AfterElton Briefs: "Swill-Swallow Mountain", Sir Ian somehow survives "The View", and more!

Neil Patrick Harris attends the Sony CIERGE Holiday Preview in Hollywood

Following this assortment of carefully-selected news items, interested readers can find a refreshing pic of a hot man in underwear. Yes, we're serious.

• Sir Ian McKellen showed up on The View today and mentioned that it wasn't until he came out that he became a movie star. He also had to endure Elizabeth Hasselbeck arguing with him about the NHS (apparently Lizzy is an expert on British health services), a flu-ravaged Whoopi Goldberg asking him if he's going to do another Harry Potter film (Ian had to gently remind her that he was in the Lord of the Rings films), and Sherri mispronouncing "Magneto". Not a shining hour for the ladies.

• Jan Moir is a last-minute nominee for the Stonewall Bigot of the Year Award, which will be given out tonight in London.

• Playwright Jo Clifford talks about the furor surrounding her play Jesus, Queen of Heaven.

• Above you can see a clip from Countdown with Lawrence O'Donell interviewing Dan Savage about the Maine loss. The bottom line? Dan is p.o.'d.

• Matt Palmquist has a review of the new book Denying AIDS: Conspiracy Theories, Pseudoscience, and Human Tragedy by Seth Kalichman. The book looks at the history of the "denialism movement".

Meredith Monroe, Kevin Williamson, and James van der Beek

• The Paley Institute hosted Dawson's Creek: A Look Back in Hollywood last night, with out creator Kevin Williamson and the cast reminiscing about the 90's show. Unfortunately the only cast members who showed up were Meredith Monroe and Dawson himself, James van der Beek. If I was a snarky person, I'd say it was because they had nothing better to do, but that would be ... harsh.

• Brokeback Mountain author Annie Proulx is donating an early draft of the short story to the New York Public Library. Early alternative titles included Bulldust Mountain and Swill-Swallow Mountain. Can you imagine the Jay Leno jokes the last title would have caused?

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