Morning Meme: Spirit Awards Nominations, Get Better Nate Berkus, and Michael Urie Joins "Angels In America"

Today is World AIDS Day. Whether it’s getting tested, donating money to your favorite celebrity’s “social media death” charity, or just getting educated, take some time to make a difference in your life or someone else’s.

Angels In America is getting another extension. The cast that includes Zachary Quinto will take their final bow on January 30^th. But the new cast includes local favorite Michael Urie, who will step into the role of Prior Walter.

The Illinois House passed a civil unions bill 61-52. Meanwhile, the senate committee pass it on to the next level of consideration, and the governor has pledged to sign it, much to the consternation of NOM.

Shortly after his Today Show appearance, Nate Berkus was rushed to the hospital with appendicitis. He is, as I write this, awaiting surgery, and is expected to be fine. But we’re still sending good vibes his way.

Facing budget cuts, NYC is slashing support for homeless youth by as much as 50%. An estimated 40% of homeless youth in NYC is said to be GLBT. There is a meeting tonight on the subject, and the more supporters of the Ali Forney Center that are present, the better. If you can attend, details at the link.

Charice says that she’s due to come back to Glee in January. She doesn’t know her storyline, which glee club she’s singing with, or anything about her story, but she knows she’s back.

Speaking of Glee (and it seems I do that a lot), Brett Berk of Vanity Fair took Chord Overstreet car shopping, first with sensible cars he might buy (like an Audi). Then he brought several hundred thousand dollars worth of exotics from the L.A. Auto Show. There’s video, but Overstreet has a potty mouth when he feels the acceleration on the Tesla, the electric supercar.

Billie Joe Armstrong is returning to American Idiot on Broadway. When he stepped into the show for a week, they got a $600k boost in ticket sales. This time, he’s doing 50 dates, so that’s a lot of money.

The mystery of the red, bad tasting honey in Brooklyn has been solved. The bees were gorging themselves at Dell Maraschino Cherries Company factory in Red Hook.

At the Spirit Awards, The Kids Are all Right scooped up a ton of nominations, including nods for Annette Bening, Mark Ruffalo, and Lisa Cholodenko. Also notable is a nomination for John Cameron Mitchell for Rabbit Hole.

Andrew Garfield underwent a number of fittings for his Spider-Man costume, including an entire day dedicated to making sure no bulges happened below the belt. Folks say that he should be awfully proud that what he has is that hard to hide.

Jumo has launched from out Facebook cofounder Chris Hughes. The purpose is to make it easier for people to find quality charities to support. And Hughes is putting his billions where his mouth is, singling out gay equality charities for matching donations from his own pocket.

If you want to buy the items in “Twelve Days of Christmas” the tab is up about 10% over last year, to over $96k.

The Simpsons' executive producer Al Jean explains the feud with Fox News. And no, it wasn’t pressure from corporate to remove this week’s jab from the online and oversees versions. That was a last minute addition to the show based on the success from last week, and they only had time to add it to the masters for the U.S. broadcast.

Meanwhile, Fox News is claiming a small government, Tea Party movement in the UK while showing footage of the rioting around raised fees on students at university, which have nothing to do with each other. Welcome to the party, England.

I feel bad for not having noted the passing of Gavin Blyth, who was the man responsible for getting Aaron’s story on screen with Emmerdale.

As a morning distraction, I might mention the beefcake with the L.A. Softball Players 2011 Calendar.

We’ve been remiss in not mentioning Tom Andersen’s music and concerts. Go discover him!

Every year, The X-Factor gets the coveted Christmas #1 – except last year, which didn’t help Joe McElderry. This year’s campaign is to make Gay Pirates the #1, which would amuse me to no end.

Archer returns to FX January 27^th. Without doubt, there’s going to be something gay about the season.

ABC is developing two musical shows, including one starring Idina Menzel. Depending on timelines, maybe they can graduate Lea Michele on Glee and send her over?

President Obama has put out a statement calling on the Senate to heed the results of the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell study and repeal the law.

I’m not a fan of Bristol Palin, or any Palin. But I’m not sure what Margaret Cho is trying to accomplish by posting that Sarah Palin forced Bristol on Dancing With the Stars as punishment for McCain losing the election. It just feels kind of slimy.

This spoof story about a gay man becoming overly excited by a TSA agent and being arrested for it went viral last night, even being picked up as fact by several legitimate news sites (Dallas Voice, I’m looking at you, because deleting it doesn’t delete Google cache).

The Wikileaks document leak has details of the out German Vice Chancellor Guido Westerwelle’s security assessment, calling him inexperienced and criticizing his “exuberant personality.”  They feel that he would make a poor ally.

We’re going to be interviewing Rodiney from The A-List this week, and if you’d like to know something specific, please let us know in the comments, and if you could note “The A-List” in the subject line, that would really go a long way towards us getting our three martinis in at lunch instead of searching the comments.