Vaccine helps prevent HIV infection

This doesn't have anything to do with art or entertainment, but this was far too amazing to not say something about. There's finally a vaccine that can help prevent HIV infection.

It may cut the risk of being infected by 31%. That doesn't sound like much, but when you consider that this is the first vaccine to be at all effective this is huge. Now that they've found something that works, they can start to isolate why it works and, hopefully, create something even more effective.

Instead of killing millions across the world, we might actually see HIV put into the same category as smallpox in our lifetimes. Let's hope.

An Invitation to the Palace: A Parable

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away there was a man named Joshua who, using the fantastic technology of that time and place, created a planet. Many books were written about him, but he had retreated into his own beautiful palace and had not been seen in person in many years.

One day Matt and Paul, ardent followers of the books on Joshua, went out into their city in search of people to bring to the palace. The first house they stopped at was that of a young man named Tom.

"How can I help you?" asked Tom.

Matt spoke first. "We're here to teach people about the things that Joshua has done and invite them to live in his palace with him."

"Wow! That sounds too good to be true. Please, come in." Tom ushered his guests into his own humble house, then sat to listen to what they had to say.

"Many, many years ago, Joshua laid down laws that everyone had to abide by, but if you accept him as the creator of our world and humbly ask for his forgiveness, you won't be punished for breaking these laws," Paul explained.

"That's very generous of him," Tom said, quite awed. "And what's the punishment for breaking these laws?"

"Death," said Matt.

That gave Tom pause, as he considered what laws he might have broken in his life. "And what might these laws be?"

"He is the creator of our planet," Paul said.

Well, that sounds more like a statement than a law, but it was reasonable, Tom decided. He agreed with it immediately.

"You should have no other creators before him," Matt went on. "Be good to your parents. Don't kill. Don't cheat on your spouse. Don't steal. Don't lie. Don't covet another man's wife or his property."

"That all sounds great. Those are laws that I'd like to follow," Tom said. "Though I have lied, and have wanted things that belonged to other people, and I haven't always been good to my parents. But, if Joshua is such a generous man, I should ask for forgiveness for those things right now and strive to be more like him."

Paul piped up. "Oh, and also, death to all redheads."

Tom was himself a redhead and looked horrified. "Excuse me?"

"Well, that isn't actually something Joshua ever said. But people who've spoken to Joshua said that he probably wanted to kill redheads and just never got around to saying so," Matt explained.

"But...but I was born this way!" Tom sputtered. "I can't help it."

"You could dye your hair," Matt pointed out.

"That doesn't change the fact that my hair is naturally red. It just covers it up!"

"No one's hair is naturally red," Paul said. "The first people on Joshua's planet were both brunettes. That was his plan to start with. So everyone is born from normal, brown-haired people. Nobody could have been born with redhair."

Tom scratched his head, confused by this logic. "That isn't how genetics works. There are recessive genes and all sorts of factors wrapped up in who we are. Besides, if I dyed my hair and got married, I'd be a redhead having children."

"No, you'd have brown-hair," Paul insisted.

"But it would be red under the dye!"

"But hair can't naturally be red."

Tom stared at Paul for a long, long moment, wondering if perhaps he was insane. "Alright. Well. Going to a palace is better than being killed, so I suppose I could dye my hair brown. What happens at the palace?"

"Joshua is able to make anyone in his palace live forever, and you'll stay there for eternity in perfect peace," Matt said, his eyes shining.

"Immortality! That's amazing. But what about the good people who don't break the law, but never heard about this invitation?" Tom asked.

"They'll be killed," said Paul.

"What?" demanded Tom. "Why? They didn't break any laws!"

"The only way to not be killed is to do as Joshua says. He says you have to ask him for forgiveness," Matt said.

"But that's horrible! I thought this Joshua was a generous person."

Paul nodded eagerly. "He is, he is! It used to be that everyone was killed. Now he's giving out this invitation. Isn't that wonderful?"

"But...isn't he the one who condemned people to death?" Tom asked.

"Of course," said Matt.

"He has mercifully offered us this escape, though," added Paul.

Tom thought for a long moment, trying to make sense of this. "But...why not just stop killing people, if he wanted to be merciful?"

"He couldn't do that. He had to punish the people who broke his laws," Matt said.

"And redheads," added Paul.

"But you said that if you ask for his forgiveness you're not being punished, no matter what laws you broke," cried Tom.

"I know. Isn't he wonderful?" asked Matt rhetorically.

"And you said that even if you didn't break any of those laws, Joshua would still kill you."

"That's right," agreed Paul.

"Why is he doing all of this?" demanded Tom, quite upset now.

Matt answered. "Because he loves this planet and all of the people on it so much, he wants to invite them all into his palace. Even the worst murderer will be brought in, if he asks for forgiveness. Otherwise everyone deserves to die."

"Killing people isn't a sign of love," Tom said flatly.

"He asks such a small thing of you, Tom. All he wants is that you stop breaking the law and ask for his forgiveness. Even if you break the law again, you can just ask for his forgiveness again. It's a lifelong get out of jail free card. Isn't that wonderful?" Matt asked.

"And he wants you to dye your hair," added Paul.

"If he is truly such a great man and loves us, I can't believe the hate and violence you people are preaching," Tom told them, getting up to usher them out of his house.

Once the door had been shut behind them, Matt shook his head, sighing sadly. "I hate to see someone rejecting Joshua's love like that."

Oh, AFP, how I love you

That would be Amanda Fucking Palmer, of course:

If I were Warner, I'd be worried about having pissed her off by pulling all of her official videos. That woman sits around thinking of bizarre and elaborate scenarios of vengeance for fun.

So Warner, flailing like crack-addled monkeys, has decided to pull all of the videos of all of their artists, as they're seeking more money from Google. The artists aren't going to get any revenue from this, so it's not as though they have any incentive for backing the label. It's just further stumblings of a dying breed.

Prop 8, the Musical

I'm currently dying of the flu and not quite coherent enough to finish my review of The Killers' Day and Age. Until then, I give you this gem I just found on Darren Hayes' blog:

See more Jack Black videos at Funny or Die

As if I needed any more reasons to love Neil Patrick Harris.

Never Challenge Me on NyQuil

Someone recently said that women cannot crossdress, because it's socially acceptable for women to wear male clothing and so they can't "present" as male.

I beg to differ:

(There's only one genetic male in the set. Following the source links will tell you who's who.)
Picture sources: 1. el_pachuco, 2. photoenvy, 3. emilymills, 4. cgphotoart, 5. bobonemillion, 6. ginthefer, 7. dawnone, 8. dawnone, 9. gaelx, 10. joshuarothhaas, 11. mavra_chang, 12. ginthefer

Paleolistening: "Tainted Love", by Coil

While I normally focus on newer music, there's always something to discover from the past. Paleolistening is a new category of review I'll be doing here, focusing on music twenty years or older.

The song "Tainted Love" has always been one of those unspeakably cheesy old songs that occasionally comes up on the radio, or gets covered by Marilyn Manson. While I'd always liked the lyrics, I could never get past the obnoxiously bouncy sound to it. Even MM didn't do a thing about how goofy it was. Adding some base and slowing it down slightly didn't alter the thick, gooey cheese of the song itself.

Somebody, somewhere, found a way to turn that cheese to gold, though:

The experimental British band Coil came out with this cover of Ed Cobbs' composition in 1985 and it was the very first AIDS benefit music release. All profits from the sale of this single were donated to the Terrence Higgins Trust.

This re-imagining of a broken heart as a broken body, viewing the song through the lens of the AIDS crisis is absolutely brilliant. It's so slow, intense and absolutely relentless. This isn't a feel-good song, but one that drags you down to its miserable level. Instead of those obnoxious Casio poundings from the more familiar Soft Cell cover, an orchestra hammers the listener like blows to the heart. Finally, those lyrics that were always the best part of the song are given the treatment they deserve. The video only enhances the atmosphere created by the song, giving it an almost mythological feel as it lingers over images of a hospital room, slowly drizzling honey, and captured flies. This is one of those rare videos that needs to be watched again and again to really catch all of the fabulous little details, like a fine piece of art.

"Strip me of my rights and I interrupt you. Who's really suffering here?"

Dan Savage, writer of the Savage Love advice column, has come out swinging against the passing of Proposition 8 in California this past Election Day. One of my favorite moments with him recently was when he completely pwned Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, on Anderson Cooper 360:

And it's not many men who can break Stephen Colbert, but Savage did it:

Those interested in doing more for same sex marriage rights should go to Join the Impact.