Strange Happenings in Franklin Field

TvDetective and I did something highly unusual yesterday for lunch: we went to the cafeteria at the University Museum.  She wasn’t hungry, actually, so the plan was for me to eat while she watched interestedly.  But our trip to the museum took us by Franklin Field.  “What are all those people doing in the stadium?” we asked as we walked by the seemingly crowded venue.  But TvD noticed that nobody was moving.  In fact, all those fans in the stands turned out to be inflatable dummies (not unlike some of the actual attendees of the university, but that’s a different topic.)  Well, after a very tasty chicken parmesan with linguini, I ran back to my office and grabbed my D70 before heading back to the stadium to take photos.  Here’s some of what I saw:

      

Apparently they’re filming a movie called “Invincible,” a movie about former Philadelphia Eagles wide reciever Vince Papale and starring Mark Wahlberg and Greg Kinnear.  Gotta get me over there and get my photo with Marky Mark.  Maybe he’ll do me while he’s at it.  Hey.  A guy can dream….

To clean the impossible clean

I did it!  I wasn’t even sure it could be done, but I did it—possibly because Fishy is out of town  (Kidding, Fishy! Kidding!)  After discovering ants in the house, I made a vow to clean the house totally, utterly, and completely.  Fishy didn’t believe me, I don’t think, but I was—and am—dead serious.  As proof of concept, I proudly present my living room, before and after:

  

  

You may now congratulate me.  Next stop: the bedroom.

Weakness

In another moment of bubble tea weakness, I bought another bubble tea.  Jasmine Green, non-latte.  Mmmmmm.  Non-latte…  Actually, it wasn’t so much a moment of weakness, because i’d been planning it for two hours ahead of time, but if I call it a moment, I feel so much less guilty.

Hmmm.  I was just going to say that I deserve a bubble tea as a reward for biting my nails less lately (I’ve been biting my nails less lately.  In fact, I’ve been barely biting my nails at all.)  I started wearing a rubber band (just a plain brown one from the mail room—not a WWJD or Lance Armstrong one) on my wrist so I could snap it every time I caught myself biting my nails, and that really seems to have done the trick.  But not long after I started wearing it, I also stopped drinking caffeine and sugar drinks.  So it just struck me that possibly the lack of sugar and caffeine is related to my decreased nail-biting! 

Either way, with actual fingernails at my disposal again, Fishy will have almost no reason to bruise me anymore.  Not that he really needs an excuse…

Caf-fiend

I am trying SO FREAKING HARD to give up caffeine and sugar drinks completely, but it is so much more difficult than I’d imagined.  I’ve successfully gone a week without coffee, but I had a Jasmine Green bubble tea today (thanks to Melba Lee for introducing me to those bad boys) and MAN did it hit the spot. I wish I’d gotten a jumbo instead of a regular. The sugar is almost harder to give up than the caffeine.   But I’m pretty much off soda entirely (although there are those times when you just need a Coke, like at a picnic or something like that), and I haven’t had a snapple or similar beverage in months.  When does it get easier??

Buzz...Buzz...BITE!

I got bitten by a mosquito inside my own home last nite.  I completely blame Fishy for this outrage.  If he’d been home, the mosquito would’ve gone after him instead.   I never get bitten when Fishy is around.  Um…except by Fishy, of course.

 

No offense to Catholics but...

You may remember that Pope Benedict XVI—formerly a member of the Hitler youth, and a man whose anti-contraceptive policies have directly caused the infection and death of thousands and thousands of Africans from HIV ( In South Africa alone, 600-1,000 people are thought to die every day because of Aids. )—referred to gay unions as “anarchic.”  Now the Catholic Church—known for its criminal conspiracy to cover up the ongoing rape of small children for several decades in order to protect its own reputation and bank account— has “attacked Canada's legalization of gay marriage, calling it a distortion of God's plan for the family.”  Just thought you should know God’s representative on Earth is upto these days.

 

 

TvDetective Quote #6

“I wish I could show you my inner thigh—I have bug bites in the shape of the big dipper.”

Ann Coulter, Plagiarist

It’s always good to see Ann Coulter getting recognized for the lowlife she really is.

New Nominee pt 2.

Ok, I’d like to amend my earlier prediction.   I’ve decided that Roberts will get confirmed.  Despite his almost non-existent record to judge him by (which should be a reason to keep him off the court on its own, IMHO), there’s not much in the way of good reasons to vote him down or filibuster him.  So now i think Roberts will be confirmed, and that Gonzalez or someone similarly moderate (on the subject of abortion, anyway) will be nominated when Renquist steps down or dies.

Consultation

Bush was just saying that he consulted with over 70 members of the Senate, both Democrats and Republicans.  Now, what the heck was the point of that?  He picked someone that any liberal in their right mind would despise (from a political standpoint, anyway).  So what was all that consulting b.s. about?

New Nominee

As we all know by now, our President has nominated John G. Roberts as his nominee to the United States Supreme Court to fill the slot recently vacated by Sandra Day O’Connor.  Not surprisingly, he has chosen a devisive nominee rather than a consensus candidate.  Since the Presidnet hasn’t even given his speech yet, we don’t know a lot about this man other than the fact that he wants to overturn Roe v. Wade. and is pro-corporate and anti-environment.

Given that such a justice would tip the balance of the court in the other direction.  This serves two purposes in my mind: First, it will overjoy the religious right who form the core voters that got Bush and his cronies (or is that the other way around?) into office.  Second, it will all but ensure a filibuster in the Senate, and Bush will ultimately have to nominate a more moderate candidate.

Bush knows this.  In fact, he’s depending on it.  The last thing that the GOP wants is to do is overturn Roe v. Wade.  They need it as a rallying issue.  Without abortion, the religious right won’t vote in the same numbers.

I could be wrong.  In fact, I hope I’m wrong—more on that later—but that’s my prediction: Roberts won’t get confirmed, and a more moderate candidate will be nominated.

Sunset

I acknowledge that we are living in exceptional times, and that given the nature of crimes of terrorism, exceptional measures need to be taken.  That is, more-or-less, the rationale under which the so-called Patriot Act was passed.  But let us not forget: these are exceptional measures.  These are *clear* violations of our civil rights—violations which Americans have agreed to because they are willing to make a temporary sacrifice in order to insure domestic tranquility and provide for the common defense.

But since they’re exceptions, since they are blatant violations of the principles we hold dear, why not have sunset provisions for them?  Why would you want to make such morally offensive laws permanent? If the Patriot Act remains both effective and necessary, then Congress should gladly extend the expiration date a few more years at which time we can reconsider it. If not, then they will gracefully expire.

As for the argument that these provisions don’t NEED an expiration date, that Congress can repeal them any time it wants, I don’t buy it.  The sunset provisions force the Patriot Act back onto the agenda, force the American people to discuss it and to reevaluate whether it’s still necessary.

Republicans of all people should be more than glad to put an expiration date on laws that extend government’s power to such a ridiculous degree.  But instead—either out of blind loyality to their party leadership, fear of their party leadership, or out of sheer ignorance—they’re pushing the Patriot Act harder than ever.

 

 

Holy mother of crap it's hot!

You’re probably wondering what all of us here at the Itchy Lot are doing to beat this swampy, oppressive heat storm we’re all suffering through here in the city of Philadelphia.  Well, not having been brought up by our mommas to be fools, we’ve taken a multi-pronged approach:

1. Air Conditioner.  We have window units (although I’ll be glad to accept any donations toward a central-air installation) in 3 rooms.  In the interest of saving money, however, it’s also advisable to spend as much time as possible at Borders or Barnes & Noble, where you can spend hours reading books and enjoying a far more enjoyable climate, all for the cost of a bus token.

2. Ceiling and window Fans.  Where A/C is not possible we use the ceiling fans installed by previous residents. Window fans can also be highly effective if you open windows (yes, Fishy, I know: open more than one window on each floor.) and the air outside is cooler than the inside.

3. Eat cold food.  My favorite way to stay cool is to eat a dish of frozen grapes when I come in from the heat.  You don’t want to let these suckers thaw too much because they get mushy.  But a good, sweet, frozen green seedless grape is a thing of wonder.  You can bet the early American settlers heading west in the summertime would’ve killed for a treat like this.  Even Fishy, who once dismissed frozen grapes as “just wrong,” now enjoys them along with me, meaning I have to keep more on stock since they disappear that much faster. 

The other great cold food I like to eat is frozen watermelon.  You get a nice ripe sweet watermelon, cut it into cubes, and freeze it.  Then, when the heatwave strikes, you dump the cubes into a food processor and grind it into watermelon waterice.  Of course, this requires a bit more work than just rinsing some grapes and sticking them in the freezer for later enjoyment, but it’s worth it.  Also, because of the extra work involved, I don’t have to worry about Fishy eating it all on his own.

Biden for Prez! (Not!)

From “Seeing the Forest”:

“I have three sound reasons for despising Senator Biden. The first is his singular role in passing the legislative abomination that was called bankruptcy reform. The second reason is that he is a warmonger lite Democrat who has been spinelessly supportive of Bush's Iraq war. The third reason I despise Senator Biden is that he continually refers to George Bush as a "good man." George Bush is not a good man and Senator Biden is contemptible for saying he is.”

I’ll agree with that, but I’ll throw in one more reason (there are more, but I have to stop somewhere):  When Howard Dean came out and started criticizing the Republicans (FINALLY!!), Biden was one of the Democrats who criticized DEAN instead of standing behind him. For Pete’s sake! The GOP is running our country into the ground and Biden decides to criticize other Democrats instead!

Biden is no friend to the American people.  If he’s going to cozy up to the administration the way he’s been doing, he may as well just switch parties while he’s at it.

 

My Mean Boy

The similarities of Fishy with this Mean Girl, Annie, are almost disturbing.  Two quick examples:

1.  Annie: I wish I was strong enough to break your arm in half!

2.  Chris: Ow!
     Annie: Haha—whatever you did!

Those of you know Fishy understand.

Cingular Signal Sucks in City of DC

Sorry, couldn’t figure out a way to alliterate that last word.  We’ve been having a lot of problems (read: every single phone call) with Fishy’s phone in Washington, DC.  We’re both former ATT customers, and therefore now we’re Cingular customers. And every time we’re on the phone together, the call gets dropped. Doesn’t matter if he has 1 bar or 5 bars.  We know it’s his phone and not mine because it even happens when I’m on the land line.  My phone is an older, TDMA Nokia, and I love it.  It has no color. It has no camera.  It has no mp3 ringtones.  But it makes phonecalls, and what the hell else do you really need a phone to do?  Fishy’s GSM Motorola V60 (which neither of us have been happy with, even though we were looking forward to it for months before it’s release) does all sorts of crazy stuff, but drops calls left and right, at least in DC on the Cingular network.  We’re talking about switching to Verizon as soon as we can.

I was going to ask if anyone out there was having the same issue (not that anyone EVER leaves comments) but apparently we’re not alone in this problem.  A quick google search brings back plenty of recent problems with Cingular dropping calls or kicking you straight into voicemail all over the country.  Here’s a recent post on Engadget.  One person even thinks it’s a scam to get customers to use more minutes, constantly calling each other back plus checking their voicemail for the missed calls.  Seems highly doubtful to me.  Providing shitty service (as Cingular is currently doing) is no way to endear yourself to customers who have proven themselves (as a group) more than willing to switch to a different Network if it suits their needs at the moment.  Especially now that we can take our numbers with us.

Anyway, I told Fishy to call Cingular and find out what’s up.  If customers don’t complain and start switching networks, then they really don’t have much motivation to fix the problem.  So if you’re having dropped calls with Cingular, call them and complain.

Paper Mario, Finished at Last!

  It has been a day of finishings.  First, I finished Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince—an accomplishment of 650 pages in 36 hours (less, actually, because I was at a family event for a lot of that time).  Then, tonite I finally finished Paper Mario: the 1000 Year Door.  Joe lent it to me and I’m proud to say I finally conquered is after 85 hours of game playing.  Don’t let that discourage you from playing it yourself.  It would be easily doable in more like 60 hours but i spent a lot of time exploring.  Anyway, it’s good to have it done.  That leaves just two more games in my queue: Metroid Prime 2 and the new Zelda game, the latter of which isn’t out yet and the former of which Joe isn’t done with yet.  This makes me happy because i have a wonderful sense of accomplishment for having finished a fun game, and it will make Fishy happy because i’m out of games to play and no longer have any excuse not to clean the house.  Hmmm… ok, so maybe I don’t have as much reason to be happy as Fishy does about this, but at least for tonite i’m in a good mood about it.  Tomorrow, I’ll clean.

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Noddy and I reserved our copies of the new Harry Potter ahead of time so we didn't have to wait in line as long as the people who didn't reserve theirs. (We were #164 and #165 in a line of at least 400-500 people at the Barnes & Noble — or “Barnes and Nobles,” as Fishy would say.). They started selling the books right at midnight (the whole store counted down the last 20 seconds together). There were reporters both from newspapers and at least 2 tv networks interviewing enthusiastic customers:

        

I had finished the 650–page book about 36 hours later, spending every free moment with my face buried in the pages.  At one point, as my family drove back from Slower Delaware in the dark, I had to resort to reading in the back seat by the light of my iPod.)  As you have probably heard, another character dies in the book, so, as with #5 (Order of the Phoenix), I wanted to read it before I heard about it from someone else, or accidentally read one of the many spoilers already out there on the web.   (The Wikipedia already has a full chapter-by-chapter plot summary of the entire book, along with cross references, and the book hasn’t even been out for 2 days yet!)

The homeless in Canada are so much more creative

We saw this guy on Yonge Street in Toronto. I don’t know if it’s something in the water or air or the culture, but when’s the last time you saw someone in THIS country holding a sign like this:

He was actually in the background of a photo I took of Fishy, but I cut Fishy out of the photo so he wouldn’t get mad at me.  (Are you happy?? Huh?? Are you??)

TvDetective Quote #5

Here’s the second one:

“If I were a guy, I would totally want to date a slut like me.”

TvDetective Quote #4

You know, she is just FULL of the most amazing things.  We just went out for a Friday afternoon Frappuccino and she came up with two doozies.  Here’s the first:

“I’m getting horny; I feel like I have a penis.”

Sears Sucks

I am not happy with Sears right now.  I bought a freezer from them last year—a freezer that I have loved in every way but carnally. A freezer that has changed my life for the better.   A freezer that BROKE almost EXACTLY when the warrantee expired.  I salvaged what I could and crammed it into the tiny freezer upstairs that sits in the top part of the refrigerator, but still lost quite a bit of meat and some frozen fruit.  So that was bad enough.

But then I called their repair line and set up an appointment for today between 1pm and 5pm (which sucks, but it’s better than “between 9am and 5pm,” right?).  I was even impressed with how easy it was to use their automated system, and I DESPISE automated systems.  So I went home early from work today, using vacation time so I could be there for the repairman. At 3:00 I get a call from Sears.  I assumed it was the repairman telling me he was on his way.  But NO!  It’s someone in some office calling to tell me that the repairman couldn’t make it and they’d need to reschedule. (I commented to Fishy that at least it was 3pm and not 5pm.  And he rightly responded, “At least they bothered calling at all!”)

I believe my exact words in response were, “ARRRGGGHHHHHH!”  The lady wasn’t rude, but she wasn’t overly friendly, either.  She said her next appointment was next thursday between 1 and 5.  But I’d already fallen for that one before, so I (somewhat rudely) cut her off and said, “Do you have anything AFTER 5?  Or on a weekend?  I lost a lot of money so I could be home for the repairman today.”  She said the repairmen are in a union and don’t work in the evenings, but she has an opening in a week (A WEEK!) on Saturday morning between 8 and 12.  I asked her if I could please be FIRST, and she said that a computer made up the repairmen’s schedules and she didn’t have any control, but that I should be a higher priority since I was rescheduled.

So to sum up: 

• My freezer breaks like clockwork as soon as the warrantee is over, meaning I will have to pay for a repair that is clearly Sears’s fault to begin with.
  
• I have to miss several hours of work (and therefore the money I get paid for those hours) so that I can be there to meet a technician.
  
• That technician does not show up when promised, meaning I wasted those hours of work and lost that money for NOTHING.
  
• I now have to get up at 8–freaking-am on a Saturday morning so that I can go through this whole thing all over again.

How could this problem have been averted, you’re probably wondering.  Well, I’m glad you asked.

1. Build freezers that don’t break after only a year of use.  The refridgerator in my kitchen is probably 15 years old at least and still running strong, and I’m in and out of that thing all the time, yanking on the doors, dragging it across the floor so I can clean under it, leaving the doors open while I clean the inside of the fridge, etc. and I haven’t had a problem with that thing once.  But a freezer that just sits in the basement, running quietly, getting its doors open maybe 3–4 times a week if that?  It falls apart if you so much as look at it funny.  If my freezer is a strange fluke, then don’t charge me for the repair—who knows? Maybe they won’t?

2. Make your repairmen work in the evenings. You know, when people are actually home and don’t have to lose a bunch of cash out of their paychecks because YOUR product broke in the first place?  Hire non-union repairmen for the evenings if you have to.

3.  If you say you’re going to show up between 1–5pm then show up between 1–5pm.  Don’t schedule so many appointments, or else hire more repairmen.  If that repairman had just shown up on time, I wouldn’t be sitting here typing this now.  But since they can’t keep their word, I’m blogging the hell out of how pissed I am at Sears, hoping that other people read this post and decide to shop somewhere else instead.

Photoshop Blog

Am I the only one who thinks that the Photoshop Blog sucks?  It’s not the content that bothers me, but the design.  It is one of the most cluttered, hard-to-read pages I’ve ever come across.  And I’ve seen some real crap.  I don’t know what it is exactly, but every time I go to the page (which is every day or two—gotta keep current, after all!), I just see this big blur of words that makes me sigh in the way that you sigh when your boss hands you a huge file of papers to work on says, “I want this done by the end of the day.”  It’s like wading waist-deep through a swamp.  The Unofficial Photoshop Blog, although not wonderful, is much more pleasant to deal with.  Bright high(er)-contrast colors that don’t make me want to fall asleep, bigger font size, etc.   I’m just disappointed with the Photoshop Blog.  You kind of expect more from a blog about a product that is all about graphic design.

Radical Right Kills a 3-year old Faggot

At Equality Forum this year, the regular bigot protesters showed up, spewing their usual batch of hatred under the guise of Christianity. I was taking their photograph as the main preacher went on about what abominations and perverts gays and lesbians were. “Why else do you think the suicide rate is so high among homosexual teens?” he asked. Well, next thing you know I hear this voice coming out of my mouth. “BECAUSE OF PEOPLE LIKE YOU!” It was actually pretty amazing; I never lose my temper. I get angry, but I don’t lose control like that. It was literally like I was watching myself yell back but without any control over my own words. He really hit a nerve with the suicide comment. “No, it’s not because of people like us,” he said, much more calmly than I had spoken to him. “OF COURSE IT’S BECAUSE OF PEOPLE LIKE YOU! You stand here and call us perverts and abominations! What the fuck do you think is going to happen to impressionable young people who hear that sort of crap from their parents and friends and ministers?!” Ok, I said “fuck,” and I do regret it. Not a good idea when you’re trying to make a point, but I was completely out of control. “No, it’s not because of people like us…” he went on to tell me not to swear, insult my masculinity, and then went on with some other stuff that i stopped paying attention to.

“Not because of people like us.” Uh huh… A man was recently arrested for murdering his three year old son. Apparently he thought the boy might be gay and started beating the crap ouf of him in order to teach him to box. The boy’s mother said that the father “would make the boy fight with him, slapping the child in the head until he cried or wet himself. She said that on one occasion Paris slammed the child against a wall because he was vomiting.” THREE YEARS OLD!

The fact that this happened in the state of Florida should surprise no one.

Where do you think this man learned the values that told him he should beat the crap out of his 3-year old son because he thought he was gay? That gay people are so worthless and such abominations that slamming a tiny boy against a wall and sending him to the hospital is preferable to letting him grow up to be gay, even if you COULD tell he was gay at the age of THREE? He learned it from listening to his parents, his neighbors, the minister in his church.

So, to the so-called “Christians” who protested at Equality Forum this year, and especially to the preacher I yelled at, I just wanted to say again, in print and on the record: THIS IS BECAUSE OF PEOPLE LIKE YOU.

Ironically, I was just laughing two weeks ago at this story in the Onion, “New Dad Thinks Baby Might Be Gay” It’s not so funny anymore.

I have long been a person who thought that the best way dealing with the wingnut wacko protesters at gay pride events is to ignore them. That if you pretend they aren't there, then they'll just go away. But it's not true. They don't go away. They breed and multiply and grow like a virus or a malignant tumor, slowly taking over more and more of society until finally a man kills his three year old son out of pure homo-hatred. We cannot ignore these people. We must take them on. I am not suggesting violence, no matter how much violence they commit against us. But we must engage them. We need to bar them from our events (physically if necessary) when we can, we need to engage them in conversation and make them see the error of their ways if possible, and we need to out-shout them and shield them from public view if they won't engage us back. We need to fight them in the courts. We need to fight them in PTA meetings and in college classrooms. We need to stand up in the middle of a hate-filled sermon at church and tell the minister and congregation that sort of thing is WRONG. We need to fight the GOP's anti-gay platform both from without and from the inside. We need to hold Democrats to the standards and values that, as liberals, they claim to have. We need to draw attention to tragedies like the 3 year-old in Florida.

If you are doing these things, great. If you're not doing them, start. The best, most powerful thing you can do is to come out of the closet if you're in it. I think I've changed more minds simply by being an out, visible gay person than anything else I've done. I changed the way my parents vote by telling them I'm gay. I remember my mother saying to my father after Pat Buchanan's infamous speech of vitriol at the 1992 Republican National Convention, "I don't see how we can possibly vote Republican. I just don't think it's an option." Is it easy? No. And it requires some sacrifice, but anything that's worth doing, does.

Overpaid Spokesperson

I'm thinking Scott McClellan is overpaid. Instead of spending tax dollars on his salary, couldn't we just have an intern go out and put a big sign on the podium that says, "No Comment," thank everyone for coming to the daily briefing, and then leave?

Toronto: Thursday

After we checked into Le Meridien, I washed my shorts in the sink to get the coffee stain out and then ironed them to get them as dry as I could. Then we headed out and walked up Yonge St. looking for the gay neighborhood. We didn't find it, but we did find plenty of cool stuff. Fishy was nearing that stage of hunger where he gets dangerously close to hurting other people, so we ate at an Indian buffet, which was quite tasty and relatively reasonably priced ($8.99/each). I ended lunch with a small bowl of vanilla ice cream. Then we walked back down Yonge and stopped at a lot of the cool stores we'd seen on our way up, mostly comicbook stores. Apparently we were in the comic district or something. My favorite was actually the smallest one, the Hairy Tarantula. I liked it because of this guy working there. I'm too tired now to remember half of what he said, but he's originally from Detroit, and he got to talking about the bombing in London today, and then he started talking about 9/11, and how America has changed and what people from the Midwest ("my people") are like now compared to how they used to be. Apparently they're just dead inside now, they've given up. Then he started talking about that zombie dog story that's been going around. I don't really know how to describe this guy, but he was awesome. Well, in small doses, anyway. I can imagine he might wear on you after awhile, but he certainly had a lot of personality. The other comic book stores were just businesses whereas this one had personality. Like I said, I'm tired and I can't really explain what I'm talking about now. More late, hopefully.

Fishy Quote #8

On the issue of entering his name under mine on my customs form as we entered Canada:

"I don't want to be in a big gay database!"

Leg Two: Detroit to Toronto

The flight to Toronto was very fast, only an hour total in the air. It was very uneventful with no more hot fluids poured onto my body. We filled out the customs form. Fishy's laziness won out over his paranoia (see next entry for his quote of concern about both of us appearing on the same customs form) and he just added his name onto my form instead of filling out all of the info on his own separate form.

We went through customs when we arrived at Toronto. Fishy tried to get in to the line operated by the cute customs official, but another guy called us over to his line instead. He was businesslike but friendly, and we pretty much zipped through.

Almost right away once we got near the exit, this guy comes out of nowhere and tries to get us to ride on his shuttle bus. We was a little too Used-Car-Salesman-like, so i did my best (ultimately successful) to get rid of him. We ended up taking a taxi to the hotel instead for a few dollar more, but it saved over an hour in time, so it was worth it. The taxi was so nice! Clean, and it didn't have one of those awful walls that separate the passengers in the back seat from the driver. It was a very pleasant experience.

Oh, one more thing. While we were still in the airport, this woman's voice comes over the PA system and announces that a Catholic Mass will be held in a few minutes in Terminal 3. We were both like WTF?! In retrospect, it was probably being held because of the bombing in London today, but even so, that is just bizarre to 1) have a mass in the airport terminal, and 2) to announce it publically over the airport's PA system. I think people would probably picket the airport if that happened in America.

The hotel (Le Meridien, King Edward VII) is apparently a 4-star hotel. It's very attractive, but neither one of us is sure what exactly constitutes a 4-star hotel, other than perhaps the price. I mean, it's just a place you sleep and keep your crap while you're running around town. What special amenities would you expect a 4-star hotel to provide that a 3-star hotel or 2-star hotel wouldn't have? As long as I have a clean bed and my own bathroom, what more would I want?

First Leg: Philly to Detroit

We made it to the airport on time. I was going to get coffee before we got on the plane, but the only place that had any post-security check was Burger King, and there was a huge line there, probably for that very reason. While we were waiting for the boarding announcement, there was this incredibly cute boy waiting for the same plane. We later learned his name was Grant. He was ridiculously good looking. Preppy, nice hair. He looks like he could be Jeremy Lory's long lost brother. I actually looked at him several times wondering if it were in fact Jeremy, in which case I would have asked him if I could get my picture taken with him. When we got on the plane, he sat right across the aisle from him, and neither one of us could keep our eyes off of him. He kept looking at us, too, but of course you never know if somoene like that is looking at you, or just wondering why the hell you're staring at him in the first place.

The plane to Detroit was fine. Although the flight attendant spilled very hot coffee in my lap (apparently I should have just gotten it at Burger King after all), but he was very very nice about it, and I just decided to live with a coffee stain for the rest of the day. And portion of the coffee that stayed in the cup was actually quite tasty. They didn't give me much sugar, but I always have a packet of Splenda or two in my wallet or bookbag for emergencies. I find all-Splenda doesn't taste very good, but Spenda as a supplement to white sugar works very nicely and I usually can't taste anything artificial.

I otherwise occupied myself with my iPod, listening to the Shins' "Chutes Too Narrow" and a great binaural album I have called "Sounds of Old New Orleans," both of which I highly recommend.

Wild Blue Yonder

Who knew that there was a 5:00 in the MORNING too? Well, I gues I'd heard rumors, but now I know for sure. We went to bed at 1am and we're catching a plane at 7:30 to Toronto, so we got up at five. FIVE!

We're going to a wedding, and then staying a few more days after that. I'm too tired to type more, and we have to leave for the airport in 17 minutes.

I had a bowl of All Bran and now I have to finish packing. Talk to you all soon.

--------------------------

Holy crap. It's 5:43am and the skateboarders are going by outside my house. What's up with that? I can hear them roll by as I type. They're usually out there rolling around pretty late, too.

Let's get ready to rumble!

Patrick Leahy just made an extraordinary comment on the Jim Lehrer News Hour (or whatever it’s called now).  He said he hoped that the President’s nominee for Sandra Day O’Connor’s seat on the Supreme Court was someone who would unite and not divide the country, so that the issue of a filibuster wouldn’t even arise.  I say it’s extraordinary because the thought of such a nominee hadn’t even crossed my mind.  I can’t even imagine the President nominating someone who won’t draw a party-line or close-to-party-line (there are always a few senators who think the Senate’s job is to rubber stamp the Presdient’s nominees.  I don’t vote for those Senators.) vote.  But wow, wouldn’t it be wonderful?  Imagine a nominee that would get 75%+ of the vote in the Senate!!

Patchouli Farts

Were u ever on an elevator and someone farted, and then they got off, and then a floor or two later someone else got on and you KNOW they blamed you for the smell?  That happened to me today, I think. Well, kind of. This semi goth/punk guy wearing dark rayban-esque sunglasses and spiked leather wrist bands, some incredible tattoos, and an ugly little goatee that any sane person would hold him down and shave off,  was wearing patchouli oil.  Lots of patchouli oil.  Ugh.  I’ve never been a fan of the stuff in general, but in high doses it’s almost lethal.  Anyway, he got off on the first floor, and some other people got on, and of course the odor lingered long after goth boy was gone.  And the other two people kept eyeing me for the rest of the (thankfully short) elevator ride.  And I’m pretty sure it wasn’t just because i look so damned good today.

Someone should put a warning label on Jennifer Garner

Hasn’t anyone figured out yet that Jennifer Garner is nothing but trouble?  She left her husband Scott Foley for Alias co-star Michael Vartan.  Then she dumped Michael’s heart-broken ass for Elektra co-star Ben Affleck.  How many lives must this woman destroy before someone stops her?   Don’t get me wrong:  I love her to tears.  I practically wet myself every time she puts on a new disguise in Alias (btw, my favorite was DEFINITELY when she played the computer geek, an homage to co-worker Marshall), but i thank my lucky stars I’m just some gay gay from Philly and not a youngish, ruggedly-handsome heterosexual tv/movie star she can chew up and spit out like a piece of gum that’s lost it’s flavor.

Here’s my advice to Ben:  keep her on a short leash.  Tell her her acting career is over—no more tv shows or movies with studly co-stars.  I give their marriage 2 years at the VERY most.  Maybe more if he can keep her barefoot and pregnant, but the woman doesn’t exactly have birthing hips. 

Test Entry

Just testing blogjet.  here goes…

 

 

Coffee Buzz

I love coffee. I hate being addicted to it, it's true, and I ween myself off it at the end of every winter. But I love the way I feel about 10 minutes after I finish a cup. I feel artistic and powerful and creative. I have a zillion ideas and the feeling that I can accomplish them all. Why can't I keep that feeling all the time, and why can't i achieve it without a cup of coffee?

No More Movies

The Taipei Times asks "Are movies dying?" because people aren't going to Movie Theaters anymore. Hmmm. Why could that be? Well, let me tell you why *I* don't go as often as I used to. And I'll say from the get go, I *love* seeing movies on the big screen. There are many movies that just aren't worth watching on DVD.

1. Movies cost $10+ anymore. I don't know who these people are who can afford $10 a pop for a movie (imagine taking a family of 5!), but I sure as heck ain't one of them. Where are the 2nd run theaters in Philly, anyway? I'd be glad to see 4 or 5 movies a month at $5 each, the way I used to. In order to justify the expense of seeing a movie (not to mention refreshments), a movie has to be basically *critical* to my life in order for me to justify seeing it. LOTR, Star Wars, etc. There were a bunch of movies I gladly would have seen on the big screen, but not for the kind of dough it would cost.

2. So many movies released today are crap. This alone isn't TOO much of a reason not to see movies, but in conjunction with price it's a total deal breaker. Hollywood pretty much just pumps out remakes of old classics (I'd much rather just see the old classic. If it was good enough to spend millions remaking it, then it's probably not going to be easy to improve on.) and whatever crappy little stories it can make a bunch of money on in merchandising and product placement even if the movie bombs in the theaters. Occasionally I see an ad for one and think, "that sounds OK, I guess. I'd watch it if someone else paid for it." but it's not good enough to justify spending $10 on.

3. People talk during movies. I don't know when this started happening, but people are incredibly rude. A quick whisper here or there to a friend is one thing, but for Pete's sake people actually have conversations! They answer their freaking phones (which should have been turned off in the first place)! We pretty much only see movies in the suburbs now, because everything in Philly is filled with people who talk, and (again with the money, I know) I'm not paying $10 to hear someone talk to their friend during the whole movie.

4. DVD and Netflix. I'll admit it, there are often films out where we say, "Eh. We'll get it on video." There are movies that, if they weren't available later on DVD, we would probably go see in the theater instead.