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You'll Need More Than 4 Minutes

From MadonnaOnline.com.br comes this spectacular Madonna-through-the-ages megamix video. It's really creative in many instances; I love "Fever" blending into "Get Together." Reminds you of why you love her:

The Gay Boogie

Here come the brides.

I've always liked Ellen—I even sat through her sitcom, which was brilliant in fits and unfit for television in bits. I liked her more than I ever could have thought possible when she came out, was disappointed when I saw her in person and she did not radiate warmth (to be fair, I was with a camera crew and she probably thought we were after her, which we weren't) and have enjoyed her talk show to an extent. The extent to which I don't enjoy it is that every once in a while, it bugs me that the smart, hip, 50-year-old lesbian has to dance to engage her adult audience. I don't despise the dance, and I see it as a smart branding thing that she probably tripped into, but it comes off as phony. For me.

The rest of her show isn't phony; her bubbliness—unlike when Rosie had her talk show, whose fake persona I loathed—seems to be genuine. And while I sometimes wish she were more political (I hate when people say they're not political...we all should be since politics affects every facet of our lives), I have to give her credit for being openly, unapologetically gay. That is really enough.

But beyond that, she spoke passionately about Lawrence King this year in a move that really blew me away. And now that the conservative-heavy (so much for "activist judges") California supreme court has ruled that gay marriage should be legal (possibly going into effect within 30 days), Ellen has not let us—or herself—down: She's announced on her show that she plans to marry Portia de Rossi.

I think Ellen, with her visibility and her appeal to citizens from eight to 80, is probably the most important, directly impactful (even if it's not a word) figure in the gay-rights movement. And for that, I can overlook her cloying dance routine. In fact, her stealthy success at making a difference helps me understand what all that dancing could be about in the first place.

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Haunted Honeymoon

This can't be wrong, because my friend The Notorious J*O*E is always so right:

Guydar: Caught Looking

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Boogie Fights

Mark Wahlberg is featured on the cover of Men's Health (June 2008). It's interesting to me that his cover line is, "C'mon, man, take a swing!" and that he's photographed in a boxing ring given his propensity for beating people up:

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Sue Unhappy

I always liked Sue Simmons...strangely, I like her more now:

Sue from News 4 Cursing

I'm betting she was laying into a slow cue-card guy (wait, do they still have those?) or maybe even Chuck Scarborough.

More people in the media should be asking us this question. And we should be asking this question of more in the media.