Morning Meme: Hudson Taylor Subdues Foes, "Vampire Diaries" Fight About Nudity, and Enjoy RangTang Vodka

The Vampire Diaries were feted at the Paley Center, and there’s still nothing gay going on. And if there’s nothing gay, I’m a little upset with producer Kevin Williamson for thinking they’re overdoing the “nudity” with the male vamps. You gotta give us something until we get our immortal Jack McPhee because let’s face it, this show is nothing but Dawson’s Creek with vampires.

I’ll just be blunt (I know that’s so rare for me): Rosanne Barr needs to shut up. She’s written a widely republished blog post speculating on the reason Marie Osmond’s son committed suicide, and regardless of your views, it’s vile. What she’s doing here is no different than what Jan Moir did to Stephen Gately, judging the circumstances of a tragedy before the body is even buried.

Outsports.com reports that hottie straight University of Maryland wrestler Hudson Taylor, who wrestles with the HRC logo on his helmet, won the 197lb. weight class at the ACC championships over the weekend.

AMERICAblog points us to an interview that Ohio State University football coach Jim Tressel did with an Ohio gay magazine. Coach Tressel is a known conservative, yet he couldn’t be more supportive of gay players on his team. What is it with sports coaches at Ohio universities proving that sports teams aren’t as homophobic as their reputations?

The L.A. Times takes a little time to profile out chroreographer/dancer/director/producer Adam Shankman ahead of the Oscar telecast last night. You’ll be happy to know he vetoed feather boas in the costume designs because they were “too draggy.” 

Brothers & Sisters has been picked up for a fifth season, surprising no one. Still, the most interesting piece in the article is it noting that the show has had more showrunners than it has had seasons, and that’s likely responsible for the unevenness we’ve witnessed. Here’s hoping they can stay on the recent path they’ve been heading down. That would be the one with no Senator Pretty Boy and very little Kitty.

We’re up for an awardI It's for Best LGBT Blog in the TLA Gaybies along with some pretty heavy hitters. If you could spare a moment to vote, the Flying Monkeys might stop terrorizing your particular village. I do feel I should warn you, some of the comics and DVD covers in the other categories are NSFW.

If you’re in Austin, and have a thing for furry cubs that appear on daytime dramas, Scott Evans is going to receive a Visibility Award at the HRC Austin Dinner March 20^th. Tickets are still available.

Before the Oscars, there were the Spirit Awards for independent film, the definition of which is being stretched beyond belief. Eschewing the daytime beach ceremony and going for a nighttime bash, the big winner was Precious, by out director Lee Daniels. It picked up Best Feature, Best Director, Best First Screenplay, best Female Lead, and Best Supporting Lead.

E! caught up with Dario Scardapane, the creator of NBC’s Trauma to talk about the wild ride the struggling series has had, and what the future holds for the upcoming ten episodes they never thought they’d get to make. Turns out fewer explosions and more character development are at the core of the eps, and while the focus is on Rabbit, Scardapanedoes promise a nice arc for Boone and the suddenly out Tyler’s odd couple partnership.

Three Olives Vodka has invested a small fortune launching their RangTang Vodka with flavors of oranges and tangerines. It’s a shame they didn’t bother checking the name online, because the Urban Dictionary has a rather racy description of what RangTang stands for.

They’re apparently casting the Smurfs with a gay marketing checklist – you don’t actually have to be gay, just have some vague connection. Neil Patrick Harris, Alan Cumming, and now “I Kissed a Girl (and offended half the gay community)” Katy Perry has been cast as Smurfette.

Unplugged is returning to the airwaves, and it’s not just on MTV anymore. VH1, MTV and CMT will be launching their own versions of the iconic program, with the kickoff on VH1 March 10^th with Adam Lambert. I’m happy to see music back on MTV and VH1, but how did someone as edgy as Adam Lambert end up on VH1? 

Massive props to Sandra Bullock, who on the eve of the Oscar ceremony where she has a Best Actress nomination for The Blind Side, took time to show up at the Razzie Awards. She picked up two Razzies, for Worst Actress and Worst Couple in All About Steve, and dropped off copies of the DVD for everyone in the audience. This woman is a class act. Full list of winners (losers?) here.

Alice In Wonderland shattered all opening records this weekend, raking in $116.3 million domestically ($10.50 of that was mine I’d like back - $17.00 with candy and a drink), and $210.3 million globally. So which records fell? Biggest Q1 opening, biggest 3D opening, and the biggest IMAX opening record that was just set by Avatar. I’m guessing it’s also the biggest opening of a film with two openly gay supporting actors in a major role.

ACON in Australia has been running a Before Play campaign for safer sex during this year's Mardis Gras. I spent 30 minutes going through all the posters trying to find something PG-13 to show. If you're a grownup, you can head over to their site and see the other NSFW posters.

Selling safer sex through sex.

I have no real reason for including this animal picture, other than I thought they were some CGI creation when I first ran across the picture. It turns out these are Fennec Foxes, and those ears are real.

If they were wolves, they'd be what Russell Tovey turned into for a full moon.

Today's optical illusion is a little different - this is an actual landscaping decision, and exists in real life.

The yard is perfectly level.

From the world of advertising, is this not the coolest thing you've ever seen? We wear cartoon characters on our boo-boos, but cartoon characters opt for a classic.

Hulk smashed something hard.

Cracked takes a moment to act out every single trope that's used to bait an Academy Award nomination. They included a few things that aren't politically correct, but that's actually the point in this case. I'm not endorsing some of their word choices, but I'm not disputing their honesty, either. And yes, playing gay and the lesbian kiss are both included.

I don't know what this trailer for Neowolf is supposed to be - I can't even tell if it's about vampires or werewolves. I know it's about a rock band and something supernatural, and it's getting a marketing push with music video tie-ins and everything. And the boys are pretty. It's true - there are no ugly immortals, are there?