Here at the Roundup, we enjoy feeding the world a steady diet of "gays-good-homophobes-bad" along with the occasional nudity and some general silliness.  Simple, no?  But some days are weirder than others:

Today's weirdest story is the ballad of Dwan Prince, who was gaybashed in Brooklyn in 2005 but is now thanking his attacker for literally beating him straight.  "Steve you changed me!" Prince writes in his letter to prison, "So hopefully when you get out we can hang out...you can find me a female I can love and can love me."  Gang, I think we've just found Liza Minnelli's next husband.

But if our "team" loses Prince, maybe we can gain the "bicurious at best" director Kevin Smith, who has insured that I'll never look at the Stanley Cup in quite the same way again:

I love Smith's vision of the 'Twilight' generation but perhaps the Dutch are way ahead of him -- this clip of kindergartners is surprising and adorable: 

I'm amazed by these kids because I'm so used to hearing the opposite from their so-called defenders -- the kind of people former fundamentalist Frank Schaeffer discusses with the ever-awesome Rachel Maddow:

Didn't see that coming.  What will the Dutch children think!

The big news yesterday was Cher's lesbian daughter Chastity Bono coming out transgender, announcing plans to transition and become Chaz Bono.  Though supportive, Cher worried aloud about such a radical physical change, right before having her ribs lowered, her cheekbones resharpened and a vocoder installed in her throat.

Following the backlash against their lazy and cruel comments about transgender kids, Sacramento radio hosts Rob Williams and Arnie States did a special show to apologize.  They learned a valuable lesson:  don't make Michael Rowe angry, you wouldn't like him when he's angry!

If you're like me, you probably sat through 'Star Trek' wondering what Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto's love child would look like.  Well, wonder no more:

When did straight sports journalists suddenly become gay rights activists?  All I know is I really want Jeff Pearlman to be right.

Meanwhile, US sports station ESPN is airing a special on the Nebraska college wrestlers who got kicked out for doing porn.  If I'd known all this was going on, I'd have never left the channel on Fashion Television!

And finally, RM Vaughn interviews the creator of 'True Blood' (season 2 starts this Sunday), who says the vampires in her novels are stand-ins for gay people.  Please.  As if I could give up bruschetta.  Then again, of course, there is the nocturnal lifestyle, the screaming when faced with crucifixes, the pasty complexion and a very, very obvious joke about sucking.

Have a great weekend!

Funny how Toronto is described as "the centre of the universe" everywhere BUT Toronto.  (Seriously, it's not.)

Ah, but from tonight until May 24th, it might as well be -- the 19th annual Inside Out LGBT Film & Video Festival is on!  Among the highlights:

The 'Hogtown Homos' program features a collection of shorts from Toronto filmmakers, including the screenwriting debut of former Xtra writer Matt Guerin in 'The Golden Pin':

John Greyson brings 'Fig Trees,' his audacious and award-winning blend of documentary and opera featuring AIDS activists Tim McCaskell and Zackie Achmat. Here he is discussing it at an Italian film fest:

I'm looking forward to the documentary 'Sex Positive' for its look at the early AIDS crisis and the wildly different responses to it from activists Richard Berkowitz and Larry Kramer:

 

British papers are claiming that the secret to David and Victoria Beckham's perfect skin comes from smearing themselves with bird poop. Man, writing jokes gets harder every day! 

My own secret is that I didn't watch the Obama-McCain debate last night. Between the US race and our Canadian free-for-all, I'm politicked out!  I decided instead to wait for the debate highlights on the news. Bottom line: Obama cleaned McCain's clock and if he wins (assuming the Supreme Court doesn't steal the election again) historians may look back on this brief-but-scummy moment right here as John McCain's undoing:

"That one."  Having ragged on John McCain for about a year now, I didn't think there was much he could say or do to surprise me anymore (especially after his VP pick) but watching this, I sat back in my chair and thought, "Wow...what a dick."

Speaking of which, there are now two hate crimes investigations underway against Canadian independent federal election candidate David Popescu, who says that Egale director Helen Kennedy should be executed too. Clearly, for his own good, this guy needs to shut the fuck up but since I have no problem seeing him in prison, I say Dave, feel free to call us! We're ready to listen!

Google's Gmail has a handy new feature: an option to answer math questions before you send out potentially embarrassing drunken email. Now if only we could get that for this blog!

So yes, instead of suffering through the US debate last night, I caught up with 'True Blood,' the southern vampire drama from gay 'Six Feet Under' creator Alan Ball. It's strange, sexy, silly stuff (and oh, oh, the eye candy) but I think Lafayette, the town bar's short-order-cook/drug dealer, is the coolest gay character on TV right now. Check out his brand of customer service (and turn down the NSFW volume!):