and then I do enjoy virtual or real-life company.   Work takes up a great deal of my day, but there's other things I enjoy, too. I have always loved reading and having time to read is one of my greatest joys. Even as a small girl, I must have been impressed by the sight of my dad reading a book -- I'd figured out how to read before I entered school and have been hooked on books ever since. Sometimes they make me forget everything around me... Another hobby is painting (watercolours, pastels and drawing), although I have badly neglected that and should be doing it more. I have been told that I'm not bad, but I feel that I would need much more practice to maintain and develop this and to keep in touch and tune with the way the colours behave. I do hope that there will come a time when I find more rest and inspiration inside me and more time in my life to get back into it.   Recently, I joined a choir. That should be fun, although I am a bit daunted by the prospect of taking part in their upcoming anniversary concert because all the songs and lyrics are so new to me and I will have to learn them all by heart very soon!   When I was a teenager and still living at home I played in a soccer team, and despite being so short I was one of our best goalies (until I hurt my knee). Nowadays I don't really do any sports, I'm too lazy. Rarely, I go cycling on a Saturday before breakfast, but usually the prospect of staying in bed and stealing the time for a couple of pages reading while my men are already up seems much more enticing! * * * * * Are you a morning person or night-owl, peace-maker or comfortable with confrontation, more of a sun-bather or rock-climber, life -of-the-party or desiring a quite cup of coffee with a few friends?  Not really a morning person, but not really a night owl either. I don't like to get up early but it's not a big problem if I have to. But I do get tired at some stage, although sometimes in the evening my energy levels soar unexpectedly... Not a sun-bather, but rock-climbing sounds far too ambitious for my not-sport-loving self - will hiking do? And definitely not life of the party, rather the quiet type.   What famous quote has inspired you? "Life is so brief, and time is a thief if you're undecided." (Rod Stewart in "Young Turks") Well, maybe it hasn't actually inspired me, but it's been with me and in my mind for years. Feels so true and I think this is something that we should all be told at the start of every day.   What is the greatest gift that you have received? Why? Being born to the right parents, in the right place at the right time. My chances for good health, survival, education and living my life the way I choose it would have been a lot worse had I been born, say 500 years ago, or today in a place without access to clean water and healthcare, or in a country where it would be difficult for a girl to get good education and do what she likes.   Currently reading? The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger (a friend gave it to me in German). Dirt Music by Tim Winton is next in the line.   Your perfect day? Would start with sleeping in. Would involve no rush, people agreeing with me and doing what I want, would further involve good food and drink, some mild activity outside in fresh air and beautiful countryside, and a good deal of undisturbed reading.   Last major purchase? My new notebook computer wouldn't count because it is a business expense. Perhaps a pair of the absolutely most lovely boots I've ever owned. Not really a major purchase, but for me it felt like one, sheer luxury...   First job? Delivering newspapers once a week.   What was your most embarrassing experience or the strangest situation that you found yourself in? I did share my most embarrassing experience here on the forum's Few Fun Questions thread.   Other than your parents, who has had the greatest influence on your life? My husband: We've been together for 15 years now and have taken so many important decisions together that shape our life today.   If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates? "Hi Katie, good to see you. Listen, I know it hasn't always been easy, and yes, there were a number of blunders, but I know you were trying to do the right thing, and you weren't bad, so come on in...." And then I would like to find out whether my grandmother has been able to see me from above and what she thinks.   What's one thing that you just can't stand, so you're trying to help fix it? I've learnt (and am still struggling to learn) that the one thing I can't stand is one that I cannot fix. (Shiiiiit, that's hard....)   What do you know for sure? I can only change me, not other people.   What brought you to the Forum? Ever since I saw BBM I had the urge to find out all about the film. For a while I only read loads of articles on the web. Then I had a discussion with a friend, and she mentioned something about the film that I had no answer to. Finding an answer to that question was what made me find this forum. I was SO excited to find that there was a place where people would be happy and never tired to discuss any aspect of the movie! And it was so wonderful, also, to find that so many people had been deeply hit and affected by this movie, like me. This meant I was not silly or nuts or whatever.   Strangely, I find that I spend more and more of my time here on the lighter side of things even though I came here with the intention of doing serious stuff. It takes more concentration to follow the serious threads (my favourite being Ennis' character analysis) than I am able to bring from day to day.   What do you appreciate the most about this site, what is the most important thing that you have learned as a result of being here? It's liberating and I can explore parts of my personality that hadn't been "used" in a while.   I am also learning more about gay issues, and meeting gay people than ever before in my life. I consider this a broadening of my horizon, for which I am grateful as I know very few gay/bi people in RL. I guess I'm the classic case for "Ignorant Straight Girl Wants Answers from Gay Men"   Your favorite threads? Planet Heath, the 24 hour Diner, the photo thread, the Photo captioning thread, and the German thread. As I mentioned above, I would like to have more rest inside me to follow the more serious aspects, and explore what happened, what it means, imagery, symbolism and so much more around this masterpiece. Here, the most interesting threads for me would be Ennis' character analysis and Did Jack Quit Ennis.   How many times have you watched BBM? About 6 times since March 2007. But never on the big screen, always at home on DVD.   Your favorite BBM scene? SNIT and the reunion.   What was your take-away message from BBM? What affected you the most? One aspect was that it was a hommage to love.   The other aspect is that you need to realise what's good for YOU as a person and go for it, no matter what the world around you might say. That's your only chance for real happiness, and you owe that to yourself.

International News

Russian "Brokeback Mountain" planned Russian film director Aleksei Uchitel is planning a Russian version of Brokeback Mountain. Uchitel is already working on his new movie, provisionally titled "Caucasian prisoner" (alternative names Caucasian captive, captive of the Caucasus), which will feature a passionate affair between a Russian soldier and a Chechen youth. The movie is based on a 1995 novel by Vladimir Makanin, with the screenplay done by Dunya Smirnova. Witnesses of the movie-making process in Yalta, in the Crimea, report that much more than passionate kissing will be shown, with several artistically presented bedroom scenes included in the script. Natalia Uvarova, the press spokeswoman for the Russian Federal Agency for Culture and Cinematography, believes Uchitel's movie will be even more powerful than Ang Lee's Oscar-winner, and may end up winning several international prizes, including the GLBT Teddy award in Berlin and possibly even an Oscar.

Film director Aleksei Uchitel

 

Statistics just released in Canada refute the arguement of marriage equality opponents that the motive in same-sex marriages is purely to make a political statement and that same-sex couples are less interested in long-term commitments than opposite-sex ones. Just two years after same-sex marriage was legalized in Canada, the Montreal-based Chronicle reported that "same-sex unions are growing at five times the rate of opposite-sex ones." The 2006 census, taking both legally married couples and common-law unions into account for both same-sex and opposite-sex households, reported 45,300 same-sex couples, both common law and married, up from 34,200 in 2001; a 33 per cent increase; "while heterosexual couples grew by just six per cent in the same time period."

.....................

Some controversy arose over the method of reporting, as  same-sex marriages were relegated to an "other' write-in box. The Egale Canada advocacy group objected, urging that the next census have "one box for everybody," according to executive director Helen Kennedy.  "People are people and people just want the same things out of life. Your sexual orientation should not matter." Anne Milan, spokesperson for Statistics Canada, pointed out that working same-sex marriages into a census was uncharter territory: "It's the first time that we've asked same sex marriage so it's really a benchmark number."

For the past six years, Indian filmmaker Parvez Sharma looked into the experiences of gay Muslims in 12 countries including India, Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, Egypt, South Africa and France, in the interest of  presenting Islam's most unlikely storytellers." The result, with much of the footage shot in secret, was the documentary, A Jihad For Love, which is competing at the Toronto International Film Festival.  A review in PrideDEPOT.com remarked that the various personal stories Sharma presented are as "diverse as the various worlds of Islam." While the word jihad is often translated in the West, and by religious extremists, as "holy war," its essential meaning in Islam is to "struggle" or "to strive in the path of God."  Reviewing the movie in The Guardian, Jeremy Kay mentioned a scene that many a fanfiction writer would consider a fair approximation of the experience of a South African Ennis coming out to his daughters: "A Muslim man and his two daughters are enjoying a coastal drive in South Africa. It's a happy scene, yet the easy banter belies the hardship this family has endured. The man, Mushin Hendricks, is a former imam who was cast out by his community when he declared his homosexuality. The girls' mother has since remarried, and when Hendricks asks them what they would do if he were arrested, the answer comes without hesitation. The elder child, combining filial love with the lessons of her Islamic education, says she would ask that officials spare him a protracted death by stoning, and kill him with the first rock." Another Muslim "Ennis" in A Jihad For Love,  is a Moroccan lesbian living in Paris who "still believes she deserves to be punished for her sexuality," and only recently was able to use the term "lesbian." Sharma's experiences in making the film would good documentary material in themselves. He did obtain government permission to film when necessary, but also posed as a tourist and a worker for an Aids charity, having friends keep copies of footage that they would destroy as soon as he succeeded in smuggling the original footage to a safe location.

Australia to Wyoming

Before Brokeback Mountain started filming, dialect coach Joy Ellison "hid a microphone up her sleeve [and visited] a roughneck bar in Riverton, Wyoming, the kind of place where people are especially sensitive to being taped." Ellison, who later took a road trip through Wyoming to Calgary with Michelle Williams, managed to make secret tapes by holding her beer up and leaning her elbow on the bar, and then "just starting asking questions about the town and what had changed.” According to Penelope Whitney in Smith Magazine, this was Ellison's first step in developing an ear for Wyoming speech in order to teach Heath and Jake who to sound like two boys from Sage and Lightning Flat. Much of the work in rendering dialect for the screen concentrates not on memorizing lines in dialect form but rather focusing on the key sounds that give every accent its distinctive sound. "Wyoming has some Canadian dialect influences," Ellison observed. "They’ll say ‘oh no,’ with that little rounded mouth. Another vowel that really identifies Wyoming is the ‘i’ in pineapple. It’s very slight, say, compared to Texas where they’d say “pineapple upsy-ide down cake’ with a longer stress on that ‘i.’ ” After identifying how Ennis and Jack should sound, Ellison then took the next step a good dialect coach must make: use the objective research in a subjective way with specific actors who have specific backgrounds and personalities. She discovered that "Jake is theater trained and analytical, and pulls acting apart intellectually. . .  Heath is very seat of the pants, in the moment, his mind is going a million directions all at once. So as an actor it was even a greater stretch for him to play this character.”  As every actor knows, physical "business" can sometimes go as far in interpreting a character as a script analysis, and Ellison taught Heath to hold his lower lip the way a habitual tobacco-chewer would.

Sample of Ellison's production notes

Ellison was impressed by how quickly Ang Lee picked up on the sounds and rhythms of regional speech, even recognizing when accents went slightly astray during a scene. According to the Obliquity blog, Ellison and Lee worked to divide the story into three time sequences in terms of the two actors' vocal nuances. "We named the voices Voice One, Two, and Three. In one day, the actor might shoot a scene in Voice Three – the older, deeper, slower voice – and then the next scene might be Voice One, which had more vitality and was perhaps higher."

........................ ........................ ........................ Resource for US Dialects Would Ennis call a water tap a "spigot" or "spicket"? Find out at Harvard Univeristy's  US Dialect Survey. The site has pages for all 50 states plus Washington, D.C. and is a good resource for writers wanting to make characters' speech authentic.

Forum Highlights

..........

Forum members killersmom, michaelflanagansf and BayCityJohn will be attending a screening of I'm Not There at the Mill Valley Film Festival in California on October 7th. Heath's appearance in the Bob Dylan fictionalized biography won't be the only Brokeback connection, however. Ang Lee's new film Lust, Caution will also be screened on the October 4th opening night, and the festival organizers report that he "will be honored with an Oct. 5 tribute that includes clips from his films and an on-stage conversation with him at the Christopher B. Smith Rafael Film Center. It's followed by a reception at the Mill Valley Outdoor Art Club." They referred to Lee as "a festival fixture and one of its ardent supporters." Brokeback's "Birthday" Brokies in the New York City area in particular might want to set aside the weekend of October 5th through 7th for the New Yorker festival. Friday night will include Annie Proulx and Junot Díaz, whose short-story collection “Drown” and novel The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, first appeared as excerpts in The New Yorker. Brokeback Mountain was first published in the magazine ten years ago in 1997. The reading will be held at the Cedar Lake Dance Studios and tickets are $16. Forum member Jeff Wrangler reports that "on Saturday afternoon, Oct. 6, at 1:00 p.m., [Annie] and Paul Theroux have a book signing at the Festival Headquarters, some place called the Metropolitan Pavilion, 125 West 18th Street, between Sixth and Seventh Avenues." For discussion and ongoing information, see the NYC Get Together thread. Honorable Mention Photocaps from Brokeback are combined with lines from Mary Renault's The Persian Boy in an excellent photo essay by magicmountain titled The Proulxian Boys.

Impressed in Washington

"Brokeback" seems to have found its way into the English language not only in reference to sexual orientation but to scenery.  In the Washingtonian this week, Susan Davidson remarked in a story about the spectacular mountain scenery in western Canada that "no matter how many times you have seen topographical maps, photographs, or the movie Brokeback Mountain, nothing prepares you for the majesty, the scale and magnificence, of these mountains." Davidson had visited the Lake Louise-Banff-Jasper area, which FindingBrokeback.com recommends for "some of the world’s most remarkable high-altitude scenery."

Lake Louise, which Davidson says "might have been a huge,
PhotoShop-enhanced image stuck over my window. But it was real."

Quote of the Day

"The most damaging phrase in the language is:  'It's always been done that way.' "   

~ ~Grace Hopper

Photo Caption of the Day
 
From Photo Captioning Fun 2
Contributed by gnash

ennis (thinkin): well, shit. seducing jack is gonna be harder than i thought.

 
The Daily Sheet depends on you and your ideas.
Contributors: Martina, Katiebrie, killersmom, michaeflanagan, tellyouwhat,
CellarDweller115, Jeff Hanna, gnash, magicmountain, Jeff Wrangler



Calendar of Events
 

If you have ideas about initiating a gathering, go to Start Your Own Threads
and get the ball rolling to plan a get-together near you.

September 15-16, 2007 - San Francisco, CA
BBM Screening at Castro Theatre (9-16) and Gay Rodeo (9-15)

Oct 12-15 - Washington, DC
Slash Bash II - DC

   
October 5th, 6th, 7th - New York City, NY
NYC Get Together & Annie Proulx

October 7th - Mill Valley, CA
Mill Valley Film Festival 'I'm Not There' Screening Get Together

Let us know of any events you'd like listed here.

 

The Daily Sheet is a production of The Ultimate Brokeback Forum at www.davecullen.com/forum

Editor: Marcia (Marge_Innavera)

Forum profile assistant: Dawn (stilllearning)

International editor: Martina (desertrat)

Columnists: Jim Bond, michaelflanagansf, planetgal471, MadLori

Proofreader/Researchers: whiplash, gnash, denim girl

Today's edition produced by Marcia (Marge Innavera) email: marge@davecullen.com

Today's edition formatted and proofed by gnash

We count on you to send us your news items, questions, and nominations for posts of the day.

To subscribe to The Daily Sheet, press the "Notify" button at the top of the page.
When a new TDS is posted, you will be notified by email.

Previous issues of The Daily Sheet.

Response thread for The Daily Sheet.