Untangling the latest GOP gay scandal From: Americablog: Untangling the latest GOP gay scandal by Pam Spaulding · 9/11/2007 05:16:00 PM ET Discuss this post here: Comment I was on the Michelangelo Signorile Show (Sirius Satellite Radio's channel 109 OutQ) this afternoon to wade through the latest convoluted, woefully under-reported GOP scandal -- the bizarre murder-suicide in Florida of a Republican consultant and two of his "friends". Some of the facts we discussed:* the bodies of Republican political consultant Ralph Gonzalez, 39, president of The Strategum Group, his roommate David Abrami and "a friend," Jason Robert Drake, were found in the house of Ralph Gonzalez.* Gonzalez served with the Republican Party of Florida's House Campaign Division and executive director of the Georgia Republican Party and counted the Alabama Republican Legislative Committee as a client, producing an anti-gay flier accusing a Dem candidate of supporting marriage equality.* A newspaper, Florida Today, initially reported that there were signs of a struggle, printing "Lovers' fight may have sparked three deaths" as its headline. The paper later scrubbed any references to a love triangle.* BradBlog has shown the ties between Gonzalez and Florida's vote-tampering congressman, Tom Feeney. From Pat Go Bye Bye: Gonzalez, who was out to his friends, had ties to Ralph Reed when he took over the Georgia Republican Party and used unethical tactics to beat Senator Max Cleland. He was also the campaign chair for the ethically-challenged Tom Feeney's congressional campaign as well as his state rep campaign after which Feeney became house speaker and got involved in a software-buying scandal involving Yang Enterprise. Feeney is best known for his vote-rigging scheme (which has ties to an unexplained death of a Florida state investigator in Valdosta GA), Jack Abramoff, and a variety of unethical smear tactics against Democratic candidates.* Republican Congressman Patrick McHenry has ties to Gonzalez and Drake, the latter was determined to be the shooter in the murder-suicide. * McHenry's office initially denied knowing Drake but confirmed later that McHenry did know him, but didn't specify the nature of the relationship. * Drake was also allegedly tied to a gay escort service in Virginia; the prostitution angle -- and who it extends to -- is very murky at this point, with few sources on the record.The people and relationships involved are almost too convoluted to follow; here's more:* Patrick McHenry is also affiliated with outed former National Field Director of the RNC Dan Gurley. According to NC Conservative, McHenry "owes his seat to Dan Gurley" -- with Gurley working with Robert Drake on McHenry's behalf.* McHenry's apparently a good friend of the former National Young Republican Chairman, Glenn Murphy. Yes, that Glenn Murphy -- the one arrested for sexually assaulting a sleeping man, performing oral sex on him (image of police report here). McHenry supported him for the National Young Republican Chairmanship.* Pat's deputy field director Brett Keeter blew a 0.13 on a DWI, recently and received a two-week suspension and alcohol education classes. Keeter, as a Region IV director of North Carolina Federation of Young Republicans allegedly also pressured the College Republicans National Committee to endorse Glenn Murphy for the chairmanship.* Another big problem for McHenry recently was the saga of Michael Aaron Lay, field coordinator for McHenry's 2004 campaign. He was indicted for voter fraud in North Carolina. At the time Lay was listed as a resident in a home owned by 32-year-old McHenry but campaign records indicate Lay's paychecks were sent to an address in Tennessee. McHenry won the primary by only 86 votes. According to Gaston County, North Carolina District Attorney Locke Bell, Lay was indicted on Monday, May 7 by a local grand jury. Lay accepted deferred prosecution on Aug. 8 and with unsupervised probation for six months. More than one man was listed as living at McHenry's address, btw (he has scans of the documentation on the site). No less than three other men listed their residence as McHenry's pad in Cherryville, NC. I have no idea what that's about, but it surely is worthy of investigation.And if you thought that was all that was dogging Patrick McHenry, take a look at the latest bit of business passed on today -- at least $182,000 of McHenry's 2004 campaign funds ($923,975) came from an organization donating under fraudulent circumstances. That's almost 20% of McHenry's campaign war chest. Who is behind that? It just keeps on coming, folks. Via Pat Go Bye-Bye and BlueNC: Last week the Citizens Club for Growth PAC paid $350,000 to settle an FEC lawsuit which arose after the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee filed a complaint with the FEC in 2003 alleging that the group was violating federal election laws. After an investigation, the FEC concluded that the 527 was required to register as a political action committee because it was accepting contributions and engaging in activities intended to influence the outcome of federal elections.According to FEC Schedule E report the Citizens Club for Growth had funneled the McHenry donations through an organization called Red Sea LLC: Red Sea LLC1111 19th Street NWSuite 211Washington, DC 20036Purpose of Expenditure: tv air buyThis Committee SUPPORTS The Following Candidate: PATRICK TIMOTHY MCHENRYCandidate ID: H4NC10047Office Sought: House of RepresentativesState is North Carolina in District 10Date Expended = 08/12/2004Amount Expended = $49790.00Calendar YTD Per Election for Office Sought = $182440.7Red Sea is an invention of a former communications director for the disgraced Tom DeLay, Jonathan M. Baron.That said, McHenry isn't the only pol who benefited from Citizen's Club for Growth -- but the Congressman from NC only won his primary by an 84-vote margin, so it's clearly relevant to look into, as well as any other irregularities in McHenry's financial documentation.The mainstream media is negligent if it doesn't get off its duff and investigate all of this. What does it all add up to? Who knows. Anyway, that's just another look at the outer edges of the sordid tales. You can read more at Pat Go Bye-Bye, Scrutiny Hooligans, BlueNC, Howie Klein at Down With Tyranny, Judson Cox at NC Conservative, and InterstateQ (and here).***For a gut-busting take on some of this fracas, read The General's "Can Rep. McHenry's Hostel for Strapping Young Republican Lads survive this?" -- a letter sent to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. A snippet: I'm especially worried about Rep. Patrick McHenry. His name seems to be coming up a lot in connection with that GOP heterosexual naked wrestling triangle's murder-suicide investigation. One of the dead men, anti-homosexual political strategist and former executive director of the Georgia Republican Committee Ralph Gonzalez, was connected with a service that would send men to hotel rooms to help husbands get what they wanted. He is also said to have been Rep. McHenry's close personal friend, perhaps even a former guest of Rep. McHenry's Hostel for Strapping Young Republican Lads.How do you expect him to explain himself if it comes out that he too loves to occasionally suck a little soldier in a completely heterosexual manner? You've pretty much sealed his fate, haven't you? Perhaps you've sealed your fate as well, and Grahams and Dryers too for that matter. Labels: GOP culture of corruption, Patrick McHenry, Republican sexual hypocrites
posted by Basic Muscle at 3:26 AM 9.08.2007 Bush: We're kicking ass in Iraq". From: The Huffington Post
If "kicking ass" means thousands of innocent people are dying because of his greed, then we must be kicking ass.Posted By Ace, Orange Count California : September 6, 2007 5:38 pmI'm glad to hear that the President is so down to earth and can tell it like it is.Posted By Jarred, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma : September 6, 2007 5:38 pm
He's the president of the most powerful nation on Earth and he says, "We're kicking ass," like he's talking about a Texas high school football team.Posted By Logan, Huntington, WV : September 6, 2007 5:38 pm
Another crude comment from a fool cowboy who causes other people to die, but who can't even prove he served his time in the military!Posted By Ross, Manlius, NY : September 6, 2007 5:38 pm
Really? How many Troops have died in this senseless war again?Posted By Becky, Euless, TX : September 6, 2007 5:41 pm
Whose ass? The American peoples'?Posted By bvt, Elko, Nevada : September 6, 2007 5:41 pm"
We're kicking ass,", "Fantastic Freedom Institute" and "replenish ol' coffers". Can he get any more adolescent?Posted By Arkay, Detrot, MI : September 6, 2007 5:41 pm
and people wonder why the US is not taken seriously in the world, when our 'leader' is making statements that sound like something out of a bad action movie. He's not the brightest guy.Posted By John, Green Bay Wisconsin : September 6, 2007 5:44 pm
Very classy, Mr. President. We need less tough talking cowboy hyperbole and more reason and logic in your approach to this mess you have created.Posted By Mark, Holmen, Wisconsin : September 6, 2007 5:45 pm
No, Mr. President. We are not "kicking ass" in Iraq. Only a moron would make a comment like this. I rest my point.Posted By Josh Maloney, Oakland, CA : September 6, 2007 5:51 pm
Did we hear that right, George? "Kicking ass?"Our men and women certainly have had successes, but your deceitful and toxic policies are to blame for the thousands of dead and wounded that were sent their because of your lies. And let's not forgot what you have done to Iraq and its citizens–hundreds of thousands dead and wounded, millions displaced, sectarian violence that is reminiscent of the Middle Ages. Childhoods robbed and lives forever altered because you like to "Kick Ass."Kicking ass, indeed! What a misguided simpleton we have as president. My fingers won't allow me to even spell president (this one anyway) with a capital p. W, you are disgraceful. Jim Arnold
posted by Basic Muscle at 4:22 AM 9.03.2007 gay bomb
posted by Basic Muscle at 3:46 AM 9.01.2007 If Larry Craig were Gay
posted by Basic Muscle at 3:34 AM 8.31.2007 Senator Larry Craig's Guide to Mensroom
posted by Basic Muscle at 2:04 AM 8.26.2007 Islam's X-RATED heaven
posted by Basic Muscle at 5:20 PM 8.22.2007 Benny Hinn: Let the Bodies Hit the Floor
Wrong Again! "The Lord also tells me to tell you in the mid 90's, about '94-'95, no later than that, God will destroy the homosexual community of America. [audience applauds] But He will not destroy it - with what many minds have thought Him to be, He will destroy it with fire. And many will turn and be saved, and many will rebel and be destroyed." -- Orlando Christian Center, Dec. 31st, 1989
posted by Basic Muscle at 3:58 AM 8.04.2007 No shit, Newt! Gingrich says war on terror 'phony' Former speaker says energy independence is key By BOB DEANSThe Atlanta Journal-ConstitutionPublished on: 08/03/07
Washington — Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Thursday the Bush administration is waging a "phony war" on terrorism, warning that the country is losing ground against the kind of Islamic radicals who attacked the country on Sept. 11, 2001. A more effective approach, said Gingrich, would begin with a national energy strategy aimed at weaning the country from its reliance on imported oil and some of the regimes that petro-dollars support. • More Nation/World news "None of you should believe we are winning this war. There is no evidence that we are winning this war," the ex-Georgian told a group of about 300 students attending a conference for collegiate conservatives. Gingrich, who led the so-called Republican Revolution that won the GOP control of both houses of Congress in 1994 midterm elections, said more must be done to marshal national resources to combat Islamic militants at home and abroad and to prepare the country for future attack. He was unstinting in his criticism of his fellow Republicans, in the White House and on Capitol Hill. "We were in charge for six years," he said, referring to the period between 2001 and early 2007, when the GOP controlled the White House and both houses of Congress. "I don't think you can look and say that was a great success."
posted by Basic Muscle at 1:39 PM 7.24.2007 Hair
posted by x at 3:08 AM 7.23.2007 "Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. This is easy. All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifist for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in every country."- Hermann Goering, Adolf Hitler's Reich-Marshallat the Nuremberg Trials after WWII
posted by x at 1:37 PM 7.18.2007 52nd TONY AWARDS SIDE SHOW EMILY SKINNER ALICE RIPLEY
posted by x at 6:10 AM
The pursuit of truth and beauty is a sphere of activity in which we are permitted to remain children all our lives. Albert Einstein
posted by x at 5:45 AM Christine Pedi at the Metropolitan Room, NYC
posted by x at 5:40 AM Yvonne De Carlo at Hollywood Bowl -
posted by x at 5:31 AM 7.16.2007 Mona Lisa Descending a Staircase
posted by x at 2:58 AM 7.13.2007 Giuliani Gets Exposed As Fraud by Firefighters
posted by x at 3:08 PM COLTON FORD - The Way You Love Me - Music Video
posted by x at 3:06 PM 7.10.2007 MICHAEL MOORE RIPS WOLF BLITZER A NEW ONE!!!
posted by x at 4:46 AM 7.05.2007 Countdown Special Comment: Bush, Cheney Should Resign
posted by x at 2:54 PM 6.26.2007 Ask A Gay Man: SHOW YOUR PRIDE
posted by x at 3:25 AM 6.05.2007 Stand By Your Man
posted by x at 4:13 AM 5.13.2007
posted by x at 2:35 AM MARILYN MONROE - HER LAST DAYS
posted by x at 2:24 AM 3.20.2007 Australia 2007
posted by x at 9:59 AM 1.23.2007 My new addiction
posted by x at 3:43 AM 1.17.2007 When Marilyn Meets Einstein...
posted by x at 5:32 AM 1.16.2007 As above, so below... This phrase comes from the beginning of The Emerald Tablet and embraces the entire system of traditional and modern magic which was inscribed upon the tablet in cryptic wording by Hermes Trismegistus. The significance of this phrase is that it is believed to hold the key to all mysteries. All systems of magic are claimed to function by this formula. "'That which is above is the same as that which is below'...Macrocosmos is the same as microcosmos. The universe is the same as God, God is the same as man, man is the same as the cell, the cell is the same as the atom, the atom is the same as...and so on, ad infinitum."This message theorizes that man is the counterpart of God on earth; as God is man's counterpart in heaven. Therefore, it is a statement of an ancient belief that man's actions on earth parallel the actions of God in heaven. This pivots on the belief that "all things have their birth from this One Thing by adaptation."
posted by x at 4:00 AM 1.02.2007 and our money keeps rolling out...
posted by x at 3:30 AM 12.24.2006 Keith Olberman
Click picture to view video.
"This is, in fact, a comment about… betrayal. Few men or women elected in our history-whether executive or legislative, state or national-have been sent into office with a mandate more obvious, nor instructions more clear: Get us out of Iraq. " This is, in fact, a comment about… betrayal. Few men or women elected in our history-whether executive or legislative, state or national-have been sent into office with a mandate more obvious, nor instructions more clear: Get us out of Iraq. Yet after six months of preparation and execution-half a year gathering the strands of public support; translating into action, the collective will of the nearly 70 percent of Americans who reject this War of Lies, the Democrats have managed only this: * The Democratic leadership has surrendered to a president-if not the worst president, then easily the most selfish, in our history-who happily blackmails his own people, and uses his own military personnel as hostages to his asinine demand, that the Democrats "give the troops their money"; * The Democratic leadership has agreed to finance the deaths of Americans in a war that has only reduced the security of Americans..."
posted by x at 5:45 AM 9.11.2006 You cannot protect freedom by denying freedom.
posted by x at 5:11 AM 7.31.2006 Support Grows for Ban on Male Circumcision; Proposals to Regulate Male Circumcision Now Circulating in Congress, State Legislatures 2/6/2006 5:31:00 PM To: National Desk Contact: Matthew Hess, 208-330-8435 SAN DIEGO, Calif., Feb. 6 /U.S. Newswire/ -- John Soemer from New Jersey remembers the moment when he learned that a part of his penis was missing as if it were yesterday. "I am now 61 years old, but I was in fifth grade when I first found out I was circumcised," recalled Soemer. "I had seen an intact friend's penis when he relieved himself while we were out fishing, and when I asked him why his looked so different, he told me what had been done to me. Back then neither one of us knew the proper name for any of those parts, so he called his foreskin his 'funskin'. That gave me enough of an idea that I was missing out on something, and left me feeling very cheated." John is not the only circumcised man who feels that he was robbed of his right to an intact body. While thousands of men are taking up foreskin restoration to reverse some of their circumcision damage, others are working with human rights groups to stop circumcision from being forced onto infants and children. Today, John and a group of activists from fifteen states joined this movement when they participated in the Third Annual USA MGM (Male Genital Mutilation) Bill Submission. Together they submitted letters and bill proposals via fax, email, postal mail, and hand delivery to more than 2,700 federal and state legislators in a single day -- up from 660 legislators the year before. The proposed legislation, written by San Diego based MGMbill.org, would make current U.S. female genital mutilation laws gender neutral so that boys are legally protected from circumcision the same way that girls are protected. Matthew Hess, President of MGMbill.org, said that infant circumcision is sexual assault. "Male circumcision permanently damages male sexual function, and it is done forcefully, without the consent of the child. Just as cutting off any part of a baby girl's genital anatomy would be considered a criminal act, amputation of a boy's foreskin for medically unnecessary reasons should be treated as a crime of equal stature. If a fully informed adult wants to undergo circumcision for cosmetic, religious, or other personal reasons, then that is a decision he can make after he turns eighteen." Chaz Antonelli of Quincy, Massachusetts, took a day off from work to hand out copies of the MGM Bill proposal to legislators at the State House in Boston. Like most American men born in the 1960's, Chaz was routinely circumcised as an infant in a hospital. "As a newborn baby, I could not protect myself from being circumcised," said Chaz. "While I support an adult's right to alter his or her own genitals if that is their preference, forcing circumcision onto a helpless child is a clear human rights violation. I'm here today because I want Massachusetts to be the first U.S. state to ban routine infant male circumcision." Male circumcision legislation is also becoming a topic of discussion in several European parliaments. Sweden became the first developed country in modern times to regulate and restrict male circumcision on human rights grounds in 2001, and in 2003 the Denmark National Council for Children called on lawmakers to ban the practice for the benefit of the children. In 2004, well- known Dutch Member of Parliament Ayaan Hirsi Ali called on fellow legislators to enact a similar ban, and she recently stated on a Dutch television documentary that male circumcision is "a form of mutilation" and that "the consequences can be worse for boys than for girls" when compared to some common types of female circumcision. In addition to all 540 members of Congress, state legislatures that received MGM Bill proposals from their local residents today included California, Florida, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, and Virginia. http://www.usnewswire.com/
posted by x at 5:05 AM 4.09.2006 Think Pink
posted by x at 2:51 AM 3.12.2006 Art or not?
Spermcube.org
posted by x at 3:13 AM 2.26.2006 Postcard From Paris
Burning of un-German books, Berlin 1933.
Dear G:
"Love the blog...just don't forget who you're writing for and don't forget who is also reading it....THE MOB."
xoxoxoxoxox
JP
posted by x at 2:46 AM 2.08.2006 A Place of Refuge (Part 5) The End.
I am back in New York. About one month after I met him he is gone. What I remember. A fast furious early morning fuck. A delicious nap enfolded by his arms. When I woke up he had disappeared. He left a note:
Fact is I should have achieved more in my life but ambition is all I lack. Fact is I have nothing new to offer the world except reselling old ideas in pretty new packages. Fact is I have only experienced great happiness while lost in the act of creating and in making love to you.
posted by x at 1:52 AM 1.13.2006 A Place of Refuge (Part 4)
The next morning we strolled off the beach hand in hand like an old married couple. We threw his bike in my truck and headed to my condo to clean up. The morning news droned on about the latest Iraq casualty figures. The Viet Nam war came up. I had been drafted. Through the War Resistors League I had found a psychiatrist who gave me a letter stating that I was borderline schizophrenic. Upon showing the letter at my pre-induction physical I was designated 4-F -- not fit for military duty. JP had enlisted in the Marine Corp and had been immediately sent off to Nam. Deep down he considered himself an all American jock (a cocksucking one at that) and he believed he could provide a valuable service to his country and his fellow soldiers. And he did. Servicing men of all ranks, all branches of the military and across racial barriers. "One morning, on patrol, I came across two North Vietnamese solders. They were young, naked and giggling as they corn holed each other. I watched them for a while when I realized I had a hard on. I took it out and started stroking. I slowly approached them with my cock swinging and my MK 40 pointed at them. By the time they saw me they could not reach for their weapons. The immediately put their hands up behind their heads. They looked at my weapon and smiled. I power fucked them both and promptly shot them dead.." Silence. He is profoundly honest. An absolutetist, giving himself totally to life. Every breadth is important. No image goes un-noticed. He has an aim in life and pursues it singlemindedly. Obstacles are to be broken through. He will be heard. He will not be merely tolerated. This will not end well. TBC
posted by x at 8:45 AM 1.09.2006 A Place of Refuge (Part 3)
Sister Aggressiva had been relieved of her duties and exiled to a convent in upstate New York. As for Juan Pablo, he never received his first holy communion. His mother and stepfather took him at his word when he told them emphatically that he would not be returning to catechism class. Later on in his teens, a certain handsome Father Richard had appeared one evening at his home and asked his parents if they would mind his tutoring JP one on one, he assured them that the following May he would receive his first holy communion and be confirmed at the same time. They readily agreed. Father Richard came Saturday afternoons and while his step dad took his mother to get her hair done he instructed JP in communion, confirmation and cocksucking. After being caught inflagrante delicto one afternoon, Juan Pablo was packed off to a military academy where he further refined his fellating techniques. He was soon asked to leave the academy. It was determined that JP was an incurable sex addict. It seemed to be a genetic flaw in his character, JP's father had been legendary cocksman in Pre-Castro Havana and the mango surely had not fallen very far from the tree. His mother understood completely. Well, he was welcome back home until the day dear mother Margo walked in on JP servicing his step dad's uncut cock. If it's one thing JP couldn't resist was an uncut cock and his stepdad had a beauty -- smooth and with skin protruding about an inch from the head. Chewing on it was like working a piece of bubble gum without causing any damage to his teeth. So, that first night on the beach when JP turned me over in the sleeping bag and went down on me and whispered, "I love you". I understood completely. TBC
posted by x at 6:24 PM 1.05.2006 A Place of Refuge ( Part 2)
There was a green flash as the sun went under the horizon. The beach exploded in applause. It was Sunday on Lil beach and aside from the usual collection that filled the sandy crescent -- cute gays boys, fat women with low slung tits, dickless older guys -- there was an added group dare I call them "hippies" who congregated on weekends. They brought with them congas, guitars, tons of dope, pregnant naked girlfriends, little gorgeous blonde children and tall lanky straight guys who 9 out of 10 were hung way above average in the way that tall and lanky guys almost always seem to be. As the night progressed, the drumming got louder, the dancing reached an orgiastic fervor which finally exploded in fucking all around one. A voice asked, "you alone here?" "Yeah." "Let's get a beer." We walked back to where he had his cooler and handed me a beer. "Juan Pablo." "I know." "Know what?" "Your name. I'm Gregori. Hudson County. PS #5 Sister Aggressiva." He stared at me for a long time. "I've been waiting for you." "How did you know I'd find you here?" "At some point every gay American male washes up on this beach." The wickedly sexy grin from long ago was still there. He walked over to me and put his arms around me. We were a study in contrast. I am muscular with buzzed hair and a smooth body he was taut, his skin burnished, sandblasted as a piece of amber glass, a pony tail of sun bleached hair loosely tied at his nape. Silence again followed by his story which trickled out of him between swigs of beer. It is a well told tale probably going back thousands of years, a young man, traumatized by war, drops out of society and its obligations to search for something deeper, perhaps the meaning of life. We've seen he movie, read the book still when it is told to you in the first person by someone you know it becomes immediate and perhaps real. For all I know he was recounting to me The Razors Edge...he was Larry and I was relegated to being Maugham in his melodrama with just a different war, a different social class yet with no doubt the same inevitable ending. We all ultimately lead the life we wish to lead -- pay the consequences, reap the rewards. The beach was empty except for a few locals who were spending the night. Venus was now visible in the horizon. Juan spread out his sleeping bag and we both climbed in -- I turned to my side to get better view of the moonlit beach, he cuddled in behind me, his hands around my chest and his cock at my ass. TBC.
posted by x at 7:37 AM 12.28.2005 A Place of Refuge (Part 1)
My first memory of him is from catechism class --we were seven years old. We had been taken to the local catholic school for after class catechism instruction. It was September--that May along with thousands of boys and girls we were to receive our first holy communion. He was a rather unforgettable character even then. He possessed the most angelic face coupled with a wickedly sexy grin, yes at 7 years old he could work it already. We both attended the same public school and even though we were the same age he was one grade ahead having skipped first grade altogether. All this inspite that he had just learned how to speak English..and he spoke it perfectly without any trace of an accent except for one small detail, his using the letter J instead of Y, so yellow became jello. Believe me that was one slight flaw that would soon be corrected. This boy reeked of perfection. His classroom antics were the stuff of school yard legend. To say he was well read for a 7 year old--well when we met has was reading Jung' s Man and His Symbols. Rather heady stuff for a kid whose classmates were struggling with the Hardy Boys Mysteries and Nancy Drew. It is said that his first grade teacher had him skipped to the second grade as she could not deal with his inquisitiveness. He needed his questions answered to his satisfaction or he continued questioning. Which leads me to the first day of catechism. The nuns of St Josephs parish were not be be messed with. They all looked like big bull dykes. You just didn't fuck with them. It was clear from the moment we marched into that classroom that it was going to be their way or no way. After we sat down, a nun's helper, a freckled treacle pudding complected fat girl handed out catechism books with the warning not to open them. Once distributed, the portly red head walked out and re-entered the room followed by her...Sister Aggressiva. "Stand up and say good afternoon to Sister Aggressiva" We all stood up except for him. He was too busy speed reading. Aggressiva motioned her troll to take the book away. "You shall now have to do without it", she snarled. Aggressiva spoke, "open your books to page one. I will read the first question and you shall read back the answer. Where is God?" We answered, "God is everywhere". As she began to ask the second question, a hand shot up in the air. "Excuse me Sister, but how can God be everywhere? Where is everywhere? You must admit that this is quite a heady concept for your average seven year old to understand." There was silence. The kind of silence I'd never experienced before but I knew it was not good. "Bring him", Aggressiva snarled. Pudding face grabbed him by the ear and dragged him out of the room. A few seconds later Aggressiva returned. "That boy will amount to nothing. Anyone else have any questions they need answered?" Again silence. "Now class, where is God? God is everywhere." The next morning I waited for him in the schoolyard but he never showed. We heard stories about what had happened to him but nothing concrete. He disappeared from my life until yesterday afternoon on a stretch of beach on Maui where we met once again, both naked at waters edge catching yet one more perfect sunrise. TBC
posted by x at 7:16 PM 12.19.2005 Maui: View from my Lanai
My idea of escaping the holidays is spending a month naked on a beach in Hawaii. For the past 25 years that is what I have done. I pack nothing. One pair of shorts, two tanks and a handful of books I have been meaning to read and leave town. I do crave sunlight in the winter, whether I have seasonal affective disorder or I just need to return to warm waters similar to the ones I was conceived in is debatable but around December 10th I have had it with New York City. As the holiday madness takes over, the days get shorter and winter approaches I start dreaming of Hawaii. Due to business obligations this year I shall return mid-January. I have very little leeway to play with the return date as I usually do, generally I never return on the scheduled date. I keep on postponing the flight until my partner calls and says "don't you think you've had enough?". What is enough? Actually about six weeks is enough.
posted by x at 2:39 AM 12.07.2005
posted by x at 4:22 AM 12.01.2005 Why I love NYC
Every so often you go to an event in New York City that justifies the myriad annoyances one puts up with by living here. Last evening, at the Baryshnikov Art Center (BAC) located in the newly built performing arts complex, 37 ARTS, I attended a concert by the Brentano String Quartet. It was the first public performance at BAC in their new series, The Movado Hour, six hour-long chamber music concerts presented in a salon setting. The stated goal of the series is to provide music lovers with the unusual opportunity of experiencing music in a small, intimate setting with the informal atmosphere of a salon. It was dazzling. A pre-concert reception plied the packed house with champagne and canapes. The performance space, with it's expansive windows looking out onto the New York skyline is perfection itself. After a brief welcoming speech by Music Program director Pedja Muzijevic, the Brentano opened with Anton Weber's Five Movements for String quartet, op. 5 followed by Franz Shubert's String Quartet D 810 "Death and the Maiden". Their performance of Death and the Maiden was flawless, aggressively played with a palpable creative fury that transcended the surrounding. So, if you have never experienced a concert in this intimate a setting, the actual way chamber music was originally presented, I urge you to find a way to get a hold of a ticket for one of the upcoming concerts at BAC. I am forgetting one very small detail. These concerts are free to the public.
posted by x at 2:30 AM 11.28.2005 Art or not?
Who decides if it's art?
The artist?
The critic?
The funder?
The politician?
posted by x at 9:01 AM 11.24.2005 Falai - Clinton Street
All white on white, like a wedding cake come to life is the interior of Falai, Iacopo Falai's wonderful new Italian restaurant that has been drawing foodies down to Clinton Street for the past few months. If the space is all sugar spun and airy his menu is tight and muscular. Iacopo is a bread baker and a few times a day he makes dough. This dough arrives at your table throughout the meal as warm nuggets of divinity, a warm mini foccacia gleaming with olive oil and sprinkled with course salt...or the gently crusted Tuscan black cabbage roll. What I enjoy...the gnudi, his take on ravioli malfatti, tiny pillows of spinach and ricotta filled puffs in brown sage butter, the polipetti, gently grilled succulent octopus served with white bean paste and truffle oil, the black ink penne served with assorted shellfish and his take on rack of lamb grilled to perfection. As for desserts I'll stick to the one which keeps me coming back....a hot passion fruit souffle which is incomparable in this city. The staff is warm, the wine list is mid-priced and well defined by Italian wines.
Falai 68 Clinton Street, NYC
posted by x at 1:46 AM 11.20.2005 Cops on Steroids
Forget ballplayers. More than ever, police officers are juicing up to get an edge on perps—but at what price? Men's Health investigates. By: Sabrina Rubin Erdely, Men's Health Illustration by: Eddie Guy
Read Article
posted by x at 7:43 AM 11.15.2005 A now for a bit of whimsy....
Check out these amazing confections at : Polly's Cakes
posted by x at 4:17 AM 11.12.2005 Proposal for a Constitutional Amendment
Upon signing a declaration of war, all military age children of Senators, Congressmen/women, the Vice-president and the President who voted for such a declaration shall be drafted immediately. No college deferments, no alternative service, no conscientious objector status, no champagne military reserve units. Strictly front line military service. Sign them up and ship them out. Back up your vote with your own flesh and blood.
posted by x at 4:09 AM 11.07.2005 Mass or Definition? The age old question. Which do I prefer for myself.
posted by x at 4:08 PM 11.01.2005 Fashionista Icon #2: Eileen Gray Leave it to a redhead to shake things up. Born to an aristocratic Irish family in 1878, Eileen Gray followed the path least expected, forgoing marriage to a fellow nob and the brood of children that would've been that union's likely result. Instead, she studied at the Slade School of Fine Art in London, apprenticed with a Japanese lacquer master, opened a shop in Paris, made furniture, designed interiors, and, in her late forties, launched an architecture career that would influence the modernist movement. Her famous E-1027 house won her praise from the likes of Le Corbusier, even as her earlier work enticed such clients as Elsa Schiaparelli and the Maharajah of Indore. Gray's personal style mirrored a minimalist yet opulent design aesthetic. Her auburn bob emphasized the angularity of her profile and bespoke suits accentuated a tall, thin frame. As for her Poiret coats and Lanvin hats, even reclusive intellectual types get a yen for glamour now and then. There's plenty of that in an exhibition of Gray's work at the Design Museum London up through next January. c. Laird Borrelli
posted by x at 6:28 PM 10.27.2005 NYC PM - 10/25/05
posted by x at 7:45 AM 10.24.2005 Good Morning NYC - 10/24/05 6:30 AM
View from my terrace.
posted by x at 7:02 AM 10.21.2005 Tastemakers: Chefs Juliette Rossant and Neal Santelmann
They slice. They dice. They make cappuccino of forest mushrooms, black tagliatelle with parsnips and pancetta, and atomized shrimp cocktail. They have restaurants from New York to Los Angeles to Las Vegas, and imitators from Oshkosh to Auckland. Their cookbooks line the shelves at Barnes & Noble . Web sites and food magazines trumpet their recipes. With a flick of the television remote, they're in your living room just about any time of day. Up-and-coming chefs beat paths to their kitchens to soak up their innovations and management styles. Consumers can't get enough of their branded provisions or guest appearances on the culinary expo circuit. Oh, yes, they also manage to spend some time in front of the stove. This fall, Forbes.com undertook the difficult task of identifying ten of the most influential chefs this year in the United States. They are the extraordinarily inventive individuals who have not only tasted success in the $476 billion U.S. restaurant industry (according to the National Restaurant Association), but whose insights, accomplishments and boundless creativity shape what we eat, how we eat it, and how much we're willing to fork over for the experience.
Click for Forbes Tastemakers Top Ten
posted by x at 5:53 AM
Jack the Dripper Work in progress (Click for video)
posted by x at 4:35 AM 10.20.2005 Good morning NYC - 10/20/05 6:15 AM
From my terrace.
posted by x at 7:38 AM 10.19.2005 Our daily sorbet....
c. Rene Grau
A momentary break from Plamegate, killer hurricanes, uncut cocks, dickless wonders, Scooter Libby, Karl Rove and Judy Miller and...and...and.......
posted by x at 4:17 AM 10.15.2005 Fashionista Icon: Marchesa Casati Today, scandalous socialites are a dime a dozen, but the Marchesa Luisa Casati was a true original. Born in 1881 to a wealthy Milanese industrial family, Casati did nothing by halves. She whitened her already ivory skin, grew her copper hair down her back, and added luster to her remarkable green eyes with regular doses of belladonna drops. Let other society ladies carry lap dogs; she draped herself in snakes, and walked her pet cheetahs across Venice at night wearing nothing but a fur coat. Casati covered her servants in gold leaf, held black Masses, gave lavish parties, and indulged in Poiret and Fortuny clothes and Cartier jewels. Her greatest passion was the arts (and sometimes the artists; viz., her notorious affair with the writer Gabriele D'Annunzio). Everyone from Giovanni Boldini to Man Ray painted, sculpted, or photographed la Marchesa. Later, when the funds ran out, she withdrew to London, where she lived in relative obscurity until her death in 1957. That's just the barest gloss on an uncommon personality; fortunately for the curious, a new and completely updated edition of Scot D. Ryersson and Michael Orlando Yaccarino's biography Infinite Variety: The Life and Legend of the Marchesa Casati has just come out with even more detail. Take that, Paris Hilton.
c . Style./Janet Ozzard
posted by x at 2:59 AM 10.14.2005 Penis size is stamped on men's shoes. Women always recommended their friends to pay attention to men's foot size. The larger the foot size, the longer the reproductive organ of a man. An international group of researchers has recently discovered that the ancient supposition was actually true. Specialists conducted an extensive research among men in many countries including Russia. It turned out that there was a connection between the size of men's shoes and the length of penis. There is a very simple mathematical formula, which regulates the shoes-penis dependence: H=(L+5)/2. L stands for the foot length in centimeters, whereas H designates the sought length of manhood. There can be exceptions from the rule found of course, like it always happens, although the formula proved to be correct with 90 percent of the polled men. Thus, a man wearing shoe size 41 has a 15-centimeter long penis. The chart continues with shoe size 43 - 18.4 centimeters, shoe size 44 - 21.6 centimeters, shoe size 45 - 24.4 centimeters, etc. The above-mentioned mathematical formula has a physiological significance too: a male fetus develops genitals and extremities at almost one and the same period of time. The growth of one organ stimulates the development of the other. Researchers are currently studying another formula to calculate the diameter of the reproductive organ: the diameter is said to be linked with the width of man's feet.
posted by x at 6:26 AM 10.13.2005 iBoob photo c. David Lachapelle
A revolutionary computer chip that stores music just like an iPod could soon be built into girls’ breast implants. One breast could hold an MP3 player and the other the woman’s entire music collection.
posted by x at 3:11 PM
These are the rules of etiquette for the modern woman according to the Good Housekeeping Institute:
DON'T! Read partner's private mobile phone text messages. Ogle other men in front of partner. Discuss intimate details of your sex life with groups of friends. Shout, scream and argue in public. Allow thong to show above waistband. Indulge in nude stretching and contortions in gym changing rooms. Stare at others who are taking a gym class. Be late for Yoga classes. Kiss the boss, the plumber or anyone else you have a professional relationship with. Kiss anyone on the lips other than your partner. Arrive early for dinner parties. Get drunk at dinner parties. Answer mobile phone at the dinner table. Serve food that has been the subject of recent scare. Argue over a bill when eating out. Read emails over other people's shoulders. Put anything in an email you would not say to someone's face. Send group emails to entire company asking if anyone has seen your hairband. Snarl if a man offers you his seat on a train.
posted by x at 4:18 AM 10.12.2005 Ancient Phallus Found - Ouch A sculpted and polished phallus found in a German cave is among the earliest representations of male sexuality ever uncovered, researchers say. The 20cm-long, 3cm-wide stone object, which is dated to be about 28,000 years old, was buried in the famous Hohle Fels Cave near Ulm in the Swabian Jura. The prehistoric "tool" was reassembled from 14 fragments of siltstone. Its life size suggests it may well have been used as a sex aid by its Ice Age makers, scientists report. "In addition to being a symbolic representation of male genitalia, it was also at times used for knapping flints," explained Professor Nicholas Conard, from the department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, at Tübingen University. "There are some areas where it has some very typical scars from that," he told the BBC News website. Researchers believe the object's distinctive form and etched rings around one end mean there can be little doubt as to its symbolic nature.
c. BBC News
posted by x at 2:53 AM 10.11.2005 Atelier
c. David Seidner VUE D'ATELIER
Atelier....was the first French word I learned. At ten years old I already was spending way too much time reading. One afternoon, browsing the stacks of the local New Jersey library I came across The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas by Gertrude Stein. I skimmed through looking at the rather primitive photographs of Pablo and Fernande, Alice and Gertrude, of Basket, the Cone sisters and of course got my first glimpse at the art collection housed at 27 rue de Fleurus. On page 7, the word atelier had been circled by a previous reader. I checked the book out and the next day looked up the meaning of the word. Atelier...close to the Spanish word taller. I understood. I read the book once, twice. I returned it.
It opened a whole new world to me....the world of art, beauty, expatriates and most of all Paris. My beloved Paris.
A few years later, at a sidewalk book sale the library was holding I saw the book on a table. I asked the librarian, " how much?". "A buck", she answered. I bought it. I still have it. A first edition. Not a bad investment.
posted by x at 3:10 PM NJ Calender Cops (link)
posted by x at 2:26 AM 10.09.2005 Buff Bottom
W Magazine November - Excellent Tom Ford Interview
posted by x at 3:20 AM 10.07.2005 NYC Penn Station Today
I thought we were fighting them "over there" so we didn't have to fight them "over here"?
posted by x at 10:48 AM 10.06.2005 WD-50
Rack of lamb, cranberry beans, parsley root, tamarind-cashew .... $30.00
Someone should clue in chef Wylie Dufresne at WD-50 that a rack of lamb for $30 should consist of more than just two excrutiatingly tiny, mundanely cooked, lackluster lamb chops surrounded by a handful of cranberry beans. Party of three, one bottle of wine, two cocktails, two desserts, three appetizers, three main courses: $340.00. Ludricous.
posted by x at 2:20 PM 10.04.2005 A Gallery of Intact Penises In Art. Uncut (link)
posted by x at 12:30 PM 9.28.2005 Kittichai I am totally addicted to using opentable.com to make restaurant reservations. It is free, efficient and makes going out to dinner on a Saturday evening a joy. Being a registered card carrying foodie I have been dragging friends and loved ones to Kittichai, located on the ground floor of the 60 Thompson Street Hotel in Soho. It serves what is described as authentic modern Thai. The decor is nouvelle Thai bordello with a very splashy use of Thai silks. The service is efficient for the high end NYC prices. There are a myriad of inexpensive Thai restaurants in NYC that have tasty good Thai. As far as I am concerned there are three reasons to go to Kittichai. The chocolate baby back ribs marinated in Thai spices, the crispy rock shrimp with grilled eggplant and The Chilean sea bass. Chef Ian Chalermkittichai has out done himself with these creations. http://kittichairestaurant.com/
posted by x at 4:33 PM 9.26.2005
Intolerance Work in Progress (Click for video) <>
posted by x at 6:03 AM 9.18.2005 Happy Birthday Harriet Brown.
In her travels, she called herself Harriet Brown. To her friends she was known as "G" or Miss G, but to the rest of the world she was simply known by just five letters. GARBO. She never won an Oscar and starting in 1927 she only made 24 films, the last in 1941 but when she retired she was a legend and a multimillionaire. In her movies she said "I vont to be alone" but in reality she just wanted to be left alone. She gave no interviews, authorized no biography and hated to have her picture taken. She was born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson on September 18, 1905 in Stockholm, Sweden. She died in New York City in 1990. In a small ramshackle theater in Havana, Cuba. A small boy was taken by his aunt to see Camille. He fell in love with what he saw on the screen. That love affair continues.
posted by x at 4:14 AM 9.11.2005 I live on the Hudson, facing south towards the World Trade Center site. Right now I am looking at that twin shafts of light shooting into this glorious summer night sky. Every morning since 9/11 I stumble out of bed, make coffee, sit at my computer and stare out my window into that empty space that was once occupied by the Twin Towers.... Sometimes my minds eye fills in the space. I remember where I was on that day. I arrived in Florence, Italy on September 10th 2001. We settled into our apartment went out for an early dinner at Cibreo and then on a passeggiata. Couples holding hands, walking, chatting, loving as only Italians can be at 10 PM on a warm September evening. The next morning, September 11, we decided to take a walking tour of the old quarter as my partner had never been to Florence. A morning of sightseeing, a memorable lunch followed by an afternoon at the Accademia looking at Michelangelo’s David and finally a nap for him and a walk over to the local gym for me. As I was working out, I could see a group of Italian would be body builders huddled on the gym floor, talking intensely amongst themselves and looking in my direction, not your usual "hey check out the big yank over there" kind of stares. Finally one of the guys walked over and started speaking to me in Italian, we quickly established that we could not understand each other. He seemed frustrated, he clearly needed to say something to me. He asked if I spoke Spanish. Once I nodded yes, the entire story of the 9/11 attack came pouring out of him. I checked my watch, it was 11:30 AM New York time. I went to shake his hand, brushing it away he grabbed and hugged me, tears in his eyes. In minutes I was back at the apartment. Our cable was down so there was no Sky News or CNN to watch. It was my first time traveling with an international phone, I dialed my mother in New Jersey. Mom is a strong woman. I will never forget the grief in her voice as she recounted the events of that morning. She had walked over to the promenade overlooking the Hudson River and watched the towers going down. After half a dozen phone calls to the States to check on friends we headed to a local bookshop in the Piazza Republica that had a bank of television monitors. We watched CNN for hours. Slowly other Americans began arriving. We needed to be together. We found each other. The phrase I remember being spoken by everyone was " our lives will never be the same". That evening there was no passeggiata in Florence. TBC
posted by x at 5:07 PM 9.10.2005 Hair reunion
Last night I attended a HAIR reunion. To say that I walked in with great trepidation would be a huge understatement as I would be seeing fellow cast/and production team members which I had not seen in over 30 years.
That is me.....lower right hand corner, second from the bottom, the white boy with the huge fro.....
HAIR was the circus every young boy dreams of running away to.... and I did.
Through HAIR, I met Earl Scott. Mentor, teacher, friend. He taught me to pursue love and beauty in life.
We were idealistic then. We believed that we could change the world. We were naive. We did not understand how the establishment operated.
We do now. It is not too late. Peace.
posted by x at 3:29 PM About Me
My Photo Name: Basic Muscle Location: NYC, United States
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Untangling the latest GOP gay scandal
From: Americablog:
Untangling the latest GOP gay scandal by Pam Spaulding · 9/11/2007 05:16:00 PM ET
Discuss this post here: Comment
I was on the Michelangelo Signorile Show (Sirius Satellite Radio's channel 109 OutQ) this afternoon to wade through the latest convoluted, woefully under-reported GOP scandal -- the bizarre murder-suicide in Florida of a Republican consultant and two of his "friends". Some of the facts we discussed:* the bodies of Republican political consultant Ralph Gonzalez, 39, president of The Strategum Group, his roommate David Abrami and "a friend," Jason Robert Drake, were found in the house of Ralph Gonzalez.* Gonzalez served with the Republican Party of Florida's House Campaign Division and executive director of the Georgia Republican Party and counted the Alabama Republican Legislative Committee as a client, producing an anti-gay flier accusing a Dem candidate of supporting marriage equality.* A newspaper, Florida Today, initially reported that there were signs of a struggle, printing "Lovers' fight may have sparked three deaths" as its headline. The paper later scrubbed any references to a love triangle.* BradBlog has shown the ties between Gonzalez and Florida's vote-tampering congressman, Tom Feeney. From Pat Go Bye Bye:
Gonzalez, who was out to his friends, had ties to Ralph Reed when he took over the Georgia Republican Party and used unethical tactics to beat Senator Max Cleland. He was also the campaign chair for the ethically-challenged Tom Feeney's congressional campaign as well as his state rep campaign after which Feeney became house speaker and got involved in a software-buying scandal involving Yang Enterprise. Feeney is best known for his vote-rigging scheme (which has ties to an unexplained death of a Florida state investigator in Valdosta GA), Jack Abramoff, and a variety of unethical smear tactics against Democratic candidates.* Republican Congressman Patrick McHenry has ties to Gonzalez and Drake, the latter was determined to be the shooter in the murder-suicide. * McHenry's office initially denied knowing Drake but confirmed later that McHenry did know him, but didn't specify the nature of the relationship. * Drake was also allegedly tied to a gay escort service in Virginia; the prostitution angle -- and who it extends to -- is very murky at this point, with few sources on the record.The people and relationships involved are almost too convoluted to follow; here's more:* Patrick McHenry is also affiliated with outed former National Field Director of the RNC Dan Gurley. According to NC Conservative, McHenry "owes his seat to Dan Gurley" -- with Gurley working with Robert Drake on McHenry's behalf.* McHenry's apparently a good friend of the former National Young Republican Chairman, Glenn Murphy. Yes, that Glenn Murphy -- the one arrested for sexually assaulting a sleeping man, performing oral sex on him (image of police report here). McHenry supported him for the National Young Republican Chairmanship.* Pat's deputy field director Brett Keeter blew a 0.13 on a DWI, recently and received a two-week suspension and alcohol education classes. Keeter, as a Region IV director of North Carolina Federation of Young Republicans allegedly also pressured the College Republicans National Committee to endorse Glenn Murphy for the chairmanship.* Another big problem for McHenry recently was the saga of Michael Aaron Lay, field coordinator for McHenry's 2004 campaign. He was indicted for voter fraud in North Carolina.
At the time Lay was listed as a resident in a home owned by 32-year-old McHenry but campaign records indicate Lay's paychecks were sent to an address in Tennessee. McHenry won the primary by only 86 votes. According to Gaston County, North Carolina District Attorney Locke Bell, Lay was indicted on Monday, May 7 by a local grand jury. Lay accepted deferred prosecution on Aug. 8 and with unsupervised probation for six months. More than one man was listed as living at McHenry's address, btw (he has scans of the documentation on the site). No less than three other men listed their residence as McHenry's pad in Cherryville, NC. I have no idea what that's about, but it surely is worthy of investigation.And if you thought that was all that was dogging Patrick McHenry, take a look at the latest bit of business passed on today -- at least $182,000 of McHenry's 2004 campaign funds ($923,975) came from an organization donating under fraudulent circumstances. That's almost 20% of McHenry's campaign war chest. Who is behind that? It just keeps on coming, folks. Via Pat Go Bye-Bye and BlueNC:
Last week the Citizens Club for Growth PAC paid $350,000 to settle an FEC lawsuit which
arose after the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee filed a complaint with the FEC in 2003 alleging that the group was violating federal election laws. After an investigation, the FEC concluded that the 527 was required to register as a political action committee because it was accepting contributions and engaging in activities intended to influence the outcome of federal elections.According to FEC Schedule E report the Citizens Club for Growth had funneled the McHenry donations through an organization called Red Sea LLC:
Red Sea LLC1111 19th Street NWSuite 211Washington, DC 20036Purpose of Expenditure: tv air buyThis Committee SUPPORTS The Following Candidate: PATRICK TIMOTHY MCHENRYCandidate ID: H4NC10047Office Sought: House of RepresentativesState is North Carolina in District 10Date Expended = 08/12/2004Amount Expended = $49790.00Calendar YTD Per Election for Office Sought = $182440.7Red Sea is an invention of a former communications director for the disgraced Tom DeLay, Jonathan M. Baron.That said, McHenry isn't the only pol who benefited from Citizen's Club for Growth -- but the Congressman from NC only won his primary by an 84-vote margin, so it's clearly relevant to look into, as well as any other irregularities in McHenry's financial documentation.The mainstream media is negligent if it doesn't get off its duff and investigate all of this. What does it all add up to? Who knows. Anyway, that's just another look at the outer edges of the sordid tales. You can read more at Pat Go Bye-Bye, Scrutiny Hooligans, BlueNC, Howie Klein at Down With Tyranny, Judson Cox at NC Conservative, and InterstateQ (and here).***For a gut-busting take on some of this fracas, read The General's "Can Rep. McHenry's Hostel for Strapping Young Republican Lads survive this?" -- a letter sent to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. A snippet:
I'm especially worried about Rep. Patrick McHenry. His name seems to be coming up a lot in connection with that GOP heterosexual naked wrestling triangle's murder-suicide investigation. One of the dead men, anti-homosexual political strategist and former executive director of the Georgia Republican Committee Ralph Gonzalez, was connected with a service that would send men to hotel rooms to help husbands get what they wanted. He is also said to have been Rep. McHenry's close personal friend, perhaps even a former guest of Rep. McHenry's Hostel for Strapping Young Republican Lads.How do you expect him to explain himself if it comes out that he too loves to occasionally suck a little soldier in a completely heterosexual manner? You've pretty much sealed his fate, haven't you? Perhaps you've sealed your fate as well, and Grahams and Dryers too for that matter.
Labels: GOP culture of corruption, Patrick McHenry, Republican sexual hypocrites
posted by Basic Muscle at 3:26 AM
9.08.2007
Bush: We're kicking ass in Iraq".
From: The Huffington Post
If "kicking ass" means thousands of innocent people are dying because of his greed, then we must be kicking ass.Posted By Ace, Orange Count California : September 6, 2007 5:38 pmI'm glad to hear that the President is so down to earth and can tell it like it is.Posted By Jarred, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma : September 6, 2007 5:38 pm
He's the president of the most powerful nation on Earth and he says, "We're kicking ass," like he's talking about a Texas high school football team.Posted By Logan, Huntington, WV : September 6, 2007 5:38 pm
Another crude comment from a fool cowboy who causes other people to die, but who can't even prove he served his time in the military!Posted By Ross, Manlius, NY : September 6, 2007 5:38 pm
Really? How many Troops have died in this senseless war again?Posted By Becky, Euless, TX : September 6, 2007 5:41 pm
Whose ass? The American peoples'?Posted By bvt, Elko, Nevada : September 6, 2007 5:41 pm"
We're kicking ass,", "Fantastic Freedom Institute" and "replenish ol' coffers". Can he get any more adolescent?Posted By Arkay, Detrot, MI : September 6, 2007 5:41 pm
and people wonder why the US is not taken seriously in the world, when our 'leader' is making statements that sound like something out of a bad action movie. He's not the brightest guy.Posted By John, Green Bay Wisconsin : September 6, 2007 5:44 pm
Very classy, Mr. President. We need less tough talking cowboy hyperbole and more reason and logic in your approach to this mess you have created.Posted By Mark, Holmen, Wisconsin : September 6, 2007 5:45 pm
No, Mr. President. We are not "kicking ass" in Iraq. Only a moron would make a comment like this. I rest my point.Posted By Josh Maloney, Oakland, CA : September 6, 2007 5:51 pm
Did we hear that right, George? "Kicking ass?"Our men and women certainly have had successes, but your deceitful and toxic policies are to blame for the thousands of dead and wounded that were sent their because of your lies. And let's not forgot what you have done to Iraq and its citizens–hundreds of thousands dead and wounded, millions displaced, sectarian violence that is reminiscent of the Middle Ages. Childhoods robbed and lives forever altered because you like to "Kick Ass."Kicking ass, indeed! What a misguided simpleton we have as president. My fingers won't allow me to even spell president (this one anyway) with a capital p. W, you are disgraceful. Jim Arnold
posted by Basic Muscle at 4:22 AM
9.03.2007
gay bomb
posted by Basic Muscle at 3:46 AM
9.01.2007
If Larry Craig were Gay
posted by Basic Muscle at 3:34 AM
8.31.2007
Senator Larry Craig's Guide to Mensroom
posted by Basic Muscle at 2:04 AM
8.26.2007
Islam's X-RATED heaven
posted by Basic Muscle at 5:20 PM
8.22.2007
Benny Hinn: Let the Bodies Hit the Floor
Wrong Again!
"The Lord also tells me to tell you in the mid 90's, about '94-'95, no later than that, God will destroy the homosexual community of America. [audience applauds] But He will not destroy it - with what many minds have thought Him to be, He will destroy it with fire. And many will turn and be saved, and many will rebel and be destroyed."
-- Orlando Christian Center, Dec. 31st, 1989
posted by Basic Muscle at 3:58 AM
8.04.2007
No shit, Newt!
Gingrich says war on terror 'phony'
Former speaker says energy independence is key
By BOB DEANSThe Atlanta Journal-ConstitutionPublished on: 08/03/07
Washington — Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Thursday the Bush administration is waging a "phony war" on terrorism, warning that the country is losing ground against the kind of Islamic radicals who attacked the country on Sept. 11, 2001.
A more effective approach, said Gingrich, would begin with a national energy strategy aimed at weaning the country from its reliance on imported oil and some of the regimes that petro-dollars support.
• More Nation/World news
"None of you should believe we are winning this war. There is no evidence that we are winning this war," the ex-Georgian told a group of about 300 students attending a conference for collegiate conservatives.
Gingrich, who led the so-called Republican Revolution that won the GOP control of both houses of Congress in 1994 midterm elections, said more must be done to marshal national resources to combat Islamic militants at home and abroad and to prepare the country for future attack. He was unstinting in his criticism of his fellow Republicans, in the White House and on Capitol Hill.
"We were in charge for six years," he said, referring to the period between 2001 and early 2007, when the GOP controlled the White House and both houses of Congress. "I don't think you can look and say that was a great success."
posted by Basic Muscle at 1:39 PM
7.24.2007
Hair
posted by x at 3:08 AM
7.23.2007
"Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. This is easy. All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifist for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in every country."- Hermann Goering, Adolf Hitler's Reich-Marshallat the Nuremberg Trials after WWII
posted by x at 1:37 PM
7.18.2007
52nd TONY AWARDS SIDE SHOW EMILY SKINNER ALICE RIPLEY
posted by x at 6:10 AM
The pursuit of truth and beauty is a sphere of activity in which we are permitted to remain children all our lives. Albert Einstein
posted by x at 5:45 AM
Christine Pedi at the Metropolitan Room, NYC
posted by x at 5:40 AM
Yvonne De Carlo at Hollywood Bowl -
posted by x at 5:31 AM
7.16.2007
Mona Lisa Descending a Staircase
posted by x at 2:58 AM
7.13.2007
Giuliani Gets Exposed As Fraud by Firefighters
posted by x at 3:08 PM
COLTON FORD - The Way You Love Me - Music Video
posted by x at 3:06 PM
7.10.2007
MICHAEL MOORE RIPS WOLF BLITZER A NEW ONE!!!
posted by x at 4:46 AM
7.05.2007
Countdown Special Comment: Bush, Cheney Should Resign
posted by x at 2:54 PM
6.26.2007
Ask A Gay Man: SHOW YOUR PRIDE
posted by x at 3:25 AM
6.05.2007
Stand By Your Man
posted by x at 4:13 AM
5.13.2007
posted by x at 2:35 AM
MARILYN MONROE - HER LAST DAYS
posted by x at 2:24 AM
3.20.2007
Australia 2007
posted by x at 9:59 AM
1.23.2007
My new addiction
posted by x at 3:43 AM
1.17.2007
When Marilyn Meets Einstein...
posted by x at 5:32 AM
1.16.2007
As above, so below...
This phrase comes from the beginning of The Emerald Tablet and embraces the entire system of traditional and modern magic which was inscribed upon the tablet in cryptic wording by Hermes Trismegistus. The significance of this phrase is that it is believed to hold the key to all mysteries. All systems of magic are claimed to function by this formula. "'That which is above is the same as that which is below'...Macrocosmos is the same as microcosmos. The universe is the same as God, God is the same as man, man is the same as the cell, the cell is the same as the atom, the atom is the same as...and so on, ad infinitum."This message theorizes that man is the counterpart of God on earth; as God is man's counterpart in heaven. Therefore, it is a statement of an ancient belief that man's actions on earth parallel the actions of God in heaven. This pivots on the belief that "all things have their birth from this One Thing by adaptation."
posted by x at 4:00 AM
1.02.2007
and our money keeps rolling out...
posted by x at 3:30 AM
12.24.2006
Keith Olberman
Click picture to view video.
"This is, in fact, a comment about… betrayal.
Few men or women elected in our history-whether executive or legislative, state or national-have been sent into office with a mandate more obvious, nor instructions more clear: Get us out of Iraq. "
This is, in fact, a comment about… betrayal.
Few men or women elected in our history-whether executive or legislative, state or national-have been sent into office with a mandate more obvious, nor instructions more clear: Get us out of Iraq.
Yet after six months of preparation and execution-half a year gathering the strands of public support; translating into action, the collective will of the nearly 70 percent of Americans who reject this War of Lies, the Democrats have managed only this:
* The Democratic leadership has surrendered to a president-if not the worst president, then easily the most selfish, in our history-who happily blackmails his own people, and uses his own military personnel as hostages to his asinine demand, that the Democrats "give the troops their money";
* The Democratic leadership has agreed to finance the deaths of Americans in a war that has only reduced the security of Americans..."
posted by x at 5:45 AM
9.11.2006
You cannot protect freedom by denying freedom.
posted by x at 5:11 AM
7.31.2006
Support Grows for Ban on Male Circumcision; Proposals to Regulate Male Circumcision Now Circulating in Congress, State Legislatures
2/6/2006 5:31:00 PM
To: National Desk
Contact: Matthew Hess, 208-330-8435
SAN DIEGO, Calif., Feb. 6 /U.S. Newswire/ -- John Soemer from New Jersey remembers the moment when he learned that a part of his penis was missing as if it were yesterday. "I am now 61 years old, but I was in fifth grade when I first found out I was circumcised," recalled Soemer. "I had seen an intact friend's penis when he relieved himself while we were out fishing, and when I asked him why his looked so different, he told me what had been done to me. Back then neither one of us knew the proper name for any of those parts, so he called his foreskin his 'funskin'. That gave me enough of an idea that I was missing out on something, and left me feeling very cheated."
John is not the only circumcised man who feels that he was robbed of his right to an intact body. While thousands of men are taking up foreskin restoration to reverse some of their circumcision damage, others are working with human rights groups to stop circumcision from being forced onto infants and children. Today, John and a group of activists from fifteen states joined this movement when they participated in the Third Annual USA MGM (Male Genital Mutilation) Bill Submission. Together they submitted letters and bill proposals via fax, email, postal mail, and hand delivery to more than 2,700 federal and state legislators in a single day -- up from 660 legislators the year before. The proposed legislation, written by San Diego based MGMbill.org, would make current U.S. female genital mutilation laws gender neutral so that boys are legally protected from circumcision the same way that girls are protected.
Matthew Hess, President of MGMbill.org, said that infant circumcision is sexual assault. "Male circumcision permanently damages male sexual function, and it is done forcefully, without the consent of the child. Just as cutting off any part of a baby girl's genital anatomy would be considered a criminal act, amputation of a boy's foreskin for medically unnecessary reasons should be treated as a crime of equal stature. If a fully informed adult wants to undergo circumcision for cosmetic, religious, or other personal reasons, then that is a decision he can make after he turns eighteen."
Chaz Antonelli of Quincy, Massachusetts, took a day off from work to hand out copies of the MGM Bill proposal to legislators at the State House in Boston. Like most American men born in the 1960's, Chaz was routinely circumcised as an infant in a hospital. "As a newborn baby, I could not protect myself from being circumcised," said Chaz. "While I support an adult's right to alter his or her own genitals if that is their preference, forcing circumcision onto a helpless child is a clear human rights violation. I'm here today because I want Massachusetts to be the first U.S. state to ban routine infant male circumcision."
Male circumcision legislation is also becoming a topic of discussion in several European parliaments. Sweden became the first developed country in modern times to regulate and restrict male circumcision on human rights grounds in 2001, and in 2003 the Denmark National Council for Children called on lawmakers to ban the practice for the benefit of the children. In 2004, well- known Dutch Member of Parliament Ayaan Hirsi Ali called on fellow legislators to enact a similar ban, and she recently stated on a Dutch television documentary that male circumcision is "a form of mutilation" and that "the consequences can be worse for boys than for girls" when compared to some common types of female circumcision.
In addition to all 540 members of Congress, state legislatures that received MGM Bill proposals from their local residents today included California, Florida, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, and Virginia.
http://www.usnewswire.com/
posted by x at 5:05 AM
4.09.2006
Think Pink
posted by x at 2:51 AM
3.12.2006
Art or not?
Spermcube.org
posted by x at 3:13 AM
2.26.2006
Postcard From Paris
Burning of un-German books, Berlin 1933.
Dear G:
"Love the blog...just don't forget who you're writing for and don't forget who is also reading it....THE MOB."
xoxoxoxoxox
JP
posted by x at 2:46 AM
2.08.2006
A Place of Refuge (Part 5) The End.
I am back in New York.
About one month after I met him he is gone.
What I remember.
A fast furious early morning fuck.
A delicious nap enfolded by his arms.
When I woke up he had disappeared.
He left a note:
Fact is I should have achieved more in my life but ambition is all I lack.
Fact is I have nothing new to offer the world except reselling old ideas in pretty new packages.
Fact is I have only experienced great happiness while lost in the act of creating and in making love to you.
posted by x at 1:52 AM
1.13.2006
A Place of Refuge (Part 4)
The next morning we strolled off the beach hand in hand like an old married couple. We threw his bike in my truck and headed to my condo to clean up. The morning news droned on about the latest Iraq casualty figures. The Viet Nam war came up. I had been drafted. Through the War Resistors League I had found a psychiatrist who gave me a letter stating that I was borderline schizophrenic. Upon showing the letter at my pre-induction physical I was designated 4-F -- not fit for military duty. JP had enlisted in the Marine Corp and had been immediately sent off to Nam. Deep down he considered himself an all American jock (a cocksucking one at that) and he believed he could provide a valuable service to his country and his fellow soldiers. And he did. Servicing men of all ranks, all branches of the military and across racial barriers.
"One morning, on patrol, I came across two North Vietnamese solders. They were young, naked and giggling as they corn holed each other. I watched them for a while when I realized I had a hard on. I took it out and started stroking. I slowly approached them with my cock swinging and my MK 40 pointed at them. By the time they saw me they could not reach for their weapons. The immediately put their hands up behind their heads. They looked at my weapon and smiled. I power fucked them both and promptly shot them dead.." Silence.
He is profoundly honest. An absolutetist, giving himself totally to life. Every breadth is important. No image goes un-noticed. He has an aim in life and pursues it singlemindedly. Obstacles are to be broken through. He will be heard. He will not be merely tolerated. This will not end well. TBC
posted by x at 8:45 AM
1.09.2006
A Place of Refuge (Part 3)
Sister Aggressiva had been relieved of her duties and exiled to a convent in upstate New York. As for Juan Pablo, he never received his first holy communion. His mother and stepfather took him at his word when he told them emphatically that he would not be returning to catechism class. Later on in his teens, a certain handsome Father Richard had appeared one evening at his home and asked his parents if they would mind his tutoring JP one on one, he assured them that the following May he would receive his first holy communion and be confirmed at the same time. They readily agreed. Father Richard came Saturday afternoons and while his step dad took his mother to get her hair done he instructed JP in communion, confirmation and cocksucking. After being caught inflagrante delicto one afternoon, Juan Pablo was packed off to a military academy where he further refined his fellating techniques. He was soon asked to leave the academy. It was determined that JP was an incurable sex addict. It seemed to be a genetic flaw in his character, JP's father had been legendary cocksman in Pre-Castro Havana and the mango surely had not fallen very far from the tree. His mother understood completely. Well, he was welcome back home until the day dear mother Margo walked in on JP servicing his step dad's uncut cock. If it's one thing JP couldn't resist was an uncut cock and his stepdad had a beauty -- smooth and with skin protruding about an inch from the head. Chewing on it was like working a piece of bubble gum without causing any damage to his teeth.
So, that first night on the beach when JP turned me over in the sleeping bag and went down on me and whispered, "I love you". I understood completely. TBC
posted by x at 6:24 PM
1.05.2006
A Place of Refuge ( Part 2)
There was a green flash as the sun went under the horizon. The beach exploded in applause. It was Sunday on Lil beach and aside from the usual collection that filled the sandy crescent -- cute gays boys, fat women with low slung tits, dickless older guys -- there was an added group dare I call them "hippies" who congregated on weekends. They brought with them congas, guitars, tons of dope, pregnant naked girlfriends, little gorgeous blonde children and tall lanky straight guys who 9 out of 10 were hung way above average in the way that tall and lanky guys almost always seem to be. As the night progressed, the drumming got louder, the dancing reached an orgiastic fervor which finally exploded in fucking all around one.
A voice asked, "you alone here?"
"Yeah."
"Let's get a beer." We walked back to where he had his cooler and handed me a beer. "Juan Pablo."
"I know."
"Know what?"
"Your name. I'm Gregori. Hudson County. PS #5 Sister Aggressiva."
He stared at me for a long time.
"I've been waiting for you."
"How did you know I'd find you here?"
"At some point every gay American male washes up on this beach."
The wickedly sexy grin from long ago was still there. He walked over to me and put his arms around me. We were a study in contrast. I am muscular with buzzed hair and a smooth body he was taut, his skin burnished, sandblasted as a piece of amber glass, a pony tail of sun bleached hair loosely tied at his nape. Silence again followed by his story which trickled out of him between swigs of beer. It is a well told tale probably going back thousands of years, a young man, traumatized by war, drops out of society and its obligations to search for something deeper, perhaps the meaning of life. We've seen he movie, read the book still when it is told to you in the first person by someone you know it becomes immediate and perhaps real. For all I know he was recounting to me The Razors Edge...he was Larry and I was relegated to being Maugham in his melodrama with just a different war, a different social class yet with no doubt the same inevitable ending. We all ultimately lead the life we wish to lead -- pay the consequences, reap the rewards.
The beach was empty except for a few locals who were spending the night. Venus was now visible in the horizon. Juan spread out his sleeping bag and we both climbed in -- I turned to my side to get better view of the moonlit beach, he cuddled in behind me, his hands around my chest and his cock at my ass. TBC.
posted by x at 7:37 AM
12.28.2005
A Place of Refuge (Part 1)
My first memory of him is from catechism class --we were seven years old. We had been taken to the local catholic school for after class catechism instruction. It was September--that May along with thousands of boys and girls we were to receive our first holy communion. He was a rather unforgettable character even then. He possessed the most angelic face coupled with a wickedly sexy grin, yes at 7 years old he could work it already. We both attended the same public school and even though we were the same age he was one grade ahead having skipped first grade altogether. All this inspite that he had just learned how to speak English..and he spoke it perfectly without any trace of an accent except for one small detail, his using the letter J instead of Y, so yellow became jello. Believe me that was one slight flaw that would soon be corrected. This boy reeked of perfection. His classroom antics were the stuff of school yard legend. To say he was well read for a 7 year old--well when we met has was reading Jung' s Man and His Symbols. Rather heady stuff for a kid whose classmates were struggling with the Hardy Boys Mysteries and Nancy Drew. It is said that his first grade teacher had him skipped to the second grade as she could not deal with his inquisitiveness. He needed his questions answered to his satisfaction or he continued questioning. Which leads me to the first day of catechism. The nuns of St Josephs parish were not be be messed with. They all looked like big bull dykes. You just didn't fuck with them. It was clear from the moment we marched into that classroom that it was going to be their way or no way. After we sat down, a nun's helper, a freckled treacle pudding complected fat girl handed out catechism books with the warning not to open them. Once distributed, the portly red head walked out and re-entered the room followed by her...Sister Aggressiva. "Stand up and say good afternoon to Sister Aggressiva" We all stood up except for him. He was too busy speed reading. Aggressiva motioned her troll to take the book away. "You shall now have to do without it", she snarled. Aggressiva spoke, "open your books to page one. I will read the first question and you shall read back the answer. Where is God?" We answered, "God is everywhere". As she began to ask the second question, a hand shot up in the air. "Excuse me Sister, but how can God be everywhere? Where is everywhere? You must admit that this is quite a heady concept for your average seven year old to understand." There was silence. The kind of silence I'd never experienced before but I knew it was not good. "Bring him", Aggressiva snarled. Pudding face grabbed him by the ear and dragged him out of the room. A few seconds later Aggressiva returned. "That boy will amount to nothing. Anyone else have any questions they need answered?" Again silence. "Now class, where is God? God is everywhere." The next morning I waited for him in the schoolyard but he never showed. We heard stories about what had happened to him but nothing concrete. He disappeared from my life until yesterday afternoon on a stretch of beach on Maui where we met once again, both naked at waters edge catching yet one more perfect sunrise. TBC
posted by x at 7:16 PM
12.19.2005
Maui: View from my Lanai
My idea of escaping the holidays is spending a month naked on a beach in Hawaii. For the past 25 years that is what I have done. I pack nothing. One pair of shorts, two tanks and a handful of books I have been meaning to read and leave town. I do crave sunlight in the winter, whether I have seasonal affective disorder or I just need to return to warm waters similar to the ones I was conceived in is debatable but around December 10th I have had it with New York City. As the holiday madness takes over, the days get shorter and winter approaches I start dreaming of Hawaii. Due to business obligations this year I shall return mid-January. I have very little leeway to play with the return date as I usually do, generally I never return on the scheduled date. I keep on postponing the flight until my partner calls and says "don't you think you've had enough?". What is enough? Actually about six weeks is enough.
posted by x at 2:39 AM
12.07.2005
posted by x at 4:22 AM
12.01.2005
Why I love NYC
Every so often you go to an event in New York City that justifies the myriad annoyances one puts up with by living here.
Last evening, at the Baryshnikov Art Center (BAC) located in the newly built performing arts complex, 37 ARTS, I attended a concert by the Brentano String Quartet. It was the first public performance at BAC in their new series, The Movado Hour, six hour-long chamber music concerts presented in a salon setting. The stated goal of the series is to provide music lovers with the unusual opportunity of experiencing music in a small, intimate setting with the informal atmosphere of a salon. It was dazzling. A pre-concert reception plied the packed house with champagne and canapes. The performance space, with it's expansive windows looking out onto the New York skyline is perfection itself. After a brief welcoming speech by Music Program director Pedja Muzijevic, the Brentano opened with Anton Weber's Five Movements for String quartet, op. 5 followed by Franz Shubert's String Quartet D 810 "Death and the Maiden". Their performance of Death and the Maiden was flawless, aggressively played with a palpable creative fury that transcended the surrounding. So, if you have never experienced a concert in this intimate a setting, the actual way chamber music was originally presented, I urge you to find a way to get a hold of a ticket for one of the upcoming concerts at BAC. I am forgetting one very small detail. These concerts are free to the public.
posted by x at 2:30 AM
11.28.2005
Art or not?
Who decides if it's art?
The artist?
The critic?
The funder?
The politician?
posted by x at 9:01 AM
11.24.2005
Falai - Clinton Street
All white on white, like a wedding cake come to life is the interior of Falai, Iacopo Falai's wonderful new Italian restaurant that has been drawing foodies down to Clinton Street for the past few months. If the space is all sugar spun and airy his menu is tight and muscular.
Iacopo is a bread baker and a few times a day he makes dough. This dough arrives at your table throughout the meal as warm nuggets of divinity, a warm mini foccacia gleaming with olive oil and sprinkled with course salt...or the gently crusted Tuscan black cabbage roll. What I enjoy...the gnudi, his take on ravioli malfatti, tiny pillows of spinach and ricotta filled puffs in brown sage butter, the polipetti, gently grilled succulent octopus served with white bean paste and truffle oil, the black ink penne served with assorted shellfish and his take on rack of lamb grilled to perfection. As for desserts I'll stick to the one which keeps me coming back....a hot passion fruit souffle which is incomparable in this city. The staff is warm, the wine list is mid-priced and well defined by Italian wines.
Falai 68 Clinton Street, NYC
posted by x at 1:46 AM
11.20.2005
Cops on Steroids
Forget ballplayers. More than ever, police officers are juicing up to get an edge on perps—but at what price? Men's Health investigates.
By: Sabrina Rubin Erdely, Men's Health Illustration by: Eddie Guy
Read Article
posted by x at 7:43 AM
11.15.2005
A now for a bit of whimsy....
Check out these amazing confections at : Polly's Cakes
posted by x at 4:17 AM
11.12.2005
Proposal for a Constitutional Amendment
Upon signing a declaration of war, all military age children of Senators, Congressmen/women, the Vice-president and the President who voted for such a declaration shall be drafted immediately. No college deferments, no alternative service, no conscientious objector status, no champagne military reserve units. Strictly front line military service. Sign them up and ship them out. Back up your vote with your own flesh and blood.
posted by x at 4:09 AM
11.07.2005
Mass or Definition? The age old question. Which do I prefer for myself.
posted by x at 4:08 PM
11.01.2005
Fashionista Icon #2: Eileen Gray
Leave it to a redhead to shake things up. Born to an aristocratic Irish family in 1878, Eileen Gray followed the path least expected, forgoing marriage to a fellow nob and the brood of children that would've been that union's likely result. Instead, she studied at the Slade School of Fine Art in London, apprenticed with a Japanese lacquer master, opened a shop in Paris, made furniture, designed interiors, and, in her late forties, launched an architecture career that would influence the modernist movement. Her famous E-1027 house won her praise from the likes of Le Corbusier, even as her earlier work enticed such clients as Elsa Schiaparelli and the Maharajah of Indore. Gray's personal style mirrored a minimalist yet opulent design aesthetic. Her auburn bob emphasized the angularity of her profile and bespoke suits accentuated a tall, thin frame. As for her Poiret coats and Lanvin hats, even reclusive intellectual types get a yen for glamour now and then. There's plenty of that in an exhibition of Gray's work at the Design Museum London up through next January.
c. Laird Borrelli
posted by x at 6:28 PM
10.27.2005
NYC PM - 10/25/05
posted by x at 7:45 AM
10.24.2005
Good Morning NYC - 10/24/05 6:30 AM
View from my terrace.
posted by x at 7:02 AM
10.21.2005
Tastemakers: Chefs
Juliette Rossant and Neal Santelmann
They slice. They dice. They make cappuccino of forest mushrooms, black tagliatelle with parsnips and pancetta, and atomized shrimp cocktail. They have restaurants from New York to Los Angeles to Las Vegas, and imitators from Oshkosh to Auckland. Their cookbooks line the shelves at Barnes & Noble . Web sites and food magazines trumpet their recipes. With a flick of the television remote, they're in your living room just about any time of day. Up-and-coming chefs beat paths to their kitchens to soak up their innovations and management styles. Consumers can't get enough of their branded provisions or guest appearances on the culinary expo circuit. Oh, yes, they also manage to spend some time in front of the stove. This fall, Forbes.com undertook the difficult task of identifying ten of the most influential chefs this year in the United States. They are the extraordinarily inventive individuals who have not only tasted success in the $476 billion U.S. restaurant industry (according to the National Restaurant Association), but whose insights, accomplishments and boundless creativity shape what we eat, how we eat it, and how much we're willing to fork over for the experience.
Click for Forbes Tastemakers Top Ten
posted by x at 5:53 AM
Jack the Dripper
Work in progress (Click for video)
posted by x at 4:35 AM
10.20.2005
Good morning NYC - 10/20/05 6:15 AM
From my terrace.
posted by x at 7:38 AM
10.19.2005
Our daily sorbet....
c. Rene Grau
A momentary break from Plamegate, killer hurricanes, uncut cocks, dickless wonders, Scooter Libby, Karl Rove and Judy Miller and...and...and.......
posted by x at 4:17 AM
10.15.2005
Fashionista Icon: Marchesa Casati
Today, scandalous socialites are a dime a dozen, but the Marchesa Luisa Casati was a true original. Born in 1881 to a wealthy Milanese industrial family, Casati did nothing by halves. She whitened her already ivory skin, grew her copper hair down her back, and added luster to her remarkable green eyes with regular doses of belladonna drops. Let other society ladies carry lap dogs; she draped herself in snakes, and walked her pet cheetahs across Venice at night wearing nothing but a fur coat. Casati covered her servants in gold leaf, held black Masses, gave lavish parties, and indulged in Poiret and Fortuny clothes and Cartier jewels.
Her greatest passion was the arts (and sometimes the artists; viz., her notorious affair with the writer Gabriele D'Annunzio). Everyone from Giovanni Boldini to Man Ray painted, sculpted, or photographed la Marchesa. Later, when the funds ran out, she withdrew to London, where she lived in relative obscurity until her death in 1957. That's just the barest gloss on an uncommon personality; fortunately for the curious, a new and completely updated edition of Scot D. Ryersson and Michael Orlando Yaccarino's biography Infinite Variety: The Life and Legend of the Marchesa Casati has just come out with even more detail. Take that, Paris Hilton.
c . Style./Janet Ozzard
posted by x at 2:59 AM
10.14.2005
Penis size is stamped on men's shoes.
Women always recommended their friends to pay attention to men's foot size. The larger the foot size, the longer the reproductive organ of a man. An international group of researchers has recently discovered that the ancient supposition was actually true. Specialists conducted an extensive research among men in many countries including Russia. It turned out that there was a connection between the size of men's shoes and the length of penis. There is a very simple mathematical formula, which regulates the shoes-penis dependence: H=(L+5)/2. L stands for the foot length in centimeters, whereas H designates the sought length of manhood. There can be exceptions from the rule found of course, like it always happens, although the formula proved to be correct with 90 percent of the polled men. Thus, a man wearing shoe size 41 has a 15-centimeter long penis. The chart continues with shoe size 43 - 18.4 centimeters, shoe size 44 - 21.6 centimeters, shoe size 45 - 24.4 centimeters, etc.
The above-mentioned mathematical formula has a physiological significance too: a male fetus develops genitals and extremities at almost one and the same period of time. The growth of one organ stimulates the development of the other.
Researchers are currently studying another formula to calculate the diameter of the reproductive organ: the diameter is said to be linked with the width of man's feet.
posted by x at 6:26 AM
10.13.2005
iBoob
photo c. David Lachapelle
A revolutionary computer chip that stores music just like an iPod could soon be built into girls’ breast implants. One breast could hold an MP3 player and the other the woman’s entire music collection.
posted by x at 3:11 PM
These are the rules of etiquette for the modern woman according to the Good Housekeeping Institute:
DON'T!
Read partner's private mobile phone text messages.
Ogle other men in front of partner.
Discuss intimate details of your sex life with groups of friends.
Shout, scream and argue in public.
Allow thong to show above waistband.
Indulge in nude stretching and contortions in gym changing rooms.
Stare at others who are taking a gym class.
Be late for Yoga classes.
Kiss the boss, the plumber or anyone else you have a professional relationship with.
Kiss anyone on the lips other than your partner.
Arrive early for dinner parties.
Get drunk at dinner parties.
Answer mobile phone at the dinner table.
Serve food that has been the subject of recent scare.
Argue over a bill when eating out.
Read emails over other people's shoulders.
Put anything in an email you would not say to someone's face.
Send group emails to entire company asking if anyone has seen your hairband.
Snarl if a man offers you his seat on a train.
posted by x at 4:18 AM
10.12.2005
Ancient Phallus Found - Ouch
A sculpted and polished phallus found in a German cave is among the earliest representations of male sexuality ever uncovered, researchers say.
The 20cm-long, 3cm-wide stone object, which is dated to be about 28,000 years old, was buried in the famous Hohle Fels Cave near Ulm in the Swabian Jura. The prehistoric "tool" was reassembled from 14 fragments of siltstone. Its life size suggests it may well have been used as a sex aid by its Ice Age makers, scientists report. "In addition to being a symbolic representation of male genitalia, it was also at times used for knapping flints," explained Professor Nicholas Conard, from the department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, at Tübingen University. "There are some areas where it has some very typical scars from that," he told the BBC News website. Researchers believe the object's distinctive form and etched rings around one end mean there can be little doubt as to its symbolic nature.
c. BBC News
posted by x at 2:53 AM
10.11.2005
Atelier
c. David Seidner VUE D'ATELIER
Atelier....was the first French word I learned. At ten years old I already was spending way too much time reading. One afternoon, browsing the stacks of the local New Jersey library I came across The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas by Gertrude Stein. I skimmed through looking at the rather primitive photographs of Pablo and Fernande, Alice and Gertrude, of Basket, the Cone sisters and of course got my first glimpse at the art collection housed at 27 rue de Fleurus. On page 7, the word atelier had been circled by a previous reader. I checked the book out and the next day looked up the meaning of the word. Atelier...close to the Spanish word taller. I understood. I read the book once, twice. I returned it.
It opened a whole new world to me....the world of art, beauty, expatriates and most of all Paris. My beloved Paris.
A few years later, at a sidewalk book sale the library was holding I saw the book on a table. I asked the librarian, " how much?". "A buck", she answered. I bought it. I still have it. A first edition. Not a bad investment.
posted by x at 3:10 PM
NJ Calender Cops (link)
posted by x at 2:26 AM
10.09.2005
Buff Bottom
W Magazine November - Excellent Tom Ford Interview
posted by x at 3:20 AM
10.07.2005
NYC Penn Station Today
I thought we were fighting them "over there" so we didn't have to fight them "over here"?
posted by x at 10:48 AM
10.06.2005
WD-50
Rack of lamb, cranberry beans, parsley root, tamarind-cashew .... $30.00
Someone should clue in chef Wylie Dufresne at WD-50 that a rack of lamb for $30 should consist of more than just two excrutiatingly tiny, mundanely cooked, lackluster lamb chops surrounded by a handful of cranberry beans.
Party of three, one bottle of wine, two cocktails, two desserts, three appetizers, three main courses: $340.00. Ludricous.
posted by x at 2:20 PM
10.04.2005
A Gallery of Intact Penises In Art.
Uncut (link)
posted by x at 12:30 PM
9.28.2005
Kittichai
I am totally addicted to using opentable.com to make restaurant reservations. It is free, efficient and makes going out to dinner on a Saturday evening a joy. Being a registered card carrying foodie I have been dragging friends and loved ones to Kittichai, located on the ground floor of the 60 Thompson Street Hotel in Soho. It serves what is described as authentic modern Thai. The decor is nouvelle Thai bordello with a very splashy use of Thai silks. The service is efficient for the high end NYC prices. There are a myriad of inexpensive Thai restaurants in NYC that have tasty good Thai. As far as I am concerned there are three reasons to go to Kittichai. The chocolate baby back ribs marinated in Thai spices, the crispy rock shrimp with grilled eggplant and The Chilean sea bass. Chef Ian Chalermkittichai has out done himself with these creations. http://kittichairestaurant.com/
posted by x at 4:33 PM
9.26.2005
Intolerance
Work in Progress (Click for video) <>
posted by x at 6:03 AM
9.18.2005
Happy Birthday Harriet Brown.
In her travels, she called herself Harriet Brown. To her friends she was known as "G" or Miss G, but to the rest of the world she was simply known by just five letters. GARBO. She never won an Oscar and starting in 1927 she only made 24 films, the last in 1941 but when she retired she was a legend and a multimillionaire. In her movies she said "I vont to be alone" but in reality she just wanted to be left alone. She gave no interviews, authorized no biography and hated to have her picture taken. She was born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson on September 18, 1905 in Stockholm, Sweden. She died in New York City in 1990.
In a small ramshackle theater in Havana, Cuba. A small boy was taken by his aunt to see Camille. He fell in love with what he saw on the screen. That love affair continues.
posted by x at 4:14 AM
9.11.2005
I live on the Hudson, facing south towards the World Trade Center site. Right now I am looking at that twin shafts of light shooting into this glorious summer night sky. Every morning since 9/11 I stumble out of bed, make coffee, sit at my computer and stare out my window into that empty space that was once occupied by the Twin Towers.... Sometimes my minds eye fills in the space. I remember where I was on that day.
I arrived in Florence, Italy on September 10th 2001. We settled into our apartment went out for an early dinner at Cibreo and then on a passeggiata. Couples holding hands, walking, chatting, loving as only Italians can be at 10 PM on a warm September evening. The next morning, September 11, we decided to take a walking tour of the old quarter as my partner had never been to Florence. A morning of sightseeing, a memorable lunch followed by an afternoon at the Accademia looking at Michelangelo’s David and finally a nap for him and a walk over to the local gym for me.
As I was working out, I could see a group of Italian would be body builders huddled on the gym floor, talking intensely amongst themselves and looking in my direction, not your usual "hey check out the big yank over there" kind of stares. Finally one of the guys walked over and started speaking to me in Italian, we quickly established that we could not understand each other. He seemed frustrated, he clearly needed to say something to me. He asked if I spoke Spanish. Once I nodded yes, the entire story of the 9/11 attack came pouring out of him. I checked my watch, it was 11:30 AM New York time. I went to shake his hand, brushing it away he grabbed and hugged me, tears in his eyes. In minutes I was back at the apartment. Our cable was down so there was no Sky News or CNN to watch. It was my first time traveling with an international phone, I dialed my mother in New Jersey. Mom is a strong woman. I will never forget the grief in her voice as she recounted the events of that morning. She had walked over to the promenade overlooking the Hudson River and watched the towers going down. After half a dozen phone calls to the States to check on friends we headed to a local bookshop in the Piazza Republica that had a bank of television monitors. We watched CNN for hours. Slowly other Americans began arriving. We needed to be together. We found each other. The phrase I remember being spoken by everyone was " our lives will never be the same". That evening there was no passeggiata in Florence. TBC
posted by x at 5:07 PM
9.10.2005
Hair reunion
Last night I attended a HAIR reunion. To say that I walked in with great trepidation would be a huge understatement as I would be seeing fellow cast/and production team members which I had not seen in over 30 years.
That is me.....lower right hand corner, second from the bottom, the white boy with the huge fro.....
HAIR was the circus every young boy dreams of running away to.... and I did.
Through HAIR, I met Earl Scott. Mentor, teacher, friend. He taught me to pursue love and beauty in life.
We were idealistic then. We believed that we could change the world. We were naive. We did not understand how the establishment operated.
We do now. It is not too late. Peace.
posted by x at 3:29 PM
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