http://brettberk.com Thu, 11 Mar 2010 23:25:55 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en "Sissy Bounce: Rap Goes Drag!" Check out the amazing stories of New Orleans' queered-out Bounce Music artists in my online column for Vanity Fair. And find links to listen to their tunes, their shows at SXSW, and the museum exhibits featuring photos of them (and the story of their music) ... http://brettberk.com/2010/03/11/cross-dressing-rapper-starts-marching-band/ My review of Jason Vuic's pithy new tome on the rather stunning history of the most craptastic vehicle ever created. Read it online at Vanity Fair. http://brettberk.com/2010/03/09/yugo-the-book/ This week, in my Vanity Fair car column, I look behind the black car(pet) at the world's favorite star-studded traffic jam, and reveal the secret hierarchies of Oscar auto assignment. You will never be able to look at stars and cars in the same way. CHECK IT OUT And ... http://brettberk.com/2010/03/06/putting-the-cars-in-oscars/ They really do grow up so fast. It seems like only yesterday that The Gay Uncle pushed his purple, rectangular wrecking ball of a head through the birth canal, and now, he's sassing back in compound sentences, stubbornly refusing to wear his old argyle socks (claiming they're too babyish), and ... http://brettberk.com/2010/03/04/gay-uncle-turns-2/ Once again, the Gay Uncle is extorted into playing a role he despises--that of wise-cracking parenting expert--in the esteemed pages of the Chicago Tribune. This time, he dishes out wisdom on where and how you should take your first big trip with your kids. It's all very straightforward and, as ... http://brettberk.com/2010/03/04/parenthood-is-a-trip/ Is your kids' constant bickering bugging the shit out of you and making you want to go all shaken baby on their asses? Well, it certainly was with one of the Gay Uncle's fans. That is, until he gave her some pointers. Now, the kids are literally behaving like angels. ... http://brettberk.com/2010/03/03/butting-heads-butting-out/ In an interesting interpretation of the notion of persecution, a Memphis immigration judge has granted political asylum to a German family who moved to the States in order to homeschool their children in a devout Christian form: far from the pagan witches, satanic sprites, and non-father-and-mother-honoring kids that populate the ... http://brettberk.com/2010/03/02/grimms-hating-german-homeschoolers-granted-us-asylum/ I’ve strenuously avoided cold weather sports throughout my life. This is because a) my already inadequate coordination is hugely diminished by the addition of snow or ice; b) the requisite frosty temperatures force the athletes to completely cover their bodies, curbing any interest I may have in spectating; and c) ... http://brettberk.com/2010/03/01/winter-olympics-too-much-clothing/ The NYC Board of Education's Panel For Educational Policy finally voted the other night on its controversial bake sale policy. The rule was created to ban homemade goods like cookies and cupcakes and pot brownies from being offered at school bake sales, while allowing store-bought items like Pop-Tarts and ... http://brettberk.com/2010/02/26/a-chocolatey-cluster-fuck/ The Gay Uncle has never been able to figure out exactly what about.com is. But someone over there seems to like him. Witness this piece "You're in Good Hands with the Gay Uncle" that is--sort of--about him. Go on over and visit and report back if you have any idea ... http://brettberk.com/2010/02/22/gunc-ing-things-up/