Pork here.

T.I. is livin’ his life . . . at the top of the charts . . . for another week . . . as he’s done for just about every week since this site’s creation. “Live Your Life” does it again and astonishingly claims the Airplay Gainer award in the meantime. T.I.’s also got the No.2 spot locked down still with “Whatever You Like” despite some hardcore pressure from “Hot N Cold” by Katy Perry. Kanye West makes a strong entry at No.4 with “Heartless”, his second auto-tuned effort from his upcoming album, 808s & Heartbreak. Meanwhile, Beyonce boringly stays put at No.5 with “If I Were A Boy.” yawn.

The Twilight Soundtrack managed to bump AC/DC down one spot and score the No.1 position on both the Top 200 and the Top Rock Albums while also taking the top honors on the Top Modern Rock/Alternative Albums and Top Internet and Digital Albums charts. Twilight is only the third soundtrack this year to go to the top which makes it’s No.1 debut even more notable. In it’s first week it moved 165,000 units . . . and I must say that it moved me too.

T.I. is not looking to lose any honors on the albums charts either and tells John Legend to get to steppin’ after only one week of letting him sit in his Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums throne.

Place your bets now for next week’s highest charting debut: T.I.? David Archuleta? or will Taylor Swift pull off a country coup and twang herself right into the No.1 spot? Stay tuned. (Go, Davey!)

Remember to listen to a new album this week, and never forget to enjoy . . . A View From The Top! A look at what’s sitting atop this week’s Billboard charts, after the jump.

November 22nd, 2008 (week ending)

Singles:
Hot 100: T.I. feat. Rihanna: “Live Your Life”
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs: Ne-Yo “Miss Independent”
Pop 100: Katy Perry “Hot N Cold”
Mainstream Top 40: P!nk “So What”
Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop: T.I. feat. Rihanna “Live Your Life”
Hot Modern Rock Tracks: The Offspring “You’re Gonna Go Far, Kid”
Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks: Metallica “The Day That Never Comes”
Triple A: Coldplay “Lost!”
Hot Rap Tracks: T.I. “Whatever You Like”
Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks: Jason Mraz “I’m Yours”
Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks: David Cook “The Time Of My Life”
Hot Digital Songs: Kanye West “Heartless”
Hot Digital Tracks: Kanye West “Heartless”
Rhythmic Top 40: T.I. “Whatever You Like”
Hot Dance Club Play: Kreesha Turner “Don’t Call Me Baby”
Hot Dance Airplay: Kim Sozzi “Feel Your Love”
Hot Dance Single Sales: Lady GaGa feat. Colby O’Donis “Just Dance”
Pop 100 Airplay: Katy Perry “Hot N Cold”
Hot 100 Airplay: T.I. “Whatever You Like”
Hot Singles Sales: Artists Stand Up To Cancer “Just Stand Up!”
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles Sales: Artists Stand Up To Cancer “Just Stand Up!”
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay: Ne-Yo “Miss Independent”
Hot Adult R&B Airplay: Jennifer Hudson “Spotlight”
Hot Singles Recurrents: Natasha Bedingfield “Pocketful Of Sunshine”
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Recurrents: Noel Gourdin “The River”
Hot 100 Recurrent Airplay: Natasha Bedingfield “Pocketful Of Sunshine”
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Recurrent Airplay: Noel Gourdin “The River”
Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles: Keyshia Cole feat. 2Pac “Playa Cardz Right”
Bubbling Under R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: Ryan Leslie “How It Was Supposed To Be”
Hot Ringtones: Katy Perryy “Hot N Cold”
Hot Country Songs: Taylor Swift “Love Story”

Albums:
The Billboard 200 Albums: Twilight Soundtrack
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums: T.I. – Paper Trail
Top Digital Albums: Twilight Soundtrack
Top Rock Albums: Twilight Soundtrack
Top Modern Rock/Alternative Albums: Twilight Soundtrack
Top Hard Rock Albums: AC/DC – Black Ice
Top Internet Albums: Twilight Soundtrack
Top Independent Albums: Various Artists – Winter Wonderland
Top Electronic Albums: Lady GaGa – The Fame
Top Rap Albums: T.I. – Paper Trail
Top Soundtracks: Twilight Soundtrack
Top Cast Albums: Original Broadway Cast Recording – Wicked
Top Country Albums: Brad Paisley - Play
Top Heatseekers: Unk – 2econd Season

…on the international front:
European Hot 100 Singles: Guru Josh Project “Infinity 2008”
European Top 100 Albums: AC/DC – Black Ice

…and…continuing to keep us dreaming:
Hot Holdiay Songs: Bing Crosby “White Christmas”

For a complete update on all things Prop 8, check out Towleroad's Prop 8 super post.

For more about this addictive new series, check out the official website.

I've been dying for this. Wait, I didn't mean that pun! Could you imagine! But I have been looking forward to this week's Blood Work Vlog - the best and smartest take on my favorite TV show, "True Blood."

Brian Juergens, the Blood Work co-chair, writes:"Inspired by Eddie, Jason and Amy's twisted little game of "vampire house", Andy and I decided this week to tie Andy to a lawnchair to discuss Episode 10 of True Blood.

Um ... it didn't go so well.

In lighter news, we were delighted to learn that this week the folks at HBO have made Blood Work the featured item on the show's official fan page. We're thrilled to be spreading our foul gospel to more fans of the show, and even more thrilled at the special presents they were kind enough to send us ... which we'll be featuring next week. If you run into any new folks in the darkened hallways of the comments section, do give them a friendly AfterElton welcome!"

Today, I am inaugurating a new daily feature here on AKAWilliam.com - The Lady's Brunch Burger Award! Each and every day, the worst person of that day is going to receive between 1 and 5 Lady's Brunch Burgers for saying something homophobic, sexist, racist, or just plain dumb. Whoever the recipient is can take a big ol' bite out of TLBB.

Some of you may be familiar with TLBB, some of you may not be. For those of you unfamiliar with The Lady's Brunch Burger, let me get you up to speed.

Paula Deen, the cheery and rotund Food Network star, is not known, necessarily, for her healthy cuisine. In fact, she has received death threats for some of her recipes. The death threats have (unfortunately) been removed from the Lady's Brunch Burger comments thread of her Food Network site, but here is a sample of what remains in response to her astounding recipe:

"I hope you know a good cardiologist, because you are going to need one if you eat this burger. I am usually amazed when I watch Paula's show. I just can't believe that someone actually cooks with all that butter, mayo, and sugar."

"I was horrified when I watched her making this burger. It made me sick in my stomach."

"Shame on you Food Network! how can you possibly approve this recipe and allow it to be on your network?! "

"I would never make this recipe because I want to live to see my grandchildren."

"Those of us who think that eating such a vulgar, revolting display of saturated fat, obesity-forming, heart-disease-inviting, vile concoction should be allowed equal say."

What could possibly inspire such enthusiastic support of one's health on a site like The Food Network? This:

Yes, you are seeing correctly. The Lady's Brunch Burger is a hamburger topped with eggs fried in butter, topped with cheese, then topped with bacon, then sandwiched between a split Krispy Kreme donut. Syrup is optional.

So, now that everyone is all caught up, who do I think deserves to eat a non-delicious, non-nutritious, life-threatening 1200-calorie Lady's Brunch Burger? And how many Lady's Brunch Burgers do I think this bad, bad, bad person should devour, preferably in one sitting?

After the jump, watch why I'm serving up the inaugural Lady's Brunch Burger Award to . . .
Dennis Miller!

(FF to the last 30 seconds)
For his nasty little homophobic joke about Barney Frank, Dennis Miller gets 2 Lady's Brunch Burgers. Miller, known for his unstoppable mouthiness, took one step too far with this, and that's why he needs to stuff his mouth with . . .

Eat up, Dennis!

In an interview with MTV, James Franco talks Prop 8. The "Milk" actor says about playing a gay man in a relationship, "It's just a relationship." He goes on to show his support for gay marriage.

You know, there is something beautifully haunting about the release of "Milk" (it opens in two weeks) during this protest moment. Defamer had a post last week that asks: "Could an earlier Milk release date have changed anything?" It might have, but I think if we need a movie to rally around, we probably need a leader even more. It's almost like we've gotten used to having Hollywood fight for us. I think we're learning that we're strong enough to fight for ourselves.

Sam Cooke sings "A Change Is Gonna Come." I thought this was triply appropriate. It's simultaneously from Rolling Stone's Top 5 Greatest Singers (see below), a former "Daily Song" here at AKA William, and the song itself is telling us that a change is gonna come. 1, 2, 3. Triple.

Rolling Stone announces The 100 Greatest Singers of All Time. The top 5?

1) Aretha Franklin
2) Ray Charles
3) Elvis Presley
4) Sam Cooke
5) John Lennon

Stan Lee to create gay superhero for Showtime. And since it's Showtime, you know we're gonna be seeing some nekkid superhero (like Vampire Bill!). He's going to have the power to heal people. Wait, is Stan Lee gay?

Patrick, one of three members of the self-titled "Team Rainbow" on the new season of Top Chef, packs his knives. Knives, I said.

Enter Gizmodo's Mars Photoshop contest: "Use Photoshop to show us what the Mars Phoenix really discovered that the government doesn't want us to know about."

Michael Moore to make new documentary focusing on the economy

Two new women added to the Saturday Night Live cast

My girlfriend, Rachel Maddow, is not entirely a saint. Not yet, anyway. Last night she had to make some correction to some misinformation she presented earlier in the week in her "Ms. Information" segment. Apparently, she mispronounced the location of the Greenland military base, Thule. She pronounced it "Thool." But it's actually pronounced "Too-lay." Says Ms. Maddow, "Humiliating."

Were we headed for an Ice Age before our oil addiction got us drunk and warmed things up?

Study finds working at work increases productivity

Seann William Scott finally bares his ass in his new movie "Role Models." (Do I have to say NSFW if I already said he bares his ass? Okay, the link is NSFW.)

Lars Stephan. He's the model and photographer. You can check out his site where you'll get to see all of him in the self-portrait section of his portfolio. (The first page of the site is NSFW, so look before you leap.)

Click thumbnails to enlarge.

Two NSFW pics after the jump.

I'm listening to Whoopi on The View right now, and she is talking about the protest last night. (Isn't it amazing that so many of us are turning to her right now to see what she says? She has become one of our voices -- more on that later.) Whoopi is saying, "If you don't know how you feel about gay marriage, go out and meet the families, go out and see what it is they really want." Amen.

Last night's protest was bracing. In a lot of ways.

It started at 6:30 (although I hear quite a few people arrive earlier), and I got there around 6:45. A thick river of bundled-up people marched down from the Mormon Temple, bent to file across 61st, and pool in Columbus Circle.

I moved in and out of the marchers, from the street to the curb and back. It was cool out, not yet cold, and serious out. There were alot of people, almost like a parade, but minus, for the most part, the abandon at a parade of a fesitival. Pockets of different chants dotted the route that wound beneath the enormous red CNN sign and headquarter. We were being seen. One of the protest marshalls kept shouting, "We're at 12,000 people! 12,000! Head down 61st! 12,000!"

More after the jump.

When I was deposited in Columbus Circle, I searched for a place to park myself and protest. I moved around, trying to see where the speakers were (I'd heard that Whoopi was going to be speaking), trying to find a place to focus my attention. Almost everyone else was doing the same. Most of the quieter protestors gathered around the more vocal ones, and groups of the chanters and listeners marked each corner of Columbus Circle.

As I roamed from corner to corner, I noticed that there was no real center, no focal point to direct the justified anger and the buzzing energy of the crowd. We had no leader. We have no leader.

Let me say now that I think what Michelangelo Signorile and Corey Johnson, Ann Northrop, and all of the other organizers did was remarkable. And I think the results of what they did have pointed us in a new direction. And that new direction is highlighting the areas we need to work on, as a community.

We are walking through a perfect storm of religion, race, and sexuality. Has this ever happened? And has it ever happened at a moment that has proven that fighting the good fight pays off? We have elected Obama. We know we can make things better. But where do we start?

I think we need to focus on the perfect storm itself. Homosexuality has not inoculated the gay community against the treatable diseases of the larger culture we inhabit. Last night was a very white, very male experience. Why? Why were there so few people of color? Why were there so few women? Why were we focused on what the Mormons did when there are so many other churches equally responsible? (I'm not the only to have noticed this - Andy Humm of The Gay City News noted these issues last night as well.) We don't do anyone any favors by pretending that the gay community is flawless and the rest of the world is evil. We need to address our problems head on so we can figure out how to solve them. And show them how it's done.

Andy Humm also wrote: "No speeches. No leaders. But lots of anger." I think the lack of leadership is what allows for a blurring of our message. The failures of the No on Prop 8 campaign came as much from a fractured gay leadership as it did from plain old bigotry. More from Humm:

Mark Monford, columnist at the Chronicle, called the response of the No side to the attack ads by the Yes people "utterly limp," writing, "As one of my politically savvy Chronicle colleagues put it, 'No on 8 was a bad campaign. Bad, bad, bad. Inept, amateurish, incompetent, and, above all, guilty of committing the first and worst sin of politics: taking the voters for granted."

And Dan Savage, bless his heart, has become a default voice, and he's doing as much harm as help. His "Black Homophobia" post was a bad idea, and his appearance last night on CNN made us look hysterical and unfocused.

We need to keep protesting, keep fighting, and become even more focused.Obama told us to get our own leader. So let's begin that search by leading by example. Let's use the enormous success of last night's protest to give us the energy we will need to make our community what it's always promised to be - a safe place for everyone.

For my money, the best and most clear-headed take on last night's protest and the entire Prop 8 response is from Andy Humm over at Gay City News. In the article he posted last night after the protest march, he writes:

No speeches. No leaders. But lots of anger.

Mobilized through social networking sites, an estimated 10,000 people turned out Wednesday night at the Mormon Temple near Lincoln Center in New York to protest the passage of the California amendment eliminating the right of same-sex couples to marry and the fact that most of the money for the Yes on Prop 8 campaign came from members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints - the Mormons.

Corey Johnson, one of the key organizers with Mike Signorile and Ann Northrop, said the turnout "was a tremendous outpouring of grassroots energy and support." He hoped that energy can be harnessed to win marriage equality in New York.

Signorile said, "It's about a right that was taken away, not just marriage." He wants those energized to demand all of our civil rights and that Mormon-owned companies such as Marriott "stop giving money to the Church."

Civil rights attorney Norman Siegel said, "The spirit of ACT UP is in the air."

After the jump, how the religous vote really broke.

The biggest last minute change in how people polled and how they voted, DiCamillo wrote in the San Francisco Chronicle, was among Catholics, who are about 24 of the electorate and whom late polls showed going 44 percent for the measure.

"However," he wrote, "the network polls showed that they accounted for 30 percent of the California electorate and 64 percent of them voted 'yes.' Regular churchgoers showed a similar movement toward the 'yes' side," growing from 74 percent yes in a pre-election poll to 84 percent yes in the exit poll.

Notably, the pre-election poll showed that 58 percent of Catholics understood that voting yes would not take away the full domestic partner rights that gay couples enjoyed before the court ruling "versus 47 percent among non-Catholics." Many Catholics seem to have been swayed by a letter from their bishops read from most pulpits on the Sunday before the vote.

While that may explain whose votes were moved and why, it does not offer a fuller view of the No campaign's failure to be more effective. The gay blogosphere was full of reproaches for a campaign that almost entirely refused to feature gays or lesbians or appeal to emotions the way the Yes side did, but the invariable answer from No on 8 leaders during and after the battle was, "We know what we're doing." They insisted their ads were focus-group and field tested and that they worked with the voters that they needed to win over.

The Yes ads may have been lies - about churches being persecuted for not marrying gays and children being taught about gay marriage in elementary school -but they were effective. Even Barbara Walters on "The View" was repeating the Yes on 8 lies after the election, essentially saying that a Yes vote was understandable.

The right wing was also successful in exploiting Barack Obama's opposition to same-sex marriage in mailers and robo-calls, particularly in the African-American community. The No side responded with their own robo-calls citing Obama's opposition to Prop 8, but calls using his and Joe Biden's clear and early comments opposing Prop 8 went out only during the last weekend.

The leaders of the No side acknowledged that they did not make a serious outreach to the African-American community and did not feature blacks in their ads. After the campaign they wrote, "We achieve nothing if we isolate the people who did not stand with us in this fight. We only further divide our state if we attempt to blame people of faith, African-American voters, rural communities, and others for this loss."

boy culture has an extensive picto-history from last night's NYC Prop 8 protest.

The Village Voice blog has more pics and a breakdown

Boy in Bushwick came out and marched

Joe.My.God. was there as well.

Michelangelo Signorile sums up the evening:

Corey Johnson did a phenomenal job organizing the protest, doing all the legwork and working nonstop for several days. Don't forget that we came up with the idea for this protest -- Corey and lesbian activist Ann Northop and I -- on instant message and on telephone late on Saturday night. We put it up on Facebook and then it just blew up. Ten years ago we'd work in ACT UP for six months to get maybe two thousand people to demonstration. With this one, within five days 10,000 to 15,000 , as most reports seem to concur, were inspired to show up and voice their concerns at the Mormon Church for its having raised 20 million dollars to pass Prop 8. Enormous thanks to ACT UP veterans who saw this thing growing, realized it could be a big success or a big disaster if not properly executed, and jumped in to help with logistics, police negotiations, marshall training and media relations: Brian Zabcik, Jay Blotcher, John Voelker, Drew Beaver and Ron Goldberg.

After expressing our outrage at the Mormon leadership at the temple, we marched down Broadway to Columbus Circle, with those at the front carrying a 70-foot banner created by rainbow flag creator Gilbert Baker. Looking back you could see the crowd going back for blocks.

I was absolutely blown away by the turnout and so excited to see so many new, young faces. I think Prop 8 has galvanized a generation, spawning new activists in a way nothing else has.

1) Whoopi Goldberg at the NYC Prop 8 Protest (via boyculture)(6:31)
2) Dan Savage and Tony Perkins on Anderson Cooper (8:53)
3) Protestor video from inside the march headed to Columbus Circle (6:50)
4) Protestor Video of the Mormon Temple (3:14)

I was there last night as well. I'll be posting about what I saw and heard as soon as I can.

Wake Up To These!

The Rachel Maddow Show
1) Obama optimism 2) Web Only - Say What, Mr. President 3) Obama drama 4) Gotta have faith 5) Game still on!

The New York Times
NYT The Front Page 11/13

NPR
Tell Me More
Stories: 1) Latinos Increasingly Targeted For Hate Crimes 2) Love It Or Hate It?: The Fashion Sense Of Michelle Obama 3) Black Finance Guru Weighs In On Financial Crisis 4) In Your Ear: James Lipton

Audio player after the jump. Or click here to launch the player in a new window so you can listen while you browse. Or, head over to The Media Bar and listen there.

Click below to jump to the full size players or click here to launch them in a new window. Or just hang out and watch them in The Media Bar next door.

Daily Song:
Frankmusik - 3 Little Words (A1 Bassline Remix)

Television:
MADtv has been canceled after 14 years and will go off the air at the end of this year. So here's some straight-boy-on-straight-boy action from the show from a few years back to commemorate (celebrate?) the show's cancellation.

Politics:
Refuse to Hate is the first and ONLY pro-gay-marriage ad I've seen that blends gay marriage with civil rights. And a little bit of humor. Thanks, Pork.

Movies:
From Indiewire: "Director Yair Hochner's 'Antarctica' is set in Tel Aviv and centers on an interconnected group of friends and their various relationships. At the crux is the adorably bookish Omer, about to turn 30, who still hasn't found himself, and his free-spirited best friend Miki, who
both end up inadvertently dating the same handsome journalist, Ronen. Frozen in place, they and their assorted family members and lovers all seek the same thing--a guiding light to show them that love is still out there." Opens in Los Angeles Friday, November 14 with other cities to follow.

Music Video:
David Archuleta on The Tonight Show sings "Crush"


Click below to jump to the full size players or click here to launch them in a new window. Or just hang out and watch them in The Media Bar next door.

Daily Song:

Frankmusik - 3 Little Words (A1 Bassline Remix)

Television:

MADtv has been canceled after 14 years and will go off the air at the end of this year. So here's some straight-boy-on-straight-boy action from the show from a few years back to commemorate (celebrate?) the show's cancellation.

Politics:


Refuse to Hate from Refuse to Hate on Vimeo.

Movies:

From Indiewire: Director Yair Hochner's "Antarctica" is set in Tel Aviv and centers on an interconnected group of friends and their various relationships. At the crux is the adorably bookish Omer, about to turn 30, who still hasn't found himself, and his free-spirited best friend Miki, who both end up inadvertently dating the same handsome journalist, Ronen. Frozen in place, they and their assorted family members and lovers all seek the same thing--a guiding light to show them that love is still out there.


Music Video:

David Archuleta on The Tonight Show sings "Crush"