My Olympic Solution To The Russian Gay Thing

Something good MUST come from this! I know
Homer Simpson would approve.

There's been a large outcry from around the world against Russia for its recent onslaught of anti-gay laws and violence, particularly as it relates to two things: Russian vodka and the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.

Among the many suggestions and counter-suggestions that have meandered into my brain via various media outlets:

Boycott Russian vodka, especially Stolichnaya. Put financial pressure on Russia.
Don't boycott Stoli -- the company isn't actually Russian-owned and is pro-LGBT.

Boycott the Sochi Olympics. That will hurt and embarrass Russia.
Don't boycott the Sochi Olympics -- that will only hurt the athletes who aren't allowed to compete.

Move the Olympics to another location. That will hurt Russia.
Don't move the Olympics -- logistically it just can't be done.

Athletes, coaches, officials and others participating in or attending the Olympics should protest while there -- for example, wearing items with the rainbow flag.
Athletes, etc. shouldn't protest -- the Olympics shouldn't be politicized (HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA -- they've been politicized longer than I've been alive) and athletes may be disqualified or sanctioned. Plus these visitors may risk being arrested themselves. (Russian officials keep changing their tunes in this regard and the International Olympic Committee, engorged as it is by greed and corruption, doesn't have a clue how to react.)

No one should travel to Russia for vacation. Spend tourism money elsewhere.
...actually, I haven't seen a pro-tourism viewpoint here. But how many people actually visit Russia for pleasure when there isn't an Olympics? I have no statistics, but if you're not a Russophile like Johnny Weir, there are a lot more glamorous vacation destinations.

What disturbs me is the infighting I've seen regarding these ideas. Maybe it's just my finding links and comments on Twitter, but it seems both supporters and opponents of these boycotts are doing a lot of nasty sniping at each other. While they agree that something needs to be done, they aren't exactly putting up a united front.

That has to stop. I'm for any boycott that anyone wants to do. I'm in favor of not buying Russian vodka. I'm in favor of moving the Olympics (more on that in a moment). I'm in favor of boycotting the Olympics, if any governments decided to do so. I don't really care what's done, but something must be done to stop the injustices in Russia. But I'm not in favor of fighting and insulting each other.

As far as moving the Olympics out of Sochi, I think there's a way.

On The Other Hand...

Unlike James Franco, Jake Gyllenhaal can come out of the closet any time he wants, especially since he broke up with Taylor Swift. I never thought that was real, let alone that it was going to last a while. She strikes me as a perpetually lovestruck 14-year-old even though she's 21. He's 30 now. The age difference isn't the issue. The maturity difference is. She should go back to Taylor Lautner, if you want my opinion. And Jake should come out and declare his eternal love for me, or at least stop by for a night...oh, what the hell, let's run this picture again...

By the way, perhaps because of this picture, somehow my "Love and Other Drugs" review has nearly caught up to my second nearly-naked Pat Burrell post as most-viewed on my blog since Blogger added their new Stats feature.

Speaking of coming out, did you hear that Johnny Weir is gay? Most of the commentary today revolves around the utter lack of surprise at this, since by his actions and attitude he'd done everything but make it official. I had my own joke line about it when I tweeted earlier ("Water wet, fire hot, Weir gay; or: time to sell some books!"). But this story at EW.com gives a more nuanced view of why he wanted to come out on his terms.

P.S. In part this post was a test to see if Blogger solved the problem that was disrupting things last night. It seems like it's back to normal. I have 2 movies, 2 weeks of comics and the NFL playoffs to write about, so I'm glad it's fixed!

More Random TV Talk

Four more "singers" have been voted off the "American Idol" island. They won't be missed. Simon Cowell will be missed. His commentary is about the only thing keeping me watching. I suppose I should be shallow and say I enjoy contestant Tim Urban's shirtless picture. Perhaps if he showed some skin on the show he can hang around a few weeks more.

Meanwhile, tonight we were force-fed an appearance by Danny Gokey. He sang, which was bad enough (though, since I record it each week and fast-forward through the commercials, I also was able to forward past the song). Then he had to not only pimp his late wife (again), but also the fact that the song he sang was written by someone whose wife also died. I got this from Entertainment Weekly, and I'll probably have to say it until the day I die: put the GO in Gokey!

Thank goodness for the DVR. I also fast-forward through the filmed packages for each wannabe such as this week's inane "Something that America would be surprised to learn about me is..." followed by a totally unsurprising (and usually uninteresting) fact. Here's a clue, wannabes (and show's producers): no one's heard of any of you before this. I don't know ANYTHING about you. And unless you're going to talk about your nights at the local sex club either riding the sling or on your knees at the "milking station," I don't care.

Meanwhile, last week I worried that "Desperate Housewives" was hinting that Katherine would go lesbian with the stripper. I so hoped they wouldn't go there. They went there. Plus, apparently (suddenly) the gay couple on the block throw big parties all the time, but also (again, suddenly) are trying to adopt a baby. And Susan was an idiot (as usual). I seriously think I'm tiring of this show. The only question is, should I stick it out until John Barrowman arrives in April to do whatever he's doing that will lead to the end of the stupid Bolen mystery and Drea de Matteo's leaving the show?

If I stop watching both "DH" and "Idol," and with "Ugly Betty" ending next month, I won't have many shows to watch on the "big four" networks -- "The Simpsons," "Family Guy," and "Bones." I'm sticking with "The Amazing Race" at least as long as Steve Smith is still on. On cable, there's also "RuPaul's Drag Race" and "Be Good Johnny Weir" but there aren't too many episodes of those shows so they won't be on much longer. "Mad Men" and "Robot Chicken" are in between seasons. I've been watching "Southland" since it moved to TNT. They've got some new episodes now, so we'll see if TNT wants to continue running it. I like it but I'm not sure I love it yet. Oh, and I musn't forget my daily dose of TMZ.

I know there are a lot of shows that are popular and/or critically acclaimed, but as I've said before, something needs to hook me in order for me to even try to watch. So if I've got some more empty time slots in the coming weeks I doubt they'll be filled by other shows.