Weekend Meme: Gareth Thomas Rocks Flannel, "Glee" Spoilers, and the Tragic Shooting of Rep. Giffords In Arizona

The lead story this weekend has to be the gunman that shot Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, killed a federal judge, a child, and wounded 18 others. Rep. Giffords was generally viewed as a friend of gay rights. The gunman, 22-year-old Jared Lee Loughner, was subdued by a staffer and is in custody, while another suspect is being sought. I really don’t want to get into wild blame games like some, but I do agree with Sheriff Dupnik: The vitriol surrounding this country’s politics is out of control, and when politicians keep talking about “2^nd Amendment remedies,” putting gun sights on Congressional seats, and inviting voters to a political rally where they can shoot a fully automatic M-16, we can’t be surprised when an unstable person takes it literally. My thoughts and condolences to everyone affected.

On a much lighter note, Debbie Gibson and Tiffany will attend the New York City premiere of Mega Python vs. Gatoroid.

30 Rock’s Jane Krakowski is pregnant. No word on whether they’ll write that into the plot, or just have her stand behind a lot of odd objects. Being 30 Rock, I’m betting on the latter.

This blog on how to live in New York City is somewhat depressing, but I’ve heard the same story from far too many friends to doubt how true it is.

In surprising news, the powers that be have found a way to make me skip an episode of Glee: they’re doing Justin Bieber. At least the Glee Club spontaneously knowing the lyrics isn’t totally unbelievable since no song of his contains more than four different words, repeated endlessly.

In other Glee news, Gwyneth Paltrow is coming back. I won’t spoil the reason why. In HUGE news, curse me if you will, but the show has also secured rights to Lady Gaga’s upcoming single “Born This Way” supposed-to-be-next-gay anthem. How Murphy intends to use can be found at the link, but it could be brilliant.

The Wonder Woman TV show from David E. Kelly is dead for now.  CBS and ABC passed on the show, The CW can’t afford it, and NBC doesn’t have a clue as to what they want until Comcast finishes buying the network.

In this totally NSFW post, hottie nerd Chris Hardwick broke away from CES and visited the Adult Expo next door, where he check out some Avatar-themed bedroom enhancements.

Songster Cassidy Haley has released a new tune called “Everything” that feels really different for him. I’ve been listening for about 24-hours on loop. You should definitely check it out, and not just for a bigger version of the accompanying artwork.

Is Liam McIntyre the front runner to step into the sandals of Spartacus for Starz?

Entertainment Weekly has a response from Will & Grace creator Max Mutchnick to comments made by Richard Chamberlain and Rupert Everett about homophobia in Hollywood. I’m not completely buying what he’s selling, but I do think it’s a good response to those two. “I don’t think the audience is as homophobic as the media would have us believe. Neither is Hollywood. I’ve never denied an actor a job because he was gay, but I have denied actors jobs because they suck. There is no blacklist that forbids gay actors from playing straight roles. Convince us you’re in love with her and we’ll hire you. And I promise we won’t care who you’re cuddling up with when you’re off camera."

Speaking of great responses, OutSports.com has a piece up about three openly gay high school athletes who have a blog answering questions and responding to homophobia in sport. It’s partially in response to the Mikey hoax last year, but the teens aren’t going the anonymous route, and have apparently been verified as being legit. Children leading again; makes me proud.

I haven’t’ seen anything on FX’s new series Lights Out, but it’s about boxing, so there’s beefcake. And the critics love it, so it might be good, but since it’s on FX and not AMC, it might even be accessible.

Portuguese fashion journalist and gay activist Carlos Castro, 65, was found beaten and castrated in his Times Square hotel room. The top suspect is his companion, Renato Seabra. There are now some reports that the 20-year-old model was only dating Castro for his money and contacts.

In a story that gives me hope, some of Egypt’s Muslims came to a celebration of the country’s Coptic Christmas to act as human shields to prevent extremist violence. If they can work that out in the Middle East, there may be hope for all of us.

Armie Hammer says that he and Leonardo DiCaprio will be playing J. Edgar Hoover and his companion Clyde Tolson from youth to old age, and they’ll be doing it with prosthetics. While the cross dressing aspect of Hoover’s life is being dropped as unverifiable, there is at least a kiss between the two men in the movie. Plus, Dame Judi Dench will be elevating everyone’s performance.