The other day in the middle of a conversation with a friend I had an unfamiliar experience: I had sticker shock on someone else's behalf. See, my friend had just revealed to me that he paid what he considered to be a steal for a ticket to see Madonna at Madison Square Garden.

The ticket cost?

$180.

Not even taking into consideration the fact that I wouldn't turn around to see Madonna, that's a preposterous amount of money to pay to see someone whose life and various faces have received more coverage than the Iraq War. Is there really anything more to see?

I see plenty of live music and I think $50 (which I paid to see Feist recently) is even a bit much to ask for ninety minutes of pop music in venue overpacked with paying patrons (that said, Feist was amazing and totally worth suffering the drunk people next to me and the Dutch tourist who kept kicking the back of my seat). Has my indie rock upbringing jaded me on big-ticket shows, or is Madonna really as much of a money-grubbing Planet Eater as I think she is?

Time for another Pop! Quiz, folks!

Given all the goings-on in soapland both at home and abroad, I thought I'd see what people thought about the current crop of gay soap opera characters. Luke and Noah are on the skids, JP and Kieron are about to be third-wheeled by the return of Craig, and Christian and Olli may be in for some trouble now that their secret is out. So why not mix things up a bit by pretending that all our favorite fellas live in the same universe?

Who is your dream soap couple, mashup-style?

Cast your vote below!

We got word today that Project Runway winner Christian Siriano is working with GLAAD to clear up some of his comments regarding transgender individuals, particularly equating "drag queens and trannies" to "white trash women and trailer parks" in a recent interview.

Siriano (who of course made the questionable phrase "hot trannie mess" a national sensation) insists that doesn't mean any harm with his comments, and clearly, as a self-professed "very flamboyant gay man", isn't prejudiced against people who challenge traditional gender roles. The article goes on to say that Siriano is working to remove the slang "trannie" from his vocabulary, but doesn't specifically address the catchphrase that he (perhaps unwittingly) inspired.

We've been advised by the Center for Transgender Equality that the word "trannie" is never acceptable, and the way that the catchphrase caught on has seemed a bit troublesome to us from the start. Do you or your trangender friends find "hot trannie mess" offensive? And have you used the phrase yourself, regardless?