B-A-B-Y

George sent me this in an email earlier today. Not sure why I didn't get it, since I am a moveon member, but I'll worry about that later. Maybe. Probably not.

Dear MoveOn member,

Can you imagine living in a place where birth control is considered an "abortion" and health insurers won't cover it? Where even rape victims are denied emergency contraception?

It seems unbelievable, but the Bush Administration is quietly trying to redefine "abortion" to include birth control. The Houston Chronicle says this could wipe out dozens of state laws that protect women's reproductive freedom and protect rape victims.¹ Access to basic health care for millions of women would be jeopardized. And it's being pushed as a "rule change"­meaning, it doesn't need congressional approval.

Can you sign an emergency message to Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt, whose department is considering this rule change right now? Tell him: "Contraception is NOT abortion. The Bush Administration's proposal to change the definition of abortion and reduce women's access to birth control must be stopped."

Clicking here will add your name to this message:
http://pol.moveon.org/contraception/o.pl?id=13468-5210488-tMJkcjx&t=4

The best way to beat back this proposal is to show Secretary Leavitt massive public outrage­that's why today we're launching this petition jointly with Planned Parenthood Action Fund. Together, we'll deliver every signature to Leavitt. You can help add to our momentum by forwarding this message to friends.

Here's what some others are saying about this proposal:
The draft regulation would define birth control as abortion...it could deny access to critical family planning for women across the country.­Letter signed by Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and 26 other senators.²

The draft rule could void laws in 27 states that require insurance companies to provide birth control coverage for women requesting it [and] laws in 14 states requiring that rape victims receive counseling and access to emergency, day-after contraceptives.­Houston Chronicle editorial³

The administration needs to stop playing word games with women's health and state clearly they will reject any regulations that will undermine women's access to basic health care.­Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America.⁴

[It's] a spectacular act of complicity with the religious right... ­RH Reality Check, Information and Analysis for Reproductive Health⁵
The birth control pill, the IUD, and emergency contraception might all become unavailable­illegal­as a result.­Brigid Riley, executive director of a Minnesota teen pregnancy prevention organization⁶

Can you help send a loud message to Secretary Leavitt that birth control is NOT abortion? Clicking here will sign your name:
http://pol.moveon.org/contraception/o.pl?id=13468-5210488-tMJkcjx&t=5

Thanks for all you do.

–Nita, Laura, Patrick S., Adam G., and the rest of the team

Seriously, I am so over this reproductive rights issue. 97% decisions being made by men. I'm a man and I think we should have much less say in the matter. Of course, these are the men who still believe in capital punishment.

I encourage you to sign the petition.



Song by: Rachel Sweet

llamame

Another birthday come and gone. No biggie, right? Right.

I got some nice calls. Some good emails. A few cards. Even some folks at work seemed to know about the day - and clearly passed the word around. That last part didn't go down well with me. Do I really want some guy from IT I barely know coming up to me and wishing me a 'happy birthday'? I don't think so.

I begrudgingly let a few of them take me out to lunch. It was a good salad and I got a piece of cake out of it, so it wasn't all bad. But I really don't like making a big deal about the day - I think I've said that here every year I've had this blog. I mean, I'm ok to do stuff with Denton, but I'm a low key guy when it comes to having attention brought to me that way. Yes - even for a Leo.

I mean - I want attention, but only when I call it to myself. I am a Leo. Not just because I got birthed. Let it be for my superior dancing around the kitchen skills, or my way around an Excel spreadsheet. Yes, I'm a dancing geek.

So, why the "Call Me" header? Because Denton got me the present: iPhone 3G (16 gig!), white back. I was hoping, of course, but who knew?

Well, I did, kind of. He calls me at work to tell me that 'oh, your cell phone isn't currently working. I've had the service cut off.' Since I have Sprint and the iPhones are on AT&T, I kind of figured out he had done something.

Don't go thinking he was being completely altruistic, he got himself one too (black back). Now I just need to figure out how to use it exactly. I mean I know how to answer the phone and dial it, but I have to get my contacts moved over, load my music, set up my email, etc.

I'm quite excited, a little nervous and seemingly somewhat guilty for having such a device. But I am thrilled to be getting rid of my Treo and Sprint. The only two places I couldn't use it: home and work. ZERO signal. None. It was so frustrating.

I know Becky and Andrew love theirs, so it must be good.

Oh, and I'll be able to blog from it and Twitter away, I guess. There will be no stopping me!!!!


Song by: Blondie (Spanish version, 'natch!)
which btw, is comical because about the only two words they don't sing in Spanish are 'Call Me'.

So Happy Birthday

No special post. Honest.

Today I make it to my 45th birthday. Or as I call it, the start of my 46th year. As I say every year - who knew I'd make it this long? Certainly not me. I should have been dead at least three times over.

Maybe it is a special post.

I think I have a few reasons while I'm still here: the man. the cats. the friends. Not necessarily in that order - but possibly. I guess we shouldn't rule out a whole lot of luck.

At first I was thinking 45 is not a milestone birthday, but really - which one isn't? That you can make 365 days without taking the big dirt nap should be celebrated.

So what are we doing? Doubtful we're doing anything. I could be wrong and get surprised. Our big thing is doing a dinner out. We strive for doing a place neither of us has been before. But we rarely make it on the actual day. I will assume in the next weekend or two we'll get there.

....then and maybe then, I'll frickin' Twitter it.



Song by: Laurie Anderson

The Working Hour

I don't know why I'm even telling you this - but yesterday I had some preliminary discussions with a group regarding a new job.

I normally don't blog about my job per se too much. Travel for my job, sure. My job itself? Not so much. And I don't think I'll start here.

Suffice to say, I'm not going into specifics here - at least yet. I can say that I didn't go looking - they found me. So I met with them for two hours yesterday. And yes, they would like me to come back for round #2.

No doubt I will comply, because I just don't know where I stand currently, and this is something that would be more for my career than a job. It curtails travel - which oddly enough I like a lot, but whatta gonna do?

The interviews were pretty laid back, but I think I interview fairly well. I'm not bragging, it is just that I have conducted so many, I think I know the pitfalls of being on the other side. That being said, I'm unflinchingly honest in these things. Not unlike here, I have little self-censor mode. It's a blessing and a curse. But usually all parties go in, eyes wide open.

The benefits are better. The pay is better. The commute is less. There is no travel, save some conferences and meetings.

I'll keep you updated, but it will be a slow process. It took 4.5 weeks to schedule this interview between all schedules. I don't know how long round #2 will take.



Song by: Tears for Fears

Record of the Month - Classic

My second installment of a disk I have enjoyed over the years. I'm trying to keep the Record of the Month posts to be fairly new releases. Classics are going to be ones that are at least 5 years old.

When you hear some model has written and recorded an album, you think there is nothing good that can come of it - right? Certainly not.

So colour me surprised. Rosie Vela's one and only album, Zazu was a great surprise back in 1986. I had actually never heard or seen of Vela as a model. While I'm gay, I wasn't that kind of fag.

The disk was headed by Steely Dan producer, Gary Katz. Not only that, but the two main members of Steely Dan appear on most, if not every song - their first time in over a decade of being together. This was not a plus for me, as I was never a Steely Dan fan. But it still works. She makes it her own.

Katz uses some great musicians - for those who might know who they are: Rick Derringer, Joy Askew, Jim Keltner, Tony Levin and of course Donald Fagen and Walter Becker. But it really is Vela who ties it together with her writing and her voice.

It's a short disk - only nine songs. I really like "Taxi", "Magic Smile" and especially "2nd Emotion", but they all work.

For a long time, I didn't know what happened to her. She dropped of the face of the music earth. No second disk, not nothing. But last year, I was flipping through the tv and hit some PBS show that was featuring ELO and poof, there she was, doing background vocals. Who knew? And for the life of me - why? It seemed like a demotion to me.

It's hard to sample her record if you were even interested in it. Clearly it wasn't a hit by any standards and it's been 20 odd years, so it is out of print and it's not in iTunes - but I guess that's why they have eBay.

But for a little taste, the only thing I could find was a crappy YouTube video of one of her songs, "Interlude".

The Swing of Things


Andrew has invited me to join Twitter. Don't ask me why - but I did.

That last sentence has nothing to do with Andrew, but I'm not sure exactly what I'm supposed to do with it. I'm not sure exactly what anyone is supposed to do with it. It's like live blogging with x amount of characters or less for immediate reading. But that x amount of characters is like 140.

You've seen my posts. I can't keep them to 140 words, let alone characters.

The only thing I knew of it, was a U.S. student was taken into custody in Egypt and his "captors" forgot to confiscate his phone. He Twitter'd (is this now a verb?) a few hundred folks and they did basically a phone tree to others who helped free him and eventually his translator.

I don't expect that I will be in that situation anytime soon. And by 'anytime soon', I mean ever. So now what do I do with it?

Out of my hundred or so email contacts, two (count 'em TWO) are on Twitter. Andrew, and his wife, Rebecca (whom you all know and love). From my BlobbysBlog account, I snagged an entire three more contacts. Hardly enough for anyone to rally to get me out of captivity. ...but they can probably alert me to the next Annie Lennox cd release! Handy.

And to add insult to injury, I can't even use "Blobby" as my name. It's taken!!! The nerve.

Armed with no other clever names or ideas, I actually had to resort to using my real one! I'm not sure how down I am with that.

So not to feel like an old fuddy-duddy (yes, I know I already am), blogging delayed aging by a few years. Twitter has taken me back a few more. Now Becky wants me to join FaceBook. That should put me at the ripe old age of 13 or as a prime candidate to be on NBC's To Catch a Predator.




Song by: a-ha (yes, you read that correctly!)

No New Title

From my post yesterday, well of course there was a way for you to see me bobble and the background music.

I haven't found a way to do it ON the blog, but I can get you a link to see it.

Here you go!

Don't forget to turn up the volume.

Site of the Month

I thought I'd get this post out of the way early. And I get to give Rebecca props for a second day in a row. She provided me my Site of the Month: BobbleBlobby.

...well, the name was mine. The site was hers. Probably because I think she is the only person I know who actually has satellite radio.

The blog world doesn't allow me to do it as a .gif where you'd actually see my head bounce up and down. That was not a sex joke. I don't joke about sex. It's allllllll very serious.

Actually, I'm sure if I were much more tech savvy, I could find a way to make it bobble-heady. It also came with a lounge version of "Take Me Out to the Ball Game". I don't know how to put the audio on here either. I'm not a high-functioning blogger.

But for all of you critics out there of my pictures, I'm kind of / sort of smiling. Kind of. Sort of. I shouldn't be. The Indians are in last place in their division. Last year we were in first. We don't even have a fighting chance, as we are 13 games out.

All of you can make your own BobbleHead You by clicking here. You can also pick your own baseball jersey. Since I'm assuming most of you are fags non-sports caring gentlemen, just let me know what city you're in and I'll let you know what your team is.

....and believe it or not, there are other positions on the team besides pitcher and catchers.

Shopping with Becca

Becky let me guest blog a few months ago. She gets the same option here - though admittedly it is a lot more low brow than me guesting on her site.

She has provided me a few Sites of the Month material but yesterday she gave me two (count 'em, two!) Shopping with Blobby entries. As much as I'd like to use them as my own, I tried to get her to do a monthly Shopping with Becca section. She wouldn't.

So here she gets all the credit. At least for the pictures.

So many things are funny with this one. Let's start off that his name is Beaver Felton.

I was at work dying!!!!

There are five of us, for years, who have maintained a list of names we come across that are funny, weird, or both (Peter Cheese, anyone? anyone?). I'm not sure Beaver makes the list, I'll leave it up to the others. My first reaction was 'yes', but now, I'm thinking not.

I love the title: Basic Bassics. And Beaver is the best bass guitarist (arguably) today. Tomorrow is another story completely.

My initial reaction was "Take a Wipe on the Wild Side".

Oh c'mon - you all know I'm perpetually 12.

For the life of us, neither Becky or I could come up with anything to parody "Femme Fatale" or "Sweet Jane".

I might have to do Shopping with Special Guests, if people want to submit things to me. ....and I find them funny, of course.

Free Man in Paris

Ok, I hope you know I'm not a fan of Paris Hilton, but props to her for doing this video for Funny or Die (Will Ferrell's little site, where most of his stuff isn't funny).

It is a response to the ad McCain has been running that briefly briefly briefly features Hilton and Britney Spears. I'm sure you've all heard about that one. The media picked up on that ad immediately, but it's not showing in every state, just a select few - like Ohio.



I hate to even say this, but she delivers her lines fairly well. Either is not as stupid as she is always portrayed, or this is the 13,593rd take. Or just a really really really good editing job.



Song by: Joni Mitchell

Polaroids

Here is the First Colony Guesthouse from the beach side

Here is the pool. Don't let the flags fool you. Not gay ones. It is Roy G Biv x 2. Every beach store on the island had them. Festive, yes, but gay? No.

We'd just do laps there and maybe cool off if we didn't feel like walking to the beach.

Another sundown shot.

I kind of / sort of found this funny. I'll just assume he/she is a dentist.

Required? I don't own flip-flops, so I couldn't got into the chat.

It was the bumper sticker that made me laugh. This was taken while stuck on I-95.

One new picture of me.

Taco Bell will ask me something Denton never has! {sigh}

Song by: Shawn Colvin

Sundown

I think I have one or two more vacation posts in me, including this one, even though the leisure travel is over.

The time is exactly what it was supposed to be: relaxing.

We did one "major" thing every day: lighthouse, dunes, Wright Brothers, Duck, etc - and then it was just walking on the beach. Being that neither of us are ones to "lay out" - our sun came from the strolls up and down the coastline, usually 5-8 miles per day. And not tons of tan to show for it - but that's what happens when you use 30-55 SPF. We have some colour, but we're not George Hamilton brown.

On our walks, when we'd get to the place we wanted to turn around, usually we were a bit warm, so a dive into the ocean was necessary. It was a tad chilly too, but nice. Only the first two days had any waves to speak of, other than that, we both commented on how calm the surf was.

But oy, two days before we left, the mosquitoes came out. I never saw them, but I have about 40 bites all over my arms, lets and feet to show for it and prove they existed. And ITCHY!!!! I don't think I ever have been bitten that badly.

Denton got off a lot easier. For a night I wondered if we had bed bugs or something, but then the wife of our cute Cute CUTE downstairs neighbor asked if we had gotten bit badly - so I knew it wasn't any creepy crawly things in the sheets. Hopefully.

Temps were in the mid to upper 90s the entire time. Two nights we were treated to a great lightning show but minimal rain. By morning, you'd never know there was any.

The trip home, however, was no fun. None. If Denton thought I grumbled and groused on the way down, going back was much worse. First, we barely made it off the Outer Banks before we blew a tire. And I do mean blew it - a huge chunk of rubber missing. But with two of us, we had that spare changed and on the road in 15 minutes, tops. Most of it was having to unload the trunk and reload it. That puppy was hot too....the rubber....the lug nuts. Ouchy.

Then there was the traffic. Horrible planning having 3-4 lanes of traffic all of the sudden go down to two. The reported "accidents" stopping three lanes of traffic - but then getting to the site where the radio said it was - nothing. Not a piece of glass, not a scrap of metal. Nothing. I wanted to see blood, guts, burned corpses - the likes of which one can only normally see on CSI. An 11 hour trip took 15.5 hours. Blobby was quite the crank.

But I am proud of myself. I know I'll pay for it in the end, but I never once logged on to my work email. I'm sure I have 500+ messages, but there is nothing I can do about it now (being I'm drafting this at 9p on Sunday night). I guess I could log on now, but I'd just ruin the last 10 days. At this point it can wait another day.

I think the only other thing of note to happen was the call from our alarm company. We will assume that Sophie set it off......again. This makes three times.

Denton got a call on his cell phone at 3:14 pm, but we didn't have his phone with us. They called me at 4:19 pm. WTF? Waiting an hour to call the secondary contact???

We had the cat sitter go over and take a look, but nothing was broken into or damaged, hence our assumption it was Sophie up to no good. That Darn Cat!

If you care - I did take the picture of the posted image. I figured other images I will post tomorrow and that will be my last vacation entry. We did decide we cannot wait and do this every three years - and that we will have to make a concerted effort to take time off.




Song by: Gordon Lightfoot

Sand & Water



....ok, maybe no water. There is - just over a ridge there. It is the Sound - but I didn't get it in these pictures. I did get pictures of it, but they have Denton and myself in it.

I told Denton a day or so ago, I'm likening him to a sitcom housewife that is discussed but never seen. Norm on 'Cheers' comes to mind - as does Maris on 'Fraiser'. Though with the latter, everyone assume Niles was gay and his wife was just a figment.

He is real, but this is my blog and I wouldn't dare put upon him to include him in anything but names and anecdotes.

Yesterday morning, we climbed some huge-ass sand dune. I know it has a name, but it escapes me. And while the majority of folks go in the evening to see the sun set, it is g-d awful hot at that time. The night before it was 97 degrees, up there it was well over 110. And the sand is 30 degrees hotter that time of day.

No my friends, we climbed it at 7:30a. Shoes off. Too hard to climb in sandals.

It was pretty. There were a few hangliders - and I think at another time that would be something very fun to do. It is also the place to fly kites, as the winds up there are pretty strong. But when it comes to kites, I'm more of a Charlie Brown.

I should have taken more pictures or stayed longer. But it was early. We had had no breakfast and good g-d almighty, he hadn't had any coffee!!



Song by: Beth Neilsen Chapman

There is a Light That Never Goes Out

The post title was almost "Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)" - but I thought maybe Morty would be the only person to get it. And while I'm all for being somewhat obscure, that might have been a stretch.

I'm sure if you axe him nicely, he'll tell you what is what with that.

Yesterday (was it only a day ago?) we drove down to Cape Hatteras and looked at the lighthouse they moved five or six years back. Erosion was threatening it and they opted to move it back about a half mile from shore. No doubt in another 50 years they will need to decide the expense is worth moving it again.

The drive was boring as all get out, but the park was nice enough. And hot enough. They close down the inside of the structure if it gets too hot. It was about 93 degrees in there, but they don't shut it down until it hits 103.

...and can you believe it? No elevator!!!!!!


Here you go - seeing it from a distance (break into Ms. Midler anytime now!)


Here it is closer up. Notice, no shade to hide in while you're waiting to ascend.


268 steps up. 268 steps down. Cold water was required for the heat inside. Below is just a shot of where the candles and kerosene would go - they didn't let us up there. It actually is still lit daily...but now with bulbs and stuff.



....and now, a little eye candy at the lighthouse. I haven't taken my camera to the beach, so there I can only take mental snapshots. Here, I just threw caution to the wind. Just a hot daddy from WV.






Song by: the Smiths

Sky

When in OBX, one must make a trip the Wright Brothers Memorial? Right? I mean - I guess.

What can you lose for $4/person? It's hard to spend the entire day on the beach. I have a fragile burny scalp that needs a break now and again. And I get bored easily.

To be honest - the memorial ain't all that. The "museum" is weak. The monument is unimpressive.....and you gotta trek to the top of the hill to see it. Granted, it was a great work out for my legs and butt, but.... And man do they regurgetate the 17 actual facts they have about the day and the flights. (yes, yes, I got it!!! The plane weighed 605 lbs!!!!)

The hill is higher and steeper than it looks.

Three of the first flight markers where they landed. The fourth is about another 300 yrds away

One of three replicas of the plane used to be first in flight

We are not windsock people, but if we were, this would be the one. Who wouldn't want huge pink udders flying about to make the neighbors cringe?




Song by: Crash Vegas

Ocean of Noise

We made it.

It wasn't an awful trip or anything. Long, yes.....but I don't mind the car at all. At least when I can control the music and traffic flow. I didn't get to do either this trip.

The traffic was fine until about a half-hour below Richmond. Then it was s-l-0-w. Around Norfolk, we honestly never made it out of the single digits in terms of miles per hour. It was painful. Probably more for Denton, because I was griping up a storm.

As for the music - well, it's safe to say we have different musical tastes. Denton has come around a lot in the 2 decades we've been together to like much of my music. I can't say I've been as accommodating. You know, my eyebrows more than raise when Teena Marie comes on. And when it's Blackbox and he says jokes, "what's vacation without a little Martha Wash...?" , naturally my response is something like, "ummm....heaven?".

At it turns out, we are not in Kill Devil Hills, but in Nags Head. Not that there is much difference. It's only a mile maker away. It's sun. It's surf. It's shore.

But the place is a dump! This is not at all what the brochure looked like:



Kidding. Kidding. This is actually it. Just like it was pictured. 27 rooms of close to oceanside relaxation. We only have one of the room.

What it is not is gay. It might be gay friendly, as the website described, but we are the only two queers here. I think. There is this one couple (triple?). They seem to be mother, dad and son. But the father/son combo seems like an ad for German NAMBLA. They are a little too close....if you know what I mean.

As g-d is my witness, I walked into the pool area and saw them kissing. But not the way a father and son would or should smooch. I was a little creeped out.

We've been here two days. I don't have LOTS of colour, as I'm wearing SPF 30 and 55. But with a missed spot here and there, I do have a nice burn.



Song by: Arcade Fire

RECORD OF THE MONTH

I figured I'd do a monthly 'what I'm listening to' kind of thing. This could be viewed as a lame placeholder kind of post. And probably it is. But it's my blog! So there!

These may or may not be newly released disks. They might not even be a good disk - just what is been in heavy rotation in my car (as usually the iPod is playing anywhere else).
I've never been a big fan of Japanese music. Shonen Knife? Nah - they've never done it for me. And of course a number of my friends like Pizzicato Five, and they were fun in a kitchy kind of way - I mean, "Go Go Dancer" was ok, but it grew tiresome sooner than later.

But I was listening to NPR's The World a few weeks ago and they did a spotlight story on Love Psychedelico. I thought they were kind of new, but they've been performing for the last decade. Who knew?

I really like their sound. They are hip. They are happening. And they don't sound stereotypically Japanese. It's a little rock - and a lot of pop....and it works.

There is a lot of import music of theirs out there if you're interested. iTunes only has their latest, This is Love Psychedelico. It might just be their major U.S. debut that is compiled from their other releases.

Unless it is small segment on a 30 minute public radio station, I doubt you'll hear them on the radio, so I say go find em and check them out. I don't think you'll be sorry.

Tammy

We leave for vacation today. I had a post in my head allllllll planned out, but I couldn't find the video clip to go with. It was to be a Kids in the Hall skit with Fran and Gordon, who were about to go on a trip.

Fran keeps turning off the oven burners (#1 is off. #2 is off. #3 is off...) over and over to make sure the house doesn't burn down. Then their son comes home drunk. At one point in my life, I would have been the son. Unfortunately now, I've turned into Fran.

But while looking through YouTube, I found another completely unrelated clip. ...and one I've laughed at over and over, over the years.



It goes on a bit long, but you have to stay at least for the entire song. To this day, my friends and I use part of it in our conversation. I know - you're shocked!

There are still some very very funny lines in the skit that are not the song, so enjoy it.

I am sure I'll post while away. I'm not sure how often, but I'll get to it.



Song by: Debbie Reynolds

Traveling Again

Four days in DC. In summer. On days like this, I always flash on a Simpson's episode (don't I always?) of Mr. Lisa Goes to Washington.

"The city of Washington was built on a stagnant swamp some 200 years ago
and very little has changed; it stank then and it stinks now.

In the show they were talking about corruption. I was talking about the 98 degree heat and the 97% humidity. My suits were sopped. My shirts (dress and t) had to hang for days to dry out, not that I was planning on wearing them again during the same trip.

Knowing the city in summer, I did pick a hotel that has an outdoor pool. Not that I really want anyone seeing me in swim trunks, but better they be strangers than folks I know. The swims I had really lowered my body core temperature on two of those days.

Wednesday, after the rosary/opera event I posted yesterday, the skies opened up. I was on my way to dinner.....all by my lonesome (sigh) and then the rains came. It was biblical.

Ruckiry (not Jon's boss), I was a block away from JRs, so I ducked in there, as I had no umbrella with me. There is a certain reader or two who might cringe when I mention this bar - as they will automatically go back in time to a certain November 2000 night when there was some gaseous moments and follow-up comments from the surrounding clientele.

The story and though of it always makes me smile. That night I was in tears. Partially from the noxious odors, but mainly from the unsuspecting bar goers. The hysterics went on so long, we finally had to leave the bar.

In a saloon where there can be a lot of standing and modeling, there is not usually folks cramping from laughter. No one there is supposed to have that much fun. We were. (and for the record, the offender was not me!)

But the other evening I chatted up this handsome little number while I waited for the rain to stop (which it never did) - or did he chat up me? This was post-happy hour situation. Some work folks, but hardly a crowded bar. I was just tossing back Rolling Rocks and waiting for a let up.

This guy was cute and smart and funny. I felt like I was cheating. But it was just talk. There were some cultural references that we discussed (David Cassidy and the Partridge Family), to where I got the comments, "who?" and "what?". I finally had to ask how old he was. The answer was 27.

As Gark said to me the following day, "it's official - you're a daddy!". Oy. Last year he told me I was a "bear". I'm still not sure I'm believing that one. I'm not sure I can.

The rain didn't let up - so I walked out into the street and caught a cab back to the hotel - never did end up having dinner. Unless you want to call beer, "dinner". And why not? I have soooo many times before. What's one more meal?

As for the physical travel - four notices:

• Robert Novak did not hit me with his car. I would have made a much bigger stink.
• Cabs no longer put on the air, as it depletes the gas they have to buy at $4.59/gallon (which is what it is in DC). Not pretty.
• It's very difficult to play Bejeweled when the plane has turbulence.
• I'm not sure if it was more unnerving for me or anyone on AirTrans that the guy across the aisle from me was reading the maintenance manual for AirTrans. We were on Continental. What did he know that he wasn't going on the other airline?
  

Song by: Dar Williams

Like a Prayer

I know it's been a few days with no posting. Work things, ya know. More on that later, I guess.

I was back in DC and while it's a happening town, with all the political protests and some gathering for special causes and interests, oddly enough you just don't see things what I would consider out of the ordinary. Mind you - maybe I'm not the benchmark for what is normal, but even I know a freak show when I see it.

Like this.



Oddly enough I didn't have my camera camera on me, so I had to settle to use my crappy cellphone one. I should have just walked up to them and snapped away, but I didn't. I mean it's not like they were going to chase me down - they were media whores.

Let me set up what they were doing. Praying. With megaphones.

Yes, some group or other was conducting an entire novina to protest the showing of Jerry Springer - the Opera at Studio in the gayest part of DC.

And while yes, it is a gay-hood, there are mega numbers of straight people there. And since it is DC, very multi-ethnic as well. With that big of a cross-section, I saw no one who didn't stop and just shake their head like these boys (I do believe they were all male. Priests, perhaps? Seminary students? Pedophiles? All of the Above?).

Except for the two dozen or so participants, everyone else thought they were nuts.

I don't know anything about the show, except it combines two of my least favourite things: Opera (sorry Jon M, sorry Ade) and Jerry Springer. Wouldn't attending this be like going to hell? If you can read their very expensive protest signs (really - where do they come up with funding to make these?), apparently the show makes reference to the virgin mary and her body. Again - I don't care enough to care.

But it was fun to watch. Probably more so than the opera.




Song by: John Wesley Harding (ha! I bet you thought I'd say Madonna)

Breakaway

We are finally going on vacation.

Yes, we've taken 2-3 day trips to Vegas (work), DC (work), NYC (Madonna - which was kind of like work). However, an honest to g-d full-ish week vacation has not been had since October 2005!!!

As always, we come late to planning anything. Whereas Morty will plan his vacations for a year - like a good fag would - we will take a few hours, sometimes only week or two before we actually leave for our destination. ....just like this time.

I think a week or so ago we had narrowed it down to the Outer Banks or Quebec. Yes, I know they are two very different places - neither of which we have been to. Well, that's not true. Denton has been to OBX with his family, but that's been about three decades ago. Me? I've been to the Charlotte airport....once.

But as I've mentioned, work has gotten the best of me these last few weeks and where I would have loved Quebec, it seemed like it would be a place to tour and do things. It seemed like a lot of activity. It seemed like work.

We opted for OBX so we could get a chance to decompress. Do nothing, as it were. Beach. Read. Sleep. Pool. Drink. Eat. Possibly not in that order.

The place (pictured above), is gay or gay friendly. I don't have to have it be overrun by all queers, but it is nice to be with some of your cohort. There is b'fast daily and and more importantly, a 2.5 hour cocktail time.

As sad as it sounds, we went out and bought new swim trunks over the weekend. That's not the sad part. That would be, it was because we haven't bought (or had to) new ones for over 10 years. We picked up some shirts and shorts too.

Now if Cristobal would just move out to sea, we'd be golden.

I'm in DC almost all week for work. I get back and we leave the next day. Even though the first week is work, it will be two glorious weeks away from the office....save one day.

If all works out, we get to see Jon, Tommy and their two doggies (who hopefully won't lunge for my face!) on the way back home!!


Song by: Big Pig

older chests

Friday night we went out to dinner. The meal was so-so, but I had had a shitty week and just wanted to get out and have some tequila. ....oh.....and food.

But on the way home, a Blondie song popped into my head, since I looked down and saw that "I'm on E....I'm on E.....". We stopped at BP so I could do a $53 fill-up.

I can't even take credit for being aware of my surroundings. As I mindlessly watched the numbers on the pump ever increase, Denton pointed me towards a sign in the attached AM/PM Mart. Ruckiry (not Jon's boss), I had my cellphone camera with me.


It'd been a long day. My 18 hours probably would have been up anyway. I let them keep it.



Song by: Damien Rice

Cat People (Putting Out Fire with Gasoline)

Maybe I'm not a dog person. I always think I am. I want to be.

We had to hit Petco today - as we were in need of litter and fud. Naturally, Denton was with me. It was Saturday and we had to do our EDL things. That's 'Everyday Living' things. You know - shopping, laundry, stuff.

Normally our Petco doesn't have the cages of cats and dogs for sale, but the Humane Society was there doing adoptions. There were some great brother/sister cat combos and then one cat that had to be 20-25 pounds. So nice. So gentle. So HUGE.


But outside there was a dog. A puppy. A larger puppy, but a puppy nonetheless. Mostly golden retriever, but it looked like he/she had some shepherd in him/her. The pup was on a leash and was with someone from the Society. But as I was about to walk in the store, the dog walked over to me.

I got down and petted him/her. They seemed to like it, and even licked my hand. But then things turned ugly. I heard a noise, but wasn't sure. But it was there......a growl. One that got louder. And then the pup lunged, growling, snarling - teeth all bared.

Ruckiry (not Jon's boss), I had quick reflexes and jumped back a bit. Just out of range of a mad dog on the end of a leash. To paraphrase Buddy Cole, "that could have been nassssty".

All this happened in about 45 seconds. When I turned around, Denton was gone. He missed the entire thing. He was inside already looking for cat treats.

On the way home, I finally told him what transpired. Somehow I got chastised for being "too trusting". ....for both dogs and people.

People? Really? It's like he's never even met me!



Song by: David Bowie

Record of the Month - Classic

Normally, I have a Record of the Month post. But I have 400+ CDs and roughly 27 blog posts per month. I gotta fill this space with something! So now, in addition to the RotM, you get a RotM Classic. Most likely a disk that is at least 5 years old. I buy enough music that is 'new' to continue my original subject of RotM.

RJ had posted something a while back and briefly mentioned listening to Jennifer Warnes’ Famous Blue Raincoat. Though I don’t remember exactly what his post was about, the disk mention itself was completely tertiary to the actual post.

But what it did was plant in the back of my mind how that should be, at some point, one of my Record of the Month posts. Now it is my first “classic” post.

Warnes released the disk back in 1986. I remember doing my weekly sift through bins at Schoolkid’s Records on N. High St when the clerks put it on. I could sort of place the voice, but in reality the only thing I knew her from was a few movie soundtrack songs and her other hit “Right Time of the Night”.

None of those things ever would have made me buy one of her disks. But I immediately went up and asked about this one. They told me and pointed me to the one and only copy they had in stock – let’s face it, this was never going to be a big seller.

Unofficially titles: Jenny Sings Lenny, Warnes covers nine songs from Leonard Cohen. I know this always ticks people off, but I don’t like Cohen as a singer. As a writer, he is great – but I don’t see him being the consummate artist that so many do.

I would say the material suits Warnes to a T, but I don’t really know most of her repertoire to confirm that. She certainly embraces it and runs with the style and does quite well at it. The recording itself is clear and crisp – as for a long time I had read in many audio magazines that store would use her “Bird on a Wire” to demonstrate their sound systems.

I’d like to point out the highlights of the disk, but I’m not sure there is a bad song on the disk. I am a huge fan of “First We Take Manhattan”, “Song of Bernadette” and the title track, but in actuality, the entire disk is extremely strong. She wisely opted not to record the oft covered “Suzanne”. I’m not even sure “Hallelujah” was around when this was recorded, but it’s probably a good thing that wasn’t touched either. Jeff Buckley did one of the better versions of that that exist.

For a compact disk that was recorded and released so soon after the medium came into the market, it is and was technically well done when many of those recordings are now in desperate need of remastering.

There is a 20th anniversary edition that was release in 2007 – with an extra track or two, but I haven’t gotten it. At least yet.

This is one disk I would hardly recommend. It's not standard fare, but I think it is something I think most would enjoy.

Nothing


I got nothing. Zilch. Zippo.

I've been Mr. Kranky Pants lately. I don't think I've shown it here, but it is true. It is mostly work-related. Stuff I am not quite willing to talk about yet. Not here. Not yet.

Suffice to say, today I will be meeting my new boss for the first time. My 3rd one in 18 months. Mind you - I haven't switched jobs. That's all I have to say about that.

That being said - we need vacation. A real one. Not one where he is working in Vegas or me in DC. No - we need to get away for a week. A full week. If we can pull this off, it will be the first time in three years that we've done it.

We have it narrowed down to: Quebec or possibly North Carolina (be afraid Jon!). I like the idea of the beach, but that whole hurricane thing has thwarted more than one vacation - be it Rehoboth or the Keys. Unfortunately, this is the way we plan vacations. Spur of the moment but usually they work out - if we follow through.

All I know is that I need to decompress. Soon. Very very soon.

I guess I didn't have nothing!




Song by: Depeche Mode

Ride the Ride

On a pseudo-whim, we went to Cedar Point on Sunday. It is kind of the reason for my pseudo-post yesterday. I was just too lazy to write anything about anything.

CP is the roller coaster capital of the world. All those tv documentary stories on amusement parks say so. It must be true.

One of my many nieces is in town, so it was Denton's idea to get a group of the in-town kids to go too. It was our treat. Kind of. When we arrived, we found a number of corporate employee appreciation days going on. Some guy gave us three free passes he couldn't use. His company only had to pay $22 instead of the normal $43 (!!!!) admission price. Denton was smart and went to the ticket counter and said he needed four more - and they sold them to him at the $22 price!!! SCORE!

For all this talk of people doing 'staycations' (g-d, I hate that word!), the park was packed. No one stayed home! The major rides (Millennium Force, Maverick and Raptor) had 90 minute+ waits. That was hard to justify when you had four kids under 11 years old with you....and two of them weren't even tall enough to get on the adult rides.

So for the most part we kept to the kiddie park. It was fun for the kids, laborious for me. My 9 year old niece went with me on a number of the coasters. She is absolutely fearless. We did the Gemini, Corkscrew and Blue Streak (which is almost as old as I am!! .....and just as rickety).

I've been on all the coasters except Maverick and was looking forward to it, but I think we'll go back sometime with no kids.

There are a few rides I just won't do. Like this one

Nothing says 'vomit' like 70 or so of your not-so-close friends swinging back and forth and spinning. No good can come from this. I don't do spinny rides.

Or the Top Thrill Dragster. 2+ hours for a 48 second ride. Besides the up and over thing just doesn't seem fun to me.

Back in those days, they played Chicago, the Carpenters and America over the PA system. They still do. Clearly the royalty laws still favour middle of the road FM delights.

I remember when my parents would take us to the Point each summer. I wasn't the only kid with Dippity-Do'd hair. Lots of kids today have product today - but all in the form of faux hawks. It's like they all stepped out of their double-wide, got their tattoo and were allowed admission to the park. And they're five.

Was that too judgment-y?






Song by: the Bangles

Milk Train

I don't know why I was so amused by these guys last week. I was down in the middle of nowhere Ohio and just saw them there. 40 or so acres to roam and they all congregate in a 30 square foot area.


As I drove a little further, I flashed upon a Far Side cartoon (well, one of many) that had to do with cars on the side of the road.




Song by: Jefferson Airplane