Romney Criticized For Hotel Porn

Ken AshfordElection 2008, Sex/Morality/Family ValuesLeave a Comment

I love it when the rightwing eats itself.  From AP’s Glen Johnson:

Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney, who rails against the "cesspool" of pornography, is being criticized by social conservatives who argue that he should have tried to halt hardcore hotel movie offerings during his near-decade on the Marriott board.

Two anti-pornography crusaders, as well as two conservative activists of the type Romney is courting, say the distribution of such graphic adult movies runs counter to the family image cultivated by Romney, the Marriotts and their shared Mormon faith.

"Marriott is a major pornographer. And even though he may have fought it, everyone on that board is a hypocrite for presenting themselves as family values when their hotels offer 70 different types of hardcore pornography," said Phil Burress, president of Citizens for Community Values, an anti-pornography group based on Ohio.

Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, a leading conservative group in Washington, said: "They have to assume some responsibility. It’s their hotels, it’s their television sets."

Take Me Out

Ken AshfordSex/Morality/Family ValuesLeave a Comment

Boycotting a baseball game because gays want to attend?

Some people are idiots.

[P.S.: In case you don’t get this post’s title…]

RELATED:  Apparently, gays are to blame for everything, including straight people’s ability to pass the bar:

A Boston man who failed the Massachusetts bar exam has filed a federal lawsuit claiming his refusal to answer a test question – related to gay marriage – caused him to flunk the test.

Stephen Dunne, 30, is suing the Massachusetts Board of Bar Examiners and the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, claiming the “inappropriate” test question violated his religious convictions and his First Amendment rights. Answering the question, Dunne claims, would imply he endorsed gay marriage and parenting.

The suit also challenges the constitutionality of the 2003 SJC ruling that made Massachusetts the nation’s first state to legalize same-sex marriage.

Dunne, who describes himself as a Christian and a Democrat, is seeking $9.75 million in damages and wants a jury to prohibit the Board of Bar Examiners from considering the question in his passage of the exam and to order it removed from all future exams.

“There’s a different forum for that contemporary issue to be discussed, and it’s inappropriate to be on a professional licensing examination,” Dunne told the Herald. “You don’t see questions about partial-birth abortion or abortion on there.”

This guy is a moron and doesn’t deserve to pass the bar …ever.  And by the way, I got an abortion question on my exam.

Public Desire For Impeachment Of Bush/Cheney Grows

Ken AshfordBush & Co.Leave a Comment

From a new poll conducted by American Research Group, a non-partisan outfit:

* Do you favor or oppose the US House of Representatives beginning impeachment proceedings against President George W. Bush?

Among all U.S. adults, 45% support the House initiating impeachment proceedings against Bush. Among all U.S. voters, impeachment enjoys 46% support, a plurality. In all, 69% of Dems, 50% of independents, and 13% of Republicans say they favor the start of an impeachment process.

* Do you favor or oppose the US House of Representatives beginning impeachment proceedings against Vice President Dick Cheney?

Among all U.S. adults, a 54% majority support the House initiating impeachment proceedings against Cheney. Among all U.S. voters, impeachment enjoys 50% support. In all, 76% of Dems, 51% of independents, and 17% of Republicans say they favor the start of an impeachment process.

The Full Monty: The Review

Ken AshfordLocal Interest, Popular CultureLeave a Comment

It’s a hit!

Baring All: ‘Tasteful’ musical fully uncovers story of hard times

By Mary Martin Niepold

What’s it like to strip right down to our natural born selves? It’s bad enough if you’re a fledgling teenage girl. But what if you’re a full-grown, out-of-work, steelworker kind of man?

That’s the send-up in The Full Monty, the Terrence McNally musical that opened Thursday night in a co-production by The Little Theatre of Winston-Salem and the Community Theatre of Greensboro.

In it, we encounter six desperate men who decide to become male strippers when they can’t find work anywhere else, and they’ve got kids to support and families to take care of. They have to go for “the full monty,” or total nudity. The real story, however, is what it takes on the inside to do what’s necessary in hard times.

If ever there was a fun night at the theater, this qualifies. The journey from out-of-work man to male stripper is pure delight – a rousing show packed with laughs, a thong here and there, and some fine song-and-dance numbers along the way.

Recommended for mature audiences, the nudity is never salacious, and, fortunately, the theme running in the show makes even that identifiable. These are Average Joes who have to confront extra pounds, knock-knees, zero talent and a few other foibles on their way to summoning enough courage to go for it and make some real bucks in the altered reality as a Chippendale kind of guy in the mean streets of Pittsburgh. The nudity is usually backlit, always tasteful.

The cast – a lively mixture of Winston-Salem and Greensboro talents – can do pratfalls and slapstick renditions of comedy quite well under the excellent direction of Jamie Lawson.

Lawson, the artistic director for the Winston-Salem Theatre Alliance, stretches his own theatrical talent in this one, directing and choreographing with big, bold moves and throwing in a live 12-piece orchestra for added oomph.

Watch for some sizzling renditions from Neil Shepherd as Jerry Lukowski, who cooks up this male version of liberation for himself and five other guys, and Gray Smith, a pigeon-toed show-stealer, as Malcolm MacGregor.

Laughter at what we all go through when it comes to owning up to our own bodies is not a bad tonic, especially in a theatrical setting.

■ The Full Monty, a musical by Terrence McNally, will be presented by Little Theatre of Winston-Salem at 8 p.m. today, 2 p.m. Sunday, and at 8 p.m. Thursday through next Saturday at The Arts Council Theatre, 610 Coliseum Drive, Winston-Salem. It will be performed in Greensboro at 8 p.m. July 20-21 and July 26-28, and at 2 p.m. July 22 and 29 at The Historic Carolina Theatre, 310 S. Greene St. Admission is $22, $20 for senior adults and $18 for students. Call 336-725-4001. Recommended for mature audiences.

A couple of comments:

*  It takes place in Buffalo, not Pittsburgh.  We only mention Buffalo (and the Buffalo Bills) about nine times during the show.

*  Well, yes — it is tasteful.  Although the degree of what you see depends on the lights at the last moment.  Last night, the huge flash that comes at the end of the show, intended to blind the audience from seeing the boys’ "boys", was a split second too late, and the audience got a very brief flash of more than we intended.  No problem.  A good time was had by all.

More Monty coverage from Heather.

A Tribute To Cherry Berry

Ken AshfordLocal InterestLeave a Comment

CherrypicCherry Berry may be the most famous North Carolina personality that nobody knows. 

Who is she?

Why, she’s the North Carolina Labor Commissioner (whose name is actually Cherie Berry).

And why is her name so familiar to North Carolinians?  Well, it’s a memorable name, which is on the inspection certificates of every elevator in the state.

So it was only a matter of time before her name was celebrated in a musical tribute.

The band is The Commissioners.

Play cherryberry.mp3 (right click and save to download).

More info on Cherry and the song here.

Full Monty: Dress Rehearsal

Ken AshfordLocal Interest, PersonalLeave a Comment

What a blast!

171 people came to the Arts Council Theatre tonight to see dress rehearsal of "The Full Monty".  At $10 a pop (the discounted price), they certainly got their money’s worth.

A few technical glitches (including a late entrance by yours truly) didn’t detract from an exciting show.  I watched the last twenty minutes of Act One from the back of the house, and had a blas — even though I have seen those numbers several dozen times.  The "guys" have come a long way, even in the past week.  Extra kudos to Ralph, who brought the house down with "Big Black Man" (as I always knew he would).

The audience was, I would say, mostly senior citizens taking advantage of the discounted price, peppered with younger theatre friends.  They were an appreciative audience.  It was raucous at the end.

The finale is, of course, when the 6 guys, go the "full monty".  It’s a nail-biting time for everyone.  The cast (except the six guys) are out in the audience, whooping it up, but we can’t help but be concerned.

Will the "strategic" lights go off at the right moment?  (A few times, they’ve come on too early).

Will Neil’s breakway pants actually breakaway?  (They failed two night ago, and it required some quick-thinking castmates to come and help tear them away).

Will someone’s scrotum fall out prematurely?  (Don’t ask….)

Fortunately, none of that came too pass.

And I saw the sweetest thing: As I mentioned above, the cast (except for the six guys) are in and about the audience, whooping it up, making cat calls, etc.  And right in front of where I positioned myself, an elderly couple was sitting.  Both were perhaps in their 70’s.  And as the spotlight hit the stage for the final number, and the bass and drums went into their thumpa-thumpa of the opening strains of the song, they looked at each other and giggled, and he put his arm around her as she nuzzled against him.

It was one of the sweetest things I’ve ever seen in a theater,

And then, the guys onstage took their clothes off.

Come For The Naked Men, Stay For The Political Propaganda

Ken AshfordLocal InterestLeave a Comment

07tsdog_2I’ll be in the Fourth of July parade at Greensboro on — hold on — let me check my calendar — yes — on the 4th of July (tomorrow).  I’ll be riding "The Full Monty" float which, as far as I know, will be just a trailer bed with members of the cast of the show (see sidebar, right).  We will have our clothes on.

A few numbers from the show will be performed at Center City park Pavillion (Stage 5) at 11:15-11:35.

Others will be there too:

"Come join us on Wednesday, July 4th as we march in a parade before thousands of Greensboro people with our message of impeachment! Help us get out thousands of flyers along the parade route advertising our TOWN HALL MEETING on Impeachment (to be held Sunday, July 15th at Two Art Chicks Gallery, 609 S. Elm St). Then stick around afterwards at Center City Park at the WCW table to help us sell t-shirts, bumper stickers, and recruit people to help us spread the word about the July 15th town hall meeting!"

So it’s going to prove to be a real ballyhoo, what with promotions for a musical about male strippers, and radical feminazi Bush bashing.

Be sure to bring the kiddies!!!