Uh, of course this was supposed to be satire. Wry satire, but satire nonetheless. I hate to do this (explaining the "joke' to people who didn't get it), but I believe the piece was more about the mother's dealing with her son's leaving and the changing nature of their relationship, than with any sexuality issues. She becomes aware that her son, at 18, doesn't need her as a parent/protector anymore, so she wants the relationship to transform into one where they can be friends. Unfortunately, the son does not share the same interests. They have nothing in common. they are like strangers to each other. Thus the narrative device of the piece--"if he were gay..."

Of course the son does begin to take an interest in the mother's interest when he starts dating the Hepburn-like girl, you know, the one who has the same taste as the mother! What's that saying about guys finding women just like their mothers? What was that famous play by Sophocles again?

I didn't laugh out loud, but I thought it was clever; it took a novel approach to the strange changing dynamic that happens when children grow up and parents are forced to deal with them as autonomous freethinking individuals.

Dalton Trumbo is kind of a hero of mine. "Johnny Got His Gun" was the first real novel I ever read(via my curiosity about the Metallica song and video "One"), and served as my gateway to literature . Today I am a High School English teacher, and one of my favorite and most successful units is the one I do on Bradbury's "Farhenhiet 451" and Miller's "The Crucible." Trumbo is a presence in many of these classes. I suppose you could say he continues to have an influence.

On another note, I have to mention the film "Gun Crazy." It's one of the great forgotten Noir films of the '40's. It's cool and ironic, not to mention funny with all the in-your-face with phallic references.

I look forward to seeing this film. On the same topic, I remember seeing a good doc on PBS' "American Masters" about the fractured friendship between Arthur Miller and Elia Kazan that is also a good overview of that era.

Obama's stance is the same stance that Dean took a few years ago in regard to different gun laws for different areas of the country. It makes a lot of sense, and I am in agreement with his stance, like I was in agreement with Dean's stance four years ago. Look, it really is a cultural thing.

I happen to have been raised in a rural part of Pennsylvania (about 20 min west of Gettysburg). I grew up with guns and bows. I hunted and shot targets with my dad. It was a common sight in my high school parking lot to see full gun racks in the backs of student pick up trucks. This is just a fact of where I grew up. I'm a lefty and a progressive, but guns and hunting are a part of the culture in which I grew up. We hunt deer because overpopulation would be bad for both deer and humans, not to mention the fact that it is food on our table. (I still enjoy muzzle loader and bow hunting). The point is that it is a cultural difference between rural and urban communities. Rural folks (and I'm telling them this all the time) need to get it through their skulls that no one is going to come and take away their guns. Urban people need to understand that country folk live differently, and that guns are merely a tool, not inherently good or bad. And we all need to focus on root causes of violence like lack of education and the failed war on drugs (keep on keepin' on Silenced--you are consistently right).

I use a good burr grinder and a French press. That being said I've often thought that top ingredients make all the difference, and I agree that the trick is finding a good local coffee roaster. I see that the article hawks three different coffee roasters. I would like to recommend Greencastle Coffee Roasters as well. This place is in a small conservative Pennsylvania town--totally incongruous with everything else in the area, and yet a local institution. It is a tiny miracle in my little backwater of PA.

www.greencastlecoffee.com/

I think you haven't heard much about JBM because there are so many cheaper comparable and even better coffees that are available now. JBM is good coffee, but from what I understand it is rare and expensive only because so few bags of it are shipped to the U.S. every year. High price does not necessarily translate into a superior product. My advice would be to skip JBM and seek out the many better and cheaper coffees available.

For Caribbean coffee comparable to JBM (at a much lower price)I would suggest Puerto Rico or Panama Boquete.

Actually, for people who prefer a milder and more complex coffee I would recommend Sumatra Mandehling, Hawaiian Kona, or Bali Kopi.