Editor's Note:  It's two days from Christmas and we take a moment to remember all those men and women who are no longer with us because of the ongoing AIDS epidemic and to acknowledge these small gestures of their memory.

It may have taken 14 years to erect but New York City finally has a granite bench with a view of the Hudson.  Sure it doesn't sound like much, this little bench, but what it stands for is very special.

The inscription reads "I can sail without wind, I can row without oars, but I cannot part from my friend without tears" and that bench is New York City's AIDS Memorial.

Even though you might not be in The City That Never Sleeps take a moment to think about those who have gone, and thank NYC for their granite gesture of support.

Editor's Note: As we get nearer to Christmas day, we thought we'd look at things to be grateful for this year and say thanks.

It might be his age -- after all the General is getting to be well into his warm daddy-ness -- or it could be his happiness to finally be looking at an administration that understands (finally) that sexual orientation has nothing to do with a person's ability to serve in the armed forces, but Colin Powell has stepped into the spotlight to openly say the the U.S. Congress should re-evaluate "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

We need more leadership like this in our Country and so to you, General, we say: "Thank you, Sir!"

Well, guys, the answer is in and the answer is --  "The French."

What?  You actually want to know the question?  Okay, then: What European Union country's male population, statistically, has the longest and the thickest ...well, let's just say the longest and the thickest?

Now we're the first to accept the results of a well-thought-out and fully-documented study, especially one conducted by the very-official sounding "Institut fuer Kondom-Beratung" (whatever that means) but in the interests of fully supporting their findings we are simply going to have to insist on some further -- and very hands on -- research.

According to the researchers, French flag poles are, on average, 6.1 inches long and 5.4 inches around.  The Brits, by comparison, rise to a height of 5.2 inches and have a girth of 4.5 inches, on average.

Does it matter?  Probably not, but interesting nonetheless.  Perhaps interesting only in our never-ending fascination with penis size.  For more on this topic, read R. Jackson's post on the DH Blog.

Here's something, ummmm, warm and inviting to think about on this cold, December Friday morn.  The hot daddy-ness of our celebrated Presidents is a very no-duh: Washington would be a stern papa, the military dad full of strength and honesty; Jefferson would be the smart dad, intellectual and passionate; Roosevelt (Teddy, of course) would be the (ahem) rough-riding dad, roaring with vigor; and Lincoln would be a strong but vulnerable father, determination mixed with kindness.

I'll take the second from the right, thank you very much

But leave it to a German gay travel site to take Mount Rushmore and make the Presidential Monument into a silly-something that would make even folks who don't see that daddy-ness of Washington, Jefferson, Roosevet, and Lincoln think of them in a new light ... and from a whole new perspective.  It's always been said that hindsight is in the eye of the beholder, no wait, that's not right...

Click here for a closer look.

You know what’s great about Sean Connery … aside from everything, I mean? He’s got that unbearably smooth cool thing, that burly roughness thing, and that seething ferocity thing going for him and they’re all good. Incredibly good, I grant you, but that's not what’s truly great about the Scottish actor who's been on stage and screen since the 50s.

What’s great about Connery, Sean Connery, is that no matter his age, he projects a wonderful daddy-thing.  Even when he was clumsy and gawky in (shudder) Darby O'Gill and the Little People, he had this smoky primal thing going on.  Yeah he looked like his voice might have just broken but even then you knew that he’d be the one slapping you on the back while you sipped a pint at the bar, or the one playfully wrestling you for the check when it was time to drunkenly stumble home.

Even during the years he was shaking-not-stirring his martinis, he had a dark edge, an almost brutal dynamism. You could still see that there was a playfulness there, though; a rough and tumble kind of fun streak. You could see him horsing around with the stunt guys, trading rude jokes with the extras, and leading the bit players in drinking games. 

Mr. Connery exudes class and a kind of burly elegance, but more than that there’s a realism he always brings to whatever he does.  It’s there in The Man Who Would Be King, there in Murder on The Orient Express, there in The Molly Maguires, and even in the surreal weirdness of Zardoz (where he spent most of the film in a very weird, and hot, outfit): a presence that’s fifty percent brilliant actor and fifty percent Sean Connery just being his usual down-to-earth, just-one-of-the-guys, self.

And he’s gotten better as he’s gotten older.  He still has that rough edge, that punch-you-in-the-shoulder manliness but he’s also developed an even more (if that’s possible) fatherly aspect.  Yeah, you could see the 60s and 70s Connery as the perfect daddy but also one that might be as much a competitor as a kind hand and a sweet touch. But the 80s, 90s and current Sean has become a real dad, a true father figure.

Last we heard a 'polar bear' is a warmly older guy with some snow on the roof -- and some on his chest as well: a silver-haired daddy-bear, in other words.  Now usually these fun white-haired daddies are easy to tell apart from, say, regular bears ... and especially girls.

Boy or Girl?

But it seems that with real polar bears it's a bit harder to tell girls from boys, just ask the staff of the Kushiro Municipal Zoo in Japan.  Seems they've been trying to get Tsuyoshi and Kurumi, two star polar bears, to mate - always unsuccessfully.  And no wonder: Tsuyoshi and Kurumi are both girl bears.

Apparently, with polar bears, separating the men from the errrr.... girls is more difficult than one might think.  We sincerely wish the staff of the zoo the best of luck in finding a male bear for Tsuyoshi and Kurumi.  Lucky for us, our kind of polar bears are pretty easy to spot -- and as for mating ... buy us dinner first and we'll talk.

That it would happen isn't a real big surprise - this being the age of micro-productions and all.  But that a musical about California's bigoted Proposition 8 should feature not just teddy bear bad-boy Jack Black AND reborn wild and crazy (and damned funny) Neil Patrick Harris (not to mention honorary queer guy Margaret Cho) is nothing short of ... well, WOW!

But that's just what has happened, compliments of Marc Shaiman, who composed such Broadway hits as Hairspray.  Ladies and Gentlemen: Proposition 8 The Musical!

Just goes to show you: never piss off 'the gay' - especially ones who know how to sing, how to dance, and how to put on a kick-ass show!  So enjoy the show and also be sure to go to jointheimpact.com to get involved.

Yes, you read that right: Sean Penn wanted to do James Franco. No, no, we don't mind if you take a moment for that to sink in. As-far-as-we-know straight Daddy -- and a yummy daddy at that -- Sean Penn is on the record as having wanted to, and we quote ... well, The New York Post's Page Six quotes: 

James Franco and Sean Penn from "Milk"

James Franco says Sean Penn pushed the gay sex scenes in "Milk" further than he expected. "In the original script I read, there was only one real kissing scene," Franco tells next month's Elle. "A month after [director] Gus [Van Sant] asked me to do it, they sent me another script, and on Page 5 there was a full-on love scene. And I was like, 'Gus, what the heck?' He says, 'Well, it was Sean's idea.' "

Mr. Penn was already high on our list for even doing Milk, but after this revelation all we can say is that our heartfelt thoughts, well-wishes, and extremely hot and heavy fantasies go out to Sean ... and that he and James Franco might get a chance to 'act' together again sometime in the very near future.

What's not to like about Björn Borg? One of the world's greatest tennis pros, a massive success as a fashion guru with his own label -- that was launched in his native Sweden with a campaign to "Fuck for the Future" -- a very serious daddy-hottie now that time has added a bit of stately definition to his boyish face, and now an international internet dating guru.

But not just any internet dating guru. Björn just launched his new site with a campaign that's pretty much guaranteed to bring a smile to your face -- unless, that is, you happen to think a commercial featuring two priests getting married to the tagline "love for all" isn't fantastic ... or at least damned funny.

Bravo, Björn, you've shown you can serve affection and respect with grace and style.

Well, thanks really shouldn't go out to that Turkish master criminal but rather the Oscar-winning and avowed heterosexual actor who brought him to sinister life in 1995's The Usual Suspects: Kevin Spacey.

So why should we be thanking Mr. Spacey? Because he recently -- and eloquently -- spoke out against California's abhorrent Prop 8 at a fundraiser in New York.  The interview comes courtesy of DoSomething.org's blog Celebs Gone Good.

"Well there’s no doubt that election night was a bittersweet night. But in some ways, these kinds of setbacks allow for a bigger fight, more challenges, and eventually we’re going to get it right. Eventually the American public will figure out that it really isn’t right to deny citizens basic civil human rights. And we can no longer allow that to happen. So the fact that these things were voted in, to me, it’s just an example of the fact that they had more money. How much money did the Mormon church put in? So I hope, like Arnold Schwarzenegger said, 'Don’t give up. Keep protesting.'"

Thanks, Kevin! Now maybe if you came clean about your own sexual identity, your voice would be even more powerful in this fight!