Thursday, May 31, 2012

Cardinal Dolan paid ABUSERS $20,000 to shut up and leave

Cardinal Dolan is known for two things.  His constant hatred of seam sex marriage (we are turning into North Korea for this) and his insistence that Birth Control Pills should not be allowed under health insurance for any woman that works - however tangentially - with the Catholic Church.
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Well, now there is a 3rd.  While he was the Fat Cheese in Milwaukee, he authorized payments of up to $20,000 to Pedophile Priests to get them to leave the church.  Yes - he bribed the Priests that screwed little kids to quit the church and say nothing happened.  THAT seems a little worse than same sex marriage.
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At least he was honest about it though, right?
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HA fucking HA.  He LIED about it to the authorities and newspapers.  Isn't lying one on the big 10 no now?  Story
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I am on my way across the ocean and hate to leave on this note, but life is what it is.
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hi ho

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

So, just to be clear, one of the big arguments against Same Sex Marriage is we will have to teach kids about gay sex, then why is this okay....

I have heard quite a few people say that the problem with making same sex marriage "normal" is that children will have to learn about it.
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okay...  I disagree, we don't teach kids about marriage at all.  I mean I didn't learn about it in my school, but whatever.  And yet, with this argument, what is with the hootin' and hollerin' for this poor 4 year old who has been taught to sing in church that "Ain't No Homo Gonna Make It To Heaven".
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It's bad to tell kids about a committed same sex relationship, but it is great to teach kids that homos are going to burn in hell?
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Really?!

I love it when headlines ask questions I can answer.
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Why? 1. Because she makes a lot of money doing what she loves - and yet is intolerably cranky when asked about it.
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Why? 2. Because she chose, as a profession, being in the public eye - and yet is a bitch when questioned about it.
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Why? 3. Because not everyone is as enamored of her and her 1.5 facial expressions as the BAFTAs are.

Sights I will see this week!!!

So we are off to Istanbul tomorrow.  I am very excited.  The two things I love to seeing most of all (aside from land after an 11+ hour plane ride) is the Hagia Sophia - the Byzantine Church, and the Blue Mosque.  They are both right near our hotel - which is great, we are only in Istanbul about a day and a half.
The Hagia Sophia.  A church from Byzantine times 537 AD.  It was the largest church in the world until the 1600s.
It was converted into a Mosque in the 1400s, when the minarets were added.  In 1931 it became a museum.
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The Blue Mosque (it's not this blue it is a trick of the light and Photoshop).
Finished in 1616 when Istanbul was the Capital of the Ottoman Empire.

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Toddle Around New York City

We took the Double Decker Bus Tour yesterday around the city.  Sometimes we like to be tourists.  Here were some highlights.
This is the Flatiron Building. Just a pretty building I think.

This is the entrance to Macy's that was designed as a memorial to
the Titantic... I had no idea.

This is the Metropolitan Life Building.  The Clock faces are a few feet bigger than Big Ben (according to the tour
and Wikipedia).  It is across Madison Square Park from the Flatiron
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Is it a matter of degree?

So, is it a matter of degree that when Syria kills children for control of it's space, they are barbarians - but we we kill children for control of Afghanistan, it is a "mistake"?
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In Pakistan, we attacked a bakery where 4 suspected militants were.  Let's assume, for a moment, that these 4 people WERE militants.  They also destroyed the bakery, and anyone who was working there.  Or anyone who lived in the house / bakery.  We don't even talk about the extra lives we killed there.
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One last thing here.  The Obama Administration considers "counts all military-age males in a strike zone as combatants ".  Really. (LINK) and here (LINK 2).  So that means a 19 year old making bread or a 45 year old father selling bread at the Bakery is a "militant".  Because, as our government says "Counterterrorism officials insist this approach is one of simple logic: people in an area of known terrorist activity, or found with a top Qaeda operative, are probably up to no good. “Al Qaeda is an insular, paranoid organization — innocent neighbors don’t hitchhike rides in the back of trucks headed for the border with guns and bombs,” said one official, who requested anonymity to speak about what is still a classified program. ". Same Links.
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Of course, that sounds like they probably are up to no good.  You know, riding in a truck with a gun or selling bread from a home bakery.
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And, we won't acknowledge to the press we even DO DRONE attacks.  Really!  We brag about it in the media, but when the ACLU requested details on who the US targets and how it is determined, it was stated that the Pentagon and CIA couldn't even verify thee was a drone program because it would hurt national security.
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And so our drones kill children, destroy bakeries, and John McCain complains to the media that Obama won't do anything to stop the killing in Syria.
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Hi ho.

Monday, May 28, 2012

Happy Memorial Day

The Guided Missile Destroyer at Fleet Week.
Happy seems wrong.  I mean, it is about honoring those who fought for the country and our freedom, so maybe Honorable Memorial Day is better?
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But clunky.
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Anywho, we went to the ships at Fleet Week yesterday.  We went on the Wasp - a landing vehicle, Helicopter Carrier that lands Marines.  It was fun.
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We also saw the guided missile destroyer pictured below, but it was a LOOOONG line, so we went on the Tall Ship instead.
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It was cool.
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And the marine pilot of the Ospry was little.  I think you have to be a smallish guy to fit into the cockpit.
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Anywho, thank you to Nick - who served in Vietnam, and to all the other men and women who have fought for the country.
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The Ospry on the deck of the Wasp.

Friday, May 25, 2012

Interesting Take

I saw a new show (Rapture, Blister, Burn) this week.  My review will come out later, but it did bring up some very interesting points on a lot of things.  Including a "Feminist" point of view (from my generation) versus a current more liberated, but less labelled point of view from a young woman today.
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So, I won't go into it now, but one of the funny asides was from the young woman to the older Feminist (played by Amy Brenneman from Judging Amy) was about the Soviet Union.  Virginia Kull (the younger woman) said something to the effect (I can't recall the exact words..)
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Virginia:  Yes, I read about how in the 70's you were all afraid that Russia was going to blow us up at any minute.
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Amy: Right.. and?
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Virginia: Yeah... that doesn't make any sense.
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And I kind of laughed, because when I was growing up, that was the worry.  We were all going to be blown up and die.  I did duck and cover drills in Gardena.  You know, waiting the fireball in the suburbs of LA.  It all seems unreal now.  Now we fight about stupid things.  If we fixed the stupid things, we would find more things to worry about, I guess.
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Hi ho.

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Jellyfish, the movie

Yes, I know it is in the wrong aspect.  Ed has to get a new one tomorrow.
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My Birthday Present has arrived

My birthday present has arrived... finally!!!
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Ed got me a special jellyfish tank - and jellyfish were finally in stock.  Here are a couple pictures.
This is the tank.  You can see tow of the jellies on the left side.

Two of the Jellyfish, with the blue backlight.  Cool huh?

Central Park or Politics... oh Central Park I think

The Guggenheim: End of the Walk!
This week-end Suzanne was here and we all had a great bumble.  She had never seen the Guggenheim, or spent time in Central Park, so we took a bumble.  It was a gorgeous day and I thought I would share...
This is "Poets Walk", a tree lined promenade through the park.


This is the Irish Consulate stuck between buildings

The Fountain from the passageway.  Just look how pretty the day was

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Fleet week

Fleet week returns to Neva Yorka...  This happens at least once a year - and the Marines are all over the city.  There are a few Swabbies as well, but the Navy hasn't fully docked yet.
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Hi ho.

And Unicorns will shit Gold Coins

Rampant optimism is a great thing.  In the young.
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In later years, it is a little delusional.
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I understand the desire for a Corporate Arab Spring.  Just like I understand the desire for rainbows and butterflies.  Okay, not butterflies, Ed hates butterflies.  Let's say rainbows and unicorns.
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But the odds of an Arab Spring for Corporations are slightly less probable than the odds of a Unicorn coming over the horizon, with a butterfly impaled in it's horn - shitting or not shitting Euros.  Which is to say, not so probable.
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In the olden days, a corporation was tied to a unique geography or country.  Hence we had "good corporate citizens".  Companies that worked not just for profit, but for the good of the country they did business in.  Now companies can do business anywhere in the world, and "good corporate citizenship" doesn't mean the same thing.  And we all need to get used to it.
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We actually have a case study of this in the United States.  Many of our domestic only companies are technically headquartered in Delaware or Nevada, because the liability laws and corporate secrecy laws are more Corporate friendly there.  So, once the playing ground is level, why would we expect these same corporations not to headquarter in the Cayman Islands or Panama?  There is no benefit for them to be "good corporate citizens" in the United States.
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And they can buy Congress to get laws favorable to them.  They are, indeed, good lobbyists.  Other countries (I'm looking at you China) lock their markets unless the corporations do as they are told.  They enforce a national good in return for market access.
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So, by all means, wish for a Corporate Arab Spring.  And, when it comes, send the gold shitting unicorn to my house.

wan..WAA

Semi Final isn't bad.  But I do hate to lose to the dreaded Trojans....
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We Have Officially Entered Crazy Season

We'll the US is between the Presidential Election..  To which my non-US friends may say "Is that a typo?".  Unfortunately, it is not.
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You see, our Presidential Election is held over the course of 11 months.  The first bit is the "primary season", where the Republicans and Democrats winnow down the field to a champion each.  Much like ancient Rome, the champion emerges battered and bruised and bloody.
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But they we take a few months off, to raise the real money for the election.  The "Election" season starts (in earnest) around the end of August when the conventions play out.  The convention is when the nominee is 'official'.  "But Scott," I hear you ask, reasonably, "don't we already know the nominees."
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Yes.  But not legally.  And once they are "legally" nominated, they can spend their election money.  Right now they can only spend their primary money.  Sure, the Citizen's United case makes this nearly moot, but not completely.  (Citizen's United was the Supreme Court saying that corporations have a right to free speech and can spend all the money the want, on any election they want - as long as they don't coordinate with the campaign. So old campaign director's went and now run these independent groups.  And if you believe they don't coordinate, I have some Greek Euro Bonds to sell you.)
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So, now we are in that time when the best campaign strategy is free news coverage.  Hence Obama's 2 minute ads about Bain Capital - and Romney's 2 minute SciFi Doomsday ads about what happens if the darkie gets into office again.
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As for Bain Capital - it seems only President Obama has been able to articulate the thrust of this.  Which is, Mitt Romney did a very good job at Bain, in creating wealth for his shareholders.  But his job was not to add value to society as a whole.  And so the job at Bain is very different form the job of President.
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So, why hit Bain Capital?  Because Mitt Romney is running on only that.  He isn't running on his record as Massachusetts Governor - because he introduced Universal Health Care, Gays could get married in the state and he governed as a moderate.  He isn't running on his record as Salt Lake City Olympic savior because it was all about Public Funds - plus the whole Mormon thing.  He isn't running on his church devotion, because he's a Mormon and won't talk about it.  He only talks about his success as a business man - so that is what you can argue with.
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From Mitt's point of view (and Republican's everywhere) success depends on painting the current economic condition as horrible.  They are campaigning on the reverse of "Morning in America" - kind of like "Night of the Living Dead of America".  That is because, outside of the economy, President Obama has done fine.  He lowered taxes for the middle class (yep - really), withdrew (as negotiated by President Bush) from Iraq, followed the General's advice on Afghanistan and killed Osama Bin Laden.  But the economy is still sputtering. And the Republicans in Congress are guaranteeing it still sputters (whether through stupidity or maliciousness is not entirely clear).
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And so, silly season drags on.  But I choose to ignore most of it right now.  I'll go nuts later :-).

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

I Must Say: Joseph Gordon-Levitt is a Great Actor

Joseph Gordon-Levitt is a lot like Robert Downey Jr. to me.  I can watch both of them, and pretty quickly forget who they are in real life, and totally believe who they "are" in the moment of the movie.
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We watched 50/50 last night, and it was NOT the laugh-fest we were promised.  Talk about your poor marketing.
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But it was great.  Great enough that even though Ed and I wanted something funny, we couldn't stop watching it.  Even to the point of pausing it while we went to the bathroom (that, FYI, is a sign that someone likes the movie - because you can still hear it in the bathroom - so if it's only OK=kay, you let it run).
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He is a great actor.

A Success Story (of sorts)

California Condors are back.  This is, by the by, an amazing story - that has been a big part of my life.
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I remember growing up hearing the numbers fall every year, even as captive breeding programs grew.  In 1982 there were only 22 birds - total!.  In 1987 they gathered the few remaining wild birds and brought them in to enrich the genetic quality of the bird lines.  It was a divisive and controversial decision.  I mean, a lot of us thought they would never fly in the wild again.
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A Condor in the wild (it's a type of vulture)
The first time I ever gave money to a non-profit, just for them, not to buy something, was in the case of the CA Condor.  I remember showing Ed the far off flight aviaries at the LA Zoo and the San Diego Wild Animal park.  You could see them in the distance, but not visit them.  The zoos wanted the birds to be afraid of people (poaching had once been a problem).
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They have an ugly beauty
I even once drove down to the San Diego Wild Animal park when a hatch-ling was born because you could watch it through one way glass - as a hand in a Condor puppet feed it.
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And they were introduced into the wild in California (Ventura), then Arizona.  There are 405 of the birds now.  Over 200 in the wild!  Sure, there are still problems - primarily lead poisoning from gunshots (they are vultures and pick at leftover hunter kills).  California outlaws lead ammo for just this reason - apparently the Utah birds are being poisoned now.  By they will figure it out.
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One of the big questions, was "Is it worth it to save these birds?"  After all, it was hugely expensive.  But I think it was.  It taught a generation of Californians (and others) that good works get results.  And, if enough people are dedicated, we can help nature.  Particularly if we (people) are what put it out of wack.
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Since Condors, a number of other species from the California Zoos have been introduced back into the Wild.  Bongos in Africa, Golden Lion Tamarinds in Brazil.  The San Diego and Los Angeles Zoos learned and shared a lot of knowledge about reintroduction.  I am proud to have been a small part of it.

Monday, May 21, 2012

My Honey Sends Me good Tennis News Now

Well, at least in his new job, he keeps up with Bruin Tennis news.

The News Story

Adrien Puget (which sounds a little Frenchie - but he's a Bruin , baby)

The good & bad of Scott as a theater reviewer

Well, I have a review site (where this post will mirror) - and I review.  I have done it for other sites and still do, occasionally post to them.  So I am a semi-professional at this.
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People have said, how did you get into / what was your background?  Well, I got into when someone  who read a few blurbs I wrote on Nincompoopery asked me to review a show.  So, short answer, pure luck!  I have a good voice of the average person.
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Yet... with my background, comes the lack of training in Theater.  The good and the bad sides of it.  today both happened to be displayed to me in the pages of the NY Times.
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The bad - I don't get some stuff...
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Today's NY Times Review has a review of Title and Deed from Charles Isherwood (whom I admire greatly).  I really disliked Title and Deed.  I mean really.  And I wasn't alone, nearly all of  the audience was annoyed.  But Mr. Isherwood drew the parallels to Beckett (and in a sensible way).  He makes the play sound like something I would love to see.  He brings a background I don't have.
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And the good?  I'm not a pretentious twit.
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Today's NY Times has a piece of claptrap (on the Front Page no less!) by the other critic, Ben Bratley.  He was complaining that Broadway Tourists give too many Standing Ovations.  In it he suggests, by turns, that the tourists that visit Broadway give the ovations:
- to try to head for the exits quickly
- because they are cheap and a standing ovation makes them feel like they got their money's worth
- because they can't see the stage otherwise
- or because that horrible show Newsies won't stop dancing until people stand
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Aside - Let's just admit for a moment that the depth of his hatred of Newsies is so profound he can't blow his nose without trashing it.  If we all tattoo across our foreheads "Ben Bratley Hates Newsies" will he shut the hell up about it?  Just a question.
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He contrasts this sheepish behavior of the unwashed versus the rarefied air of the true enthusiasts of the Theater that attended the Enocre! series where (and I quote)
I should point out that among audiences for musicals, those who attend the Encores! productions are probably the most sophisticated and discriminating in town. Many of them know the history, in detail, of the show they’re seeing and the resumes of those appearing in it. But can't we all. please, strive to be a little more like them?
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More annoying words have been writen, but not by me.  And that, is the good of not having a theatre background (with an -re)

Sunday, May 20, 2012

No one should EVER Trash Madonna in Evita again. Ever!

Elena Rogers stars in Evita now on Broadway.  If you wonder why she wasn't' nominated for a Tony - see the show.  And wonder no more.
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She hits a good 80% of her notes - a pretty good percentage for a High School Production.  Not really Broadway percentages.
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And I don't know where it played in London - I HOPE the Chocolate Factory - which is tiny.  Because she cannot play a big room.
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When she isn't screechy, she is shrill.
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Now, she does have a lot of energy, I'll give her that.  But, then again, so do 5 year olds.  Or meth addicts.  And I don't want them screwing up Evita either.
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And that accent...  honestly, it was good we all know the words, because you couldn't understand her.
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This line..
"Tell me before you ride off in the sunset...
Before joining the forgotten brigade...."
.. was just painful to try to listen to.  I mean it is kind of cool she is from Argentina, but Ricky Martin is from Puerto Rico and he has the politeness to sing in an understandable English.  If you can't understand her, don't cast her.
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Her cause wasn't helped a lot by  a re-write that cut vast swathes of the show.  At one point, she insists on being Vice President and immediately collapses on floor in the same breath.  I admit, I burst out laughing at that.  But she lost me hours before that point.
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And - if you have seen it - what was the hideous mash-up of songs at the end?!  Yes, the original kind of rattles to an end - but THAT was not the solution.
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Clearly Patti LuPone or Elaine Paige haven't seen this, because they would have laughed her off the stage and saved us all.
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"Have I said too much?
There is nothing more I can think of to say to you..."
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Then stop, for the love of God, stop singing and let someone else finish the show.

Lobster Roll at Brooklyn Flea

Suzanne was in town this week-end.  It was a beautiful week-end weather wise and we had a blast.  On Sunday all went to the Brooklyn flea (which has moved back outside for the season) and had a blast.  Suzanne ate this lobster roll and enjoyed it!

Friday, May 18, 2012

Suzanne's Pup Maggie

So Suzanne has a great pup from the rescue.  And, since Suzanne works at Land's End - Maggie is a star!
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Facebook Nincompoopery

I took a picture of the Facebook nincompoopery at NASDAQ.  There is a lot of Hub and Bub. You can't really see all the news crews around, but they are there (making getting out of my building a pain in the behind.
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This is taken from my floor.

Everyone liked the show

A good Jason Butler Harner and a
Fantastic Cory Michael Smith in Cock
So the London Transfer "Cock" got great reviews from everyone.  Even the New York Times' Ben Bratley loved it (and he hates everything).
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Although it is the New York Times, so he can't say "Cock".  he has to call it "The Cockfight Play", which is king of the alternate title if you can't use the Roster word.
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My review is here. I loved it, if you are in New York go see it.
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My friend Richard liked it too for Exeunt (link).

Thursday, May 17, 2012

bleh...

This just looks terrible.  Staring Bill Paxton (he of the  great "Tell Us, Grace" line from Titanic) and Kevin Costner (any line from Waterworld).
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Yuck.

Au Revoir Youth

At this point it seems bizarre that things can still remind me of my youth, but here we go again.
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Donna Summer passed away today.  Ahh... we are going way back.  I had every Donna Summer album (LP) that wasn't a compilation - and a few that were.  I had the old 12" singles (where the BPM were noted (beats per minute - for disco mixing)).
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She was the Disco Goddess before disco sucked.  Her's was the last concert I saw at Universal Amphitheater - before they put the roof on.  PS - She had zero stage presence.  ZERO.  But what a voice!
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Donna Summer was the person that convinced me that we respond to voices in a highly personal manner.  I loved the sound of her voice - and some people hated it. But when she sang, and the music changed from slow to upbeat to fast (On the Radio, McArther Park, Last Dance....) - well there was hope and fun and joy ramping up.  A whole wide wonderful world waiting for us to burst out onto.
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If you listen now, her music (like all 1970s disco!) is pretty thin and annoying, but it was heaven at the time.  I spent hours -weeks maybe - dancing to her.  I drove my roommates crazy.
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I remember that I wasn't yet 21 when the Bad Girls album came out, but friends and I went to the "Odyssey" a huge, under-21 disco - and they played all 4 sides in a row.  And it was wonderful.  Then, at 2AM, when the old people came from other clubs, they did it again and we danced until dawn.
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Then came AIDS, and Donna said was gay's own fault because we went against God's wishes.  And all of us who had lost friends and family were crushed.  A little heartsick by having this icon of joy saying it was our own fault - as we watched people shrivel away to nothing.  And a big happy memory was turned into a big steaming pile of shit.  I suppose we never forgave Donna Summer.  I know I never bought another album of hers (except ones from Casablanca, where she didn't get an residuals - and yes, I checked it every time).
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And so a reminder of my youth passes away - and I am sorry that I can't morn more.  How can you morn someone who said that your lover deserved to die?  I morned losing that wonderful and hopeful voice years ago.
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But my thoughts do go out to her family.  She was a talented and family oriented mother who will be missed.  Dear Lovely Woman, with the Golden Voice - I hope you found peace.

You can't always search for images

So, normally when I write a post, I just grab a picture (if I didn't take one). 
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Last night I went and saw a fantastic show.  It was called "Cock".
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You know what happens when you search "Images = Cock".  Well, you don't want to try that at work.

So for some reason, today at work is wear purple day

You know how you get those "wear this color today" messages?
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You don't?  You shouldn't, it is 2012 for goodness sake we aren't in High School.  But... my job has a wear purple day today to show support for Bi, Gay, Lesbian, Transgendered, Questioning, Confused and Supportive Youth - or some such nonsense.   All I know is that I got the evil eye (plus comments) because I didn't support this last year.
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Since I am trying to help a friend with her contributions to Minnesotans United For All Families, I am trying to do my purple part.  But I looked in the closet today.
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I don't own purple.  I don't like purple, I don't look good in purple and I don't have any.  I ended up with a purple madras shirt, with a purple undershirt - wearing the 2 things I own.
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Good Grief

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

So this is the group that Ed and I had a fundraiser for... I hope we contributed in some small way to this message

It is just me...

Is it just me, or does "Jazzrael" look like a terrible idea?
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Clarinet, saxophone & bagpipes? - Really?
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My Old Company & Greece

As we all know, I used to work on ATMs.  And Greece was my country, before I started managing the whole thing.  Let me just say, should they fall back to the Drachma, the shit-ski hits the fan-ski.
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This used to be my ATMs....
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Just like in Argentina, when they froze their currency, the first thing that will happens is that the ATMs will shut down.  Not due to a run on the banks or anything, but just because the software hasn't been designed to go backwards.  Actually it was - in the very very beginning of the Euro - in case the whole thing didn't work out, but that was dropped after a few months.
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So there is no process in place to change this.  The easiest quick fix is to add Drachma's as a secondary currency - and show the conversion rate to the home currency.  Some countries already do this (where you can withdraw Dollars or local currency).  Now, while this will work, it is annoying as this shows how much money you lose everytime you withdraw Drachmas.  And, until they write new software, it will continue to say, "I'M SORRY, I DON'T HAVE EUROS, DO YOU WANT DRACHMA?"  Because it is the (expected) base currency that is out of (ie not loaded).
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Whether from CIT or out outside company, changing a base home currency is a process that normally takes months, if not years.  As a matter of fact, it isn't done.  The Euro was a first.  A huge, 3 year planned first.
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It won't be pretty.  And it will look even uglier.  And, as in Argentina, expect a bunch of riots / attacks on ATMs and banks.

He's baaaack

George W Bush... the gift that keeps on giving.

Look at this picture.  It is from his event the "Freedom Collection" (from the NYTimes ) At an event less than two blocks from the White House, Mr. Bush gathered former aides and human rights leaders to unveil the “Freedom Collection” sponsored by his public policy institute, an assemblage of interviews with dissidents who took on autocratic regimes.
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He can't maintain interest in an event he started.
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Now I am sure this picture isn't indicative of Mr. Floppy's level of interest - but it just shows everything I don't really like about him. The smarmy grin.  The wanton disregard for anyone else in the room.  The self-congratulatory stare...
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I look at it and think, "At least I know what some Republicans think when they look at Obama."

Unqualified to be a judge (guess why - no seriously... guess)

Mr. Thorne-Begland during some of his 20 years
as a Jet fighter pilot
In a surprise to absolutely no one, Tracy Thorne-Begland was rejected as a Judge in Virginia, despite being supported by both the Republican and Democratic legal Boards in the state.  He isn't liberal - he is a top rated Prosecutor in the state.
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He isn't a pansy - he spent 20 years as a Navy Jet Fighter Pilot (serving in the Middle East).
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So what's wrong with him.  When asked, he admitted he was gay, which was enough to convince over 1/2 of the House of Representatives in Virginia to not support him.
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Seriously, the Confederacy should just put up a big FAGS GET OUT sign at the Mason Dixon line.  Apparently no amount of public service, national military service or upstanding private life makes up for the fact that he shhh likes boys.  Apparently his biggest sin was that he got married in a state where it is legal.  Now he and his husband are raising twins.  Which is, you know, icky.
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I also LOVED that some Republican douche bag said that it wasn't fair that he received flight training - and they protested Don't Ask Don't Tell.  Wasting 1 million dollars of US training.  You know, after only quietly serving in the Navy fighter force for 20 years.
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PS - One of the two judges that was approved spent his last years in the legislature working to pass a law that would allow concealed weapons into public buildings - you know, like schools and churches (but not courts).
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Asswipes.

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Michelle Bachmann: Proudly Swiss since March 19th, 2012

Despite what Ms. Bachmann would have you believe, she has NOT been Swiss since she married her husband Marcus Bachmann Overdrive.
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She was ABLE to claim Swiss citizenship since their marriage, but both she and Marcus didn't apply for citizenship until February 15, 2012 and it wasn't granted until March 19th, 2012.  Apparently she took the lose of Iowa harder than we all thought. (LINK)
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The Swiss Miss is in the news again because now she is clamouring that "Liberal Judges" redrew her congressional district.  But before you go crying for Evita here (or even worse, coughing up funds), it's not true. LINK is here, but FactCheck.org a fairly non-partisan site, lays out the basics in the first paragraphs.
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In several urgent fundraising appeals, Rep. Michele Bachmann falsely claims that biased “liberal judges” redrew her congressional district “in retaliation for repeatedly standing up to President Obama.” The truth is that only two of the five judges were Democratic appointees, and Bachmann’s Minnesota district has become even more Republican than it was before.
It’s true that a bipartisan panel of judges redrew district lines and placed the town where Bachmann lives in an abutting district represented by a Democrat. But she has chosen to again run in the 6th District, the one she has represented since 2007. And she doesn’t even have to move to do that.
Bachmann has sent out several appeals that carry the same message:


Lessons from Empires

The Untied States has learned the lessons of the end of empires excellently... to a point.
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Being Euro-centric, we understand, and have mainly avoided, the overreach issues that brought an end to the Roman and British Empires.  We have avoided the overreach which helped to bring down the Russian, Austro-Hungarian and Nazi regimens.
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But it probably behooves us to also look past Europe for our lessons.  After all, in many ways we look more like the ancient Muslim or Chinese Empires - unrivaled locally.  It is interesting to see what lessons are there that we should be aware of.
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First China.
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In the 15 Century China was much more able - and probable -  to rule the world, than Europe was.  They had gun-power, printing presses and multiple cities with millions of people.**
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Chinese Fleets sailed through the world probably even to the Americas.  The brought home maps, livestock, wild animals for show and the great tales of the world.  All three of Colombus' ships would fit onto 1 Chinese explorer vessel - and the ships ran in great fleets.
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So what happened (and more over - what lessons can we learn)?  The Chinese ruling classes were uninterested in the world.  There was nothing to engage them, and nothing to be learned, (apart from giraffes, which they did love), and so they closed the doors to the world.  Not just immigrants, but ideas.  And while we (the US) haven't closed ourselves off the world, we do have a tin ear about listening to others.  Good ideas can't possibly come from "socialist" Europe or "backward" Latin America.  Of course, our businesses (more nimble and less worried about elections) take advantage of ideas from these "backward" places all the time.
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As for the other great empire, the Muslim Empires (the Caliphates and the Ottoman Empire).  They too began decline when turning inward.  The Cordoba Caliphate (in Spain) had some of the greatest institutions in the world.  Muslims invented numbering systems, and algebra, tracked the stars and spread knowledge equally among people.  Until they reached the zenith of their power, and looked only inward.  Study of the Koran joined, and then replaced the study of anything else.
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We can see the beginnings of this in the United States.  The objective study of the natural world is scoffed at as the "elites" out to "brainwash" our children.
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Personally, I think we can learn the lessons to avoid from these Empires, just as we have from the British and Roman Empires.  We are not yet into a cycle of decline, much less locked into the cycle, with no hope of exit.  But it is important to remember that the world is a big place.  And to assume we have all the answers now, or they can all be gleamed from the Bible or the Vatican is a recipe for eventual decline.
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It is not to say there are not wonderful things to be learned internally, or from religion.  You aren't going to learn a lot about morality by studying rain patterns.  Modern life requires an open mind, a zest for living and an optimistic world view.  (Look at me, "optimistic" isn't the first word you think of is it?  Clearly that would be strikingly handsome - followed by charming, only then by "unrelentingly optimistic" - followed quickly by sarcastic.)
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**One example of our historical Eurocentricity is the well published (but wrong) fact "that from anicent Rome to London in the 1800's there wasn't a city on Earth of over a million people".  In fact, China had several.
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ps - I woke up at 2:43AM thinking about this.  I hate the way my brain works sometimes!

Monday, May 14, 2012

The Groomer posted this and I like it


I said, unless he brought it up...

So Mitt the Mormon has crossed my path.
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His recent statements have been all about Marriage.  He doesn't believe in Same Sex Marriage because "Marriage has meant one man and one woman for 3,000 years".
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Okay - marriage was property for a while, but let's forget that one.
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3,000 years?  Mitt's Grandfather left the US of A to move to Mexico with his multiple wives in the 1900s.  Grandpa and Grandmas continued the tradition of non-traditional marriage in Mexico for a while.
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So, within the Romney family, it hasn't meant one man and ONE woman for even 300 years, much less 3,000.
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Liar.

Lesson # 1 - If you are a nun on stage - sing!

So sometimes you review a show, you really have to struggle to not be sarcastic.  I mean, I can be hilariously funny, while being very nasty about a show  - before I started reviewing, but that isn't fair when you are reviewing.  I'm not sure people read or don't read what I say, but I want to provide useful input on what people might want to see.  Not everyone will hate what I hate.. or love what I love..  so I try to point out the positives and the negatives...
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I mean, for example, I liked Leap of Faith enough to purchase tickets for friends that are coming out next week.  Turns out, no one else felt the same way - as it closed yesterday!  I have a reviewer friend that LOVED Enron.  He went 3 times - which turned out to be more than 30% of the shows!
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But,  have learned some obvious things about life in reviewing - and here is the first:
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1. If a nun is in a show - there is a simple rule.

If the Nun sings - she will be okay at the end....
If the Nun doesn't sing - she will suffer horribly OR die OR both.
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Don't believe me.
Sister Act : Happy Nun

Ave Q - Happy Smack Singing Nun
Newsies also has a  singing nuns - but no pictures...
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Then there are the non-singing nuns.
Sister Rita - The Runner Stumbles (dead by the end)

Agnes (of God) - Crazy - then Dead.

Doubt - Bitch at the End

Kathleen Turner - Alcoholic Nun whose cousin dies
and she works with AIDS and Meth patients