Al Franken FINALLY Wins the Minnesota Senate Seat

The author of Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot and Other Observations, Al Franken, has finally been certified as the winner by the Minnesota Supreme Court!

And it only took eight months. Thanks for not giving up the fight, Al!

STORY HERE

In other news, Rush Limbaugh is STILL a Big Fat Idiot ... but you probably already knew that.

The Summer Reading List

For whatever reason, I tend to read more during the summer months. This summer, I have decided to grab a bunch of books, keep them in plain view, and try to make my way through them before the warm weather departs.

I started by reading, The Soloist (a fantastic piece by Steve Lopez; read the book, skip the movie), and then I moved on to the yet-to-be-published, Dracula The Undead (it's coming out this October, read it, but just be prepared for an over the top page turner that will leave you breathless...however, it's no where near as compelling as Bram Stoker's classic...actually it's pretty silly, still though, I could not put it down).

Right now, I am half way thorough A Boardwalk Story (also coming out this fall), and so far, so good. It's a sweet story about a 15 year old coming of age in Atlantic City circa 1939 - for whatever reason, it reminds me of Stephen King's novella, The Body.

OK, I have to confess that the the unpublished novels I manage to get a hold of, are because Whatshisname works in the publishing field, so I often get to read books before the public gets them.

Oh, as for that copy of I am Legend. I wanted to re-read Matheson's classic, but kid-sister has requested it as something to read while she rests up.

So what are you reading?

The Legend of the Stonewall Riots

Once upon a time there was a famous movie star and singer who went by the name of Judy Garland. She was renowned through out the world for her phenomenal voice and acting abilities, subsequently she was also known as a troubled soul with a penchant for marrying the wrong men and indulging in prescription drugs and one too many cocktails.

The famous woman was said to have many gay fans.

One day the famous woman, while in London, took a few too many sleeping pills and never woke up.

Her body was flown back to the States and her funeral was held in New York City at Campbell's Funeral Home located on Madison Avenue. It is said that close to 22,000 people lined the streets to wait on line and pay their last respects to her.

The funeral was held on June 27th, 1969.

It was a Friday night.

During this same Friday night, across town at a seedy little Mafia run bar known as The Stonewall Inn, a lot of men gathered to drink. Many of them were saddened by the death of the famous singer, or so we are told. Some insist that the famous singer’s death made these men feel angry as well.

At some time during the night, New York’s finest decided to raid the bar, as they were prone to doing back in those times.

You see, back then, if you were in a bar like The Stonewall Inn, you were considered a pariah, and you could be rounded up and arrested and have your name printed in the paper and pretty much have your life ruined.

But something odd happened that night.

People fought back, and they fought hard.

Police were pummeled with spare change and right hooks by queens and pansy boys, and eventually a mob gathered and in the spirit of the times (this was the 60’s after all) a full scale riot broke out.

Some say that another riot broke out the following night, while others insist that it was a three night affair, with police pretty much outnumbered by gay men and women as well as some very cool straight folk. (It should be noted that one of the men attacked by the police that night was Folk Singer, Dave Van Ronk -- who, while not gay, took a beating for his gay brothers.)

A few days later, The New York Daily News ran this headline: Homo Nest Raided, Queen Bees Are Stinging Mad.

And thus our tale ends...

Of course as with every good legend, there are many variations of what actually did occur. Several good books have been written on the subject ( Martin Duberman’s being one of the best); and it is said that every gay man of a certain age in New York claims to have been at the Stonewall the night all hell broke loose.

The truth about the riots; Who knows? What is known is that The Stonewall Riots were a turning point in gay history, and while younger gay people today probably have little or no idea why the Gay Pride Parades are always held in late June, it would be a shame to forget this colorful little piece of history that occurred a few months before the Woodstock Festival.

So this year on June 27th , raise a toast to those tough customers that fought back, and another to the late Dave Van Ronk for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, and one more to the memory of a famous lady who died too soon and whose death was quite possibly the convoluted catalyst for change.

originally posted posted on June 27th, 2004

Black and White

What's the chance that the world would loose two of it's biggest pop culture icons in one day?

Granted, these two icon's glory days were pretty much behind them, but still, they both made enough of an impact on America (if not the world) that they were, more or less, ingrained in the the mythos of the late 20th century zeitgeist .

Many of us were saddened, but not shocked to hear of the passing of Farrah Fawcett earlier today; she'd been ill for some time, and her sickness has been filer for the media for the past several months - however, when word arrived that Michael Jackson had also bought the farm, I think most of us felt like we'd been hit over the head with a brick.

If you came up in the 70's like I did, you became aware of Michael Jackson early on when he fronted the singing group, The Jackson Five. Back then, Michael was an angel faced youngster with a terrific voice and some incredible dance moves. His brother's may have all been talented, but the pint sized lead singer of the group was the one we all paid attention to.

It did not take long for Michael to set him self apart from his family. If memory serves, he had his first big singular hit in 1972. A sweet little love song called Ben. No matter that it was about a rat, and served as the theme song to the movie about said rodent, Ben hit big and suddenly, Michael was a force to be reckoned with.

***

Several years later, with the advent of a sophomoric television show called, Charlie's Angels, the world was introduced to a blond haired beauty, who, for whatever reasons, really struck a chord with the populace.

Suddenly, everywhere you looked, there was the face of Farrah Fawcett Majors (she was married to TV's Million Dollar Man, Lee Majors at the time). Magazines, fell over themselves to run puff pieces on her, women went gaga over her coif (I am pretty sure that were it not for Farrah, the curling iron would have never happened), and of course, there was the infamous poster of her, the one were she's in the red bathing suit, all smiles, while her perky right nipple is making itself known at the same time.

Interestingly enough, Farrah only did one season of Charlie's Angels, and then she departed to find fame and fortune on the big screen. Sadly, Sunburn, and Somebody Killed her Husband were both duds and eventually, Farah faded from public view ... for awhile at least.

It was in the early 80's when Farrah made a come back in the TV movie, The Burning Bed. Gone was the glam gal, and in her place, a plain looking woman who was suffering from abuse from her louse of a husband. Guess what she does to avenge her self in this movie? After The Burning Bed, came Extremities, another film were Farah goes from Charlie's angel to Avenging angel.

There were some stumbles after this, a rather, seemingly, doped up appearance on Late Night with David Letterman, a Playboy center spread the featured our gal rolling around in paint...but eventually she seemed to find her way and made several other decent movies (my fave being The Apostle with Robert Duvall). She even tried her hand at reality TV with Chasing Farrah, in 2005.

Sadly, Farrah's most recent bit of notoriety came with her public struggle with cancer. A passion play that we all watched until it's cancellation today.

***

Meanwhile, in the early 80's, Michael Jackson burst back upon the scene as the ultimate entertainer with his mega-selling album, Thriller. Make no mistake about it, Thriller was probably one of the most ground breaking albums of all time - right up there with The Beatles' Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band, and Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon. Everyone owned a copy of this record back in the day, and anyone who claimed that they did not, was probably lying.

Featuring great songs, ingenuous arrangements, and fantastic lyrics, Thriller also spawned several of the greatest rock video's ever made including a mini-horror film inspired by the title song, directed by John Landis.

Michael kept busy during his Thriller years, appearing everywhere, selling out concerts, showing up on talk shows, and he was still seemingly normal, and, dare I say it? Kind of sexy in his tight pants, while doing his moon walk...

After Thriller came more hit albums and more hit singles, as well as Michael co-writing We are the World ...for a time, everywhere you looked, you saw Michael Jackson...

...and then things got weird.

Over time, Michael started to change physically, his skin grew lighter, his face changed, his speaking voice became softer and more child-like ... and then of course, there were the allegations of sexual molestation of young children. Things got ugly fast, and several years after being at the top of his game, Michael was suddenly something of a pariah. If he was not in court, he was dangling one of his children off a hotel balcony, or showing up for yet another court appearance in pajamas ... and then those photos hit that showed his face physically falling apart ... frankly it was all rather disgusting.

In the past few years, Michael became something of a one man freak show, no matter what his past accomplishments might have been, it seemed like he'd never get back to the top or regain that "King of Pop" title he seemed to want to cling to so desperately. In a way, he became Norma Desmond.

And now, today, Thursday, June 25th, Michael Jackson is dead. His final act, and from the look of things, he'll finally get all of that attention he wanted again. Sad, how stuff turns out, don't you think?

***

Tonight then, raise a glass to the memory of the beautiful blond who gained some fame, got a bit of notoriety, but ultimately went out with some class. And then, by all means, do the same for the man who gave us hours of musical pleasure - forget the ugliness, the shattered lives, and try and remember the good , don't judge him too harshly, his life was probably not as black and white as you think it may have been.

I Believe in God, and I Believe that God, Believes in Claude, that's Me!

Song that has been stuck in my head all day thanks to a phone call i got at work from a Mr. Bukowski.

RIP Farah

Wow, this is rotten, it seems that Farah Fawcett has passed on...and yet another icon from my heyday is gone.

Rest in peace, angel.

Forbidden Fruit

This won't last long, but since our networking is totally screwed here at work, I was able to log in to Blogger. Unfortunately, I have nothing of any grave importance to share.

It seems that all of our practical applications still can not be accessed, but our Internet access is wide open!

That sound you here is the tapping of keyboards as the denizens of Officeland enjoy the forbidden fruit of unfettered Internet access.

Hope you are all having a great day!

RIP Uncle Ed

He rode shotgun with the king of late night TV, Johnny Carson, for years. His guffaws punctuating even the lamest of jokes that Carson made...he was the ultimate side kick; Ed McMahon.

For those of us of a certain age, Mr. McMahon was like a favorite uncle, the one who seemed to be into everything. Be it, life insurance, dog food, and yes, even the Publisher's Clearing House Sweepstakes.

For some reason, when I heard about his passing earlier today, I felt really sad. It's disheartning watching these early pioneers of Broadcast Televison slowly pass away. More than that, it's like losing a beloved relative.

So tonight, raise a glass to Uncle Ed, I am sure he would appreciate that.

I'd Like to Buy These Two Guys a Drink

First off, I'd like to buy a drink for some guy named Polo. Who is Polo, you ask. Polo (yes I know I've written his name three times already) is the manager of the pop band, The Black Eyed Peas, and allegedly he decked uber jack-off, Perez Hilton. It seems that Hilton (you know he's the guy whose become rich and famous with a blog where he "draws" inane comments on celebrity photos, and posts gossip about them) who is gay, called Black Eyed Peas, front man, will.i. am a "fucking faggot". Isn't that clever? But what can you expect from a pink haired maggot like Hilton? Honestly, this guy is a waste of flesh and an insult to any self respecting gay man - hell, any man, woman or child regardless of their sexuality, in the world!

*

Praise Jesus! Feast your eyes on Madonna's latest fuck boyfriend, Jesus Luz as he models underwear for a fashion show in Brazil ... say what you will about Madge, but she knows how to pick 'em. Hmmm, come to think of it, I'd like to buy Jesus a drink, several of them as a matter of fact...keep 'em coming barkeep!

Father's Day 2009

Yikes! It's Father's Day. How did I forget?

For the past few days, I've been thinking that the day we honor the paternal head of the clan was next week...oops, my bad.

So, here's a toast to all you father's out there, now if you'll excuse me, I have to run out for a card and last minute gift for my dad.

Saturday Morning Stuff

First, the good news. Kid sister is coming home today! Doc told her she's doing better than was expected. Her recovery will be long as she had a boatload of surgery done, but it's mostly just going to be achieved through rest and some minor physical therapy. So yeah, all's well that end's well.

Meanwhile, it's raining ... again. I am not sure, but I think we might be on our way to breaking some kind of weather record here in my neck of the woods. It seems that we have six or seven days of rain followed by one or two days of overcast weather, then a few hours of sun and some humidity, followed by storms and then back to cooler rainy weather. Whatever the case, I'm over it. Let's have some of that summer sunshine (although I will admit, my garden is going great guns thanks to all the precipitation - so there's that).

***

Iran and North Korea: yikes! That's all I can say. That crazy mother fucker, Kim Jong il, might fire missile in the direction of the Hawaiian islands during Independence Day (oh the irony); and in Iran, hundreds of thousand continue to ignore the warnings of that other crazy mother fucker, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and protest the results of the latest election (you wonder why Americans were not this brave and motivated when a certain someone stole the vote here back in 2000). In any case, keep your eyes on these two troubled nations, folks. Forget about Jon and Kate, and the rest of the pablum the media is shoving down our throats...

Fave Foto Friday : Cell Phone Camera Edition

1: This is what happens when the powers that be issue a memo telling everyone in Officeland NOT to touch the thermostats...
2: The jerk in orange was in front of me on line at the market the other day, while I was waiting to have my salad and iced tea rung up ... see the sign? Well, Mr. Orange shirt thought that it did not apply to him, and he must have had thirty items or better on the belt. Some people think the world turns at a different pace for they and they alone!
3: This creepy sentiment was found just outside the court yard entrance to Officeland. Actually we have a lot of people that work here who think of themselves as god, so it could pretty much be anyone.
4: Six million days of rain, brought a lot flowers to my garden.
5: Ran into this little guy the other day as I was leaving for work. We seem to have family of rabbits living just off the parking lot. I love 'em as I hear that squirrels are afraid of them.

Life is Change

and so are blogs ... a few changes coming here for the handful of you that still bother reading this blog. Stay tuned.

That French PSA

I posted this video a few years back, and just came across it again. It's a French Public Service Announcement (they are so damned advanced when it comes to stuff like this). The song is "Sugar Baby Love" by the Rubettes. The message is timeless...

Fave Foto Friday: Smells Like Glam Teen Spirit edition

Jeff Riedel's portrait of Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love's daughter, Frances Bean really knocked my socks off ... she turned out to be a lovely young woman in spite of everything...also, seeing her fully grown makes me feel really old.

And while I can't vouch for it, here's what Magnolia said about this picture:

When I was a young girl in Paris, my first trip Abroad, I posed for some "Art" studies, when daddy found out he was not amused and dragged me back to Philadelphia on the first boat. Here is one of the more risque images, I do hope your gentle readers will not take offense.

Broadway Doesn't Go For Booze and Dope

So did anyone else get a chuckle watching Rocker, Brett Michaels getting conked on the head by a moving set on Sunday night's Tony awards?

Here's what the fine folks at TV Overmind said about Michael's misadventure:

Okay, wait, Poison was in a broadway musical? For those of you who’ve been in a coma today, Brett Michaels knocked himself stupid (well, more stupid) as he exited the stage of the Tonys when a set prop was lowered onto his head. LOL. Let me say that one more time…A set prop was lowered onto his head! Not only did the poor guy get knocked to the ground in front of a live audience, but then his slightly squashed cowboy hat remained on stage for the rest of the number. It could be seen a few minutes later getting stomped on by the cast of Shrek the musical. Now if there’s one thing that i never thought I’d see, its an Ogre dancing on Brett Michaels hat. And if that wasn’t enough, Neil Patrick Harris even got to come out later and make jokes about it (since Brett was okay and all, apparantly we can all make fun of him now). The Tonys might have only had seven million viewers see Brett get slammed last night, but don’t worry, the other 297 million of us got to see the clips on YouTube and the rest of the web today. So basically we’re all winners in this one, and Brett is the BIGGEST LOSER! LINK

Here's the video...

Funny, huh? All the wild rock and roll living, and the guy is whacked by a set at Radio City Music Hall ... I guess Helen Lawson was right when she said, "Broadway doesn't go for booze and dope."

Neil Patrick Harris' Tonys Closing Number: WOW (VIDEO)

Neil Patrick Harris' Tonys Closing Number: WOW (VIDEO)

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The Week in Review

Happy Saturday!

• What a long week it's been. We lost David Carradine (and I suspect that my initial suspicion about his passing might be right), of course it makes no never mind how the man died, the fact remains we lost one of the good guys this week.
• I was speaking with a friend the other morning who turned the Today Show on so that he could hear about President Obama's historical visit to the Middle East. Imagine his surprise when the top story was...wait for it... wait for it ... Jon and Kate's divorce.
• Seems like the wingnut accused of murdering Dr. George Tiller can't understand why he's being "treated as a criminal". People like this guy scare the shit out of me. Jesus, save us from your followers!
• So it seems that Good and Plenty and Sacha Baron Cohen's bare butt meeting was all staged. Something tells me that this is not the first time that Marshall has been this close to a bare ass, just ask Dr. Dre!
• And finally, how does it feel to be one of the major stock holders of Chrysler, America? I don't know about you, but I am expecting delivery of my Cadillac CTS pronto!

An Historical Day in Officeland

Been working for the same state agency for over twenty years, and I have never, ever seen a mention made of June being Gay Pride Month. Today, I found a notice posted in our reception area that, well, see for your self. Unfortunately, the picture is not the best, I took it with my camera phone - but son of a gun, if Gay and Lesbian Pride Month is not noted, just after Caribbean American Heritage Month!

Thank You Hillary! Senator Clinton Acknowledges Gay Pride Month

In Recognition of Gay and Lesbian Pride Month 2009

Hillary Rodham Clinton

Secretary of State

Washington, DC

June 1, 2009

---

Forty years ago this month, the gay rights movement began with the Stonewall riots in New York City, as gays and lesbians demanded an end to the persecution they had long endured. Now, after decades of hard work, the fight has grown into a global movement to achieve a world in which all people live free from violence and fear, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity.
In honor of Gay and Lesbian Pride Month and on behalf of the State Department, I extend our appreciation to the global LGBT community for its courage and determination during the past 40 years, and I offer our support for the significant work that still lies ahead.


At the State Department and throughout the Administration, we are grateful for our lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees in Washington and around the world. They and their families make many sacrifices to serve our nation. Their contributions are vital to our efforts to establish stability, prosperity and peace worldwide.


Human rights are at the heart of those efforts. Gays and lesbians in many parts of the world live under constant threat of arrest, violence, even torture. The persecution of gays and lesbians is a violation of human rights and an affront to human decency, and it must end. As Secretary of State, I will advance a comprehensive human rights agenda that includes the elimination of violence and discrimination against people based on sexual orientation or gender identity.


Though the road to full equality for LGBT Americans is long, the example set by those fighting for equal rights in the United States gives hope to men and women around the world who yearn for a better future for themselves and their loved ones.


This June, let us recommit ourselves to achieving a world in which all people can live in safety and freedom, no matter who they are or whom they love.

LINK HERE