Grapefeed

The headline pretty much says it all. After a years-long battle, California’s Supreme Court ruled today that the state’s ban on same-sex marriages is unconstitutional. This makes California the second state to allow same-sex marriages, nearly four years to the day that same-sex couples in Massachusetts were granted the right to marry.

Prior to the 2004 ruling that allowed gay marriages in Massachusetts, San Francisco city officials allowed gay and lesbian couples to wed. Those marriages were later nullified and remain so after today’s ruling.

Remember Sue Simmons’ recent verbal gaffe? (”What the fuck are you doing?!”) The New York Times has the story behind it.

Male insecurity rears its stupid head again. Someone has created a list of the ten “unmanliest” drinks (mirror) in existence. I’ve been known to down some of the listed beverages; water, the sixth item on the list, in particular when I’m trying to keep a potential hangover at bay.

A drink is only unmanly when you question your sexuality. The end!

In this age of sensationalism, I often wish televised news shows would do something like this when there’s nothing of note to report. This or footage of dancing monkies.

Insert Ceiling Cat or pooping rainbows reference here.

Considering I work in a very gay environment, it’s almost appropriate that these now appear on the ceiling above my cube farm every afternoon. There’s a trophy that currently sits on a windowsill in a nearby office to thank for that.

Despite the long-ass period of rain, I spent Sunday afternoon in Dupont Circle. On my way to the bus stop, I spotted a duck waddling around the rim of the fountain in Dupont and wanted to get a shot of it there. Thanks to a guy whose swagger was a cross between J.J. from “Good Times” and George Jefferson from “the Jeffersons,” the duck jumped into the water and moved away before I snapped the photo. I made the best of it and got the duck picture the only way I could.

My friend Jonathan, who passed away last fall, had this thing about WNBC-TV anchor Sue Simmons — he found her creepy or something. Having grown up in New York City myself, I could certainly understand why. There was something very automaton-ish about her when she read the news. If he were still with us, I’m sure he’d love the following clip from a teaser for last night’s 11:00 p.m. newscast on WNBC, where Simmons drops the F-bomb. (Audio NSFW.)

How very New York! (video via Towleroad)

I completely forgot this was happening until I went by it, but Nintendo is running a promotional event for the Wii version of their popular “Mario Kart” game at D.C.’s Union Station. They seem to be a day early; the email I got from Nintendo announced this was to take place tomorrow. (See screen shot at right.)

This particular part of Union Station seems to have become a very popular location for such events. Last fall, Showtime held a promotion for their series “Dexter” with a rather half-assed looking fountain. (Fountains in other cities were much niftier, case in point.) Two months earlier, Nabisco simultaneously celebrated the 95th anniversary of the Oreo sandwich cookie and introduced the Cakester with a larger than life size sculpture of the new treat.

My easy button finally has a companion, courtesy of Yahoo! Search Marketing.

Yes, it yodels.

Each of us who participated in the Servathon last weekend got a commemorative T-shirt. The backside was sponsor logo soup; the front side had the event logo and — for teams of sufficient membership — their team’s name. To date, this is the only DCist shirt I own.

As we awaited our assignment, a brief discussion of T-shirt purchasing sprang up. Specifically, we wondered aloud who actually buys T-shirts anymore; a valid question if there ever was one. Personally, my closet is overflowing with T-shirts I’ve acquired over the last 15 years, all of them at little to no financial cost to me. The tees all fall into one of two categories — tees from specific events I participated in (eg.: AIDS Walk, Marine Corps Marathon, community theatre productions), or tees from work (the Fruit Stand™ in particular — I estimate that I’ve amassed some 40+ T-shirts since starting there in November 2006).

Despite my ridiculous collection of tees, I still find myself occasionally purchasing a T-shirt free of corporate logos or other obvious branding. After all, I have enough T-shirts that turn me into a walking advertisement; I shouldn’t have to pay for the privilege. (I’m befuddled by people who do.)

I have to say though that this shirt is making it to my “T-Shirts/Hoodies I Want” list. Yes, it sort of shows a logo, but it also pokes fun at it. I therefore deem it brilliant.