The following contains spoilers. You’ve been warned.

Michael Jackson!

OK, no matter how you feel about Jackson personally, the man made some awesome music in his lifetime, which is why I was uber excited for this week’s episode of “Glee”… the Michael Jackson episode!

Yup, lots of cool cover songs were there, accompanied by fantastic dance numbers, but this episode bit at me on a personal level. Do you remember the last time we watched “Glee” together (and by that I mean I watched it, and you read about it here), when Finn proposed to Rachel? Well, this week we saw her answer.

Throughout the episode, we saw Rachel hemming and hawing as she tried to make a decision as to whether or not to tie her life to one man for the remainder of her time on earth. For some reason, she decided to go to her boyfriend’s ex-girlfriend Quinn for advice. Because, of course, the best place to go for relationship advice is your current boyfriend’s ex-girlfriend (insert eye roll here).

This is where my issue with tonight’s show began and ended. Quinn told Rachel that she shouldn’t marry Finn. Rachel interjected with, “I know he and I haven’t lived together or anything, but, you know, I love him, and he’s the one, I know it.” (more…)

Leave Kim Kardashian alone!

Celebrities make strange bedfellows, and rising starlet Olivia Wilde may be one of the few souls rushing to defend Kim Kardashian after the reality star’s blink-and-you-missed-it marriage.

Wilde, recently divorced herself, tried to shush the commoners from being too critical of Kardashian’s 72-day marriage.

The “Butter” star, who finalized her own high-profile divorce from Italian aristo Tao Ruspoli last month, told us at a Standard Hotel after-party for “Another Happy Day,” “I empathize. It’s not easy. It’s the hardest thing in the world. People judge you because divorce is seen as failure. [Kim] took a risk. No one should be attacking her. Our attention should be focused on things that are truly scandalous.”

Hmmm. Wilde’s marriage, while not the “Happily Ever After” variety, did last for eight years. That’s an eternity in Hollywood. The bigger question is, why can’t we judge a woman who treats the institution of marriage like another insipid reality show plot?

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Celebrities and divorce: always a trending topic on Twitter and always a weekly news story.

From the recent split between Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries to Ashton Kutcher’s alleged affair(s), it’s almost expected most celebs will call it quits after a few years. But why?

Do their jobs keep them from spending time together? Is it jealousy of success in one’s career? Does someone else come along? Is there major money involved after filing for divorce? Or do the fantasy elements of their jobs keep them from making the right decisions at perhaps the most important times in their lives?

Marriage isn’t just a relationship; it’s an oath you take in front of God that you love this person and want to be with them forever. The fact that Kim K said this oath in August and is now filing for divorce makes me and many other conservatives sick. Okay, Kim, you didn’t want to marry the guy? Then don’t! Don’t listen to your PR person, your agent or the E! Network when it comes to the matter of marriage. Now you are a 30-year-old who has been divorced twice, so if this was a PR stunt (which I suspect many people think it is), it was the worst possible thing you could do for your image.

And believe it or not, I was a fan of Kardashian. She had a pretty rocky start with the whole sex tape thing and the fact that her father, the late Robert Kardashian, got a lot of hate for defending the disgusting O.J. Simpson. Now, she has made herself millions through branding her name, the success of her family’s reality show, endorsing products, and recently launching the Kardashian Kollection at Sears with fellow sisters Kourtney and Khloe. You may not like her personality, but she’s a darn good businesswoman. (more…)

Who better to expound on the institution of marriage than a promiscuous, never-been-married Hollywood liberal out promoting a movie about an oversexed teacher “saving up cash for a boob job?” 

Relationship expert Cameron Diaz felt moved to share her opinions with the boys of Maxim magazine.  This time she said marriage is a “dying institution.” Ms. Diaz, who’s seen more home runs than her current beau Yankee third baseman Alex Rodriguez has seen in his whole career, said “I think we have to make our own rules.  I don’t think we should live our lives in relationships based off old traditions that don’t suit our world any longer.”  

You remember Cameron – she’s the one who bragged about her promiscuity: “I can be attracted to a woman sexually, but it doesn’t mean I want to be in love with a woman. If I’m going to be with a woman sexually, it doesn’t mean I’m a lesbian. We put these restraints and definitions on people, but it’s hard to define.” 

Cameron Diaz was described by the international men’s magazine as a “rarefied creature even by Hollywood standards,” but to vulgarity aficionados Ms. Diaz is a woman full of “beauty, intelligence, and humor witha 4.0 in Potty Mouth.” Evidently, for consumers of “soft pornfor male adolescents,” Diaz’s coarse language elevates the ‘Vanilla Sky’ actress to the position of matrimonial philosopher and discerning harbinger of “new rules.” 

Summing up her marriage insights with advice that is sure to strengthen the fabric of society, theorist Diaz said: “Guys need women who challenge them and don’t let them get away with their s**t. Women, conversely, need to not be crazy bitches who blow up when their guys tell them something that scares them.” 

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It recently dawned on me that even though Hollywood couples often avoid marriage even when they have children together, while others are often married for embarrassingly short periods of time, the movies continue to promote the old-fashioned notion that marriage constitutes a happy ending in every romantic comedy they churn out. They do this because they realize that even though shacking-up and one-night stands are typical for many of them, it does not constitute the norm or the ideal for most people in the audience.

That being the case, you have to wonder why in so many other areas, they go out of their way to ignore or even deride the values and beliefs of most Americans. When it comes to such things as same-sex marriage, tax-funded abortions or the alleged villainy of the U.S. Military, Hollywood is consistently out of step with the majority and they’re darn proud of it.

Often the funniest lines delivered by these celebrities occur when they exchange marriage vows. The most appropriate musical accompaniment isn’t Mendelssohn’s “Wedding March,” but a couple of rim shots after the “I do’s.” On occasion, the marriage is over before the gifts have been unwrapped, sometimes even before the cake has been cut.

For instance, Julia Roberts/Lyle Lovett (21 months); Michael Jackson/Lisa Marie Presley (19 months); Charlie Sheen/Donna Peele (14 months); Jennifer Lopez/Chris Judd (7 months); Pamela Anderson/Kid Rock (5 months); Renee Zellwegger/Kenny Chesney (4 months); Nicolas Cage/Lisa Marie Presley (4 months); Drew Barrymore/Jeremy Thomas (6 weeks); Carmen Electra/Dennis Rodman (9 days); Dennis Hopper/Michelle Phillips (8 days); and, a drum roll, please: Britney Spears/Jason Alexander (55 hours).

Some of these ceremonies no doubt took place at Las Vegas chapels, but a couple of them, I suspect, occurred at local In-N-Out Burger stands, where the marriage certificates came with an order of fries. (more…)

There was a time when Hollywood portrayed marriage as a happy institution that was key to a healthy society. Sure, a lot of those films and TV shows were propaganda along the lines of “Father Knows Best,” going over the top in their promotion of a world in which a kindly man ruled the roost over his doting wife and children.

Then along came “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?,” a devastating cinematic portrait of poisonous marriages and repressed lives that featured Elizabeth Taylor shrieking her way to winning one of the film’s five Oscars. But even as that 1966 film presaged the social revolution and decades of divorce to come, it seems that it also resulted in any serious portrayal of marriage being filled with hatred and negativity, in which “’til death do us part” became as much of a fairytale concept as “once upon a time.”

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This week marks the release of another low point in movie marriages, as “Blue Valentine” hits theaters with the red-hot indie-actor coupling of Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams. The film has already stirred up reams of headlines because of the battle surrounding its rating, which originally was NC17 for a graphic sex scene that appeared to border on rape, but which the film’s head distributor Harvey Weinstein successfully appealed to be released with an R.

Weinstein won his battle without having to cut a frame of film, and now is advertising “Valentine” as “uncut and uncensored,” no doubt hoping to draw in couples looking for sexy shenanigans. But unlike the much more enjoyable and vastly sexier recent release “Love and Other Drugs,” the scene in question here is beyond depressing and will prove to be more of a turnoff than turn-on to anyone with a healthy sexual attitude. (more…)

For many Americans outside the Country Music fan base, Keith Urban was not a household name when he married actress and fellow Aussie Nicole Kidman in June 2006.  When just four months after their celebrated in nuptials, Urban, a recovering substance abuser by his own admission, suffered another relapse and after an intervention of friends and family checked himself into Betty Ford, his future as an artist and that of his marriage to the already once-bitten Kidman (she was married to actor Tom Cruise for eleven years before their sudden and still detail-murky divorce) seemed to hang in the balance.  But he recovered with dignity, has thrived in both his personal and professional life, and cut two LPs since, the latest being Get Closer.

As a long-time fan, it pains me to open this article talking about Urban’s demons and but for their impact on his musical direction it would be none of my business.  It is also too bad that it was under this cloud that his name became more recognized outside his original fan base, for this is a man who has struggled harder, suffered more setbacks, and yet all along possessed more raw talent and musical virtuosity than most artists in any musical genre, let alone country music.  That he was a transplanted Aussie trying for years to break into the parochial Nashville scene beyond doing session work (for which he was renowned), and all the rejection and frustration this implies, makes his ultimate achievement of music super-stardom that much more worthy of praise.  It also explains his tortured past where drugs and alcohol were often all he could turn to during the lean, lonely years. The contrast of his years of clawing his way to the top of the music scene vis-à-vis the coronation of twenty-something American Idol insta-stars needs no comment.  I mean no disrespect to Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood among others, for they deserve their accolades.  But Keith’s success has come through the old-fashioned dues-paying route and so garners more respect in my book.

One can follow his personal journey of ups and downs through his many albums, starting in 1999 with his eponymous first solo release that contains such soul-searching tunes as Out on My Own and his first hit But for the Grace Of God.  His work is, in fact, a mirror held up to himself.  He even tackles his own battle with addiction in the haunting You’re Not My God (from his second LP, Golden Road).  Urban’s anthology also offers us happier glimpses of the bubbling optimism that exudes from his persona in Live to Love Another Day, Better Life and the wonderful God’s Been Good to Me (my favorite tune from my personal favorite 2004 album, Be Here). (more…)

Well, it’s a story as sordid as it is sordid.

Which is sordid.

Bishop Eddie Long, the well known mega-church pastor, has been accused by two young men from his church of forcing them into private “covenants” involving gay sex. The pastor, of course, claims he’s innocent.

But for the sake of this Gregalogue, what if he isn’t?

That makes him a creepy creep from Creepeville. Population: creep.

Now people in the media love these stories because it allows you to point out the hypocrisy found in religion. This is a pastor who is against gay marriage, but allegedly likes the gay sex. But this is so predictable, boring and easy.

Me, I’d rather argue that it’s okay to hate something, while still engaging in it.

Most people call that “life.” (more…)

Comedienne/Actress Sarah Silverman told Playboy recently: 

“I’m not against marriage, but it’s just not for me…” 

That’s an entirely reasonable position. Not every person is suited for marriage. 

But then she pitched intolerance: 

“I think it’s gross and [bleep]-ing crazy.” 

Not a follower of gossip tweets, I do however recall a not so private break-up from a certain late night talk-show host that may have played a role here. 

We can presume President Obama and family would object.  During his campaign and term as president his proud advocacy of traditional marriage and family has coincided with the vast majority of Americans.  (more…)

So according to a French psychologist, the key to a healthy marriage is to cheat on your spouse. In her new book, “I’m A Chick in Glasses Who’s Completely Given Up,” Maryse Vallamt says that men shouldn’t be punished for cheating, and that women might find their mate’s infidelity “liberating.”

She also says men don’t cheat because they stopped loving their wives, but because they just need room to breathe – making me think the book must have been ghost written by Bill Clinton or Tiger Woods.

Anyway, she adds that forty percent of French men cheat (sometimes with cheese) and that infidelity is “inevitable.” In a beret-shaped nutshell – against such odds, why bother? The secret to a good marriage, is to make it a bad marriage!

Now, we need to put this in perspective. The author is French, so we know she has a funny accent. Also, she probably hasn’t seen a good film in years. But I wonder how she’d feel if I applied the logic to making French bread – and said that sometimes the dough doesn’t have to rise to make it edible. That makes the exact same sense as advocating pro-adultery marriage. It’s the product of relativism: remove standards, masquerade failure as success, and success will always be yours! As for those idiots left to defend monogamy, you only open yourself up for accusations of hypocrisy once you inevitably screw up. Come on: just say you never meant to be faithful, and you’re fine. (more…)

Haven’t you heard? The GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network), founded by Obama’s Safe Schools Czar Kevin Jennings, was caught teaching middle-school students the sexual art of “fisting.” One has to wonder, considering how in the tank the folks in tinseltown have been for this administration, would these kinds of shenanigans even bother them?

It’s no secret that Hollywood considers themselves to be much more “open-minded” about sex than the average bear. I’m sure they’d have no problem with the GLSEN endorsing the act of inserting one’s fist into a partners orifice to a group of 14-year-olds. Afterall, everybody does it… Right?

As a matter of fact, Hollywood rarely ever gives the evil eye to any sexual practice, no matter how freaky it may be. It seems that to the Sean Penns of the world, the more perverse the sex, the better. They’ve sauntered so far down the “freaky sex dungeon” trail that “fisting” has literally been left in the rearview mirror as mere child’s play. (more…)

“Marriage is just a title,” “It’s a prejudice institution,” or my personal favorite, “I don’t need a piece of paper to prove my love.” We hear these nice little soundbytes from the cowardly men of Hollywood time and time again. Even more sadly, is that all too often, their leading ladies are conned into going along with it. Women, what are you thinking?! Don’t you realize that these chumps are playing you like a fiddle?

I was a groomsman at one of my best friend’s wedding this weekend. As I gazed across at the Bridesmaids all teary-eyed with an air of longing, I couldn’t help but think to myself, “Man, Johnny Depp’s a douche.” The truth is that behind every anti-marriage sermon given from a Hollywood hubby, there’s an incredibly disappointed lady. I don’t care how much of a “strong, independent woman” you are; all little girls dream of their perfect wedding day. Before the feminists get upset, let me tell you that none of this comes from a place of sexism. It comes from an endeared heart. It’s why little boys would rather play “Space Aliens” and little girls would rather play “House.” Your inherent ability for compassion and nurturing is what makes you the best among us. (more…)

I don’t recall liking much of Nora Ephron’s work other than “When Harry Met Sally.” In fact, if I knew she made “Julie and Julia,” I probably would have avoided it, since “Sleepless in Seattle” and “You’ve Got Mail” just kind of mash together in my mind. But “Julie and Julia” is more than good: it’s brilliant cinema.

The first thing that grabbed me was the character work. The hero, Julia Powell (her real life blog is here) is a foodie blogger played by Amy Adams. I’m used to watching Amy Adams over my kid’s shoulder in “Enchanted,” which plays in our house on continual loop. I didn’t know Amy knew how to turn down the volume and play a “plain-Jane, yet interesting”… but she’s awesome. This isn’t her usual glowing, perky role where she turns it on like a fire-hose. And she doesn’t turn invisible like when she played a piece of cardboard in “Doubt.” (more…)

It’s rare enough these days to see a movie in which one story is well-told, much less two stories. It’s even more rare when a filmmaker is able to balance two completely different plotlines and make both equally enjoyable and compelling. Yet with her new film “Julie & Julia,” writer-director Nora Ephron (“Sleepless in Seattle,” “You’ve Got Mail”) pulls off such feats so impressively that the movie could possibly wind up with an Oscar nomination at the end of the year now that the Academy has expanded the awards to ten nominations and will likely finally include a couple of comedies each year.

“Julie & Julia” follows the amusingly parallel lives of chef Julia Child (played by Meryl Streep), who achieved worldwide fame while revolutionizing the art of cooking starting in the ‘50s, and Julie Powell (Amy Adams), a young New York City woman searching for identity in 2002. Powell longs to be a successful writer like her friends and yet is trapped processing insurance claims from victims of the World Trade Center attacks. (more…)

I suppose after 15 years of marriage I should stop wondering aloud how on earth I ended up with this woman. Least ways I should stop wondering aloud when my lovely wife is within earshot. Not that after so many years it matters much, but the truth is that I don’t know how we ended up together.

We had our first date 20 years ago and if anyone at the time had told me that the silly girl with the wild red hair would be the mother of my children and my life’s partner I would have laughed out loud. Bachelorhood was too much fun. Besides I had a very definite mental picture of what my wife would look like – what her personality would be – and frankly she just didn’t match it. The workings of the heart continue to amaze me. The brain plans and strategizes and works overtime attempting to get the loins and heart on the same page. The loins are always eager to cooperate; the heart, however, is not a team player. The heart is constantly going off on its own mucking up the works. Such was the case for me. In time I found myself longing for the silly redhead. All my intellectualizing failed to win my hearts cooperation. I realized I couldn’t live without her.

She of course tells a different story. According to her she knew after our first date that I was her one and only; that no other man would do. Honestly, who can blame her? (more…)

A new Gallup poll shows that married people are more likely to be Republicans than Democrats. The propensity for marriage among Republicans was the same regardless of race or age groups. So this is my formal call to all single Democrats who want to get married; it’s time to change your party affiliation or you’ll go through life alone, or worse, with some flaky narcissist with commitment issues.

We all pretty much know that most Democrats can’t be trusted and that’s reflected in this marriage poll. It’s not that Democrat women are ugly, because we’ve seen too many cute ones out there. The men aren’t hideous either, unless you think a soft, effeminate man hen-pecked his whole life by his domineering mother is hideous. The main reason people don’t get married is out of a fear of divorce– a fear of a breaking of vows. And Democrats talk with their feet when it comes to making commitments with those who philosophically have no grounding to keep any commitment. Did Obama shut down Gitmo? Will he get health reform finished before August recess? Is he going to cut taxes for most Americans? (more…)

If you’ve been taking notes from such brilliant minds as Bill Maher, Cameron Diaz or ever taken a moment to observe Hollywood in the past few decades, you’d know that marriage is a dead institution. I mean, who gets married anymore (unless you’re gay)?! It’s like, “Hellooooooooooo”!

I happened to catch Cameron “My Career is Over Thanks to HD” Diaz discussing the intricacies of marriage on “Real Time with Bill Maher” this week. A lot of tinseltown jibber jabber ensued but you needn’t be bored with the self-indulgent details. Cameron basically proclaimed that she’s glad that she’d never gotten married because she “definitely would have been divorced (multiple times).”  She just needed to do what was right for her and that that was constantly changing. Maher, of course, agreed and praised Cameron in her wisdom for having learned to put herself first and foremost, before all others in her life. Marriage can’t work because you have to look out for “Numero Uno”… That’s the Hollywood way! (more…)

My first thought when I saw Dr. Stacy Spencer’s new book “Naked and Unashamed” was, “wait a minute. A Christian minister preaching about sex?” My second thought was, “why not?” Heathens aren’t the only ones that like to swing from the chandeliers; quiet as its kept Christians enjoy sex just like everyone else. Moreover, good sex is a natural and important part of a good marriage and good marriages are one of the foundations of Christian life.

The book grew out of a “40 Nights of Great Sex” bible study program begun by Spencer, Senior Pastor of the New Direction Christian Church in Memphis Tennessee, and his wife of 16 years, Rhonda. The couple looked into the Christian community and saw marriage – God’s first church – in trouble. The high divorce rate in our country is a well publicized statistic. What is less well known is that, depending on the poll, the divorce rate among practicing Christians is as high as that of non Christians. Christians are also seeing rising rates of adultery and indulgences in pornography. Spencer felt a calling to restore the sheen to Christian marriage and started the workshop as a way to begin healing relationships by providing couples a safe place to talk honestly about intimacy within the covenant of marriage. (more…)

Politically speaking, it’s quiet in Hollywood. Too quiet.

It’s not a foreboding kind of stillness like the sunrise on a battlefield before the ranks are formed. It’s not an anticipatory breed of shush as “jocund day stands tiptoe” before a big game or the opening of Christmas gifts. (more…)