Kate Cooper of An Horse lulls you in with her straight forward and contagious riffs, and keeps you coming back for more with catchy lyrics you'll find yourself singing long after the album has ended. Coupled with Damon Cox's atmospheric drumming, the duo are an undeniably perfect combination. more

Kate Cooper of An Horse lulls you in with her straight forward and contagious riffs, and keeps you coming back for more with catchy lyrics you'll find yourself singing long after the album has ended. Coupled with Damon Cox's atmospheric drumming, the duo are an undeniably perfect combination.

Both are native Australians, who met working in a record store together. They packed up and moved to the states together relatively recently. The plan was to tour their new album and figure the rest out later. In the short time that they've been making music together they've done multiple tours in Australia, Canada and America, playing with bands such as Tegan and Sara, Death Cab for Cutie, Kaki King, and currently with Wintersleep and Appleseed Cast. With only one EP, Not Really Scared and the recently released full length, Rearrange Beds, under their belt, they're taking the US by storm and don't show any signs of relenting.

SuicideGirls caught up with Kate two days after An Horse headed back out on the road.

Chris Goodman: I was on your band's MySpace site earlier and I noticed a picture of you two with your feet above your heads. I take it you two are expert martial artists? Or maybe the high kicks are some sort of tour preparation?

Kate Cooper: (laughs) Sometimes it's a pre-show ritual. I think it started in the days working in the record store with absolutely nothing to do. I think I said to Damon, "Look how high I can kick above my head." Damon could kick that high as well. Out of boredom we started doing that but it's good to stretch the muscles.

CG: Right, or if you have to kick someone in the face...

KC: I think the actual danger is kicking ourselves in the face but we've sort of perfected it. Though it's taken some time.

CG: So, when did the band get together? You were playing some solo shows first, right?"

KC: Well, sort of. The band has been going on eighteen months. Before that every now and again I would play a show by myself to get some money to pay a credit card bill or something like that. The songs were vastly different but I was using the name An Horse...Or I had a few times. Mainly because I didn't want to use my own name because it sounds very boring. But yeah, the band's been together for about eighteen months.

CG: So you toured with Death Cab for Cutie in Australia. Was that your first tour?

KC: The first tour we went on was in America with Tegan and Sara. The tour with Death Cab was our 2nd or 3rd tour and that was a pretty cool one.

CG: Right now you guys are on the road with Wintersleep? You've got some US and Canadian dates?

KC: We're actually on our way to Portland right now. Seattle tomorrow. Then we head up into Canada, which will be cool.

CG: Have you played there before?

KC: We were up there earlier this month, actually. For the first time we did Montreal and Toronto and a couple of other small places. Small places, but they were really awesome, it was cool.

CG: And eventually you're meeting up with Appleseed Cast and you're doing some more shows in the States?

KC: Yes, that's correct. Next month.

CG: So, is there any sort of routine you have for when you tour. Do you pack up any favorite books or CD's or anything like that?

KC: There is a routine for sure. But before we were always going back to a place in Australia so you just kind of packed what you needed, but this time around Damon and I actually don't have houses anymore. It was silly to be on tour so much and paying rent. So now we kind of have our lives in our suitcases more or less. You'd think that it takes a lot of thought to pack but not really.

You'd be surprised what you pick up along the road, too. People give us things and so now we have a frisbee. I can't wait to have some time to play that. We were given some random stuff at SXSW too. God knows when we'll have time to use the frisbee but it's nice to know we have it in the van when we need it. I guess, since were cooped up in a van all day, all we want to do is run in a field. I also just bought these amazing Styrofoam gliders, which I haven't even got to play with yet. We pass those big pastures and we kind of look at each other and say we'd like the be out there throwing the frisbee or the gliders. But we have to sit in the car and drive to the next town. All of that stuff will come out but we just have to wait for the right time.

CG: Do you or Damon do any tour diaries, either for yourselves or online?

KC: Well, our website was just finished being built and that has a blog section. We blog a little bit on the MySpace. But the point to the website is to use that a little bit more. But us personally, we do a little bit of writing. You know there's not that much to tell. "Sat in the car for 10 hours today..."

CG: So you don't have the Henry Rollins-esque "I stared at the woodgrain in the floor for three hours today" filled notebooks?

KC: Maybe, but I don't know if I would tell you if I did it or not.

CG: For being together only eighteen months you're really getting out there. You played on Letterman, I also read that Kaki King is covering one of your songs? All of these tours, too...

KC: Yeah, it's a bit crazy isn't it? And yep she did cover a song. We actually just toured with her before we left Australia. There is also a possibility that she will be joining us for some dates in New York to play along which is amazing. She's really killer and a lot of fun to tour with. The tour was awesome but it's always a little bit tiring touring Australia since you have to fly everywhere. There's a lot of early mornings and long flights. It's lovely touring with a friend though and we've been really lucky as far as touring with amazing people. I think we know how lucky we really are.

CG: One of your songs got used in a TV commercial also?

KC: Yep, it was for Mercedes in Australia. It helped us come back to America a couple of times. But we didn't get the Mercedes' like I was hoping though.

CG: It's great that you tour so much. That's where you really can connect with the fans. And let me say that for being a two-piece you have one of the most crushing sounds I have ever heard from a band live. Of course the album and the EP were great but you guys are incredible live. I don't know if it has anything to do with the Fender Mustang you play, which I've never seen anyone else use, or Damon's drum kit, but it's such a full and intense sound.

KC: Well Damon plays a big kit. And my Mustang, well, it doesn't have Mustang pickups in it. It has kind of homemade ones in it actually but I didn't make them. A friend of mine does and they're awesome. I think the combination is what makes it big. We didn't even intentionally go for that sound, it just kinda of worked for us.

CG: You have your bridge pinned too. So that means no Jimi Hendrix style dive bombs.

KC: If it got to the point where we had guitar techs or something I would love to unlock the bridge and be able to play around but it's just the tuning that's the issue. When you start messing around with the whammy bars the tuning starts going out. I like to keep the set kind of fast, you know? But it would be awesome to have a tech and be able to jam away and pull out the wammy bar and make all sorts of crazy noises.

CG: Then when you break strings someone just hands you another guitar, ha.

KC: Totally

CG: Even though it was only released on March 17th, you finished Rearrange Beds a while back. Are you working on new stuff right now or just focusing on touring with the album?

KC: We are focusing on touring at the moment because it takes up every moment of every day. Literally. We've been up since six thirty this morning driving. We do have a new song we've been playing and we're doing a cover of The Jealous Sound too. But after these dates with Appleseed we'll have some time. I'm not sure how much time though. We'll have a couple of weeks or a week or something and I think Damon and I plan on spending that time catching up on sleep and writing. Just going into a practice room and writing. God knows where though -- somewhere here in America.

CG: Once this tour's done you guys are trying to find a home base?

KC: Pretty much. People keep asking us where we'll go. If you ask us we'll tell you the places we're interested in living. If you ask our agent he'd probably tell you were going on tour again. So we'll see. I'm so happy to be on tour though. Moving makes me happy. The not moving is the more disconcerting part of it. I am really keen to catch up on sleep but also to get some writing done though.

CG: It seems like you guys came out of nowhere and just blew up over here. You don't usually hear about band popping up that quick. Seems like it went from 0 to 60 in no time at all.

KC: Yeah. Pretty much since we got the Tegan and Sara tour in December or January last year it's been full on. But it doesn't necessarily seem that fast to us. Every day is actually really hard work. Every now and again when we get to stop, we'll look at each other and we're like, "Holy shit, we were on Letterman!" And we're on tour in America, and that's pretty cool, but I don't think we get to think about it too much. We just try to play the best we can every night and write good songs and mainly just do what we love doing. Playing shows with people and connecting with the audience hoping they walk away happy so we can walk away happy. I believe this might be the hardest job in the world but it's also the most rewarding. You know, lawyers and doctors complain about working long hours...But if you're playing in a band it's actually the worst paying job in the world but it's worth it.

CG: Let me ask you one more question, and I know this is going to be hard to answer; Of course you guys are hard working and all of that fun stuff but what percentage of the bands success would you attribute to having the name An Horse. A name that's really weird and hard to say but kinda fun at the same time.

KC: I would attribute about two percent. Most people in America hate the name. They call it awkward and bland. But I like it. I like the way the words fit together. People who get it -- get it.

Chris O'Dowd's breakthrough role was playing uber geek Roy Tenneman in the Emmy Award winning British sitcom The IT Crowd. His character is well endowed in the information technology department but not so blessed when it comes to social skills. It's safe to say, however, that in real life... more

Chris O'Dowd's breakthrough role was playing uber geek Roy Tenneman in the Emmy Award winning British sitcom The IT Crowd. His character is well endowed in the information technology department but not so blessed when it comes to social skills. It's safe to say, however, that in real life the exact opposite is true.

The highly personable Irish actor, who's starring in three upcoming films -- The Boat That Rocked (written by Richard "Bridget Jones" Curtis), Hippie Hippie Shake (with Sienna Miller and Derek Jacobi), and Gulliver's Travels (with Jack Black and Emily Blunt) -- displayed a distinct lack of prowess when it came to dealing with digital phone technology during SuicideGirls protracted attempt to interview him.

The first time Chris called in, he'd just embarked on a hike in the cell phone black hole that is Hollywood's Runyon Canyon park. Thus our conversation was unintentionally aborted just as it had begun. It would take a total of five phone calls, including two more entirely aborted ones, before our interview was complete.

Nicole Powers: So where are you now?

Chris O'Dowd: I just driven my friend home and I'm parked in her street. What a lovely hike that is.

NP: It certainly is. The view's amazing from the top. How long are you in Los Angeles for?

COD: I'm going back to London tomorrow. I just came over to go for a couple of jobs and I got one of them but it's shooting in London. We start in a few weeks.

NP: Congratulations. What film?

COD: It's called Gulliver's Travels.

NP: Ah. I heard about that. It's got a really cool cast hasn't it?

COD: Yeah, we've got some great people. It's Jack Black as Gulliver, and then Emily Blunt, as the Princess -- myself and Jason Segel are fighting over her.

NP: So with Jack Black in the lead it's going to be a very funny version of the classic tale?

COD: Yeah, I can't imagine there's going to be a lot of tears.

NP: Who's directing?

COD: A guy called Rob Letterman who's recently done this Monsters vs Aliens 3D thing that's big in the box office at the moment.

NP: So that's quite a leap for him, going from science fiction to a classic tale.

COD: I know, but I guess there's a lot of green screen in this as well because everyone's supposed to be tiny in Lilliput [one of Gulliver's many fantastic destinations]. It's shooting in Pinewood [England's leading film production facility] from the end of April. It should be fun. I'm just going back to England to learn how to ride a horse...I'm a general in the army, so there's going to be a little bit of horse riding. I think it's going to be really fun though, we're all kind of learning together -- Jason and Jack have to learn as well,.

NP: Your breakthrough role was in the British TV series The IT Crowd. Has that finished shooting now?

COD: No. They're very short series, six episodes each. We'll do another one, I think, towards the end of this year or the start of next year. It's kind of in and out in two months so it's kind of ongoing.

NP: How many seasons have you done so far?

COD: We have done three. Hopefully what's going to happen is we'll do a Christmas special this summer, and then another series later on.

NP: Are you actually a nerd like your character?

COD: No. I'm too cool for school. No, there are similarities but I'm probably not as socially inept.

NP: Which is probably a good thing!

COD: Thank god! I just don't know how people like that would survive in the world.

NP: I love the T-Shirt your character wears in one of the first episodes, that RTFM (Read The Fucking Manual) shirt.

COD: Oh I love that. I think that was Graham's thing, the writer. We put a lot of thought into the T-shirts. With a lot of these nerdy guys it's the only kind of fashion choice that they make, you know, what slogans are on their T-shirts, so they put a lot of thought into it. I like the idea that you never see him in the same T-shirt twice, so we've gone for that.

NP: What were some of your other favorite Ts?

COD: I've got a great one of a pixilated Kermit the Frog, which I think is quite fun, and a lot of Asian anime.

NP: How does your dress style differ from your character's?

COD: I'd like to say that I haven't stolen some of the T-shits that he wears, but I'm afraid that would be untrue. I've taken a few of them. I guess I probably have more then one pair of trainers. There are less spillages on my own clothes than on Roy's clothes.

NP: So you try to avoid saving food for later on the front of your own shirts.

COD: I'm a distinguished gentleman.

NP: I hear you wash too.

COD: Occasionally. We always had an idea for Roy that he'd spill something on his T-shirt and he'd just open up his wardrobe and he's got a thousand different T-shirts in it -- just on hand.

NP: I think with a certain class of geek though, they wouldn't be hung up, they'd just live in a pile in the corner of his bedroom -- they probably would never make it to the wardrobe.

COD: I quite like the idea of it being a big thing for him. Rather than just being completely slobby, he has this one element of his life where he's really tricked out, in the same way that he would be able to rewire a motherboard -- he puts that much dedication into it.

NP: Has there been any area of geek culture or geek speak that's leaked from the show into your own life?

COD: We have a geek consultant on the show who is the finest example of that kind of person I've ever met. You get the impression that the only time he leaves his bedroom is to come and work on the show. He has kind of infiltrated our minds with different websites, stuff like BoingBoing. I haven't become a geek by doing the show.

NP: Are you a Mac or PC person?

COD: I'm a Mac man.

NP: Another distinguishing mark from your character.

COD: I was a PC guys for years but now I'd never be able to go back.

NP: Once you go Mac you never go back.

COD: That's what I've heard.

NP: So the next project that's already been released in the UK that we're getting in America in the fall, is this film The Boat That Rocked.

COD: It's a really amazing movie.

NP: Can you tell us a bit about it?

COD: It's essentially a look at offshore pirate radio between 1966 and '68. At the time there was only about an hour of popular music a week on the radio in Britain, and it was illegal to transmit, so boats, they were going to international waters, which is maybe ten miles off the coast of England, and transmitting across the nation, to 25 million people towards the end. So a group of DJs, we all go out on this boat. The DJs are myself, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Rhys Ifans, Rhys Darby and Nick Frost, and a couple of others, and the film documents our time and the crazy time for music -- amazing time for music.

NP: Obviously it's based on the story of Radio Caroline, and you play DJ Simon Stafford. Who was your character based on?

COD: I guess he was an amalgamation of different people. I play the breakfast jock -- and the breakfast jock on Radio Caroline at the time was Tony Blackburn, so there's definitely an element of him in it. He's very kind of positive, a bit of a romantic, he uses gimmicks and a lot of jokes. A very transatlantic kind of a voice. And then I called in different Irish DJs that would have been contemporaries of Tony Blackburn at the time, a guy called Larry Gogan and a couple of other people. There's a bit of Kenny Everett in there as well, who was a DJ on Caroline at the time. So there's a few different people, but Tony Blackburn was definitely a huge draw.

NP: His equivalent in America would be Casey Kasem -- Tony Blackburn had that kind of cheeseball element.

COD: I kind of think of him as a very sweet guy though. It's an affectionate love, you know.

NP: There's another incredible cast on this film, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Bill Nighy, Rhys Ifans,

COD: Emma Thompson, Kenneth Branagh

NP: Who was the biggest surprise to work with?

COD: I was surprised that Phil Hoffman was so down to earth and lovely. He was just so giving and generous with his time. I was just amazed that he was doing it, because he came on board quite late. I remember we had all been cast and I guess Phil was still negotiating or whatever, so they were talking about different people, and then somebody threw that name into the mix. I was like, "No way." And then they were like, "No! We've got him." I was like, "Oh! My god!"

NP: Did you actually shoot it on board a ship?

COD: We did. We shot it half and half. We shot five weeks on a ship off the coast of Dorset and then five weeks in Pinewood for the interiors. But we shot on a hydraulic platform on a thing called a gimbal, so it's always rocking, the whole sets rocks throughout to give the impression of being afloat.

NP: When you were doing the location stuff off the coast of England were you freezing your ass off?

COD: No. It was amazing. It was during the summer. Obviously it was in England, so at night it got very, very cold. But during the day sometimes, when the sun is out, and [they] played the music of the time over the Tannoy between scenes or between takes, it was petty amazing -- such a lovely experience.

NP: Global warming's done well for England. It's much milder there these days. I'm all for it.

COD: Oh, you are? I'm drinking some petrol now.

NP: Glad to hear it. So you've gone from one movie about 1960's revolutionary pop culture to another, because you've also done Hippie Hippie Shake which is about Oz magazine, which was the precursor to the lad-mag generation of publications. I understand you play Felix Dennis, who went from Oz to being Maxim's publisher, and the chap that defended him in the indecency court case, which the film focuses on, was John Mortimer who went on to write Rumpole of the Bailey.

COD: That's right. He's played brilliantly by Hugh Bonneville in the film. He was a civil rights lawyer for years and years and years before he started writing for TV. He did a lot of very high profile cases. And that whole Oz trial was a very seminal case. It made British legal history and it did kind of end up changing the rules about censorship and freedom of the press, and freedom of speech, so I think it was an important film to be made.

NP: Were you aware of the story of Oz before the script came in.

COD: Yeah. I had heard about it through a friend whose father used to do some of the design for the covers and things like that. He was a graphic designer on the Kings Road in the '60s, and I met him a few times and we talked about it. Then I ended up getting the film, which was incredible. It's a different time. It's interesting doing those two films that were both kind of '60s films, one of them is '66 to '68 and the other one picks up where that left off, '68 to '72. Things changed very quickly. The whole kind of hippie thing came in at the end of the '60s in Britain, and so it's a very different feeling.

NP: The Boat That Rocked being the earlier film, and Hippie Hippie Shake being the later one. They both deal with censorship, the difference being that Hippie Hippie Shake has a happier resolution where freedom of expression is concerned.

[Chris' cell phone battery runs out of power and the line suddenly goes dead.]

[Four days and several attempted phone calls later...Chris is now back in London and communication has been restored.]

NP: With all these technical difficulties with your phone, I just want to check, have you tried turning it off and on again?

COD: [laughs] I could feel that coming.

NP: So we'd moved on to and Hippie Hippie Shake and how the Oz case was an important milestone in British legal history.

COD: What happened in real-life and in the film, you know, we end up going to prison for a little while, and then the case is overturned. It did make a huge, huge difference, and John Mortimer had a lot to do with that, our defending lawyer. I think that the judge's name was Argyle [played by Derek Jacobi in the film]. He was just this horrible old curmudgeon of a man that was just part of the real old establishment.

NP: Your character went on to found Maxim and the publishing empire that created the whole lad-mag phenomenon. Are you a reader of lad-mags?

COD: I can't say I am. I tell you what though, I met up with him, you know, and he was an incredibly charismatic man. And he also runs a publication called The Week, which is terrific. It essentially condenses all the world's news into a weekly magazine, and he sent me a subscription, so I get it every week.

NP: Did you meet any of the other people portrayed in the film?

COD: I didn't. I actually have met Germaine Greer on different occasions, but nothing to do with the film. I think they're in Australia, so it's kind of difficult. They are pretty much all Australian except for Felix Dennis.

NP: This was another amazing ensemble cast movie.

COD: Yeah, Max Minghella, Cillian Murphy and Sienna [Miller]

NP: What was Sienna like to work with?

COD: She's a very bright girl you know. She puts a lot of thought into what she's doing. She's great. She was really fun, as you can probably imagine.

NP: And this is another British film.

COD: Yes. I'm all about the British film industry.

NP: It amuses me that you come over to Los Angeles, you've got a Hollywood agent, and all they do is send you straight back to England.

COD: It's incredibly frustrating. I'm back in London now to shoot Gulliver's Travels. That was the first time I'd spent any time in LA, but I really enjoyed myself, so I'll probably go back. And I do kind of think that there's some really quality writers over there. I'm eager to get over there and do some good work.


The first Season of The IT Crowd is available now on DVD from MPI Home Entertainment (we particularly enjoyed the l33t subtitles in the DVD extras). Season 2 will be available on DVD on June 30. The Boat That Rocked will be released in the US on Aug 28, 2009. A release date for Hippie Hippie Shake has yet to be confirmed.

Many people think Asshole Fuckfaces are a dime a dozen. You could not be more wrong. Since ancient times, my family has been searching out Asshole Fuckfaces and dragging them into the light for all to see. There is a specific criteria for selecting Asshole Fuckfaces and while I can’t reveal exactly... more

Many people think Asshole Fuckfaces are a dime a dozen. You could not be more wrong. Since ancient times, my family has been searching out Asshole Fuckfaces and dragging them into the light for all to see. There is a specific criteria for selecting Asshole Fuckfaces and while I can’t reveal exactly what it is, I can tell you it involves tears, cucumbers, fishnet stockings, tuna fish, sand paper and knit caps. Trust me, it works. Now, put on your best tear proof poncho because this is going to be ugly.

First up, a little Pakistani Asshole Fuckfaci.

Ayman Udas has been growing in popularity as a singer. It wasn’t easy because she came from the North West area of Pakistan, which is sometimes known as “Holy Shit, What The Fuck Is Wrong With Those People-istan?” Being divorced mother of two, Udas personal life also seemed to be going well as she remarried two weeks ago.

Last week she performed on PTV, a state run channel on which she was frequent guest. She sang her song, “I died but still live among the living, because I live on in the dreams of my lover.” Trim that title down a bit and she might have a hit. Or, you could get a hit because your brother killed you for being on television.

Isn’t that what brothers are for? To kill you when you sing on TV? I’m sure they feel super good about themselves right now.

You know, there is also this thing called, “Cutting off.”

Next up, let’s move to Europe for some Asshole Fuckfacope.

Some medical professionals in Poland don’t really get it. Sure, they wanted to do the right thing, they wanted to make sure people don’t get sick, but they are Asshole Fuckfaces, so their morals are a bit off. Three doctors and six nurses were looking for a vaccine for the bird flu -- and they found one. Sort of.

Hey, that’s not at all like a shitty B movie plot.

That didn’t work very well, but, whatever, it's not like they are real people.

You, sir, are a fucking genius. I don’t know if there could be a greater example of a total lack of ethics in medicine.

Never mind. I found one.

Next up, more Congressional Asshole Fuckfacery.

Our “Representation” is fucking ridiculous. Even in times of extreme financial hardship, our lawmakers cannot find it within themselves to do the right thing for the everyday man. This week, the Asshole Fuckfaces voted against a proposal to change bankruptcy laws to allow judges to “cram down” mortgage payments for homeowners who are screwed.

Basically, "cram downs" allow the judge to lower mortgage payments for homeowners who owe more on their home than it is worth. The homeowner has to have also exhausted all other available options. These loan modifications are extremely effective at reducing foreclosures.

Senator Dick Durbin authored the "cram down" proposal and, of course, the Senate voted against it. What’s awesome is taxpayers gave trillions to banks, who then used that money to lobby against cram downs. And it worked. Welcome to double anal.

Durbin explained the situation in plain terms.

Not going to happen, Dick. Meanwhile, the mortgage bankers celebrated. Maybe that’s because they are super rich. See, judges are allowed to do cram downs on their vacation homes, investment properties and even luxury yachts, while the middle class and poor can’t have the same deal for their only home.

We are completely and totally fucked as a nation with these people running the show. You really shouldn’t see this any other way.

Finally, some FEMA Asshole Fuckfacery.

Who doesn’t love a 9-11 coloring book? I think they are great for kids. I’m going to put one on the shelf right next to my son’s Holocaust pop-out book, his Rape of Nanking connect-the-dots book and his New York Slave Auction audio-read-along book.

Sadly, FEMA has decided to pull its 9-11 coloring book, mostly because it’s a 9-11 coloring book.

Be sure to use the orange crayon for the fire, the gray for the smoke and blue for the people jumping out of the towers to their deaths.

Fuck yeah. It’s called “coping” you little babies. Now, color in the horrible thing that makes daddy queasy.

Apparently, parents didn’t care for it.

Good call. Maybe rabbits and dogs are good for coloring, not fiery death. FEMA also included some helpful words for the kids.

Word. Also, don’t look at our coloring book because it will give you nightmares and stomach aches.

FEMA has removed the book.

FearTheReaper is a writer, actor and stand up comedian. Check back each Tuesday and Friday for more from FearTheReaper

Kirby Dick's previous film, This Film Is Not Yet Rated, exposed the secret practices of the motion picture ratings board. It fascinated film lovers who have long wondered how the MPAA determines what qualifies as an R and what is PG-13, when seemingly mild films get restrictive ratings and harsh... more

Kirby Dick's previous film, This Film Is Not Yet Rated, exposed the secret practices of the motion picture ratings board. It fascinated film lovers who have long wondered how the MPAA determines what qualifies as an R and what is PG-13, when seemingly mild films get restrictive ratings and harsh ones pass for family viewing.

Now, Dick uncovers a secret at the heart of our political system. His new film, Outrage examines gay politicians who live in the closet, yet support anti-gay policies. The film includes interviews with Max Linn, the 2006 Reform Party nominee for Florida governor who outted the state's current governor Charlie Crist; former New Jersey governor James McGreevey, who came out as he resigned from office; and Blogactive's Michael Rogers, who actively outs gay politicians who vote anti-gay.

SuicideGirls' all too brief interview with Dick did not allow enough time to cover the many aspects of such a vast and under-explored issue -- that affects the private lives of millions. Even the 80-some minute film had to focus very specifically on closeted politicians who support hypocritical legislation, though it touched upon other related areas like censorship, the gay marriage debate and political scandals.

Well versed on the topic after years of production, Kirby Dick took the opportunity presented by our interview to address other issues raised by the film. Perhaps he is preaching to the choir though, as anyone seeing or reading about Outrage is likely already interested in gay rights. However, his goal is to bring to light hidden issues in politics, and that can begin with Outrage.

Fred Topel: How do you account for the fact that this country ended slavery, ended segregation, gave women the vote but homophobes are 100% sure being gay is wrong and they have to fight it?

Kirby Dick: You know, I am equally baffled by this. I cannot believe that in 2009, that everyone wouldn't say, "100% rights for every citizen in this country." I'm baffled by it. I think that should be the position of everyone and there should be no equivocating, no "this has to do with religion," anything like that. If you're denying rights to a portion of the population, it's wrong. That has to be changed. That has to be called out.

FT: Die hard traditionalists, Republican or otherwise, are sure it will ruin all marriages if gay marriage is legalized. Why are they so threatened by something other people do?

KD: Right. I think a lot of these issues are sort of established in people when they're even in grade school. It may be something that they carry with them that's so deeply rooted, they may even be ashamed of themselves. Even that shame about this issue may contribute to the reaction, this kind of reactionary position. Again, it really has to be called out. There should be no equivocating. It just should be, You're wrong." You absolutely cannot feel this way and it should be called out all the time. I think that's the only way it's going to change. In that regard, we have to applaud [San Francisco Mayor] Gavin Newsom for what he did. He said, "Look, the time has come. Same sex marriage is a right and I'm granting it."

FT: Did you hear the news that Washington, D.C. has recognized gay marriage?

KD: Yes, and one of our subjects, David Catania, I'm sure was leading the fight there.

FT: How big is that? Having the center of our country recognize it, what will that do for the movement?

KD: Well, if it was a Republican Congress, I think that they might have tried to overturn that because I believe they have the power to, but with a Democratic congress, I don't think that will happen. I think everybody who's in this position to make this kind of decision should step up right now and do it. I applaud them for it.

FT: What will the next issue be after civil rights are given to gays?

KD: Well, I don't think civil rights inevitably happen. I think that any minority is always at risk of having civil rights taken away from them. Again, that's why I think the automatic position should be 100% civil rights for all citizens all the time. What would be next? Oh, that's an interesting question. I mean, there's a real xenophobia around immigration right now. You saw the whole thing around the swine flu, that's sort of a veiled xenophobia right there. Any combination of a minority and any kind of health issue or illness is just radioactive and immediately can lead to all kinds of taking away of rights from a minority.

FT: It should be inevitable because the previous movements worked and this one seems to have the same strength. Just no one learned from the past so it has to happen all over again.

KD: Well, also, a lot of this is deliberate on the part of reactionary forces. It's deliberate to create hysteria around a minority in order to advance their own political ends which have absolutely nothing to do with that. This is a strategy that is continually used throughout history in our country and around the world. This will come up again, this attempt to demonize a minority.

FT: Have you been speaking to any anti-gay journalists about this film?

KD: No, I haven't. That's interesting. I have not yet. I have not gotten into an argument, no fights, no coffee mugs being thrown across the room.

FT: Isn't that the audience that needs to see this film?

KD: What's interesting about this film is because the mainstream press does not report on this subject, if you're not someone who follows politics closely, this whole issue and this whole revelation comes as a complete surprise to people. So I think just the fact that people are seeing this film, that journalists are seeing this film, many of whom are completely unaware about this, I hope will change the discussion around this issue. I actually hope that the film will help lead to the demise of the closet in American politics because the closet for so long has contorted American politics.

Also, what happens is politicians, people going into a political career early in their careers make the decision, in their late teens or early 20s to stay in the closet or come out when they go into politics. Up until recently, because the mainstream press didn't cover it, they made the calculation, "I can get away with staying in the closet." Now I'm hopeful after this film it's going to be much harder to do that and they're going to realize, it's not only wrong for them politically, because it'll backfire on them, but it's wrong for them personally. It's a hell of a way to live a life, and they'll run as an out gay or lesbian politician, Republican or Democrat. In one way, the best thing that's going to happen for this country in terms of this issue is that we have a major out gay Republican candidate for the presidency.

FT: Would it be okay if they chose to keep it private, as long as they didn't go the extra mile to vote against gay rights?

KD: Well, this is a very interesting discussion and our film takes the position that we don't look into politicians who are in the closet but are not voting anti-gay. But there is an argument for discussing them because to begin with, there's a strong argument that one's sexual orientation is not a private matter, just like one's marital status, one's religion, these are all things that constituency has a right to know about, particularly if someone is voting on issues that have to do with gay rights.

Even, as my co-producer Tanner Barklow says, there's an argument to be made that homophobes have a right to know if their congressman or congresswoman is gay, because perhaps they're voting pro-gay because they are gay. Of course, they should, but if someone is a dyed in the wool homophobe...I think full disclosure, transparency is always best for politics. So I suppose if I had my way, I think it would be better for everybody to be out and I think full transparency is best, but that's not what I did in the film because that raises a whole other set of issues and I wanted to keep the focus on this hypocrisy because it is a film about hypocrisy.

FT: Even though it's not in the film, did you get to ask Governor McGreevey why he had to resign?

KD: Well, he had to resign. There were a number of scandals including the fact that he put his boyfriend on the payroll. He's a brilliant politician and rather than just resigning, he realized this was also an opportunity to come out. Actually, that was a very important moment I think for this issue, the highest ranking politician to come out to date. So I think it was both a wise political move, a savvy political move but also a very important move in terms of the struggle for gay rights.

FT: But wouldn't it be more so if he stayed in office?

KD: He couldn't have. He couldn't have governed. He just couldn't have. There were just too many scandals.

FT: Did you find out why CNN cut the Bill Maher interview where he outted Ken Mehlman?

KD: I think it's obvious. They wouldn't go on the record on that. What I'm encountering with my film is that I had a major national reviewer write a piece on this which his editor signed off on, and the news organization that he works for refused to run it because it spoke about the people in my film who I talk about. This is still going on around the release of this film as we speak. It's not the reporters themselves or the reviewers themselves. They want to write about this. It's the people who run these organizations.

I've had a reporter come to me and say, "I'm sorry, I can't do this because our company has a policy on outing." I turned to him and I said, "So you're telling me that your company's policy on outing trumps your company's policy on reporting." Of course he had nothing to say to that. Even though I critique it in my film, what you're seeing is that a lot of these major news organizations don't want to write about something that has to do with gay sexuality.

They're concerned about their viewers. Some are fundamentalists. Obviously most are straight and maybe it's uncomfortable to them. Who knows? Also, these news outlets are owned by major corporations who have a lot of business running through congress. I think they just feel it's in the best interest of their bottom line not to ruffle the feathers of any congressman that might be a focus in my film. You're seeing the censorship. It's funny, I make a film about censorship and then the very film about censorship is being censored as well.

FT: Was Amendment 2 in Florida as big a deal as Prop 8 in California? Was there no room to include Prop 8 in the film?

KD: Once Prop 8 passed, we did a fair amount of work trying to see if we could find someone in the Mormon church who was closeted, and we couldn't. Not to say that they aren't, but who is closeted, who is high up in the Mormon church and who had a hand in the campaign to pass Prop 8, but we couldn't. The reason we didn't go into Prop 8 was my focus was on the closet. So if there was a closeted politician, a closeted official that had a hand in getting Prop 8 pass, then that would be a legitimate subject in my film. Otherwise, I wanted to keep the focus on the closet. That's why Amendment 2 and Charlie Crist, and his decision to support Amendment 2, of course that becomes an incredible instance of hypocrisy, that's why that was covered in my film.

FT: Did you see Ted Haggard's HBO show?

KD: I saw part of it.

FT: He still refuses to "label" himself one way or the other.

KD: You know, there are a lot of people who are brought up, who feel revulsion to the fact that they're gay. I heard stories of somebody who would have sex with somebody and then immediately after turn to the person he had sex with and said, "You're going to go to hell because you just had gay sex." It's a crazy world.

FT: Gay or straight, when politicians try to regulate private values, can't anyone say something direct like, "You handle your marriage. No one else's impacts yours. Everyone gets a chance."

KD: I totally agree with you. Even if the press said it, I think they'd probably ignore it because again, morality and the morality of others is always a real hot button issue to run on for many politicians. It's unfortunate. As we see with many of these politicians who claim to have the most purist of values, it's often they who are "transgressing" the most.

FT: It seems like they always debate the issue, but no one just tells politicians that the issue isn't theirs to decide anyway.

KD: Well, people can tell them but if you're a skilled politician, you can whip up hysteria around that regardless of the critique that's coming your way.

FT: Will having Obama in office help?

KD: I think it will help. I think you don't have a party or even a politician who's cynically going after a percentage of American citizens in order to gain power or maintain power. The time is now for him to act. Let's hope that he acts very quickly on things like Don't Ask Don't Tell and other issues because it's always easy to let these issues slide. Again, it's where we started. He should just come out and say, "100% civil rights for 100% of the population."

The rest of the world is just now figuring out what David Hackney knew way back in 1974: that his band, Death, had created something groundbreaking. Death, made up of David and his brothers, Bobby and Dannis, was one of the earliest bands to make the kind of rock music we now think of as punk. The hard-rocking... more

The rest of the world is just now figuring out what David Hackney knew way back in 1974: that his band, Death, had created something groundbreaking. Death, made up of David and his brothers, Bobby and Dannis, was one of the earliest bands to make the kind of rock music we now think of as punk. The hard-rocking Detroit sound they helped pioneer would become a major influence on Bad Brains and other important punk acts, but Death themselves only ever put out one single, with only 500 copies pressed. They didn't know they had become underground legends until recently, when Bobby's sons discovered Death, and the Hackneys found themselves with all the attention they deserved, just 30 years later.

Thanks to a collection of old studio recordings and demos originally recorded on reel-to-reel tape, some of which were literally kept in the attic, Death has its first full album out on Drag City Records. It's very appropriately called ...For the Whole World to See. Sadly, David Hackney, the leader and main songwriter of the band, passed away in 2000, before he could see the band's success play out exactly as he predicted it would. The rediscovery of Death is a fitting tribute to David's memory and talent. In a turn of events that even David couldn't have predicted -- but that he probably would have loved -- the next generation of Hackneys formed a band called Rough Francis, and they play Death's old songs live.

SuicideGirls had the privilege of talking with Bobby and Dannis on the phone from their home in Vermont, about their brother, their sons, and how rock n' roll never dies.


Jay Hathaway: So, if I could just go back to the beginning, why did you decide to call your band Death? Where did the name come from?

Bobby Hackney: Well, the name came from our brother David, back in the 1970s. Well, I would say '73, really. He had a concept in rock n' roll that he was going to spin death from the negative to the positive. So it was really our brother David's concept.

JH: That's interesting, because not everybody saw it as a positive thing. I heard the story about how Clive Davis wanted you to change the name...

BH:: [laughs] And that was our brother David! See, the thing is, Don Davis, who was the owner of Groovesville Productions, who were signed up with -- they were a production company, and they owned United Sound Recordings in Detroit -- he had signed us up, and we were in United Sound recording these tracks. In the meantime, some of the demos of the tracks, he was shopping around, because he had relationships with Arista Records, Columbia Records, Stax Records, he had relationships with a number of record labels.

He had given our tape to a bunch of music moguls at that time. Clive Davis had heard the tape, and we could possibly have had a deal, but he didn't like the name. If we had changed the name, we would've probably had a deal. David just adamantly refused to change the name and said "no way." But at the time, we were young, and we didn't articulate to Don Davis that David had come up with the name Death, and that we had even written a couple of rock operas around that name. Like cocky rock n' rollers at the time, we just took it as an insult for anybody to tell us to change our concept.

JH: Did you ever record any of those rock operas?

BH:: Some of them...It's interesting, because throughout this whole process, we've re-digitized our whole songwriting archive with Death, and our demo archive. We have a lot of bits and pieces to those rock operas that David was working on. We've got a chance to do some really interesting music and maybe even put out some of it, if we can remaster it, and yet keep it within its true form.

JH: Is that something you're working on right now?

BH:: To be honest with you, the whole Death situation has kind of overtaken our lives. We had moved on, because of the fact that we had moved to Vermont years ago, and we've done reggae music and some other things since. That didn't define us, because of the whole Clive Davis thing, because we moved here with David and recorded two more albums under the name Fourth Movement. So, we continued to make rock n' roll music, but David got homesick and went back to Detroit and Dannis and myself continued on just as bass and drums. We were exploring the music, and reggae just happened to come along our way. We really got attracted to reggae music 'cause the bass and the drums were the lead instruments. So, we formed a band called Lambsbread, and we thought that that episode was over, with the whole Death thing, and now it's kind of resurfaced.

JH: Now that that's happened, did you have to put your reggae music on hold to work on Death again?

BH:: Our music now is a train that actually connects, and you could say that Death is the locomotive that may be running everything, but we have the Fourth Movement, we have Lambsbread, that are all interconnected with each other. So, it's kind of like a train, and we're just developing a way to bring this to an audience and present the whole picture. I know that Death will be the dominant thing that people will see.

JH: But you still have to stay true to the original ideas if you put all of this old music out ...

BH:: Exactly! That's what we're trying to do. We're trying to be true to each original idea, 'cause each one was a music of its own time. Death was a big influence for the Fourth Movement, and the Fourth Movement was a big influence for Lambsbread. Ironically enough, Lambsbread was a big influence for resurfacing Death.

JH: How do you think things would have been different in your lives and in your music careers if you'd stayed in Detroit instead of moving to Vermont when you did?

BH:: The problem with Detroit was that up until 1976, Detroit was an awesome rock n' roll town. You gotta understand, our big emphasis wasn't on doing shows. If you were a band in Detroit at that time, the big emphasis was always on getting into the studio with your original music, and getting the best original music that you can out on the airwaves. We got caught up in the disco tsunami, the ebb tide that hit Detroit and every other major city around that time.

When we put out "Politicians in My Eyes", we only pressed 500 of 'em. Up until that point, in Detroit, you could usually walk in with your acetate or your 45 and say to a disk jockey, y'know, "Play this for me, man." They would play it a few times, give it a week or two weeks, garner some response, and then you'd have a local hit. Nobody had told us that the whole corporate scheme was developing in radio to where tapes were being fabricated of pre-recorded music somewhere else.

They were playing "Politicians in My Eyes" and "Keep on Knocking" at maybe 3 o'clock in the morning. Our friends used to tell us that they heard it on the radio, but you would never hear it on enough of a rotation that it would make a difference. They told us that we had to get with a major label to get that rotation. So right around '76, this whole disco, corporate thing came in, and we couldn't get our records played. I think if we'd have stayed in Detroit, I don't know where it would have gone. Even in Vermont, it got worse when the whole John Travolta thing hit a couple of years later. We saw a lot of the rock n' rollers we looked up to jumping ship and doing disco.

JH: It's sort of funny how now people look at disco as this superficial trend from that time period, and the kind of stuff you guys were making is seriously influential ...

BH:: We kind of knew that at the time. We were doing this artistic songwriting, and what we were talking about had to do with what was going on at the time. That was during the time of the Vietnam War, a lot of social upheaval, the world was changing. We were tuned in to what was going on. The disco thing to us was the music industry trying to glaze over everything and say, "It's alright, everybody just party. Have a good time. Pretend like the troubles of the world aren't there." If you were a true rock n' roller, you couldn't relate to that.

JH: So when your sons discovered your music, could they relate to it?

BH:: [laughs] That's like years later, you know, when we had moved to Vermont. When we were starting up with Groovesville Records, even though they gave us the blessing to take the masters and they gave us the blessing to put out the single, we still had a contract at least for 10 to 15 more years. In other words, if something was to happen with the music, they would be included. So we weren't really interested in using a lot of the music, because we looked at it like, the statute of limitations will run out and all the rights will revert back to us. We used to talk to our kids all about it, like, "Oh yeah, we were in a rock band in Detroit in the '70s," but we never really got into depth. All that stuff was on reel-to-reel tapes. By that time, we were in the digital world like everybody else, so it just stayed kind of up in the attic and in vaults. We didn't really think too much about it, until it surfaced and our kids kind of dug it up. One of them was in California and heard the music at an underground party.

JH: And he knew it was you?

BH:: Well, he called me up and he said, "Hey Dad, did you know these people are groovin' to your music at these underground parties? Every time they play you, the crowd goes wild, and people just rush the dance floor." I'm like, "What are you talking about? Lambsbread?" I thought he was talking about our reggae band, you know? He was like, "No, Dad, you were in a band in the '70's called Death." And then I got a little quiet ... [laughs] It was just kind of a shock for us to find this out.

JH: Were you surprised that it still resonated with the next generation?

BH:: Well, all the old rock n' rollers back when we were playing, they always told us that good rock n' roll could never die. That's what we always heard coming up as kids, from a lot of the old blues guys and rock n' rollers. I think that this is proof positive of that.

JH: So, are you writing any new songs with your sons for Rough Francis? Do they have their own music, or do they just play old Death songs?

BH:: They started and debuted their album playing a lot of the Death stuff, and now they're playing their own stuff. We are in production rehearsal with the possibility of doing a 10-city tour to see if everybody likes what they see. I think they won't be disappointed.

JH: What was it like to hear them play your songs for the first time?

BH:: Oh man, it was really emotional for us. Very emotional for us because of our brother that we lost. Hearing these songs live and hearing crowds react to them the way we had always envisioned it, I think it was really emotional for me and Dannis.

Dannis Hackney: Seeing the reaction, and thinking about what Dave said all the time when he was listening to it, it gives you goose bumps ...

JH: It sounds like he was right about it all along.

BH:: Yeah, he was. He was.

DH:: Yeah, he was totally right. It was just the fact that he had more faith in it than me and Bob did at the time.

BH:: We all knew that we were doing some really heavy-duty rock n' roll, and we were very into and proud of what we were doing at the time, but after all was said and done, David believed right up until the end of his life that the world would come looking for this music one day. It's just blowing our minds that it's happening almost word-for-word to what he said.

JH: Did you realize at the time that other bands had started making music that sounded so much like what you had been doing years before? Did you know that punk had gotten so big?

BH:: People were telling us, but we never...I mean, we used to hear some of the Bad Brains, and it would remind us of the stuff we did back in Detroit, but we never had any idea that we were a major influence with those guys, and with some of the other bands.

JH: How did you go from that to making reggae music?

BH:: After we moved to Vermont, we changed the name from Death to The Fourth Movement. David was a big influence with that, and they were gospel albums, really, gospel rock albums. They were really experimental stuff, just some far-out stuff. We went through a lot of rejection because of the message we were conveying, and I think David just got a little homesick for Detroit and decided to migrate back there. I think in the back of his mind, he wanted us to follow him there, but we just really wanted to keep moving forward. We loved Burlington. At the time, Burlington was such an awesome music town. It was like Haight-Ashbury. We had a real heavy-duty musical vibe, mixing in with the culture. We got jobs at the University of Vermont. I became a disk jockey, and I became affiliated with a bunch of local promoters. One of them was a reggae promoter who was bringing in Bob Marley and Peter Tosh, and we got to meet all of these people. Peter gave us some real good advice. We did really well. Then along comes the Death thing and just drops on us like a big temple from heaven, you know. [laughs]

JH: [laughs] Wow. It's got to be pretty overwhelming.

BH:: I mean, something like that happens to you, you gotta stop in your tracks, man. You got no choice!

JH: Any other exciting things everyone should know about?

BH:: The record's just been released in Japan, and people are going crazy over it. We're pretty happy about that. We're just going to see what kind of a fun ride this is. The music has come back to us. The feeling has come back to us. We've been enjoying what we've been playing. We're just going to see how far we can go with it.

DH:: It's like Bob Seger said...come back, baby! Rock n' roll never forgets!

I do enjoy watching the Democratic leadership stumble and bumble their way to ineffectiveness. It's just so absurd and stupid, all one can do is chuckle. The latest ridiculousness came last week, when they opened their arms wide for former Republican Senator Arlen Specter. He’s now a Democrat! more

I do enjoy watching the Democratic leadership stumble and bumble their way to ineffectiveness. It's just so absurd and stupid, all one can do is chuckle. The latest ridiculousness came last week, when they opened their arms wide for former Republican Senator Arlen Specter. He’s now a Democrat! Who will vote like a Republican! How awesome is that?

Bullshit. He wanted to stay a Senator and that’s it. This is anything but a good sign. All it proves is how far the Republicans have gone to the right – to the point where they are nearly insane. They are now driving out actual conservatives and the Democrats are accepting them into their ranks – further pushing their party to the right. Awesome. He constantly voted with Bush on issues like Iraq, the Patriot Act, Bush’s insane judicial nominees, Bush’s insane department appointees, telecom immunity, warrantless wiretapping, tax cuts and has strongly been opposed to any investigation of the many Bush crimes. See, what the leadership knows that you don't is that the Democrats need another Dianne Feinstein, Joe Lieberman or Ben Nelson. Add another problematic jackass to the pile, because these are the "moderates" who force the Democratic Party to act like Republicans in order to get things passed.

Apparently, Democrats think the best way to build their majority, is to bring in people who agree with them on around 10% of stuff. And they want that guy to be from the blue state of Pennsylvania, the guy who was driven from his crazy party for being too liberal, even though he is very, very conservative. He’s just not crazy conservative. But the Democrats love it! Thanks for the trash! They'll take it!

Democrats have apparently given Specter undeserved seniority, upsetting some long time Democratic Senators.

Nice. And the leadership also thought it would be a great idea to promise him party support in the Democratic Primary. You know, the thing in which Democrats get to choose the best Democrat. During his “I’m bailing” press conference, Specter explained how the Democratic leadership promised to support him and raise money for him during the 2010 election. So, they have decided to choose a Republican instead of a Democrat because the Republicans were going to choose a crazier Republican. So, the Republicans will get the politician that most represents them (crazy) and the Democrats will get the politician that least represents them. Welcome to completely failed leadership and the usurping of Democracy.

In an exciting example of the future Democratic Senator Arlen Specter, he explained that he would not support Obama’s choice to head the Office of Legal Counsel. He also reiterated that he would not support the Employee Free Choice Act, which is sort of cause #1 for unions – you know, labor, also known as the backbone of the Democratic Party. So, that’s good. They picked up a new guy who is against the backbone of the party. His first vote as a Democrat was awesome. He voted against Obama’s budget. Good work, Democrats, all around.

This weekend he made it very clear where he stands.

Point made. You’re not a loyal Democrat. You’re a “Kinda Democrat.” A kinda, sorta, whatever it takes to stay in the Senate for another term Democrat. Which is great, because that is exactly what the Democrats need.

They should have let Specter swing in the wind. He was clearly going to lose the Republican Primary. It doesn’t matter if he is a Democrat or a Republican until Franken is seated, anyway. He’s not going to vote with Democrats on a shitload of issues, so supporting him in the Pennsylvania primary is completely idiotic. No promises of that nature should have ever been made – especially since it undemocratic. But, what do the Democrats care about what their base wants and democracy? They don’t. It’s about the party and at this point the party seems to be run by idiots.

Enjoy the failure. It’s Joe Lieberman II, Electric Boogaloo.


FearTheReaper is a writer, actor and stand up comedian. Check back each Tuesday and Friday for more from FearTheReaper

One thing that makes us geeks is the hive mind that we share. Hardcore opinions run through our consciousness like the stripe on a skunk. Star Wars is awesome. Star Wars prequels sucked. The cancellation of Firefly was a travesty. Neil Gaiman is a wordsmith sent from the heavens. They Might Be Giants... more

One thing that makes us geeks is the hive mind that we share. Hardcore opinions run through our consciousness like the stripe on a skunk. Star Wars is awesome. Star Wars prequels sucked. The cancellation of Firefly was a travesty. Neil Gaiman is a wordsmith sent from the heavens. They Might Be Giants are the bards we all secretly wish would follow us around, chronicling and singing our lives.

But I gotta admit, there are times I split from the pack. And I find astonishment. Derision. More astonishment. And I'm here to defend myself and my opinions.

1) I do not find Hugh Jackman fuckable.

Now, this isn't specifically geeky per se, but the new Wolverine movie just came out, which has all the geeky women frothing at the mouth to go see Hugh snarl and kick some ass and say, "Bub." I'm not saying Jackman is a dog, I'm saying that the geeky women of the world seem to do a collective sigh when he's mentioned, and I just don't get it. Maybe I don't have a thing for Wolverine, so I think of him with the huge sideburns. I dunno, but when I see him I think, "Handsome guy, sure, but I don't need a sudden change of underwear."

I will bet cash money that there wasn't a dry seat in the house on opening night of Wolverine.

2) Dollhouse is an OK show, and if it gets canceled, that's OK too.

Yeah, I know, all the Whedonites are up in arms already. But I maintain my stance: Dollhouse is just OK. It started weak because it gave us no heroine to root for: Echo is rewritten with a different personality for each show. The strange and casual treatment of rape makes me uncomfortable. What's funny is when they find a rapist in-house, they're all protective, but they still rent these women and men out as whores with new personalities. I suppose you could argue the new personalities consent to the sex, but the whole thing is still shady and uncomfortable.

Many people say that the show began to "get good" when episode 6 hit. Twists! Turns! Revelations into Echo's real personality! But really, why were you watching for five unsatisfactory episodes?

Yeah. I admit, I gave it a chance for four episodes and then lost interest. Then when everyone freaked out so much about #6, I started watching again. And yeah, it got interesting, but it still feels like a show that's "just OK."

We all know every artist, even our favorites, does not shit gold every time they go to the bathroom. Dollhouse has yet to build the incredible ensemble cast that Buffy, Angel and Firefly had. And if it dies, then Joss Whedon will have the time to work on something else.

3) I don't get a lot of classic sci-fi.

This is the most shameful of all. There are several books I've never read that seem to be on the required SF reading list. So I have tried to remedy that. And I don't know if it's the fact that now that I'm an adult, the technology, political, and sexual references are so dated I can't get past them, but many books have failed to hook me. I've tried to read them several times, and each time I drop them either due to flat-out-boredom, confusion, or being utterly offended.

"Wait, the protag is a rapist, and I am supposed to keep rooting for him? Are you fucking kidding me?"

(Incidentally, the only book I can remember really liking even though the protagonists were less than heroic was the bizarre book Geek Love by Katherine Dunn about a carnival family whose parents experimented with drugs and isotopes to create a family of carnival freaks. Bizarre and fun and disturbing.)

And reading, honestly, is where the people begin to give me the looks. "You've never read Dune?" they ask, and I squirm with shame.

"I've tried! Several times! Really!" I say. I cast about for geek cred to make myself cool. "I read Neil Gaiman before Sandman! I have been a Hayao Miyazaki fan since Nausicaa was butchered in editing and retitled "Warriors of the Wind" for HBO viewers when I was a kid! My shelf is full of short story anthologies from the 40s and 50s!"

"Yeah. But you've never read Dune."

While some of my geek heresy shames me, I do realize that conforming to the geek hive mind when I don't want to is worse than standing out like a sore, poorly educated in geeky things, thumb. I refuse to be a sheep, and so you can have your Jackman, your Dollhouse, and your spice. I'm comfortable with my existing geek cred.

(Mostly.)


Mur Lafferty is an author and podcaster who recently released her first novel, Playing For Keeps. She Speaks Geek every month on SuicideGirls.com. Click HERE for more of Mur's musings.