Show Pride, Not Your Penis

(Please be aware that this brief commentary contains links to images that contain nudity and may be offensive to some readers. If in doubt or nudity offends you, DON'T click the links.)

I've never quite understood why the gay community in Toronto felt it was necessary to have a parade every year to show their pride in being homosexual. I'm heterosexual and to my knowledge there are no parades for us to celebrate our sexual orientation, nor would I need to ride a float to announce it and force it on others.

I'm not against the gay community and I'm not a religious man, I just believe there must be a moral standard we abide by even in these modern times. I have known many gay people and aside from what goes on in their personal lives and having some different interests, we're really the same. In fact, a few of them refuse to attend the parade in Toronto due to the disgusting displays and nudity that is flaunted year after year.

Seriously, if I was to organize a parade in my town and walk down the street with my penis bouncing in the breeze, I'd expect to be arrested. However, in Toronto this is a common occurrence during the Pride Parade and the police seem to look the other way. I guess tourism dollars are more important than enforcing our public decency laws.

Nudity doesn't offend me in the least. I don't have a problem with the human body and I'm certainly not a prude. Perhaps it is my upbringing but I don't understand why these individuals feel compelled to show off their reproductive organs at a public event that underage children can attend. Can't you be a proud gay man or woman without removing your pants? Sure some can...but why can't they all?

The topless women don't bother me or the men who are also topless but wear skimpy bikini briefs. At least they have their most private areas covered.

I don't have a problem with politicians who support the gay community like NDP Leader Jack Layton who actually participates in the parade but where are his moral values? If he is fine with this then I can't respect him and certainly would never vote for him.

If they are going to continue the tradition of the Gay Pride Parade in Toronto then I wish them the best of luck and continued success if they feel that it's necessary. Have fun and bring smiles to those who attend the event. I just wish the organizers would take a stand and force the participants to wear pants at the very least. If that's what it takes to be gay, then I'm glad I was born a heterosexual man.

Transformers 2...No Brain Required

(Warning...this story may contain spoilers)

The latest summer blockbuster is called Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and it is making money hand over Autobot.

I enjoyed the first Transformers movie so much that when I heard there was going to be a second movie, I couldn't wait for it to come out. I was looking forward to more action and adventure and I won't lie...seeing Megan Fox again was a pleasant thought.

Now I realize these movies are more testosterone driven then they are by the plot. In fact, I'm not sure this latest installment even had a plot. Greed was probably the only reason this movie was made.

The action was impressive and the computer geeks who sat in front of their monitors for months on end creating the battle scenes earned their money. The CGI was amazing and if I were a guy with no brain who could simply be entertained by slow motion jiggling of Ms. Fox's breasts and seeing her in an awkward yet strategically sexy position while painting a motorcycle...this movie would have been awesome. But I'm not and it wasn't.

Sure it was entertaining and I can forgive some mistakes for the sake of entertainment. After all, you have to put reality aside when you go see a movie about robot aliens from space, but the plot was filled with holes and it struggled to make any sense at all. It was corny and confusing and I almost felt insulted while watching it. Sure it's just for fun but would it hurt to ask the writers to give a little effort. What the hell were they on strike for last year? OK...so where should I start?

If I counted correctly, there are two pieces of the Allspark cube that remain and weren't destroyed in the first movie. The military has one under lock and key, and Sam (Shia LaBeouf) discovers another when it falls out of a piece of his clothing. The Decepticons steal one and use it to bring Megatron back to life. So why is it that Sam had to find the Matrix of Leadership in Egypt when he wanted to give Optimus life once again. Couldn't he have just used the other piece?

For some reason everyone forgot about the Transformers being on Earth between the first movie and this one. They destroyed a whole city in the first flick and there were plenty of wintesses. I guess they borowed the flashy thing from Men in Black to erase their memories.

Apparently Transformers can look like people now as well. And if the robo-girl is made of metal, wouldn't she have crushed Sam when she straddled him on the bed and stuck her tounge down his throat? I guess they can defy gravity as well. Oh well, at least she was hot.

Bumblebee has some how lost his voice again even though it was fixed at the end of the last movie. He better book an appointment with the German doctor robot that needs glasses when he performs procedures. He's a robot...can't he just fix his own eyesight rather than wear glasses?

One of the most obvious goofs was when Sam, Mikaela, and Simmons (John Turturro) go to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C. to locate Jetfire. After they locate him they escape out the back and walk into a field with an airplane graveyard and mountains in the distance. Apparently things have changed even more than I knew in Washington since Obama took office.

I could go on....like when Sam dies for a short time and goes to Robot Heaven. What the hell! Are they serious? Robot Heaven?! Or the captain of a Navy ship taking orders from some unknown guy on a walkie talkie and fires a secret weapon just because he told him to. How about the new twin Autobots and their racially questionable accents? Did we really need to see John Turturro in a thong or a horny robot humping Mikaela's leg?

I could go on but I won't since I'm sure you get the picture.

By all means, don't let this keep you from seeing the movie if you haven't yet. It is 2 and a half hours of explosions, bad acting, great effects and excitement and I'll probably buy it when it comes out on DVD but nobody can tell me it was better than the first movie. I just hope they do a better job on Transformers 3.

Happy Canada Day

We are celebrating our countries 142nd birthday today and some days I think I feel that old.

If you're Canadian, I hope you have a chance to enjoy the day and celebrate this great country of ours.

Prison Thriller

With the passing of Michael Jackson this week, there is a ton of Jackson's stuff showing up online or was hidden at one time and is now showing up again in popularity.

I don't know how I missed this one over the years but this is one of the coolest things I've ever seen. And when you consider the fact that the performers are actually prisoners in a Philippines prison courtyard, it's all the more awesome.

A few years back the 1,500 plus CPDRC inmates of the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center, Cebu, Philippines got together and choreographed their own version of the Michael Jackson video Thriller and famous dance sequence. Below is the result.

By the way, they have also produced other shows to the music of Queen's Radio Ga Ga, Jump by the Pointer Sisters and many others. I guess that's one way to pass the time behind the walls. Somehow I can't see the same thing happening in a U.S. or Canadian prison.

The King Of Pop Is Dead

Shock, disbelief, sadness.

These are three of the words that came mind to describe what went through my mind earlier this evening when I was informed that Michael Jackson had passed away.

I can't add much more to all of the comments and reports heard tonight on news channels about his career, change in appearance over the years and legal issues. It's all be talked about ad nauseum.

From a personal stand point I can say that I have no problem putting aside all of the controversy that surrounded him over the years. To me, he was a musical and entertainment genius. Quite simply he was the Elvis Presley of my generation. I am proud to admit I was, am and always will be a Michael Jackson fan.

You may disagree but when I think of true musical legends and icons, three names come to mind...Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson.

From wearing the single sequined glove to the first time we saw him moonwalk in 1983 during the Motown 25 performance of Billie Jean, he was one of a kind.

Here are the two music videos from Jackson and the legendary Thriller album that I believe changed pop music forever.

Billie Jean

Thriller