Enough. I invite anyone to scroll back to one of brightstar65's letters and click on the "read other letters" link.

You will find ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-NINE PAGES of letters. I'm not about to sift through all of that, but the first couple of pages I scrolled through were almost entirely filled with random woman-bashing.

Every time I hit Broadsheet, he's here, usually posting over and over and OVER, not adding to the conversation but distracting everyone from the discussion at hand with his knee-jerk misogyny. Is this how the Salon letters function has been "improved"??? Not workin' out real well.

To those convinced this is in no way a rape threat, even a flippant one (which is still crass, boorish, and intended to intimidate):

Consider the quote. "The male half might take her someplace private and disprove her theory, but we don't like a woman with a mustache."

Why the "but we don't like," if he's merely fantasizing about DISPLAYING genitalia and not employing it?

No, this guy's name describes him perfectly.

Salon couldn't simply ignore the breaking news of Dumbledore's sexual orientation, but what could be written about it, really? ...Then Traister comes up with an angle, a controversy, a theory that Rowling should just shut up about characters she invented even when there's an undeniable interest in her insights. Traister strung enough words together about this non-issue to make a decent-length article, dusted off her hands, and said to herself, "Done."

I saw pages and pages of comments attached to a CNN article about this, wherein some people proclaimed their children would not be permitted to read the Harry Potter books now. Not because the books promote witchcraft, not because the commenters were wacko Christians, but because homosexuality had reared its ugly head, EVEN THOUGH it would be very difficult for the casual reader to pick up anything whatsoever about Dumbledore's sexuality just from reading the books. But no, no story there... right?

There's a reason that Rowling made this announcement. Maybe someone could write about that, and the resistance it meets among homophobes -- instead of inventing silly approaches to a subject that couldn't be ignored, or manufacturing a controversy, or whatever the purpose of this essay was. Really, if you're that interested in exploring your own ideas about the Harry Potter universe, the fanfic world awaits you with open arms. But this is Rowling's story. She gets to do exactly as she pleases with it.

Sunspot: Except she didn't announce anything. Someone in the crowd asked her about Dumbledore's lovelife, and she answered the question.

Agreed. I just figured I'd yammered enough; I should have been clearer.

On the other hand, I'd watched Olbermann's piece on this Monday night, and he'd included a quote from Rowling, backstage at Carnegie, that the books were "a plea for an end to hatred, to bigotry." Although that was presented in the context of the "don't always trust authority" subtext of her books, I viewed her revelation about Dumbledore as part of that plea for an end to hatred and bigotry. So, no, it wasn't a planned "announcement," but I imagine Rowling is glad the news is out there.

The phrase has lost relevance in the DVR age, when you watch everything 20 minutes late so you can kill the commercials, except maybe for stuff like Showtime's "Dexter."

But Pushing Daisies has made it onto our "record" list, which is pretty small. I'll probably forget names and am too lazy to look 'em up... but this is Bryan Fuller, who did the unforgivably cancelled Dead Like Me, also Wonderfalls, which had its moments. One of Wonderfalls' most memorable characters was the suspicious brother... played by Lee Pace, Ned in Daisies. It's great to see him back on the flat screen again. And Jim Dale is the charming narrator. I just ordered the Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone audiobook simply because he reads it, and I think it'd be nice to drop off to sleep with him reading a simple story in my ears.

Let's hope it keeps its pace and finds its audience. I suspect the dialog goes by way too fast for Joe Remote. Oh, and a weird juxtaposition results from watching Daisies at the same time you've finally bought and are re-watching Carnivale... the whole touching thing comes into play with both, and BF and I find ourselves joking about one show while watching the other. If this gets cancelled, I'm giving up on series TV and will just start buying DVD sets when the first several seasons are out.

I could do without the musical numbers, too, but if we gotta have 'em, TMBG is FINE with me.

Let me stop you right there. Sorry, but if you can watch "Pushing Daisies" or "Ugly Betty" and you're a dude, you are homosexual. Or you have low testosterone.

Mike Jackson: People can have different tastes and opinions. Why be so rude about it?

One could note, if one were inclined to be nasty, that your comment -- coupled with the hooters obsession you detail at such length -- seems to suggest that you're overcompensating for something.

But of course I would never stoop low enough to make that observation. :)