The Lair of the Okapi

The 2011 Okapi Sampler!

2011-12-29T17:25:00.004-05:00

I didn't have a lot of friends when I was a kid. I didn't live in a nice subdivision or a neighborhood like all the kids at school did, and there wasn't anyone under 50 who lived anywhere near me. So, I had to find ways to keep myself out of the the constantly threatening boredom vortex. I explored the woods behind our house, and mapped out my discoveries.   I collected animal safari cards and couldn't wait to be old enough to leave Pennsylvania for my destined life as a scientist-explorer deep in the Amazon.

And, I obsessed about music. Mostly Disco, Funk, and then, New Wave music. I spent hours every Sunday morning listening to Casey Kasem count down the week's Top 40, and I would plot and graph and make predictions for next week. I could spout off pop music trivia and chart positions the way just some boys can recite number of hits and home runs in a season I did this for years, and the music nearly completely shielded me from my loneliness. Well, I am 41 years old now, and I still find refuge and inspiration in music, and I'm still enough of a nerd to want to organize my favorites in to the annual Lair of the Okapi Sampler - my 10 favorites tracks of the year.    So, here it is...

Last year, I noted that the most notable music of the year seemed to address the tension between escapism and melancholy - well-suited to an era of conflicting feelings and opposing dreams. In 2011, indie music delved even deeper into murky overlap of joy and hopelessness. In a year of Tea Parties, Occupiers, and an Arab Spring, it just didn't feel right to have one feeling without the other. But, what is remarkable this year, compared with last, is the way in which women's voices came to the forefront. After over a decade of women nearly exclusively in the musical roles of novelty rappers, rock accessories, and artificially flavored pop tarts, it's so refreshing to see (and hear) women taking control of their perspectives, stories, and voices - and oh, what damned good voices there were this year.

So, without further ado, here is the 2011 Okapi Sampler!

# 10 tUnE-yArDs - "Bizness"

tUnE-yArDs is the musical creation of Merrill Garbus, a native New Englander with a truly global sense of rhythm. "Bizness" seems, at first listen, an odd tune to receive the critical acclaim that it did in 2011. East African beats, socially-conscious loops, and a roaring androgynous voice coming from a woman who isn't afraid to look anyone in the eye, don't normally add up to a warm welcome in the United States. But, 2011 hasn't been a normal year, and the joyous rage and commitment to freedom in this track is just what the world needed - or maybe I've just been spending too much time in Ethiopian restaurants.

# 9 KING - "Hey"

You know how that first warm day feels after a long cold winter? That sweet joy is KING - a trio of beautiful electro-soul queens from Los Angeles who've come to save us from ugly music. "Hey" is smooth and sticky like honey - no artificial sweetness here. These ladies have, somehow, figured out how to deliver the best elements of classic soul without that "retro" feeling that sometimes feels a little empty. I'm not sure if this is the next step in neo-soul, or a new genre of future soul - but either way, I cannot wait to see where they take this soul train next.

# 8 Canyons - "See Blind Through"

In the mid-80s, something magical happened in Chicago, and House Music was born and from this groove came the groove of all grooves. This duo from Perth, Australia understands House Music - it's a spiritual thing, a soul thing, and "See Blind Through" is like a walk down House Lane. There is a definite flirting with Hercules and Love Affair's 2007 hit, "Blind" that makes the past and future painfully clear, but with all of it's nods to 25 years of House landmarks, "See Blind Through" is still fresh enough to become a landmark of its own.

# 7 James Blake - "The Wilhelm Scream"

James Blake bubbled up late last year from the British underground with the sound of the future. He's hard to categorize - Post-Dubstep? Glitch-Blues? Experimental Broken-Beat? Whatever it is, James Blake's music will be looked back upon by future music geeks as a turning point. It will influence much of what is to come - in the way that Joy Division did in the late 70s. "The Wilhelm Scream" sums it up nicely and wraps us in a murky haunting rainy-day dream that comforts in a way that no music has since Depeche Mode's masterpiece, "Violator" in 1990.

# 6 Lykke Li - "I Follow Rivers"

Oh Lykke Li. Thank you for reminding us all of who we were when the whole adventure was in front of us, when passion and the thrill of life defined every thought and action. "I Follow Rivers" with its could-only-be-from-Sweden quirkiness finds the exact meeting point of The Cardigans and The Knife - then adds a quick pinch of Stevie Nicks. It's the sort of song that's so full of life, it makes you want to get out there and change the world, or at least fall in love again. And, I suspect a lot of folks have fallen in love with Lykke.

# 5 Neon Indian - "Polish Girl"

There's been a lot of talk about Dubstep as the current musical rage, but I'm predicting hipster history will more remember 2011 as the year that Chillwave was accepted as the sub-genre of choice. The new New Wave has been marinating for a few years now with Chromeo, Cut Copy, and Holy Ghost, and this year Neon Indian from Denton, Texas and Toro Y Moi from Columbia, South Carolina brought Chillwave out of their suburban bedrooms to the forefront of indie music. With dreamy synths and bouncing melodies, it's the perfect escape from a mad, mad world. And, who doesn't need a danceable escape once in a while?

# 4 Goapele - "Play"

After so many years of watered-down, commercial-ready, soul-less R&B, I'd almost given up hope. With Goapele, there is hope again. Goapele Mohlabane, from Oakland, California, was blessed with a voice so rich and smooth and seductive - it just cuts straight to the core of the human experience. Add to that, a slinky, writhing, arrangement, and it's impossible not to feel like she's taken you to a higher plane. And that is what soul music is supposed to do.

# 3 Toro Y Moi - "Still Sound"

"Still Sound" conjures Polaroid Insta-Matic memories of windows rolled down on country roads, basking in the sunshine and the crisp early autumn air. It's music for a generation that needs to learn how to not be so serious all the time. Toro Y Moi, aka Chaz Bundick, makes music that would work as the soundtrack to your earliest adult years - free and promising, without a care in the world - far away from the teenage angst that has ruled the music scene for so long. But, to be clear, the Toro Y Moi sound isn't artificial fluff. It's a smart and insightful road trip going who knows where for who cares how long.

# 2 Lana Del Rey - "Video Games"

Lana Del Rey was born Elizabeth Grant in Lake Placid, New York, and in 2011, she became this century's Patsy Cline. Her voice is just extraordinary, with a rare smokiness that makes hair stand up. There's a mystery and an intimacy that's impossibly alluring - like a Tarantino movie about a rich girl gone astray. "Video Games" is a timeless hopeless honky-tonk love story for the digital age.

# 1 Adele - "Rolling In The Deep"

Anyone who knows me, at all, would never expect a # 1 pop chart smash to be mentioned anywhere near my top ten of the year. Well, sometimes, even I have to shelf the musical snobbery and accept that absolutely everyone loved the best song of the year. There just can't be one person out there who didn't put their whole being into singing that chorus with Adele, in private, at a long stoplight. She summons the ghosts of bluegrass, gospel, and soul, and belts that shit out - it's startling and beautiful. And the best song of the year, hands down.

There was a lot of great music this year, and a lot of honorable mentions...

M83 - "Midnight City"

Florence and the Machine - "Shake It Out"

Foster The People - "Pumped Up Kicks"

Hercules and Love Affair - "My House"

Destroyer - "Kaputt"

Atlas Sound - "Te Amo"

Clams Casino - "I'm God"

Ursula 1000 - "Mondo Beyondo"

Burial - "Street Halo"

Occupying Wall Street: A Guide For The Rest Of Us

2011-11-07T08:45:00.004-05:00

Cody ChesnuTT - "Where Is All The Money Going?"

On September 17th, the national conversation took a sharp left turn. That morning, the Tea Party's obsession with dismantling the social safety net, busting labor unions, destroying environmental regulations, and giving even more tax breaks to the ultra-wealthy had been the only media game in town for over two years. Pundits and editors talked endlessly about the power of the Tea Party movement, and gave right-wingers 24 hours a day of exposure. That morning, the rest of us, the vast majority of Americans, had no voice, no power, and many of us had lost all hope of promised change.

But on September 17th, the rest of us, the 99%, found out we do, indeed, still have a voice.

Now, less than 7 weeks later, over 900 Occupy protests have taken place, spreading all over the world into a truly global movement. Tensions and altercations with police and city leaders have intensified, the City of Oakland was shut down by a massive general strike, and the media can't get enough of it. Television's political pundits and radio's talk show hosts are arguing non-stop about the pros and cons of massive income equality. Suddenly, everyone knows that "too big to fail" multi-national corporations nearly always pay a lower income tax rate than the average middle class worker, and that many pay nothing to the system that supports them. And the biggest banks abruptly backed away from their promise to institute monthly debit card fees, when the newly empowered American middle class and working class moved their money into small local banks and credit unions in droves. America has become Occupied, and the Koch Brothers astroturfed Tea Party is over.

A few "dumb hippies" camping in a park really did change the world. And, now it's time for the rest of us to do our part. At this point, most Americans now support the general sentiment of the Occupiers. Most Americans are tired of unchecked corporate money and influence in our government. Most Americans want a system that benefits those who play by the rules, not those who are above the rules. But, the fact is, that most of us aren't able, or willing, to sleep in a park, or get tear-gassed, or get arrested for civil disobedience.

The time has come for the rest of us to Occupy the system. The time has come to be conscious of the power of our daily spending and financial habits, and speak out by altering the ways we speak with our money. The Wall Street barons depend on Americans' continued acquiescence in the funneling of wealth out of our communities, and into their offshore bank accounts. They depend on us to continue to buy cheap foreign made products in big box corporate stores that kill local economies. They depend on Black Friday shoppers, all year long. We need to stop feeding their system, and start supporting our communities and our nation.

Here are a few suggestions for how to Occupy the system, from the comfort of your own neighborhood...

1. Move Your Money! - The "too big to fail" banks relied on the American public for their very survival in 2008 and accepted billions of dollars in taxpayer bailout. Then, they turned around and gave jaw-dropping bonuses to the very executives who crashed the American economy, outsourced departments and laid off American workers by the thousands, and then began an aggressively arrogant campaign to nickel and dime their customers into 6.2 billion dollars in quarterly profits. They thought we would recognize their power and just accept more fees. Occupy the mega-banks by moving your money to a small local bank or credit union. By moving your money from a Wall Street mega-bank to a local bank or credit union, you'll be making your voice heard in the only way that matters on Wall Street, and you'll be supporting a local institution that contributes more to your local economy. For a little guidance on moving your money, check out MoveYourMoneyProject.org.

2. Shop Independent and Local! - Every time you make the choice to shop at a local "mom and pop" store, you are contributing to your local economy. Studies have shown that for every $100 spent at an independent business, $68 stays in the local economy. For every $100 spent at a local corporately-owned national chain store, only $43 stays. Chain stores funnel money out of local economies and into usually far-away corporate headquarters. Independent stores are owned and operated by your neighbors. And, communities that support independent stores and restaurants enjoy a unique diversity of options, as opposed to generic big box warehouses of cheap stuff "made in China," and bland chain restaurants serving homogenous processed garbage.

3. Avoid Online Shopping! - There is no more direct way to funnel your dollars out of your community than "shopping" online. You might save a dollar, or two, by shopping through an online retailer, and the convenience is definitely tempting, but you're sending your money to a "store" that doesn't hire local workers, doesn't pay local taxes, doesn't support local charities, and doesn't contribute in any way to the prosperity of your community.

4. Buy American! - Right-wingers love to wave their (Made in China) American flags and call themselves "real" patriots, then get into their gas-guzzling SUVs and head directly to Wal-Mart to fill their shopping carts full of cheap junk made in sweatshops in China, Pakistan, and Myanmar. Wall Street's multi-national corporations have no loyalty to the United States. Their only loyalty is to their shareholders. Be a real patriot and buy American-made products. In doing so, you're supporting American jobs, American safety standards, American labor practices, and American environmental standards. It can be difficult to find the American-made version of what you're looking for, but it's worth trying. Here's a place to start...How Americans Can Buy American.

5. Educate Yourself! - There is an entire industry built on supplying a steady stream of misinformation to the American people. It's hard to sift through all the inaccuracies and outright lies, but ultimately, it is your responsibility to educate yourself as to what is going on and how we got to where we are as a nation. Do a little research and make sure you understand one of the main points of protest - the 2010 Supreme Court decision on Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission, and definitely know the big money players behind the corruption of our system...The Koch Brothers and ALEC (SourceWatch.org, Factcheck.org and Politifact.com are great resources for checking the facts).

The time has come.

Thank You.

2011-01-17T09:59:00.002-05:00

The 2010 Okapi Sampler

2010-12-19T00:52:00.006-05:00

Hello? Is this thing still on?

After over five years of constructing this online scrapbook, back in March, I got a bit sidetracked. Nothing bad. Thankfully, quite the opposite. I just got really busy with new projects and a new life here in Atlanta. At the same time, American culture and politics have kept spiraling to new vulgar lows, and I've made a purposeful effort to back away from it all. I don't want to know how violently ignorant the masses are anymore. Not to say that I don't still check in with Rachel Maddow and Jon Stewart, but I have detached myself from a lot of it.

So, that said, I think a the 2010 Okapi Sampler is a good way to check-in here at the Lair, if only for a quick hello.

Back in 2007, I imagined that "in a few years, we'll look back on 2007 as a resurrection of forward-thinking and sophisticated, but fun, music." Now, three years later, and heading into 2011, I stand by my prediction - with a little more context. 2010 was another good year for the underground that 2007 launched. Some of the most important tracks of this year, were created by artists who've been bubbling under for a few years now, but there's a notable feeling of tension between escapism and melancholy in most of the tracks that I've picked as the best of the year. This is an era of conflicting feelings and opposing dreams, and I think a lot of the best songs of the year address the times well.

So, here are the top tracks of 2010*

1. Helicopter - Deerhunter - This Atlanta band has received a lot of indie buzz, and deservedly so. While most young people are content with lyrics that never venture beyond the level of a foul-mounted sixth-grader, Deerhunter are constructing songs like this one that tear the thinking heart apart in their tragic gorgeousness. Helicopter is, from the liner notes, inspired by the true story of a Russian boy, Dima, who left his home at age 14 with a dream to become a fashion designer - only to end up being sexually expolited, raped, sold, and eventually he disappeared (by one account, thrown out of a helicopter over the remote northern Russian forests). Not an easy tale to hear, but an important work of art nonetheless.

2. Tightrope - Janelle Monae (featuring Big Boi) - The ATL has a lot going on musically - just look at Deerhunter and Janelle Monae. What could they possibly have in common, besides a common hometown? Authenticity. Janelle Monae might be written off as a female James Brown impersonator - but you from the minute this track takes off that there is a rare sincerity in her voice, in her energy, and in her vision. I can't take my eyes off of her, and play after play, I still cannot get enough of the raw funk of this jam.

3. Everything is New - Antony and the Johnsons - Antony Hegarty can do nothing less than magical. His voice, his arrangements - everything about his work gives the listener a deeper understanding of hope and pain and love. And, often in twenty words or less.

4. Stick to My Side - Pantha du Prince (featuring Panda) - House music has been a central inspiration in my life for more than twenty years now, so it's not lightly that I declare Pantha du Prince is my favorite house producer of recent years. No one has done a better job of stepping into, gathering, and sharing that space in the human condition where longing and joy and solitude and hope all co-exist. Vocals by Panda, from Animal Collective, just make this journey even more beautiful.

5. Ready to Start - Arcade Fire - Normally, I steer away from rock critic darlings. I hated The Strokes and Vampire Weekend, and I don't get the ultra-fascination with Radiohead. But, Arcade Fire is just really fucking good. There's a sincere understanding of John Hughes' '80s, without a hint of artificial "retro-ness." These verses and lyrics will be held on to for dear life by this generation of outsiders, for many years to come.

6. Any Which Way - Scissor Sisters - With the constant media attention on Don't Ask, Don't Tell, the same-sex marriage "controversy," and Log Cabin Republicans - the Scissor Sisters reminded us that the gays can still be, well, fun. I had the opportunity to catch them in concert in August, and man, what a show! Sure, this track is like a big musical rainbow flag, but sometimes it's good to embrace your inner rainbow.

7. Limit to Your Love - James Blake - The power of the Blues has always resided in minimalistic brilliance. This track is Blues for a new era, with each aching minimal note placed precisely to create maximum impact. With hints of Matthew Dear, late '90s Moby, and possibly even Burial, I can't wait to hear more from this 22 year old.

8. Since We Last Met - NDF - There's something about this track that takes me back to the basics of late '80s Adonis house. It's not particularly ground-breaking, but there's a realness that's irresistible. And, of course, I give it a 10 for danceability.

9. Little People - Matthew Dear - Back in 2007, Matthew Dear was one of the artists that got me excited about music again. This year, his Black City album kept it going. It's a little less accessible than some of Matthew's earlier works, but that just means it takes a little more exploration through his slightly twisted musical mind.

10. One Life Stand - Hot Chip - A little '80s, a pinch of rave, and a healthy serving of right now, Hot Chip keeps producing catchy synth-pop anthems, and I just keep falling in love with each and every one of them. This title track, and much of their most recent album, seems a little more mature than previous forays, and I'm starting to get the feeling that they may be around for a little while.

There you have it - my completely biased, totally subjective, top 10 of the year. Other honorable mentions include "Heartbeat" by Nneka, "Say My Name" by Holy Ghost!, "Reckless" by Azari & Ill, "The Light" by Forest Swords, "Telephone" by Lady Gaga and Beyonce, "Night Air" by Jamie Woon, and "Coma Cat" by Tensnake.

All That's Old Is New Again

2010-03-21T11:34:00.008-04:00

We're almost to the political finish line. It looks like we will, after a hundred years of debate, finally, take a step towards real health care reform. It's been a spectacularly ugly journey over the past year, but we're almost there. Now, of course, it's not the reform that I was hoping for...but it's a step in the right direction.

And, because we are so close, the far-right has become so desperate that they're now completely incapable of hiding the true heart and soul of their "movement." Yesterday, while Democrats were scambling for votes to ensure that Americans have more access to affordable health care, the Tea Baggers gathered by the tens outside the Capitol to show their fury. They spent the early part of the day chanting "Kill the Bill" and "Stop the Spending!" But, as the day wore on, the hate in their hearts became impossible to hide.

They carried signs with slogans reading "Vote No, I Don't Want to be a Government Slave," and signs with two black hands, that conveyed "Keep Your Black Hands Off My Health Care!" As Rep. Andre Carson and Rep. John Lewis, two African-American Congressmen, walked past the crowd and into the Capitol, the crowd's chant turned to "Nigger! Nigger! Nigger!" A protestor actually spit on Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (who is also African-American) as he walked towards the Capitol building. Yes, all that's old is new again.

At one point, the crowd stormed the Longworth office building, looking for targets to unleash their righteous anger. At one point, Rep. Barney Frank, who is openly gay, rounded the corner and was met by a protestor who yelled, "Barney, you faggot!" The crowd laughed boisterously. All that's old is new again.

At an anti-reform protest just a few days earlier, "patriotic" Tea Baggers showed their undying love for America by verbally abusing an old man with Parkinson's. It's hard to watch, like footage of the early Civil Rights movement was hard to watch for fair-minded, good-hearted people. But, unfortunately, all that's old is new again.

Global Peace Index

2010-03-03T09:38:00.002-05:00

The Institute for Economics and Peace has released the 2009 Global Peach Index, which ranks nations in terms of peace and national harmony based on internal and external conflict and the presence of, or lack of, structures and institutions that help create and maintain peace. According to the 2009 overview...

"The index is composed of 23 qualitative and quantitative indicators from respected sources, which combine internal and external factors ranging from a nation’s level of military expenditure to its relations with neighbouring countries and the level of respect for human rights. These indicators were selected by an international panel of experts including academics and leaders of peace institutions."

If only we, the people, cared about winning this competition as badly as we care about "our team" winning the Super Bowl each year.

Score One For The Planet

2010-02-25T15:37:00.000-05:00

The Hummer was created under contract for the U.S. Military, as vehicle of war. During the 90s, the Hummer became available for the gas-guzzling, atmosphere wrecking, road-hogging pleasure of all overpaid, undereducated, insecure, civilian dumbfucks across the nation. The combined effect of displaying one's socio-economic status while simultaneously displaying a complete disregard for the environment made the Hummer a hot seller - until a disproportionately large number of Hummer owners lost all of their money in the real estate collapse.

Today, it was announced that the Hummer brand has finally gone out of business. Score one for the planet. And score one for people who aren't jerks.

Welcome to Hotlanta, Y'all!

2010-02-13T22:20:00.000-05:00

This was definitely not in the brochure...but no complaints. It was a stunningly beautiful morning.

How's That Worked Out For You?

2010-01-27T10:21:00.001-05:00

For those that haven't heard it before, this is what a Progressive Democrat sounds like....

Congressman Alan Grayson, from Florida's 8th District in Orlando, is one of the very few in Washington who actually has the guts to say what so many of us are thinking. He's in a tight race for his seat in November, and can use our support. Please consider volunteering, or contributing to his campaign at Alan Grayson for Congress.

Compassionate Conservatism in Action

2010-01-14T22:28:00.001-05:00

The images of the massive devastation and loss of life from the earthquake in Haiti are simply heartbreaking. I cannot imagine the fear and trauma and sadness that is flowing through the streets between the rubble. How will the people of Haiti recover from this?

I lived in Miami for 16 years. I worked with many Haitian people, and lived not far from the neighborhood of Little Haiti. From my Haitian friends, I had the privilege of learning a little about Haitian culture - its stories and traditions. I learned to speak and understand very basic Haitian Kreyol, and I came to understand how so many Haitians center their lives around their faith in God. My Tony took part in a hunger strike to bring attention to the detention of Haitian refugees.

Many Haitians hold very tightly to their faith in God, through the Catholic Church and traditional Vodou practices which survived the Middle Passage from Africa. Because I know how religious so many Haitians are, one of the deepest parts of the sadness that I feel is knowing that so many of them must think that God hates them. Year after year, the tiny nation is ravaged by hurricanes and tropical storms. Haiti, once one of the richest countries in the world, was stripped of its valuable resources by the colonial powers, and then stripped of its trees by desperate poverty. And now, one of the most powerful earthquakes of the past century hit 10 miles from the capitol. For people of faith, it really must feel that they have been forsaken by their Creator.

And now, before they've even had time to start digging through the rubble...these poorest of the poor...are being attacked by some of America's most vile right wing leaders. The 700 Club's CEO and main profiteering prophet, Pat Robertson, had the fucking nerve to actually blame the Haitian people for the tragedy of this natural disaster.

Good ole' boy Pat said, on air, that the earthquake might actually be a "blessing in disguise." He then went on to blame the earthquake on a "pact with the Devil" that he says was made by the slave rebels who fought Napoleon and won freedom for the islands slave inhabitants.

Not long after the Christian Broadcasting Network aired Pat's digusting comments, Rush Limbugh was on the airwaves using this "opportunity" to attack President Obama for pledging immediate action and aid from the United States. In the minds of Rush and his followers, we've already given too much money to those people.

So, while the poorest people on the planet dig through collapsed buildings in search of their babies, and wander the streets dazed by trauma and looking for water, these obscenely rich, arrogant, soulless motherfucking merchants of the ignorance of the American right wing sit on their pampered asses surrounded by wealth and privilege and luxury - and they still can't help but to take shots at the world's most vulnerable people and those who want to help them. This is the new American right wing. Fucking worthless creatures.

Please donate to the Red Cross, Oxfam, Doctors Without Borders, or UNICEF.

And, please call or write to your cable company and ask them to drop the Christian Broadcasting Network which is just a front for Pat Robertson's hateful corporate empire (just so you know, Comcast is apparently giving a "small courtesy credit" on the bills of people who have written in to complain).

Atlanta Chronicled

2010-01-12T16:30:00.002-05:00

I haven't had much time to hang around the Lair lately, as I've been busy exploring and photographing my new city over at Atlanta Chronicled. Go ahead...take a look. You know you want to.

Welcome 2010!

2009-12-31T23:01:00.003-05:00

2010. It just looks futuristic. Just a few years ago (or what seems just a few years ago, but was actually 15 years ago), 2010 seemed so far away. And, now here we are - really entering the future.

For me, personally, this was an amazing decade of growth and love and accomplishment. I came awfully close to becoming the person I always wanted to be, and that's a great feeling.

Ten years ago today, I was loving my life in South Beach, working at the Front Porch Cafe on Ocean Drive, and just hanging out a lot with Jason and Laura, and Shawn, Murphy, Phoenix and Jody. Stimpy had just found his way back to South Beach, Olga and Brandie were new friends, and I hadn't yet met a lot of people who have become such central characters in my story - Rodrigo, Pablo, Brian, Andrea - and, of course, Tony. A decade ago, I had not yet met my biological mother, and my adoptive father had just died. I had, still fairly recently, gotten my life on track after a few lost and dark years of meth addiction, and was opening my life up to the possibilities of the Universe at Miami-Dade Community College. I had no idea that I was capable of finishing a few years later with a Master's Degree thesis, and I had no idea I had the strength to become who I wanted to be.

Now, at the end of the decade, I'm in the fifth year of sharing my journey with Tony, my beautiful and silly and smarter-than-average Prince Charming. We're living in Atlanta, I'm enjoying my work as an account manager, and hanging out a lot with Stimpy and Jody, Jamie and Ashley, Ryan, Alicia and Stacey. We just bought an awesome, Brady Bunch-esque house with a forest for a back yard, and we're adjusting to life in the inner 'burbs. I'm now closer to my adoptive family than I ever thought possible, and I've been able to sustain a lot of decades-old friendships. The 00s were unbelievably good to me.

Of course, historically speaking, we all know that this decade will go down as one of the worst in the history of this nation. Starting with the election meltdown in Florida, through September 11th, Afghanistan, Anthrax, Iraq, Guantanamo, Donald Rumsfeld, Britney's meltdown, Abu Ghraib, the rise of "reality" tv, Fox News, the 2004 Tsunami, melting polar ice caps, mass extinctions, Hurricane Katrina, the real estate bubble, the real estate collapse, Twittering, Bernie Madoff, auto-tuning, the Great Recession, and Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin and their Teabaggers - it's been a decade of war, disaster, fear, anger, ignorance, hate and bad, bad pop music.

But, I am hopeful that 2010 will be the start of a much better era. There have been a lot of seeds planted this year that just might bloom in the new decade. I definitely want to avoid stepping into the shoes of those Hollywood "psychic" New Year's Eve prognosticators - so I won't make any "2010 predictions." But, I do think that much of the fear, anger, and ignorance crowd has eaten itself, and despite some missteps and massive criticism from every corner of the political spectrum, President Obama has moved our nation more than a few big steps in the right direction.

And, possibly more importantly, Lady Gaga has single-handedly revived the idea of a creative, interesting, thoughtful, cutting edge pop star. And, that definitely bodes well for the future that's now here.

The Reason For The Season

2009-11-27T15:10:00.007-05:00

'Tis the season for re-posting my annual updated anti-Black Friday post.....

Malls across the country began decking the halls 2 months ago, and had Santa's train installed just as the last back to school sales were ending. I know it's cliche at this point to feel nostalgic for the days when the holy season of giving gently revealed itself shortly after Thanksgiving. Today, a 5am scuffle in the line outside of Best Buy on Black Friday merely marks the halfway point in the season of stress and artifice.

Again, this year, I'm committing to honoring the reason for the season - the winter solstice - and celebrating this beautiful time of year by spending quality time with the people that I love, and sharing meaningful socially-conscious gifts instead of spending time fighting the crowds, so I can check people off my list with cheap plastic crap from Walmart and ~~iPod~~ iPhone accessories.

Of course, this year, there will most likely be less in the way of shopping hordes, thanks to the collapse of the trickle-down economy, and that only means that every dollar you spend will have more power to bring about a better world. This season, each holiday gift that you purchase, will have an impact. Amidst all of the news of frozen credit and layoffs and golden parachutes, is the opportunity to help build our communities, bring about more peace, and protect the world around us, just by putting a little thought and a little heart into where we place our dollar power.

So, for the like minded, here are a few ideas...

ENVIRONMENT

World Wildlife Fund
Greenpeace
Abundant Earth
Care2: Shop and Help the Planet
Defenders of Wildlife
The Sierra Club
The Nature Conservancy
E-House Eco-Friendly Gifts
The Jane Goodall Institute Store
Zappos Eco-Friendly and Vegetarian Shoes
Equita Essentials for Ethical Living

GAY COMMUNITY AND CULTURE
The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
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ANTI-DRUG WAR
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PROGRESSIVE AMERICAN VALUES
ACLU
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AMFAR
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ANIMALS
The Humane Society
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HOLIDAY CARDS AND ECO-DECORATING
Betty Bowers
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Have a Peaceful, Stress-Free and Meaningful Holiday!

The Left Side Of History

2009-11-13T20:38:00.007-05:00

Every day, all day long, the media presents us with "political discussions", where one discusser defends the liberal point of view and one pushes the conservative perspective. As pundit show ratings soar, and newspapers close up shop, the conservative versus liberal political cage matches are aired 24 hours a day, and applied to absolutely every topic imaginable. As long as we have a conservative and a liberal fighting about something - we have a show. And, of course, to fit the profitable format - every topic, no matter what, must have both points of view. In a discussion of Newton's Theory of Gravity, we would near certainly be presented with a liberal "in favor" of gravity - and a traditional conservative arguing against the controversial theory citing research by Focus on the Family that debunks everything Sir Newton ever said.

And this liberal versus conservative "political discussion" format will always benefit the conservatives. Of couse, there are a few success stories on the liberal side of this dangerous political battle - Keith Olbermann, Rachel Maddow, and to a degree, Chris Matthews.

But, the underlying problem is the most basic nature of liberal and conservative minds. The very basis of liberalism is academic discussion and investigating different points of view. Liberals, by their very nature, want to hear and accommodate others' points of view. Conservatives, on the other hand, have no interest in hearing any point of view that differs from tradition. This leaves liberals holding the political discussion bag. While liberals seek to understand, conservatives seek to control. Liberals agree to have the discussion about whether the gravity is real, or not, because it's only fair to listen to others' point of views. And the liberal guest will point out centuries of scientific research that has supported Newton's ideas, and the conservative will argue that Newton was against God, and that if we teach the Laws of Physics in schools, it will make the children homosexual socialist abortionists. And, both viewpoints will be treated as equally valid by the show's host**, and too many Americans will go to sleep that night thinking that these are just two reasonable, competing points of view.

I bring this up after a discussion with my friend, Jason. We were talking about health care and how absurd it is that conservatives have been able to control the debate so well. How is it that this summer's town hall meetings were filled with people fired up against government run healthcare - while demanding that Obama and his liberal army not touch Medicare? And, how did this America-hating, secessionist, secessionist, anti-government movement come to be and where was it when Bush was running up the biggest deficit in history on two wars and tax cuts for the richest one percent? And, how did conservatives succeed in making liberal, and progressive, bad words - especially given the heritage of conservatism in this country?

Without writing a dissertation, I just want to look at the histories of the two main schools of American political thought. It's probably necessary to start with some definitions...

1. Conservative - tending, or disposed, to maintain existing views, conditions, or institutions; to limit change; cautious, moderate, tending to preserve the status quo.

2. Liberal - favorable to progress or reform; open-minded or tolerant; free of, or not bound by traditional or conventional ideas or values; progressive, broad-minded, tolerant.

It's ironic that the self-proclaimed conservatives of Glenn Beck's teabagger movement so heavily lean on symbols of the American Revolution, when so many of the ideas of the founding fathers were so radically liberal. The American Revolutionaries weren't tradition-loving Christianists. They were freedom-seeking secularists. They fought and died for radically forward-thinking ideas - ideas that laid the framework for future generations to work towards a society that recognized the equality of each of its citizens.

Of course, it's difficult to neatly fit any of the founders into today's well-defined political camps, but make no mistake - if Thomas Paine, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were alive today, they certainly wouldn't tune in to the corporate loyalists on Fox News, and they'd want nothing to do with Glenn Beck or Michael Savage.

The great American revolutionaries were products of the Enlightenment, and they wrote down their radically enlightened, radically liberal ideas as the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States of America. And, not once does either of these brilliantly conceived documents mention a nation based on Judeo-Christian principles, no matter how many times Pat Robertson and Bill O'Reilly say otherwise.

Real homegrown American conservatism found its first home in the White House during Andrew Jackson's years as President. Andrew Jackson dismantled the federal banking system, which caused an economic collapse known as the Panic of 1837. He stood strongly for keeping Africans enslaved and terrorized, and he was well-known for his attempts to exterminate each and every Native American from the continent. "Old Hickory," as he was known, is now honored for his genocidal forays, by having his image engraved on the $20 bill, and I'm sure Ann Coulter has a painting of him somewhere in her lair.

From the early days of the Union through the Civil War and through the 20th Century, conservatives fought to keep Africans enslaved, committed genocide on American's native inhabitants, fought against women's suffrage, stood strong against the New Deal policies, blacklisted movie actors "suspected" of Communism, fought to keep African-Americans separate and unequal, were disgusted by flower children, squandered nearly 60,000 young American lives in Viet Nam, made the Watergate Hotel infamous, sold weapons to terrorists in Central America, implemented "trickle-down" economics, and spent millions of our dollars in an creepily obsessive attempt to impeach Bill Clinton for lying about a blow-job.

American Conservatism owes its history to the work of Andrew Jackson, generations of slave owners and Confederates, the Ku Klux Klan, Father Coughlin, Joe McCarthy, George C. Wallace and Bull Connor, Richard Nixon, Jerry Falwell, Ronald Reagan, Oliver North, Jesse Helms and David Duke. It is a history of violence, domination, oppression and genocide.

And, while conservatives were building their hateful history, liberals were gathering as abolitionists and unionists and suffragists, constructing the Underground Railroad and putting Americans to work through the New Deal policies. Liberals rebelled against the unnecessary Viet Nam War, crafted the Social Security and Medicare systems, and stood strong against police fire hoses and dogs in Alabama. And, without liberals there would be no consumer protections, labor rights or civil rights. Liberals are still educating against racism, homophobia, sexism, and xenophobia, and fighting to save our planet from the short-sightedness of conservatism.

Today, the conservative movement is completely centered around making sure that faggots and lezzies can't marry each other, and shooting dirty Mexicans in the desert. The conservative movement has always been about keeping very distinct social classes and using violence and intimidation as regulation, and the conservative voices of today - Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Michael Savage, Michelle Malkin, Ann Coulter and their ilk - are well-versed in using fear of the other to rally their tea-bagging troops.

So, just how is it, that conservatives have managed to nearly succeed in making "liberal" a bad word in American politics? I cannot for a minute understand why any thinking and loving person would want to associate themselves with the historic agenda of conservatism.

On good days, I think it's just a matter of lack of education, media manipulation and fear-mongering. On other days, my heart breaks wondering if it's just that nearly half of us are just hateful, racist, homophobic, unkind bullies.

Acid House Flashback # 14

2009-09-25T21:53:00.002-04:00

"Oochy Koochy" - Baby Ford - 1988

One Nation, Under-Educated....

2009-09-16T09:57:00.004-04:00

Matters Of Probability

2009-09-11T21:03:00.007-04:00

I'm not one who believes that there is an old man looking down on us from the sky and judging our every thought and action. I don't believe in magical trinkets, sacred sites, or holy scriptures. I'm definitely not one to pay for a palm reading or a tarot session.

I do believe in scientific method, observation and hypothesis, and rigorous testing. I believe that altruism and biophilia are wonderful evolutionary gifts that should be revered more than holy wars and televangelism, and I believe that it's possible that life is, somehow, the Universe trying to understand itself.

Now, having said that, I am also really intrigued by the idea of coincidence. I know that most "coincidences" are just matters of probability, but I do seem to have an unusually high incidence of these matters of probability. Possibly lots of us have unusually high incidences of coincidence, which, of course, would make coincidence not unusual at all. Still with me?

Carl Jung, one of the most brilliant thinkers of the early twentieth century, explored ideas of "collective unconscious" and "synchronicity." He posited that coincidences that are not causal in nature, are actually a sort of manifestation of an underlying framework of collective unconscious human experience and thought. I wonder a lot about this.

Let me just share a few odd, but true, stories of coincidence in my fairly recent experience...

* I've shared my personal adoption story here at the Lair. But there are a few really strange details that I haven't shared. Back in 2000, when I decided that I really wanted to know something about my biological parents, I began my search by using a name search website. I knew my biological parents' names, and I decided that it would be easier to find my father, because my mother's last name might well have changed due to marriage. I input my father's name, and the website generated 14 possible matches all with different addresses. I composed a letter, and sent a letter to each of the 14 addresses. A few days later, I received a call from a woman who told me that she had received my letter, because her father had the same name. She assured me that her father was not the man that I was looking for, but that, coincidentally, she was employed by the Children's and Family Services office in Pittsburgh, and that her job was to help adoptees find their birth parents. And she proceeded to help me find my biological father, who has the same name as hers. Let me just point out that the last name is Kress...not exactly Smith or Jones.

* To add to that coincidence...that wonderful lady lives and works in Pittsburgh, which is the city that I grew up in - though I was living in Miami Beach at the time. My biological father lives in Washington State.

* But the adoption story coincidences don't stop there. When my biological father was contacted, and informed that I wanted to speak with him, he refused to have any contact with me. I wrote to him, and never received a response. So, the agency then assigned someone to find my biological mother. A few months later, I received a call from the agency in Pittsburgh, letting me know that they had found her, and that she wanted to talk to me. We spoke, and I found out that she lived in St. Pete Beach, less than 5 hours from me in Miami Beach. And, she went on to tell me how she actually grew up in Miami Beach, in a house about a mile from where I was living. When I finally met her, she showed me pictures of me when I was 2 years old in Miami Beach...and I thought that I had never been to Miami Beach before I moved there when I was 23. It seems that she and my father were married, and living in Pittsburgh, when I was born. They took several extended trips, with me, to visit her parents in Miami Beach. When I was 2 years old, they got divorced and she moved back home, to Miami Beach, and left me with my father. He took me to a babysitter, and just never came back. So, I grew up in Pittsburgh, with an adoptive family - but I ended up moving to her hometown and was living there when I met her.

* Last September, Tony and I had a fantastic time on a trip to Italy. We started off the journey with a few wonderful days in Rome. On our third day, I stopped at a very small internet shop on a small side street near our hotel, to check e-mails. There was just one other person in the shop, and I couldn't help but to notice how much he looked like a guy that I knew back in Miami. As he gathered his things, and walked towards the door, I couldn't help but to ask if he was possibly from Miami...and of course, he was. We talked for a bit, and wondered together what the chances were of running into someone that you know in another country, thousands of miles away, in a tiny internet shop, at 8 in the morning. Coincidentally, we ran into him again the next day int he train station.

* So, back to Pittsburgh for the background of this story. I actually grew up in the south suburbs of Pittsburgh. Our high school had about 1,000 students, and my grade had less than 250. Not very big. In 1992, I moved to San Francisco. In 1994, I moved to Miami, and just this past April, I moved to Atlanta. Shortly after moving here, Tony and I started going to the Unitarian-Universalist Church, just to check it out, and possibly meet some like-minded folks. On our third visits, at the end of the service, I noticed a woman in a red shirt walking ahead. I turned to Tony, and said, "See that woman in the red shirt? I think I went to high school with her!" Of course, he looked at me like I was insane, but I darted off to get a closer look. I walked up beside her, and asked if her name was Laurel. Now, of couse, you know it was, and we fumbled around for the right words to say to address the weirdness of the situation. I think it needs to be pointed out that the Unitarian-Universalist Church here in Atlanta is not an 8,000 member mega-church. It's a small congregation, and there couldn't have been much more than 100 people there. It's also probably interesting to point out that she and her family live about 30 minutes north of the church, and Tony and I live about 20 minutes southeast. It's probably also interesting to point out that Laurel's husband is from Albany, New York and went to school in Syracuse....and Tony is from Syracuse, and went to school in Albany. AND...two weeks later, Tony and I ran in to Laurel at Piedmont Park. Did I mention that there are over five and a half MILLION people in the Atlanta Metro Region?

I won't bore with more stories, but I do have these types of "coincidence" more often than seems possible. Of course, it could be that I just don't understand the probability of the simultaneous occurances, and I feel some need to place a deeper meaning on, what are essentially, non-meaningful events.

Tell me...do you have similar stories of coincidence? How do you see synchroncities?

That's A Lot Of Oysters

2009-07-24T10:40:00.006-04:00

As a follow up to my recent post about the American fight for healthcare, here's another important perspective from Bill Moyers. Thanks to Brandie and Olga for the video tip.

So You Think You Can Make Me Cry?

2009-07-23T14:11:00.011-04:00

This performance piece on So You Think You Can Dance made me fall apart. The choreography was inspired by, and portrays, a woman's fight against breast cancer, and it is one of the most beautiful works of art that I've ever had the privilege of viewing.

The Hypocritical Oath of Conservatism

2009-07-16T15:48:00.015-04:00

President Obama has promised massive reform of the American healthcare system. He's letting the nation know that "we're going to get it done," and that the goal is to have his public-option plan in place by the end of the year. While 46 MILLION of us, who currently have NO health insurance and absolutely NO access to preventative healthcare wait and hope, the fucking Republicans are on the attack and unveiling their plan through slick television spots and town-hall meetings.

And just what is this Republican plan? Well, actually, there isn't one...other than to paint President Obama as a socialist and to fill their coffers with insurance industry money. Of course, just a small portion of that money is used to run ads like this one...

The level of dishonesty and outright deceipt is un-fucking-believable, even considering that this ad is paid for and sponsored by the Americans for Prosperity group - which is an extremely misnomered, extremely right wing organization, headed by Tim Phillips (of Jack Abramoff and Ralph Reed money-laundering fame). The AFP is an "astoturf" organization - meaning that it is a group which portrays itself as a grassroots-from-the-people coalition, when in fact it is a very deep-pocketed, industry funded political machine. Americans for Prosperity was set up to fight against environmental regulations and regulations on climate changing pollution, to fight against oil drilling bans in national parks, to fight against tobacco regulations and indoor smoking bans, and the AFP is one of the leaders behind the recent Tea-Bagger protests which have served as rallying points for anti-government secessionists and militia wackos. They're a bunch of charmers, for sure. Oh, did I mention that the funding for the AFP is pretty easily traced to Koch Industries - the nation's largest privately held company that has been built on oil trading and refining and operates oil pipelines all over the North American continent.

So, while these anti-healthcare tycoons are pouring millions of dollars into these ads, to try to convince Americans that it's a bad idea to institute a comprehensive plan that would institute a public OPTION...

* Over 46 MILLION Americans do not currently have health insurance.

* 10.7 percent of all American children do not have access to the healthcare system.

* The United States is spending 15.3% of its GDP on healthcare, while Canada is spending 10%.

* Life expectancy is longer in Canada than in the United States.

* Infant mortality rates in Canada are significantly lower in Canada than the United States.

* More than 40% of Americans do not have adequate access to healthcare, while just 5% of Canadians are left out.

* More than a third of U.S. employers do not offer any health insurance assistance.

* The average rate of inflation in the U.S. has been 2.5%, while the average rate of health insurance increases is over 12% per year.

* About 20% of uninsured Americans are using the emergency room as their main source of healthcare. The American taxpayer pays the emergency room rate, instead of the cost of a visit to a primary care physician. This costs about $100 billion per year.

* Almost a third of Americans who do have health insurance are actually underinsured, and would be unable to cover any major medical expenses. Most of the uninsured don't even know that they are uninsured.

* The number of deaths in the U.S. among adults ages 25-64 due to being under-insured is about 18,000 per year...more than diabetes.

* Republicans are hammering on "frivolous medical malpractice lawsuits" as the real problem in healthcare costs, all malpractice lawsuits - frivolous or otherwise - actually contribute less than 1% of all healthcare cost in the United States.

The saddest part of all of this is that these corporate fat cats seem to be gaining in convincing working-class folks that they should stand against Obama's "socialist" "Canadian-style" healthcare. plan Most working-class families don't have the time or resources to check out the facts, and Americans for Prosperity knows it. So, they simply put together a quick, slick ad, filled with lies, and air it on prime time tv.

The Canadian citizen in this particular ad lets us know that she had a brain tumor, and that she would've died in her native country. She tells us that she would've had to wait 6 months to see a specialist in Canada. The fact of the matter is that the median wait time to see a specialist in Canada is about 4 weeks. In the United States it's a little more complicated. If she had been an American citizen with a brain tumor, and she had top-notch health insurance, she would have been able to see a specialist in about 2 weeks. If she had to rely on Medicaid, the wait would be about 12 weeks, and if she had no health coverage, she would have been completely out of luck. Luckily, she is obviously wealthy enough to cross our border, and pay for her diagnosis and treatments in cash. (The truth is that she flew to the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale Arizona fo see one of the best specialists in the country, and she spent over $100,000 to do so).

In this ad, we're told by that oh-so-scary voice that in Canada, "some patients wait a year for vital surgeries," when, in fact, the median wait time for surgeries in Canada is less than 4 weeks. In the United States, without insurance, the wait time is closer to never.

Then, we're back to Shona Holmes, Canadian citizen, who lets us know that she was able to recieve "world class treatment" in the United States. Personally, I think it's a little offensive to have this super-wealthy woman foreigner speak to the tens of millions of Americans who have no access to healthcare systems about the top-of-the-line care that she received in the country that they live and work in.

Next, the old big bad "government should never come between you and your doctor" line. Of course, the having the sweet-faced, kind-hearted insurance companies between you and your doctor is ok.

And, finally, the foreigner, Ms. Holmes, lectures us "don't give up your rights." I'm a little confused as to which rights we would be giving up by providing a public OPTION where anyone without insurance could be covered, and anyone with coverage that they were happy with and could afford would be able to continue being happy with it.

The time for us to fix the broken system is now. We can't afford to wait any longer. At a rate increase of 12% per year, how long will it be before 50% of us don't have health coverage? And when will we hit 75%? And 85%? And just exactly what is the Republican plan? Well, I'll let Republican Senator Chuck Grassley tell you...

Some Truth In Reality

2009-07-14T13:47:00.002-04:00

I'm not a huge fan of "reality" television. I've never seen "Big Brother," "Survivor," or "Fear Factor," and I don't even get whether "Hills" is a reality show, or not. I'll admit that I exposed myself, just once, to "The Housewives of New Jersey," and I really dig "Project Runway" and "Top Chef." Mostly, I'm content to watch re-runs of "The Golden Girls," "Roseanne," and "I Love Lucy" - and, admittedly, too much "Rachel Maddow" and "Anderson Cooper."

I do think that television affects society, at least as much as reflects society. I'm not sure what the current state of television, in particular the ridiculous popularity of "reality" shows based on the spectacle of instant celebrity and humiliation, says about our current state as a society. And, tonight we'll have a brand new spectacle to soak up - "Miami Social."

As devoted Nibblers here at the Lair know, I recently moved to Atlanta, after living in Miami for 15 years. Twelve of those years were spent in South Beach. I wrote about my long-term relationship with South Beach a few years ago, and I knew then that my Miami chapter was coming to a close. I arrived in South Beach as a 23 year old kid, and I became an adult there. I found and built strong friendships with people who I will never stop missing. And I will always dream of the endless ocean and pink, purple and orange skies.

But, unfortunately, the reality of "Miami Social" has a lot of truth in its depiction of current South Beach culture - and that I will never miss. Sure, there are a lot of people in South Beach who aren't as vapid and artificial as the "cast" of this new show...but I think most would be surprised by how many are. And, the problem is that if you work in real estate or hospitality (basically the only legal industries in Miami), you have to deal with these types of people all day long.

I'm surprised by how much I don't miss Miami. I don't miss the rude drivers, or the lack of common courtesy. I don't miss the cashiers and waiters who wouldn't acknowledge my presence, or the tacky plastic VIPs. And, I definitely don't miss the reality of "Miami Social."

Sincerely,

2009-07-03T11:23:00.005-04:00

I loved this letter to the DNC, posted on Salon.com (I was tipped to it over at Joe.My.God.). Tony sent an abridged version in response to a written request for more money....

On The Sidelines

2009-07-02T10:23:00.005-04:00

I grew up in Pittsburgh. And the first things that come to mind when most people think of Pittsburgh are steel mills and professional sports. For most people, the Steel City conjures images of the grimy, smoky city of the Deer Hunter era - a place where beer drinking steelworkers cheered "Mean "Joe Greene, Terry Bradshaw, and Willie Stargell on to make sports history.

And, when I was a kid, Pittsburgh wasn't far from the imagined. The steel industry was already on the decline, but football and baseball held the city together. Even for a kid, like me, who couldn't be less interested in team sports, there wasn't a day without terrible towels, "We Are Family," and the distinctly Pittsburgh voice of Myron Cope. I go back to visit once or twice a year, and I can assure anyone that, while the steel mills have been replaced with tree-lined, mixed-use shopping districts and "green" technology start-ups, Pittsburgh is still very much a sports town. So, it always comes as a real surprise to others when I mention that I have never attended a professional sports game. Yep. I'm from Pittsburgh, and I have never - not once - attended a Steelers game. Or a Pirates game. Or even a Penguins match. Never. I suppose it's like someone from Italy who's never had pasta.

So, on Sunday, I became a professional sports spectator for the first time. One of Tony's colleagues had a couple of extra tickets to the Atlanta Braves vs. Boston Red Sox game, and he was kind enough to invite us. It was a great introduction, despite the scorching 98 degree heat. We were seated at first base, in the third row, and we had a great view of everything.

Having now had the inside spectator experience, I can now say, with full authority, "I just don't get team sports." I'm actually fascinated by how much I don't "get it." I'll concede that, had I had a more clear understanding of all the rules and such, it might've been a little different. But, I'm sure that my not "getting it" is much more fundamental than that.

For one, I just don't get what makes people so passionately devoted to a team. So, most of the people sitting around us were from Atlanta. And, they were passionate Atlanta Braves fans. They jumped up and down with joy when the Atlanta team scored a homerun or a stole a base. And they heckled and booed the Boston players every chance they had - and at times were really fucking obnoxious about it. Here's what I don't get...few, if any, of the Braves players are from Atlanta, or have even ever lived in Atlanta. The Atlanta Braves are a marketed franchise, like Subway or McDonald's. The franchise buys players from all over the world. But, these people from Atlanta put their hearts and souls into being Braves fans. I just don't understand why folks feel so passionate about an Atlanta team that in no way at all represents anything about the City of Atlanta.

Second. I don't get the behavior of heckling and booing the other team. I just don't understand what joy people get out of screaming "you suck!" and "papi, you're a big loser!" And, I don't get how that's acceptable and expected behavior, just because of the game setting. People actually pay money, so that they can sit in stadium seats and hurl insults at other people. Weird.

Lastly, I just don't get why the masses are so attracted to team sports, as opposed to individual athletic achievement. I actually love watching many of the Olympics events. And, I'm not sure what that big difference is for me. I'm sure that the big spectacle of team sports stimulates some genetic militaristic tendency that I just don't have, but the sociology of team sports is just so intriguing to me.

Any thoughts?

Iran So Far Away

2009-06-29T14:37:00.018-04:00

Watching the post-election events in Iran has been a very emotional experience for me. My heart breaks for the people in the street who were brutalized, beaten, gassed, shot and murdered by their own government And, I'm so, so sad for their families and friends. I'm afraid for those who have been rounded up and imprisoned. But, I'm also deeply moved by the bravery of those fighting in the streets against injustice and corruption. I understand the rage generated by a stolen election, and I stand in awe at their raw courage.

The images that made it out of Iran tell the story of a people desperate for change. And, I can't help but to think of the incredible joy that I felt watching the era of the Bush / Cheney regime come to a close on the day of President Obama's inauguration. My only wish now for the people of Iran is that they soon know that same feeling of joy. And, I believe that they will.

I think it's obvious that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will soon be completely irrelevant. His smirky arrogance, his uneducated simple-mindedness, and his belligerant love of power worked well during the Bush years. Ahmadinejad and Bush needed each other. Bush needed a scary Axis of Evil to entertain the USA-chanting masses, and Ahmadinejad needed a Crusading Western Empire to keep his power flowing. And the common good-hearted people of both countries were caught in the middle.

But, now Bush is gone, and against the wishes of the dwindling GOP, President Obama has refused to step into the required role. Obama's brilliant speech in Cairo left Ahmadinejad standing alone. And the people of Iran voted to accept Obama's invitation to a better world. Unfortunately, their voices were denied by system-wide election rigging. And then, they took to the streets.

I don't know exactly how the story will play out. But, I do know that Obama's promise of change in the world is coming to pass, and I know that eventually the people of Iran will know hope. Until then, I will hope for them.

This past Saturday, I had the honor of witnessing some from the Iranian-American community here in Atlanta, stand up in solidarity with the people in their homeland. It was a very moving experience. Unfortunately, I didn't have much time to take part, but I've joined the local Facebook group and next time, I'm so there.

Farewell

2009-06-25T23:33:00.000-04:00

The Sanctity of Marriage Warriors

2009-06-24T16:26:00.012-04:00

1. I am the Lord, thy God.
2. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
3. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image.
4. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord, thy God, in vain.
5. Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy.
6. Honor thy father and thy mother.
7. Thou shalt not kill.
8. Thou shall not commit adultery.
9. Thou shalt not steal.
10. Thou shall not covet.

And, yet nothing about the great evil of homosexuals getting married. Not one word about the gays in the highest and most sacred rules of the Judeo-Christian tradition? The same Judeo-Christian tradition that we hear about non-fucking-stop from those folks who are tirelessly defending the word marriage from being "re-defined" to allow federal recognition of the lives and commitments of same-sex couples?

Let's take a look at some of that tireless work that's being done to save traditional opposite marriage, shall we? Due to limits of time and space, we'll only be able to delve into the past 2 weeks. For more information on the Sanctity of Marriage warriors, please click on any of the following adulterous hypocrites: Marion Barry, David Vitter, Newt Gingrich, Larry Craig, Randall Tobias, Mark Foley, Rudy Giuliani, Mike Bowers, Vito Fossella, Connie Mack....

Senator John Ensign

In 1998, the born-again Christian and Nevada Republican Representative John Ensign, was the among the first in Congress to condemn Bill Clinton's adulterous affair with Monica Lewinsky. He called on President to quit because "he has no credibility left." In 2004, Senator Ensign was a passionate supporter of the Federal Marriage Amendment, which if passed would've added an amendment to the Constitution of the United States banning states from recognizing same-sex marriages. He stated:

"Marriage is the cornerstone on which our society was founded. For those who say that the Constitution is so sacred that we cannot or should not adopt the Federal Marriage Amendment, I would simply point out that marriage, and the sanctity of that institution, predates the American Constitution and the founding of our nation."

On June 16th, Senator Ensign admitted publicly that he had an adulterous affair with a female campaign staffer from December 2007 to August 2008. While the affair took place, Senator Ensign doubled his mistress' salary - which was apparently being paid by the Republican Political Action Committee.

Governor Mark Sanford

Yesterday, South Carolina Governor and ardent defender of traditional marriage, Mark Sanford, admitted to abandoning his post as governor and secretly flying to Argentina to be with his mistress. His admission ends nearly a week of speculation as to the Governor's whereabouts. His adulterous affair has lasted nearly a year, so far. Incidentally, his trip to Argentina preempted Father's Day weekend, so his four children were unable to celebrate the fruits of traditional marriage with their father. Also incidentally, the Governor (and father of the year) voted to ban gay and lesbian people from adopting unwanted children. Um, yeah. And, while reporters dig to see if this Sanctity of Marriage warrior paid for his secret Argentine rendezvous with South Carolina taxpayer money, let's take a look at Governor Sanford's very recent cameo on the Joe Scarborough morning show....

*** UPDATE *** As it turns out...Governor Mark Sanfor, Defender of Traditional Opposite Marriage and Decliner of President Obama's Irresponsible to the Taxpayers Stimulus Plan, did in fact use taxpayer money to fund his adulterous affair in Argentina - according to the New York Times. I wonder how relieved Governor Sanford was to hear of Michael Jackson's news dominating death.

Another World

2009-06-22T11:45:00.001-04:00

"Another World" - Antony and the Johnsons

On The Beach

2009-06-18T14:49:00.005-04:00

This past weekend, we were finally able to make it to the High Museum of Art, here in Atlanta. It's an impressive museum space, designed by Italian architect Renzo Piano, and it houses a significant collection of 19th and 20th century American and European art, African-American art, and some outstanding contemporary and modern pieces. The High (as it's often called here), has a partnership with the Louvre and is currently exhibiting Claude Monet's "Water Lilies," which was fairly interesting.

But, I was really intrigued and moved by an exhibit of Richard Misrach's photography series, "On The Beach." Each photo was huge, in some cases measuring 6 x 10 feet, and the detail captured in each was just extraordinary. The photos are of people in the ocean, and/or on the beach in various positions and postures - but photographed from an almost omniscient spot high above.

As Misrach explains, "The photographs that appear in On the Beach were made between January 2002 and November 2005. My thinking was influenced by the events of 9/11, as well as by the 1950s Cold War novel and film, On the Beach. I was drawn to the fragility and grace of the human figure in the landscape. For me, the work is both a celebration of our survival and an elegy. Paradise has become an uneasy dwelling place; the sublime sea frames our vulnerability, the precarious nature of life itself."

Truly fantastic.

The Knot For Equality

2009-05-28T09:52:00.005-04:00

The great postmodern writer and thinker, Gore Vidal, once said "style is knowing who you are, what you want to say, and not giving a damn." This week, the Levi's Company let the world know that Levi's is still at the forefront of American style. Shoppers and window shoppers of Levi's stores in Chicago, New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco will see mannequins wearing the new summer line, and small pinned "white knots" that symbolize support for marriage equality.

From the New York Times:

Levi's is getting in the spirit of the season by dressing its storefront mannequins in white. In Levi’s-owned stores in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and San Francisco, that means more than just marking the passing of Memorial Day, the traditional date to begin wearing white: in 20 stores, the mannequins’ white Levi’s jeans and shirts are adorned with White Knots, a symbol of solidarity with the same-sex marriage movement.

The symbol was made more timely by the California Supreme Court’s decision on Tuesday to uphold Proposition 8, which banned gay marriage in the state. Developed by Frank Voci, a digital media consultant, as a response to Proposition 8’s passage last November, the White Knot for Equality is a white ribbon tied in a knot.

I could definitely use a few new pairs of jeans. Looks like I'll be heading to the Levi's store today.

Acid House Flashback # 13

2009-05-26T12:05:00.003-04:00

"Pacific State" - 808 State - 1989

The Voice Of Morality

2009-05-11T13:17:00.005-04:00

Last Tuesday, the city council of Washington DC, voted 12 to 1 to recognize same-sex marriages from the states that have now passed marriage equality laws - Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont and Maine. There was just one council member who opposed the measure - former Washington DC mayor, Marion Barry. Yes, the same Marion Barry who is apparently now serving as the moral voice for several local African-American churches, and who:

* In 1989 was arrested for cocaine possession.

* In 1990 was caught in a FBI undercover sting, smoking crack with a girlfriend in a hotel room. Mr. Barry was charged with three felony counts of perjury, one misdemeanor count of conspiracy to possess cocaine, and ten counts of misdemeanor drug possession. The incident was caught on tape, and Marion "Sanctity of Marriage" Barry was, at the time, married to his third wife, Effi. He was sentenced to six months in a federal prison, and the audio from the videotape where Mayor Barry declares "Bitch set me up! I shouldn't have come up here. God damned bitch!" played a bazillion times on local, national, and international news.

* In 2005, after being investigated by the IRS, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of failing to pay local and federal taxes. The mandatory drug testing for the hearing showed that Marion "Moral Leader" Barry was still smoking crack, as well as marijuana. He was sentenced to three years probation.

* In 2006, Marion "There's Gonna Be a Civil War" Barry was stopped by police for stopping at a green light and then running a red light. The police officers smelled alcohol and administered a field sobriety test. Councilman Barry was taken in for a breathalyzer test, and a urine test. The police claim that the breathalyzer was giving inaccurate results and Marion "I Didn't Do It" Barry refused to take the urine test. He received tickets for running a red light, and refusing to submit to a urine sobriety test.

* In 2007, Marion "Between a Man and a Woman" Barry was fighting federal prosecutors who sought to have his probation revoked because he failed to file his 2005 income taxes. A U.S. Magistrate judge ruled that it had not been proved that he willfully declined to file.

* In February of this year, federal prosecutors again filed a motion to have Marion "Traditional Marriage" Barry's probation revoked - this time because he failed to file his 2007 income tax returns. According to one of the prosecutors, Councilman Barry has not filed his tax returns for 8 of the last 9 years.

The hyprocrisy of this man, and his ilk, is simply nauseating. But, here we have it - the people and voices of the movement against marriage equality.

And now, for a word from the pro-marriage equality camp....

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

M - Th 11p / 10c

Gaywatch - Marion Barry

thedailyshow.com

Daily Show
Full Episodes

Economic Crisis

Political Humor

On The Road Again

2009-04-17T17:24:00.003-04:00

Did I mention that we're moving to Atlanta next week? Well, we are.

Buycott The Big Four!

2009-04-17T17:03:00.004-04:00

Last Friday, the Iowa Supreme Court, unanimously decided that the state's law banning same-sex marriages was unconstitutional - and in doing so, became the third state to grant equal marriage rights to same-sex couples.

It's actually not that surprising that Iowa is at the forefront of marriage equality, as the state has a long history of leadership on civil rights issues. In 1839, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled that a slave becomes free upon stepping foot on Iowa soil. And in 1868, the Court ruled against "separate but equal" segregation in schools - a full 85 years before the United States Supreme Court came to the same decision. The next year, in 1869, Iowa became the first state to permit women to practice law. Located in the very heart of the this country, Iowa does in many ways represent the very best of the American ideal - friendly, tolerant, practical. It's not the extremist America that we are exposed to everytime we turn on the tv. It's the real "silent majority." The people who hold and practice a live and let live worldview.

On Tuesday, Vermont became the fourth state to recognize marriage equality.

I think it's important, especially during these economic times, to spend money wisely. And, right now, I can't think of a better way to spend money than to purposefully buy products and services that support the working people of the four states that now offer a welcoming handshake to all Americans. A sort of thank you BUYcott.

Here's a very incomplete list of companies based in the Big Four Equality states, as well as a few travel points of interest.

Companies based in Iowa:Happy Joe's Pizza and Ice Cream Parlor, Hartig Drug, Kum and Go, Maytag Dairy Farms, Meredith Corporation ( Better Homes and Gardens, Family Circle, Fitness), Palmer Candy Company, Panchero's Mexican Grill, Pizza Ranch, Winnebago, Stone Cliff Winery

Companies based in Connecticut: Aetna, Bevin Bells, Bigelow Tea, Bob's Discount Furniture, Cannondale Bicycles, Crabtree & Evelyn, Dooney & Bourke, Duracell, Ethan Allen, Harney & Sons Teas, Hartford Financial Services, Hosmer Mountain Soda, Newman's Own, PriceRite, Priceline.com, Subway, Time Warner Cable, United Natural Foods, World Wrestling Entertainment

Companies based in Massachusetts: 3Com, BJ's Wholesale Club, Autonomie Project, Aubuchon Hardware, Bertucci's, Brigham's Ice Cream, Cape Cod Potato Chips, Casual Male, Cherrybrook Kitchen, Converse, Cumberland Farms, Digital Federal Credit Union, Dunkin' Donuts, Friendly's, Filene's Basement, Bent's Cookie Factory, Gazelle, Gentle Giant Moving Company, Honey Dew Donuts, Independent Fabrication Bikes, Jordan's Furniture, Lycos, Massachusetts Bay Trading Company, Ninety Nine Restaurant, Ocean Spray, Papa Gino's, Rockport, Saucony, Stop & Shop, Tea Forte, Upromise, Welch's, Yankee Candle Company

Companies based in Vermont: Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream, Bruegger's, Building Green, Burton Snowboards, Cabot Cheese, Fine Paints of Europe, Green Mountain Coffee, King Arthur Flour, Lake Champlain Chocolates, Long Trail Brewing, Magic Hat Brewing Company, Maple Landmark Woodcraft, Otter Creek Brewing, Vermont Teddy Bear Company, Rhino Foods, Stave Puzzles, Vermont Country Store

Friends of mine, Peter and George, at Miami Beach Pride, who have been together for 65 years. Photo by Jason Weaver.

Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger, Cooler

2009-04-04T11:54:00.002-04:00

Captainl0ver is possibly the next YouTube superstar, and most likely the impetus of a coming massive wave of popularity for ASL classes at community colleges across the nation. I can't get enough of his signed versions of pop videos. I'm completely fascinated by this one - "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" by Daft Punk. Thanks to Stimpy for clueing me in.

The Word: Rigged

2009-03-23T17:54:00.005-04:00

Just when I thought I couldn't love Stephen Colbert any more, comes this little gem (via Yahoo.com)....

WASHINGTON – NASA's online contest to name a new room at the international space station went awry. Comedian Stephen Colbert won.

The name "Colbert" beat out NASA's four suggested options in the space agency's effort to have the public help name the addition. The new room will be launched later this year.
NASA's mistake was allowing write-ins. Colbert urged viewers of his Comedy Central show, "The Colbert Report" to write in his name. And they complied, with 230,539 votes. That clobbered Serenity, one of the NASA choices, by more than 40,000 votes. Nearly 1.2 million votes were cast by the time the contest ended Friday.

NASA reserves the right to choose an appropriate name. Agency spokesman John Yembrick said NASA will decide in April, but will give top vote-getters "the most consideration."

Of course, it's all fun and games until the Space Shuttle Limbaugh takes off.

Acid House Flashback # 12

2009-03-22T09:02:00.002-04:00

"Respect" - Adeva - 1989

A Report From The Frontlines - Part 3

2009-02-27T21:48:00.016-05:00

In the time it's taken me to post the complete "report from the frontlines" trilogy, President Obama has succeeded in getting Congress to approve a stimulus plan to keep us from entering a Mad Max future. Personally, I hate that this "bailout" is necessary, and there is a part of me that thinks "bring on Thunderdome Tina Turner" just on principle, as a severe act of fairness for those of us who did not live so beyond our means. But, I agree with President Obama (damn, that still feels so good to say) that extraordinary measures need to be taken to pull our economy out of the downward spiral that it's in - and, currently, the practical solutions me is winning the battle with righteous Thunderdome me.

So, here are some of my ideas on how we, and our government, should proceed...

1. As I mentioned in the last installment of this oh-so-compelling three part series, the banks need to immediately put a halt to the waves of short sales that are propelling the real estate markets downward. Homeowners need to have just two options...pay the mortgage or have your property foreclosed upon.

2. The federal government should force all banks to modify each and every homeowner's primary residence mortgage to 30-year fixed 4% rate product. This is the only fair solution that will stop the waves of distressed properties entering the market due to re-setting ridiculously adjustable interest rates, as well as provide a benefit to the majority of people who are continuing to fulfill their mortgage obligations. A 4% interest rate would also bring buyers back in to the market, helping to further stabilize prices and banking systems.

3. There needs to be regulatory legislation that requires a minimum percentage of down payment for any real estate purchase - possibly 10%, which would help prevent another housing bubble, and still keep home ownership within reach to a significant portion of the population.

4. Instead of pouring money into the sinking financial systems, we need to pour money into job creation through infrastructure investment. There is a lot of this idea in the stimulus plan, but I'd like to see it go further than it does. Americans need to see some real, tangible results from the biggest spending package that our nation's history. I'd like to see the billions of dollars invested in putting Americans to work building wind and solar farms, massive public transportation systems, and new schools. The factories of the Detroit automakers that don't survive because of decades of bad business decisions could be used to build a new America and a better world.

5. End marijuana prohibition now. Listen, I'm not a stoner. I don't like pot, and haven't smoked out in more than a decade. But, it's just absurd that tobacco and alcohol, both of which are extremely addictive, dangerous and harmful, are available at the grocery store, while we spend billions of dollars per year investigating, intercepting, arresting and housing people who buy and sell a prohibited plant. We would immediately save an estimated $7.7 billion in prohibition enforcement, and we would gain about $6.2 billion in annual tax revenue.

6. Bring the troops in Iraq home now. The War on Iraq was lost the day we realized that there were no weapons of mass destruction. We invaded on the premise that Saddam Hussein had terrible biological and chemical weapons pointed at the United States and our goal was to dismantle the weapons and the sinister government behind them. And, now, almost six years after the initial invasion, and the announcement that there actually were no WMDs, we're still there. We don't know why we're there. We don't have any goals, other than to bring democracy to the Iraqi people - who, for the most part, just want us to get the fuck out of their homeland. Let's bring home 100,000 of our young men and women who are currently patrolling the streets and deserts of Iraq. Let's get them back home and into the economy, and cut out nearly a billion dollars of spending per month.

7. In the near future, in order to stimulate a new economic model, I would support eliminating income taxes and the IRS, and switching to a consumption tax. Trust me, it kills me to agree with Mike Huckabee on anything. But, the truth is that our current system of taxing income has become so complicated that it's become more of an art than a science, and it seems like no one really knows how much income tax they're really supposed to pay. Tim Geithner, the person in charge of the economic rescue of our nation, couldn't even figure out how much he was supposed to pay! A broad sales tax of, let say 30%, would be fair in its even distribution, logical in its eas of implementation, and smart in its promotion of savings and less use of limited resources.

8. Universal health care. I can't imagine how anyone could possibly not support a national system of high standard health care available to all Americans. Medical bills are the number one cause of personal bankruptcy in the United States.

If I ruled the world, these would be some of my solutions to the mess that we're in. I think Obama's plan is a good one, and I'm hopeful that we are nearing the bottom of the spiral.

What are your thoughts?

A Report From The Frontlines - Part 2

2009-02-17T10:03:00.003-05:00

The vast majority of homeowners, who are flooding the market with their short sale listings and sticking their lenders (most of which YOU now own) with hundred thousand dollar losses, could pay their mortgage if they felt they had to. But, because the Joneses down the street were able to get rid of their mortgage by short selling at a $75,000 loss to the bank , and they aren't facing any long-term consequences, well, now the Smiths want to do the same. And so do the Riveras and the Wongs and the McNeelys.

The safeguards that are in place to prevent "just anyone" from being approved by the bank for a short sale are failing miserably, and the result is that everyone thinks that they can just walk away from their mortgage obligation and just have a hit on their credit report for a couple of years. A candidate for a short sale is supposed to prove to the bank that they are completely bankrupt. The package that I am responsible for putting together and sending to the bank must contain the following as proof of insolvency:

1. A hardship letter - this is a one-page letter written by the homeowner explaining to the bank why they can't pay their mortgage.

2. Income tax returns from the past two years. -

3. Copies of all bank account statements from the past two months.

4. A financial worksheet showing all of the monthly sources of income and expenses.

I have a pretty good feeling that a lot of people are being about as honest with the financial information that they give me for the short sale request package as they were with the financial information they gave to the mortgage broker when they got their $550,000 loan. And, I can assure you that the banks are not checking to see if there are other bank accounts that weren't included, or if the information on the financial worksheet is accurate.

I come home each night, and I hear CNN hosts ranting about how poor, upstanding, hard-working, Main Street Americans are being forced out of their homes by big, evil, Wall Street tycoons. And, while Wall Street is ultimately responsible for creating loan "products" for people that couldn't afford them, and while there are a lot of people who really cannot fulfill their mortgage obligations because of lost jobs or resetting interest rates, there are also an awful lot of people who just don't want to keep paying. Media personalities, like Lou Dobbs, present, night after night, stories of poor people who got hoodwinked by the faceless Wall Street elite into signing those mortgage papers and now can't pay. And, I am certain that a lot of people really didn't understand what they were signing, and there were a lot of people preyed upon by predatory lenders. But, because of these heartbreaking stories of single mothers losing their suburban McMansions to foreclosure, too many people think that the right thing to do is to take revenge on those sinister mortgage lending banks by short selling.

The first solution that needs to be implemented: banks need to completely stop doing short sales (except in the case of the death of a spouse or a domestic partner). They need to simply foreclose on properties where the owners have stopped making payments. I guarantee that bank losses, in the long run, would be less if homeowners had only the options of paying the mortgage, or having a foreclosure destroy their credit for years and years to come.

Cutting out the option of short sale would also save a lot of people from "inadvertant foreclosure." What I see happening now, is that a lot of people who want to get out from under decide to list their property as a short sale, thinking that it will be as easy as it was for the Smiths down the street. But, months pass and still no buyer. Finally, after 8 months of marketing (and not paying the mortgage, or condo fees, or property taxes - but still going out to eat every night) they get an offer that's $100,000 below what they owe. Their realtor puts together the short sale request package and sends it to the bank. But, it takes 4 to 5 months to be processed by the bank's short sale department, and in that time the foreclosure department sets a date for the foreclosure sale. And, now these people, who could have paid their mortgage, but opted for a short sale, ended up with a foreclosure and will likely never be able to buy property again.

I have a few more observations and ideas regarding this mess...(to be continued)

A Report From The Frontlines - Part One

2009-02-10T20:54:00.002-05:00

I have steered fairly clear of bringing my worklife back home to the Lair. Generally, I like to blog at work, not blog about work. But, alas, the time has come to share some observations from the frontlines of the economic meltdown.

I work as a transaction coordinator for one of the top-producing real estate teams in Florida. Basically, I do all of the behind-the-scenes work, all of the research and paperwork, and all of the detail necessary work - which allows the agents on my team to focus on selling real estate. It's a lot of work, a lot of stress, and it's definitely not my life's dream. But, for the moment it pays the bills, and well, I'm pretty good at it. And, of course, there's the benefit of having a ringside seat for the Great Depression 2.0.

I started working in real estate at the height of the market - January 2005. I didn't know a thing about real estate, but I quickly learned the industry lingo - "no doc interest only loan", "not contingent upon appraisal" and "preconstruction flip." From 2002 to 2005 the market in many Miami zip codes rose nearly 200% in value thanks to "creative financing" and the new "investor" class. I watched as nurses and construction workers and waiters bought condos for $400,000 and I wondered "how the fuck can everyone afford to buy at these prices?" Well, in October 2005, the market turned, nearly overnight, and like a big game of musical chairs, a lot of those in the "investor class" suddenly couldn't sell and got stuck without a chair.

Our market has plummeted by nearly half since the height, and now I specialize in processing and negotiating short sales. A short sale occurs when a property owner sells her / his property for less than what he / she owes on the mortgage(s), thereby sticking the bank with the difference. It's my job to put together a convincing package for the bank to convince them that it's better to take, for example, a $100,000 hit than to foreclose on the property and lose even more through attorney's fees and further market depreciation. For the seller, a short sale is a much, much better option in that it only damages the seller's credit score for 2 to 3 years - as opposed to a foreclosure which obliterates the credit score for 8 years, and the seller will always have to disclose to any future mortgage lender that he / she has had a foreclosure in the past.

Unfortunately, what is occuring is a tidal wave of short sales, each one costing the banks tens of thousands, and often hundreds of thousands of dollars. And, each successful short sale brings down the value of the whole neighborhood - which causes more homeowners to become "upside down" - meaning that they now owe more than the property is worth. Then, everyone in the neighborhood wants to "get out" and short sell their property. It's a downward spiral fueled by fear and anxiety.

Just as the "safeguards" failed on the way up, the rules that are in place that regulate who can be approved for a short sale are failing on the way down. What do I mean? Well, here's what you won't hear from Lou Dobbs, or any of the other populist media personalities. (to be continued).

Acid House Flashback # 11

2009-01-20T16:41:00.006-05:00

"Everybody's Free" - Rozalla - 1992

Keeping The Conversation Going - The DOMA Protest

2009-01-11T10:36:00.003-05:00

About 300 people turned out in Miami Beach for the Join The Impact protest to remind President-Elect Obama of his commitment to the GLBT community, and in particular his promise to push for a repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act. We began the evening by having supporters and passers-by sign the Join The Impact petition that will be sent to our new President.

Then, local celebrity Pussila, and Miami Beach mayor Matti Herrera-Bower, gave a great introduction to the event, and together led the crowd on a march down Ocean Drive, and across 11th Street to the "Old" City Hall building, which was lit up blue and lavender by the City of Miami Beach, as a symbol of equality and solidarity with the GLBT community.

There are an awful lot of tourists going back home in a few days with discussions of marriage equality as a souvenir. Mission accomplished.

Join The Impact Miami!

2009-01-07T15:52:00.008-05:00

JOIN THE IMPACT NATIONAL PROTEST FOR THE REPEAL OF THE DEFENSE OF MARRIAGE ACT!

WHEN? January 10th, 2009. From 5:00pm until 7:00pm

WHERE? Miami Beach's "Old" City Hall at 1130 Washington Avenue in South Beach.

WHAT IS IT? This protest, which will be coordinated with other protests around the country, will focus on the Defense of Marriage Act. DOMA is the 1996 law which bans the federal government from recognizing same-sex relationships as marriages, and which also means that same-sex marriages that are legal in one state do not have to be recognized by any other. Republicans wrote it, Clinton signed it into law, and Obama has said he will repeal it. LET'S HOLD HIM TO THAT PROMISE!

WHAT WILL WE BE DOING? Cities all over California will be lighting up their city hall buildings blue - the color blue as a symbol of equality. The City of Miami Beach will be joining California, and will light our "Old" City Hall blue! We will gather in Lummus Park (at 12th Street and Ocean Drive) and then march to the Old City Hall. Bring your signs, banners and slogans!

FOR MORE INFO: JOIN THE IMPACT MIAMI!

And The Oscar Goes To...

2009-01-03T15:25:00.004-05:00

Tony, Jody and I saw "Slumdog Millionaire" last night. I don't want to give any of it away, or hype it beyond reasonable expectations...but it really is one of the best movies I have EVER seen. I thought we were going to have to take Tony out of the theatre on a stretcher.

Bring On 2009!

2009-01-01T10:07:00.008-05:00

2008 will be remembered as a year of "challenges" - global climate change, the never-ending War on Iraq, the collapse of the American economy, genocide in Darfur, the exponentially increasing rate of species extinction, the exponentially increasing rate of population rocketing past 6.5 billion, Sarah Palin, Proposition 8 and Amendment 2, the rise of Nancy Grace, the War in Afghanistan, Bernie Madoff, "Drill Baby Drill", Bailout Bonuses, Joe the Plumber, massive foreclosures, the loss of Estelle Getty, Heath Ledger and Tim Russert, chaos in Pakistan, Fred Thompson, the floating island of toxic plastic trash in the Pacific, oil speculation, Britney's meltdown, melting ice caps, and rising sea levels.

In spite of the headlines, 2008 was, without a doubt, one of the best years of my life.

In January, Tony and I went to see Kathy Griffin - one of my true personal heroes. And we caught great performances of Sweeney Todd, Becoming a Man in 127 Easy Steps, and Altar Boyz.

In February, we had a really great time in Atlanta. So much so, that we've been very seriously considering moving up north, to the Deep South, ever since. We climbed Stone Mountain, hiked Sweetwater Creek State Park, took the CNN tour, visited the awesome Georgia Aquarium, and generally had fun with Stimpy.

In March we really enjoyed Monty Python's Spamalot at the Performing Arts Center. We both totally loved the movie "Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day," and we saw a just-ok performance of Footloose at the Actor's Playhouse.

Stimpy came to visit it April, and we took a little road-trip to the "Happiest Place on Earth" for the weekend. Stimpy and I loved, loved, loved "Expedition Everest" at Disney's Animal Kingdom. Tony's more of an "It's a Small World" kinda guy.

In May, we finally got to see Avenue Q - and it was awesome! And, we spent the long Memorial Day weekend visiting my family in Pittsburgh, and had a fun time at Kennywood with Betty and Patrick.

June. Hmmm. June. What the heck did we do in June? Oh yeah. We went to Gay Disney, the defining moment of which was seeing the long line of bears waiting to get in to the Country Bear Jamboree.

July was the month of Fanny Pak. And the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics. Possibly the best thing I've ever seen on television. And we saw "WALL-E." Possibly movie of the year.

August was fucking hot. Like really fucking hot.

September was action packed! We road-tripped to Atlanta, with Olga, for a long, fun Labor Day Weekend. I had the time of my life with Tony in Italy. And, the Rachel Maddow Show premiered and made me wonder if I actually am a lesbian.

In October Tony and I headed to Pittsburgh for the Growing Alternative Youth 20-year reunion, which coincided with the Pittsburgh 250th Anniversary / almost Beijing fireworks display. It was really nice to see some old friends, and to visit the old stomping grounds, after so many years.

In November, we watched with joyful hearts and tearful eyes, as Barack Obama gave his victory speech. Until the day I die, I will never forget the feeling of hope that I felt at that moment. The next weekend we took a trip to visit Tony's family in Syracuse - and I got to finally meet Lisa - one of Tony's long-time friends. Then I got sick, and that totally sucked. On November 15th, we attended the Join The Impact protest, and became a part of Stonewall 2.0. A few days later, Tony asked me to marry him. I said ok. Then Tony got sick, and that sucked too. I had a great birthday at my favorite Indian restaurant. And we saw "Milk." Did I mention that Tony asked me to marry him? Yep, he did.

We had lots of fun in December too. We saw Gutenberg! The Musical at the Actor's Playhouse, with Olga, and we laughed our asses off. Really, really good show. Tony, Jason and I organized Miami's Light Up the Night for Equality event, and met a bunch of good people in doing so. Stimpy came to visit for the holidays, and Tony's friend, Bill the Cat, came for a quick overnight. The four of us went to the Corteo production of Cirque Du Soleil - one of the best Cirques that I've seen.

And 2009 started off with this...

It's a good life.

Acid House Flashback # 10

2008-12-30T12:01:00.002-05:00

"Good Life" - Inner City - 1988

Out Of The Darkness

2008-12-21T15:59:00.023-05:00

Last night was extraordinary.

Here, in a city much more known for its after-hours clubs and celebrity spottings than for progressive activism, a couple of hundred people came out to stand up for fairness and equality at our Light Up the Night for Equality demonstration. We stood, united, in the heart of South Beach, and we all did our part to keep the conversation going.

And, as a bonus, I had the pleasure of meeting superstar activist / blogger Eric Levan, who encouraged Miami to RAGE ON!

Light Up The Night For Equality

2008-12-07T12:22:00.005-05:00

The Join the Impact protests brought hundreds of thousands of people into the streets, last month, in nearly every city across the nation, and marked the beginning of the next era of activism in our community. The next big action is a national candlelight vigil - in remembrance of the civil marriage rights that were lost, and in honor of the future of equality that is to come. Tony and I have stepped up to help organize the Miami event...so, I probably won't have much time to spend around here until after the 20th.

In the meantime, please watch this video, check out the event in your city, and help get the word out.

See you soon!

The Reason For The Season

2008-11-28T09:56:00.007-05:00

'Tis the season for re-posting my annual updated anti-Black Friday post.....

The malls here in Miami began decking the halls 2 months ago, and had Santa's train installed just as the last back to school sales were ending. I know it's cliche at this point to feel nostalgic for the days when the holy season of giving gently revealed itself shortly after Thanksgiving. Today, a 5am scuffle in the line outside of Best Buy on Black Friday merely marks the halfway point in the season of stress and artifice.

So, for the like minded, here are a few ideas...

ENVIRONMENT

World Wildlife Fund

Greenpeace

Abundant Earth

Care2: Shop and Help the Planet

Defenders of Wildlife

The Sierra Club

The Nature Conservancy

E-House Eco-Friendly Gifts

The Jane Goodall Institute Store

Zappos Eco-Friendly and Vegetarian Shoes

Equita Essentials for Ethical Living

GAY COMMUNITY AND CULTURE

The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force

The Human Rights Campaign Fund - Designer Tees

Soulforce

The United Church of Christ

Gay and Lesbian Community Center of South Florida

SAVE Dade

Persad Center

The Ali Forney Center

Immigration Equality

Outspoken Clothing

Miami Gay and Lesbian Film Festival

ANTI-DRUG WAR

The November Coalition

The Center For Cognitive Liberty and Ethics

The Drug Policy Alliance

Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies

NORML Holiday Gifts

PROGRESSIVE AMERICAN VALUES

Syracuse Cultural Workers Gifts

American Humanist Association

Unity on the Bay

Darwin Fish Stocking Stuffers

National Public Radio Shop

The Quakers

Amnesty International Gift Shop

People for the American Way

Mother Jones

HIV/AIDS/Cancer

AMFAR

Pittsburgh AIDS Task Force

AIDS Memorial Quilt

Artists for a New South Africa

Pets are Loving Support Atlanta

Susan G. Komen Promise Shop

ANIMALS

The Humane Society

PETA Shopping Mall

Adopt a Manatee

National Audubon Society

The Orangutan Foundation

ART

Kenneth Treacy

Eric Chismar Photography

The Matress Factory

The Warhol Museum

Clyde Butcher Photography

Carnegie Museum of Art

Salvador Dali Museum

HOLIDAY CARDS AND ECO-DECORATING

Betty Bowers

Eco-Decorating

Tools for Change Holiday Cards

Recycled Cards That Grow

Have a Peaceful, Stress-Free and Meaningful Holiday!

We Will Keep Falling In Love

2008-11-21T18:10:00.004-05:00

I know I've been a bit on the "militant homosexual" tip lately, but majorities of Americans - my neighbors and co-workers and family members - in state after state, continue to go out of their way to deny legal recognition of our marriages and to vote against treating me as an equal member of this society, all while taking my tax money to pay for services for their families....it's just maddening. Sister Unity Divine of The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence speaks so well for so many of us that are just too damned angry to speak.

We will keep falling in love, and we will wear two-foot long eyelashes if we want to, and there's not a fucking thing that Focus on the Family or any other the other "Christian" hate groups can do about it.

* Video sampled from Emerald City Guy at My 2 Cents.

The Power Of Love

2008-11-15T16:58:00.024-05:00

Miami Beach was all sunshine and love today, as we joined in the nationwide call to Join the Impact. It felt so good to get out, and let the country know that we will not go down quietly. I am so excited by the number of young people and straight people that showed up and the passion that is in their hearts. We really are going to win this thing in the long run. Oh, and one person showed up to protest the protest, and as you can see in the photo, he is totally insane.

Now, we have to keep the momentum going. If you live in the Miami area, SAVE DADE will host a "town hall" to discuss where we, as a community, go from here. For details, click here.

If you have photos, or a post about the event in your city, please leave a comment with a link. I'd love to see and hear about it!

No More

2008-11-11T21:19:00.005-05:00

This is a new day for everyone. The dark, dark days of the Bush Regime are coming to an end. For the first time in a long time, truth and hope won out over ignorance and fear. I can't stop welling up with tears of joy, knowing that no matter how difficult this time is, there is now a future to look forward to.

And, then I heard the newly elected President of the United States include me, as a gay person, in his acceptance speech.

"If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.

"It's the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen, by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different, that their voices could be that difference .

"It's the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled.

We are, and always will be, the United States of America."

If you're not gay, you probably don't have any idea how deeply moving it was, just being acknowledged as a person and citizen of this country by our soon-to-be leader. I have never been so proud of my country, and I still can't express the hope that I have in my heart for where our country can go now.

Then, I watched as the results came in on the four big state votes on gay rights referendums. As expected, in Arizona, an amendment banning legal recognition of gay marriages passed. And in Arkansas, gay people are now banned from adopting children, or even caring for foster children. In California, more than half of the people voted to take away gay peoples' civil right to marry their life partners.

And in my state, Florida, Amendment 2 was passed by 62% of the people that I live next to, work with, and support with business. 62% of the people in Florida believe that I should continue to pay taxes to fund schools for their kids and programs for their families. But, they don't think that my family is worthy of the dignity of legal recognition of any kind.

To all of those people who voted to make me a second-class citizen - fuck you! Fuck you and your twisted "family values." Fuck you and your "sanctity of marriage." Fuck you and your "protecting tradition." Fuck you. Fuck you. Fuck you.

You should know that, thanks to your hateful campaigns, there is an electricity in the air in America's gay communities. We are hopeful, and we are fucking angry. It's hard to figure out where those two emotions together will take us, but something is happening. All across the country, we are coming together with our straight friends and allies to take our equal rights. You pushed us too far this time, and we are standing up and saying no more.

No more beating us and bashing us and raping us. No more making fun of us and causing our young people to commit suicide. No more excluding us and shaming us and ostracizing us. No more killing us and hanging us on fences in Wyoming fields. No more scapegoating us and no more blaming us. No more torturing us or trying to convert us. No more slurring us. No more arresting us. No more ex-communicating us. No more disowning us. No more. No more. No more.

If you want to join us in saying "no fucking more," we will be protesting nationwide this Saturday. Just click here, sign up and show up. And be a part of the beginning of a movement.

It Is A New Day!

2008-11-05T09:35:00.005-05:00

I now live in a blue state! A blue state where 62% my neighbors believe that I should be treated as a second-class citizen, but a blue state nonetheless.

Acid House Flashback # 9

2008-10-31T12:28:00.002-04:00

"Elevation (Move Your Body)" - Xpansions - 1990

The Okapi Miami-Dade Voting Guide

2008-10-20T11:01:00.010-04:00

Like just about everyone, I am completely exhausted, but extremely hopeful, regarding the upcoming election. I can't imagine how many hours I've spent surfing political blogs, or how many evenings I've spent with Rachel Maddow and Chris Matthews and the whole CNN Roundtable. And, today, early voting in Florida begins. So, for my peeps in Miami, who are less politically addicted than I, and who trust my leftist liberal elite opinion....here's how I'm voting. Now, get your ass to the polls!

PRESIDENT AND VICE PRESIDENT

Barack Obama / Joe Biden

REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS, DISTRICT 18

Annette Taddeo

REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS, DISTRICT 20

Debbie Wasserman Schultz

REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS, DISTRICT 21

Raul L. Martinez

REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS, DISTRICT 25

Joe Garcia

STATE SENATOR

Dan Gelber

STATE REPRESENTATIVE, DISTRICT 102

No One

STATE REPRESENTATIVE, DISTRICT 106

Richard L. Steinberg

STATE REPRESENTATIVE, DISTRICT 107

Luis Garcia

STATE REPRESENTATIVE, DISTRICT 110

Nancy L. Stander

STATE REPRESENTATIVE, DISTRICT 111

Frank Morra

STATE REPRESENTATIVE, DISTRICT 112

No One

STATE REPRESENTATIVE, DISTRICT 113

Javier Betancourt

STATE REPRESENTATIVE, DISTRICT 119

Michael Hanley Calderin

STATE REPRESENTATIVE, DISTRICT 120

Ron Saunders

CLERK OF THE CIRCUIT COURT

Harvey Rubin

CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT NUMBER 1

Summary: Proposing an amendment to the State Constitution to delete provisions authorizing the Legislature to regulate or prohibit ownership, inheritance, disposition, and possession of real property by aliens ineligible for citizenship.

Vote YES!

CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT NUMBER 2

Summary: This amendment protects marriage as the legal union of only one man and one woman as husband and wife and provides that no other legal union that is treated as marriage or the substantial equivalent thereof shall be valid or recognized.

Vote NO!

CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT NUMBER 3

Summary: Authorizes the Legislature, by general law, to prohibit consideration of changes or improvements to residential real property which increase resistance to wind damage and installation of renewable energy source devices as factors in assessing the property’s value for ad valorem taxation purposes. Effective upon adoption, repeals the existing renewable energy source device exemption no longer in effect.

Vote YES!

CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT NUMBER 4

Requires the Legislature to provide a property tax exemption for real property encumbered by perpetual conservation easements or other perpetual conservation protections, defined by general law. Requires Legislature to provide for classification and assessment of land used for conservation purposes, and not perpetually encumbered, solely on the basis of character or use. Subjects assessment benefit to conditions, limitations, and reasonable definitions established by general law. Applies to property taxes beginning in 2010.

Vote YES!

CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT NUMBER 6

Provides for assessment based upon use of land used predominantly for commercial fishing purposes; land used for vessel launches into waters that are navigable and accessible to the public; marinas and dry stacks that are open to the public; and water-dependent marine manufacturing facilities, commercial fishing facilities, and marine vessel construction and repair facilities and their support activities, subject to conditions, limitations, and reasonable definitions.

Vote YES!

CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT NUMBER 8

Proposing an amendment to the State Constitution to require that the Legislature authorize counties to levy a local option sales tax to supplement community college funding; requiring voter approval to levy the tax; providing that approved taxes will sunset after 5 years and may be reauthorized by the voters.

Vote YES!

COUNTY QUESTIONS

Home Rule Charter Amendment Regarding the Offices of Manager and Mayor: Shall the Charter be amended to transfer the powers, duties, and responsibilities of the County Manager to the County Mayor and provide that the County Manager shall assist the Mayor in the administration of county government only to the extent directed by the Mayor?

Vote YES!

Home Rule Charter Amendment Relating to Salaries and Service of County Commissioners: Shall the Charter be amended to provide that County Commissioners shall:• Devote full-time service to the office of Commissioner and hold no other employment; and• No longer receive the $6,000 annual salary established in 1957, but receive instead the salary provided by state statutory formula, adjusted annually by the county’s population (currently approximately $91,995), used by other Florida counties, including Broward County?

Vote YES!

Charter Amendment Providing Alternative Process to Qualify for Office of County Commissioner or Mayor: Shall the Charter be amended to permit candidates for the office of County Commissioner or Mayor to qualify for office by either submitting a petition signed by specified number of registered voters or paying a qualifying fee?

Vote YES!

Home Rule Charter Amendment on Ordinance Initiative Petitions Requiring Clerk Form Approval and Public Hearings: Shall the Charter be amended to provide that the Clerk, not the Board, shall approve initiative petitions proposing passage or repeal of an ordinance as to form and require the County Commission to hold a public hearing on any such petition at the next County Commission meeting subsequent to the Clerk’s approval of the petition?

Vote YES!

Charter Amendment Relating to Approval as to Form of Initiative Petitions: Shall the Charter be amended to provide that the Clerk of the Circuit Court, rather than the Board of County Commissioners, approve citizen initiative petitions as to form?

Vote YES!

County Charter Amendment Creating Uniform Countywide Fire and Rescue Service and Preserving Existing City Service: Shall the Charter be amended to require that the Board of County Commissioners provide a uniform, countywide system of fire protection and rescue services for all incorporated and unincorporated areas of the County with the exception of the cities of Miami, Miami Beach, Hialeah, Coral Gables, and Key Biscayne which may provide for fire and rescue protection services in those cities?

Vote NO!

If you want to vote early...which I think is a great idea if you're not going to be happy about waiting in line for hours on November 4th, click here for a list of early voting sites, and click here for a list of what you'll need to bring with you.

One Crazy Golden Girl

2008-10-14T20:20:00.003-04:00

All I ever needed to know in life, I learned from "The Golden Girls."

Thank you to Rodrigo and Jason for passing this gem on, and making me spray chocolate milk all over my monitor.

Happy Genocide Day.

2008-10-13T12:03:00.000-04:00

Never Can Say Goodbye

2008-10-09T17:52:00.005-04:00

So, the reunion was a blast, as predicted. A lot of people couldn't make it, thanks to tight budgets and the coming Depression II, but it was really great hanging out with a least part of "the gang" again. We visited most of our old haunts around the city, and discovered a lot of new places. Some highlights....

* We had a great breakfast at Pamela's Diner in the Strip District. I miss fun kitschy diners like Pamela's.

* We attended the Friday night meeting of the current gay youth group in Pittsburgh. A few of us shared our stories of coming out way back in the olden days of the 1980s. And, we heard from the new generation about coming out today. It was such a great experience...that is, until I realized that the new generation was born in the 1990s.

* The Mattress Factory. Possibly the coolest thing about Pittsburgh.

* Our reunion happened to coincide with Pittsburgh's 250th Anniversary Celebration. The fireworks display was like the opening to the Beijing Olympics. 17 launch sites around Downtown. Crazy cool. And, I'm not even a fireworks person.

So, until the next one in 2028...

A Big Gay Reunion!

2008-10-01T23:43:00.004-04:00

Tomorrow, I'm going home. It's really home, in more ways than one. I'm going to Pittsburgh for my 20 year reunion. It's not my high school reunion, which I wouldn't even consider attending. It's a weekend reunion of my gay youth group. I'm going home to walk down memory lane with the people who saved my life, and helped me to define myself. I can't wait!

To celebrate our 20 year reunion, I've reposted a little story that appeared here at the Lair a couple of years ago....

In 1988, a small group of disenfranchised, but glamourously resourceful teenagers, myself included, formed a Gay youth group – Pittsburgh’s Growing Alternative Youth. Our mission was to welcome, educate and empower the next generation of Steel City queers, as well as to greatly expand our social circle and dating possibilities. We took up a campaign of guerilla marketing – infiltrating high school libraries and stuffing any medical or psychology book with an index reference to “homosexuality” with flyers for the group. We networked at Gay cruising spots and outside Gay bars. We posted flyers in the womyn’s bookstore and the universities’ student unions. We grew from meetings of 4 or 5 to a weekly attendance of over 60 in just a few months.

A local Gay minister and activist, Lou, helped us get organized and encouraged us to take on the world. We had weekly speakers, presenting a range of topics. Herman, a charming, elderly African-American gentleman came to tell us what Gay life was like for him in the 1940s. Kathy, a licensed counselor, came to speak to us about ways to improve self-esteem, and Don, in a 2-part workshop, “Eroticizing Safer Sex,” taught us how to protect ourselves in a newly dangerous world. We watched “Torch Song Trilogy” and “Desert Hearts” and planned monthly under 21 parties at local Gay bars.

In 1990, Chris, my roommate, and a member of the youth group with a long history of depression and self-esteem issues, ended his own life. I think many of us felt that we had failed him – failed to be a good enough family when his family wanted nothing to do with him. We failed to take him seriously when he joked about suicide and when he made theatrical attempts that we thought were “just for attention.” Jason and I were the leaders of the group, and after Chris’ death we lost interest, and the group fell apart (some time after it was reincarnated into a less educational, more social entity).

But, I look back now, and I don’t see failure anymore. I often meet Gay people in their 30s and 40s who are struggling with issues that we were able to address in our teens. Through Growing Alternative Youth and with Lou’s help, we learned more about Gay history and culture before we could legally enter a Gay bar, than many middle-aged Queers know. We had opportunities to grow at a time when, unfortunately, many Gay people are stifled by internalized homophobia.

I realize now that we didn’t fail Chris. We more likely succeeded in keeping a lot of other Gay kids from following in his footsteps.

The Bush Doctrine

2008-09-27T11:09:00.003-04:00

The Bush Doctrine refers to the main principles and foundation of the Bush Administration's foreign policy, particularly regarding the "preemptive war" on Iraq. In a recent interview with Charlie Gibson, Sarah Palin, possibly the next Vice-President of the United States, clearly was unfamiliar with the Bush Doctrine - the current guiding foreign policy of her party.

And, now the McCain campaign folks have provided Palin, who by all accounts is a quick learner, a copy of the video that inspired George W. Bush in the creation of the current policy.

Back to the Grind

2008-09-25T08:50:00.004-04:00

Tony and I had a fantastic time in Italy. We spent three beautiful days in Rome, then took a train to Bergamo to visit Tony friend Battista and his boyfriend Mario, who were kind enough to put us up for a couple of days, make us laugh a lot, and take us on a day trip to Lake Como, near the Swiss border. Then, we headed to Venice for two days - one of which was Tony's birthday. Finally, back to Rome - with a day stop in Florence. For pics, just click here.

It really was so nice to be completely disconnected from 24 hour news cycles, and it was nice to come home and discover that not much had really happened while we were gone. Well, except that the entire American economy collapsed, the fundamentals of the McCain / Palin campaign short-circuited, Hurricane Ike destoyed much of Texas and the Midwest, Clay Aiken admitted that he's a lesbian and a plague of locusts enveloped the entire East Coast.

Looks like I'm back to the grind.

Roman Holiday

2008-09-12T10:23:00.003-04:00

Tony and I are off to Italy for 9 adventurous and romantical-type days of La Dolce Vita. Arrivederci!

The Elusive Okapi

2008-09-12T09:57:00.005-04:00

Now, here's some wonderful news - that's of particular interest to this blog....

An African animal so secretive it was once believed to be a mythical unicorn has been caught on camera in the wild. Camera traps set by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) in the Democratic Republic of Congo have captured rare pictures of wild okapi.

* snip *

The sightings in Virunga National Park prove the species is surviving in the jungle despite years of civil conflict.

Dr Noelle Kumpel, ZSL's bush meat and forests conservation programme manager, said: "To have captured photographs of such a charismatic creature is amazing. "Okapi are very shy and rare animals - which is why conventional surveys only tend to record droppings and other signs of their presence."

Click here for the whole story.

Acid House Flashback # 8

2008-09-09T09:15:00.003-04:00

"Garden of Eden" - Garden of Eden - 1988

The Real Fourth Estate

2008-09-04T22:16:00.008-04:00

This, my friends, is important stuff. Apparently, Comedy Central has become the pillar of thorough and responsible journalism. Sampled from Boltgirl's sampling of Pam's House Blend.....

Way Up North In The Deep South

2008-09-03T17:07:00.013-04:00

Tony, Olga and I roadtripped to Atlanta over the long weekend to visit the Stimpasaurus. The Deep South sure is far north of Miami....about 10 hours north. But it was well worth the grueling drive....

It's On!

2008-08-28T23:49:00.001-04:00

Oh Yes We Fucking Can!

Post-Rationality and PUMA-ism

2008-08-27T09:07:00.004-04:00

Once again, Rachel Maddow just fucking nails it. It's so clear that the few PUMA-ists* that are still clinging, so emotionally, to their post-rational choice, have no idea where any of the candidates stand on any of the issues. Hillary Clinton was a great candidate. Barack Obama IS a great candidate. And John McCain will finish off the job of destroying our economy, security and standing in the world.

* PUMA - noun, Originally an acronym for Party Unity My Ass, now changed to the slightly less toxic People United Means Action. Quickly becoming a derogatory adjective synonymous with post-rational.

The Too Short List

2008-08-19T17:14:00.006-04:00

The internets are all abuzz with word from the New York Times that Barack Obama will likely announce his choice for running mate tomorrow. Word is that the short list is shorter than ever, with Evan Bayh, Tim Kaine and Joe Biden as the real contenders. Man, am I hoping that the politicos are wrong.

Evan Bayh is a junior U.S. Senator from Indiana. He was also a co-sponsor of the joint resolution to authorize Bush's War on Iraq - which will certainly go down in history as the biggest blunder in U.S. history. Before Congress voted to give Bush pre-emptive power, I knew that invading Iraq was wrong. Most of my friends knew it was wrong. Even my blue-collar Pennsylvania family knew it was wrong. But Evan Bayh exercised his best judgment and voted for the war...and now regrets his choice. Sometimes, mistakes can't be fixed.

And, Joe Biden. Senator Joe Biden has lots of political history and tons of foreign policy experience. And, like Senator Bayh, he supported the Bush Administration's War for Halliburton. Given Senator Biden's experience, his support is particularly upsetting, and particularly damaging to one of Barack Obama's greatest assets - his good judgment from the beginning. While Bayh and Biden were voting to send us in to an unwinnable war, Barack Obama was speaking at an anti-war rally.

Senator Biden also, along with the likes of Strom Thurmond, Joe Lieberman and Orrin Hatch, sponsored the ridiculously un-American RAVE Act (Reducing Americans' Vulnerability to Ecstasy Act), which allows concert and rave promoters to be arrested and prosecuted if anyone is found with controlled substances at the event, if so-called drug accessories such as glow-sticks or bottled water are also present.

Add to these problems, Biden's inability to control his mouth, and the fact that his middle name is Robinette, and that during the primary he said of Obama, "I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy, I mean, that's a storybook, man," and I think it's clear that the short list is a little too short.

Virginia Governor Tim Kaine seems like a nice fellow, and he's by far the best choice of the three, but he's not going to help Obama much with the lack of experience argument. He'll solidify Virginia as a blue state in November, but he's not a nationally exciting candidate.

I'd be happy with Tim Kaine...but I'd be happier with Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius, who according to most politicos is on the short list...just not the short short list. She has a strong resume, a good record of getting things done right, and is one of the most popular state governors in the nation. In 2005, she was named one of the five best governors by Time Magazine. I also think she'd do a lot to excite disgruntled Hillary supporters who would love to see a woman Vice-President be sworn in in January.

Acid House Flashback # 7

2008-08-16T23:00:00.002-04:00

"Work It to the Bone" - LNR - 1987

The Republican Economy

2008-07-31T09:22:00.003-04:00

Today's economic news....

"Economy Gains Less Than Expected" - The United States GDP grew at an annual rate of 1.9% last quarter, though economists had forecast a growth of 2.3%, due to the $140 billion in economic stimulus checks that were handed out by the Bush Administration. Now the checks are gone.

"Dollar Falls on Weak Economic Report" - Due to the worse than expected GDP growth, and an unexpectedly big rise in unemployment claims, the United States dollar dropped in value against the world's major currencies.

"Jobless Claims Surge to 5 Year High" - The number of claims for unexmployment rose to their highest levels since April, 2003.

"Stocks Mostly Decline" - After the troubling news on the economy and jobs, Wall Street took another hit.

"Foreclosure Rate Hits Historic High" - More than a quarter of a million American homes are now in foreclosure status.

"Personal Bankruptcies Rise" - The number of Americans filing personal bankruptcies rose by almost 50,000 over the same time last year.

"The Cost of Iraq War and Nation Building" - The financial cost of the War on Iraq is nearing $562,000,000,000. That's 562 BILLION DOLLARS of American education and infrastructure money.

And my favorite headline of the day...

"Exxon Posts Record $11.68 Billion Profit" - Exxon-Mobil once again broke its own record by making the largest quarterly profit in history!

Odds and Ends

2008-07-25T17:17:00.017-04:00

I'm not a microblogging Twitter-type guy, but it's been a crazy busy week for me. So here goes.

Estelle Getty and Randy Pausch both passed this week and I'm sadder than I probably should be. The world really lost two exceptional people, but I'm grateful that my era coincided with theirs.

I'm not thrilled about some of the side effects of the high cost of gasoline...rising food costs, "fuel surcharges" on everything, and the fear of financial ruin that has just about everyone spooked. But, honestly, I'm ok with $4 gas, or even $5 gas. We finally hit the point, where Americans are making real lifestyle changes. Automakers can't make hybrids fast enough, and they can't give away SUVs. Bicycle and scooter sales are through the roof, while Hummer drivers have, almost overnight, become pariahs on the road. Everyone seems to be planning their trips more to make the most of a tank, and I really am noticing significantly fewer cars on the road. And, in some ways the gas crisis has the potential of possibly slowing things down and bringing us a little closer to each other. As a totally anecdotal example, Tony, me, and our friends have been taking long group walks on the beach and the boardwalk and "just hanging out" as cheap entertainment...and it's been great. If the gas crisis causes us to give up some designer names and latest gadgets and take up spending real time with real friends...then I'm all for it.

I've got a crazy reality tv crush on Matt Cady of Fanny Pak on "America's Best Dance Crew." Just thought I'd share.

The gay blog-o-sphere had a near meltdown this week that rivals the Bear Sterns / Indymac implosions. It seems that Cooper of Cooper's Corridor wasn't Cooper at all. "He" was probably my favorite writer on these internets, and I have to admit to being a bit disappointed. And, for even more disappointing gay blogger news, Scott-O-Rama is closing his doors, and it looks like Frankie is scaling back.

This summer should've been my 20 year high school reunion, which I wouldn't even think of attending. But, in October, Tony and I will be heading to Pittsburgh, for a 20 year reunion of our gay youth group, Growing Alternative Youth. I cannot wait to see the "old" gang again.

Finally, this pic of Betty on the ferry to Fire Island, snapped by the adoring paparrazzi. After all these years, she's still feeh-irce and I fucking love huh.

Old Skool Wham!

2008-07-18T09:34:00.005-04:00

The economy is collapsing. The planet is dying. We're mired in two wars, with another on the way. And, Elizabeth Dole is fighting to have an AIDS relief bill named after Jesse Helms.

Sometimes, you just have to sit back and watch a pre-mainstream success Wham! video and let the worries of the world melt away.

Wham! - Bad Boys - 1982

Drill Here. Drill Now. Destroy Everything!

2008-07-01T09:07:00.007-04:00

The price of oil hit another record today. And it probably will break that record tomorrow. And it’s shattering what was left of our economy after the mortgage meltdown and the credit crisis and the nearly $533,000,000,000 that it’s taken, so far, to invade Iraq. And we all knew it was coming.

We had decades from the energy crisis of the 1970s to invest in, and develop, alternative sources of energy. Wind, solar, biomass, geothermal and wave power. I learned about the energy crisis in elementary school, and my school books assured me that the future would be cleaner and healthier with lots of new technologies. Apparently, the leadership of this nation didn’t go to Roosevelt Elementary.

We had 40 years to prepare, and instead we drove SUVs and built McMansions. We sprawled from the suburbs into the exurbs and let our public transportation systems crumble into uselessness. We voted for warmongers and oil barons and made fun of tree-huggers. And we watched as Exxon-Mobil consistently broke its own record for largest annual profits in history. And now, we’re fucked.

And, still, conservatives are ignoring the obvious solutions while fighting to drill more, drill here and drill now. My friend Stimpy received an e-mail forward that’s been making its way around the internets, and of course, he forwarded it to me (with a warning that I should take blood pressure medication before reading any further). It’s too long, and too ridiculous to re-post here, but the gist was that the current energy crisis is Al Gore’s fault because he opposes allowing oil companies to drill for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). It also mentions that bears and caribou really like oil pipelines and would actually prefer the relaxing hum that oil drilling provides. Here’s a photo included in the e-mail as evidence.

I really think if they had Photoshopped a few unicorns into the photo as they were adding the caribou, it would have had a lot more impact – but that’s just my opinion.

I know people are now really feeling the consequences of 40 years of inaction. Trust me, I’m not currently big on filling my tank, or grocery shopping or paying the “fuel surcharge” that’s been added to everything over the past couple of months. But, drilling and drilling and drilling is not going to change one fucking thing, except to allow Exxon-Mobil to continue to break their profit records every year until there isn’t a drop of oil, or a spot of wilderness left on the planet.

To a lot of Americans, who are in personal financial panic mode, drilling in the ANWR, or off the coast of Florida, sounds like a quick fix to current gas prices. What hasn’t been conveyed to the public is that even if we started drilling tomorrow, current gas prices would not be affected at all.

Let’s look at a couple of facts….According to the United States Energy Information Administration’s own May 2008 report, we wouldn’t even be able to extract any oil from the ANWR area until 2018. And, in the year 2025, ANWR drilling might reduce the cost of gas by 75 cents. That’s 75 cents in 2025.

In the meantime, other nations are investing in their infrastructures, building efficient mass transit systems and moving away from fossil fuels – while the United States, lost to its addiction, falls further and further behind. Soon, the oil consumption of China and India will far surpass the United States. At which point, it won’t matter how much oil we produce from drilling our federally-protected lands, because, it will all be going to China and India. Will our government require the big oil companies to only sell their black gold to America? Um, yeah. I would guess not. The world’s great superpower will be reduced to competing with the third world for energy, and we’ll lose. It’s already happening.

And suppose, just suppose, that we do get oil rigs up and pumping in the ANWR and off the coast of Florida. Of course, there will, at some point, be massive oil spills. We don’t have far to go to imagine what the coast of Alaska would look like – we’ve seen that several times before. But, picture, just for a moment, Miami Beach after an offshore oil spill. Or Ft. Lauderdale. How about the Tampa Bay area? Or maybe the conservatives hope that any spills in the Gulf would just float north and do New Orleans in once and for all?

And, know that the people standing in the shadows behind the Drill Here, Drill Now crowd are the oil company executives. Ah, those fine Americans, living the American dream of building profitable companies through the natural economic laws of supply and demand. Well, except that their record profits are not based on supply and demand. They’re based on corporate welfare and tax subsidies. And, if we hadn’t been subsidizing the entire oil industry, for the past 40 years, sustainable energy technologies would have been able to compete and win against fossil fuels, thereby ending our dependence on OPEC. But, of course, oil executives continue to argue that they need our tax subsidy dollars, as well as our dollars at the pump. And they’ve got their conservative pundits and bloggers out there arguing their case for them. I mean, without corporate welfare and access to every last piece of plunder-able wilderness, how could they ever put food on their families’ tables?

Yes. Drill Here! Drill Now! Destroy Everything! And don’t listen to those moonbat tree-huggers….the oil in Iraq will more than pay for the war.

Acid House Flashback # 6

2008-06-26T07:38:00.002-04:00

"Jack To The Sound Of The Underground" - Hithouse - 1988

No, Really?

2008-06-14T10:58:00.008-04:00

I really try not to utter the name of, or even make reference to, that unmentionable evil. But, sometimes you have to stand the fuck up, look evil right in it's beady little red glowing eyes and say "really Fox News? Really?"

A little history...Australian bazillionaire, Keith Rupert Murdoch, became a U.S. citizen in 1985, simply to satisfy the legal requirement that only citizens of the United States can own American television stations. Murdoch's demon creation, Faux News, rose to power in the late 1990s, and really took off when war became the new dot-com investment. Faux News built an empire by tapping into, and promoting, the xenophobic, racist, homophobic, paranoid fantasies of the undereducated, the greedy, the bitter, and the downright mean. It was a market just waiting to be exploited.

But here we are, at the end of the neo-con era, and Faux News has found itself still cheerleading for an administration that has lied to and deceived the American public, bankrupted our nation, neglected our infrastructure, lost an unwinnable war, destroyed our standing in the world, and abandoned the Constitution in favor or wiretaps and waterboards. Sure,there are still a few idiots who think that it was all worth it to stop gay marriage, but they are getting fewer by the minute.

Now, Faux's ratings are dropping. Bill O'Reilly is down. Sean Hannity is way off, and it seems even the hardcore wingnuts can't stand the whiny, and oh-so-attractive, morning fucks on "Fox and Friends". The shows are stale. The graphics are beat and the hosts are all just tired.

The pressure is on, and the desperation is showing. And, it ain't pretty. Just when the right wing needs every moderate voter they can scare into voting for McBush, Faux finds itself having to apologize, near daily, for pathetic and outrageously racist "slips" of the typed headline and tongue.

Honestly, Faux's wretched state and reckless lashing out will only spiral. The more that Obama kicks John McCain's ass in debates on Iraq and townhall meetings about the economy, the more ridiculous the tantrums will become.

And, finally, we will be able to put this Dark Age behind us.

Found But Not Lost

2008-05-31T12:00:00.006-04:00

Via Discovery.com...

Dramatic images of an isolated Brazilian tribe believed never to have had contact with the outside world were published by officials Friday to draw attention to threats posed to their way of life.

*snip*

Survival International, a British group lobbying on behalf of indigenous people around the world, said on its Web site there were fears illegal logging in Peru could endanger the Brazilian tribe's habitat, by forcing displaced Peruvian tribes into contact with it.

It said there were an estimated 500 isolated Indians living on the Brazilian side of the border.
"The world needs to wake up to this, and ensure that their territory is protected in accordance with international law. Otherwise, they will soon be made extinct," Survival International director Stephen Corry said.

His group said there were more than 100 uncontacted indigenous tribes worldwide.

Wireless Internet connections and iPhones and global positioning systems and Google Earth...and there are still groups of indigenous people living in isolation with no connection to the noisy world of things. This is a beautifully diverse and mysterious world that we live in.

I'm so intrigued, wondering what life is like for people who live, as a part of nature, as a thousand generations before them did. What do they think of the planes flying over the forest? Are they happier than we are? How do they perceive life's mysteries? Unfortunately, the pursuit of answers to these questions will mean that the people in the photo will most likely be the last of thousands of generations to live as they have.

My Audacity To Hope

2008-05-18T21:35:00.007-04:00

I'm really settling in to the realization that the disastrous neo-conservative era is finally, finally coming to a close. I have hope again that the future may not resemble a Mad Max movie after allm and I have more confidence every day that Barack Obama is going to be the next President of the United States. So, after much thought and some serious deliberation, I have assembled my Obama Administration wish list.

Vice President: Janet Napolitano

Secretary of State: Chuck Hagel

Secretary of the Treasury: Michael Bloomberg

Secretary of Defense: Wesley Clark

Attorney General: John Edwards

Secretary of the Interior: Barbara Boxer

Secretary of Agriculture: Raul Grijalva

Secretary of Commerce: Kent Conrad

Secretary of Labor: Kathleen Sebelius

Secretary of Health and Human Services: Tammy Baldwin

Secretary of Housing and Urban Development: Gwen Moore

Secretary of Transportation: Bill Richardson

Secretary of Energy: Al Gore

Secretary of Education: Carol Moseley-Braun

Secretary of Veterans Affairs: Joe Sestak

Secretary of Homeland Security: Russ Feingold

White House Press Secretary: Ellen Degeneres

First Supreme Court Justice Appointment: Hillary Clinton