Tuesday, October 12, 1999

George Washington’s wood

gAyOL: Michael Alvear looks at the thriving gay chat community on America Online and wonders if Instant Message windows are becoming the bathhouses of the '90s. (Becoming?) [Salon]

If AOL has a policy, gay men don't seem to know about it. They're too busy ordering from what they perceive as an online sex catalog. And why not? The items are always in stock, there's a liberal exchange policy and you can take delivery in a matter of hours.

The absurdity is captured by writer John Royce, who — upon seeing how his gay friends use AOL — quips, "Gay men don't need to support theater. They ARE theater." And now, America Online is their stage.

LIFE AT COUNTY GENERAL: This might be the best source of information for fans of NBC's hospital drama ER on the worldwide web. Not surprising, really, since newsgroups and newsgroup FAQs tended often to be the definitive online resource on a given topic before the ascendance of the web and the ever-rising noise:signal ratio on Usenet these days.

WHO'S YOUR GAME DAD? Why, John Scalzi, of course. A nifty looking, smooth reading site that aims to be a guide to parents about appropriate videogames for their young'ns. The catch: Scalzi's wisely steering clear of edutainment and clearly kid-oriented titles, and focusing on "mainstream" products that may or may not be right for certain ages. (Scalzi also keeps up the tasty scalzi.com, home of Whatever.)

OH, COME ON! Skittish school boarders are altering thousands of textbooks on the off chance that 12-year-olds might snicker about the Father of Our Country gettin' wood. [via EduWatch]

WHO KNEW? Our man Cam is a showtune fan. I have to say that I wasn't as taken with the Hey, Mr. Producer compilation as was he, but hey, everyone's entitled to his epinion. <grin> (I signed up with epinions early on, but I have yet to post anything. Maybe musical comedy CDs and videos should be my focus, since they constitute the bulk of my home entertainment purchases.) And speaking of musical comedy...

ALMOST CERTAIN TO LAUNCH BEFORE THIS: I've been devoting a few brain cells daily to a new BradLands feature called Specific Overtures. It's intended to be a memoir, reflection and commentary on the unique joys of experiencing musical comedy through the medium of Original Cast Albums. The site is not quite ready for primetime, but I hope to put the finishing touches on the opening feature this weekend. Stay tuned.