lucky s.o.b

so i should have a speeding ticket as i write this.

it's true. i'm a bad person. i speed. a lot.

now, i'm one of the lucky ones in the twin cities as the bulk of my drive to work is against traffic. in otherwords, i can fly to work.

and i frequently do.

as i was driving to work this morning, i was in the "fast lane" of interstate 35-w heading northbound. i was within the 694/494 beltway that goes around the major metro part of the cities. the speedlimit within the loop is 55. i was easily doing 75 - if not a bit closer to 80 (yes, bad person).

the state trooper was parked at a right angle to the freeway and i caught site of him way to late. so late it wasn't a matter of slowly reducing my speed - i really needed to hit the breaks and reduce speed fast.

by the time i passed the cruiser i was around 65.

in the rear view mirror i watched him pull out into traffic. one word came to mind (repeatedly): fuck.

busted i thought, i transistioned to the right lane and prepared myself for my fate (while interesting in fantasy, getting pulled over by a cop is never as much fun as you might like it to be - and they rarely ever look like the do in porn).

i watched as the cruiser moved from far left, into the center lane, then into the right lane - all the while i waited for the sirens to light up. the cruiser was then one car length behind me - and then he did something surprising - he moved back to the center, passed me, moved in front of me, then just as quickly moved all the way over to the left and floored it.

he was seriously flying.

about a 1/4 mile down the road he pulled over a different car.

whew.... i thank the gods of i-35-w and promise to never speed again.

seriously.

:-)

music heard while writing this post:

nothing, but really - i should download sammy hagars 'i can't drive 55' don't you think?

rediscovered gem

so that pic is of the singer/songwriter (and mr. aimee mann) michael penn. you may remember michaels massive 1990 hit song 'no myth'.

while i was a passable fan of that tune, i was a pretty big fan of penn's second album "free for all" . tonight i discovered a tune that was in pretty heavy rotation for me back in the early 90's; "look what the cat drug in (long way down). this track kills me with it's simplicity (voice, guitar, cello & a just a touch of organ/mellotron maybe) and with the picture he paints with his words.

there's a review (click for complete review) online that sums up it up nicely: a quiet acoustic piece which belies the biting anger and ominous lyrics. the story of a love gone wrong brimming with the bitter veracity of another person's moral agenda. "now i would suppose that i'm not the only one and one never knows... but i got a feeling she's been sleeping with the whole wide world." hmmm a happy song :-)

don't know why i love this song so, but i suppose because it's in the same arena for me as indigo girls' "ghost" and aimee mann's "fourth of july". quiet, unassuming tunes with lyrics that can slay you with one listen. i absolutely love re-discovering a tune that i loved in years past. makes me a happy camper to be sure.

so here's my challenge to you; go to your cd collection and pull something out you havn't listened to in years. then post a bit in my comments about the song. dare ya :-)

A Terrifying Message from Al Gore

a personal plea

for the past 8 years, i have participated in a number of volunteer capacities for various aids rides around the country - this year is no different.

on july 13 - 16, i will be taking on the role of volunteer ceremonies director for the red ribbon ride presented by chipotle. the red ribbon ride is a 4-day, 300 mile bicycle ride through southern minnesota that raises valuable fund for 9 aids service organizations in minnesota. my role will be to organize opening and closing ceremonies for the 300 volunteer riders and crew on the event, as well as to arrange entertainment for them to make the miles a little less difficult. there's a lot of peddling involved in biking for aids.

while the world's eye is (understandably) focused on the emergency aids situation in africa, critical funding for u.s. based aids organizations is being drastically cut by our government. in fact, some of that funding is even being completely eliminated.

this lack of funding results in reduced - if not eliminated - services on the local level - services that are absolutly necessary to the people living in your own backyard with hiv/aids. services that can improve a patients quality of life, provide medical information and assistance, feed and provide shelter to those without food or a place to stay warm and services that educate the public. you would think that in 2006, we all would know how to protect ourselves from hiv/aids, but unfortunately - that's just not the case. hiv infection rates are on the rise all over the country.

as an example, due to cuts in federal hiv prevention funding, the governor of minnesota has decided that our state cannot afford the $135,000/year the minnesota aids project needs to run it's aidsline. (for more information about the specifics go to: mn aids project aids line and then click on the public policy fact sheet for the mn aids line)

the reality is that we cannot afford one less tool to stop hiv through prevention and education.

the red ribbon ride is a valuable money-raising tool for the mn aids project (and the 8 other organizations it benefits) - in fact, it's one of the most successful charities of it's type in the country.

i humbly ask you to consider donating to the ride via, my personal fund raising website. the funds are fully tax-deductible (in the u.s.). you can reach the page by clicking on the following link. red ribbon ride

get out of my head

Your Brain's Pattern

You have a dreamy mind, full of fancy and fantasy.You have the ability to stay forever entertained with your thoughts.People may say you're hard to read, but that's because you're so internally focused.But when you do share what you're thinking, people are impressed with your imagination.

What Pattern Is Your Brain?

this shit freaks me out - seriously. these little internet quiz-y things mess with my mind when they get it so right. it's true, this pretty much sums me up.

it also freaks me out when ray & jeremy read my tarot cards or throw ruin stones and nail me. jeremey even predicted my career change a year and ahalf ago... damn freaky shit - can't explain it, it just is.

aimee part two

ok, in looking at my previous post i realized that all of the pictures i picked were from a distance, and granted - this one isn't much closer, but it does show aimee in more of her glory :-)

oh, and another interesting tid-bit, aimee has a surprisingly tight ass. seriously, this woman is in awesome shape. now of course, i'm not saying that i'd tap that ass, but it is tight just the same. :-)

aimee mann from stage right

aimee mann & band at mn zoo amphitheater (presented by subway - is nothing sacred against corporate branding anymore... seriously, it sounds a bit like the movie fierce creatures)

i just love this picture, it's so moody and atmospheric... aimee is tickling the ivories

aimee mann, bongo player extraordinaire

friday night, stephanie & christopher from work along with christopher's friend keith went to see aimee mann at the mn zoo's outdoor music space. this is the in my opinion one of the 5 best music venues in the twin cities. there is something incredibly magical watching a musician perform in that environment.

aimee, she of the big haired 80's band til' tuesday, performed for just shy of two hours - and did it all acoustically (more or less, plugged in for one small bit). the humidity was playing havoc on her guitar so there were numerous re-tuning bits at which the audience would should out their personal request. aimee's a bit surly (which i loved) and proceeded to yell back responses to the audience participation. some guy yelled 'j for jules' from til' tuesdays final (and i'll say best) album everything's different now. i'd be lying if a little part of me didn't get excited for the prospect of hearing one of my favorite songs live - but to the best of my knowledge, aimee has never performed that tune. her surly response to the guy in the audience: "not a chance". gotta love surly rockstars. :-)

it was a truly great show - understated and beautiful. a perfect way to end a very long (very long) week.

gm is the anti-christ

so last night i had the pleasure of attending an advanced screening for the new documentary who killed the electric car with an interesting audience q&a with the director and "star" after the film.

i'm not going to go into a lot of detail (do i hear a collective sigh of relief) as i think anyone who's read my blog the last few days knows how i feel about the topic, but i strongly urge to see this film when it opens nation wide in july. if you can't see the movie, please check out the website - it's exceedingly chock-full of interesting information about ev's (electric vehicles) as well as green transportation in general.

i'll just leave you with this interesting little fact: 100 years ago there were more electric cars on the road than gas powered

i'm off to see aimee mann tonight, hopefully i'll get some good stage right pics for ya'll.

happy pride

well it's officially pride in the twin cities. so before i get cynical, here's wishing a wonderful pride weekend to all my friends out there in the blogosphere. the above picture is taken from kelly's blog rambling along in life with a stern point of view. he has a wonderful eloquent post on pride, and i urge you all to check it out. he's not a cynical as i am about the whole thing

i have a love/hate relationship with pride and always have a bit of a mixed feeling in my belly regarding the festivities.

while i know how lucky i am to be a gay man (and wouldn't trade it) in today's day and age, and i'm very humbled by what our older brothers and sisters have gone through to make life a little better for future generation, i'm reminded about how far we have yet to go. i'm also lucky that i'm able to work for a very forward-thinking company, and i'm completely and totally out in all facets of my life. i love that minneapolis/st. paul is so open and welcoming. and i'm lucky that my mother is accepting (in her way, it's still not something we talk about on a frequent basis, but it cuold be alot worse).

the world seems to me to be spinning wildly out of control. environmentally, socially and most importantly, from a human perspective; it's just not a world i understand. pride, for better or worse, also seems to be a bit out of control. the constant debate on gay marriage just offends me on every level and it scares me that the opposing side seems to be gaining speed. i just fundamentally don't understand why this is such a big thing. arnt' glbt entitled to the same thing as our non-glbt friends and family?

pride is a crucial component in moving glbt issues to the public eye. but the party atmosphere of pride repesents only one aspect of life. where are all the glbt folks the other 51 weeks of the year? where are we when it's time to maintain visibility and being vocal when it comes to taking a stand politically? where are we in every day life, are we all out as much as possible? are we standing by and supporting each other (or are we tearing each other down and building walls in our own community)?

i absolutely believe in the power of pride and would never question our communities highlighting glbt life during the festivies. but are we showing the right face to the world when we march in the parade, or peruse the booths in the park? i'm all for personal expression (god knows i'm about my personal expression), but are wearing assless chaps or a 8' strap on phallas while marching down the street really helping our cause? a strong sense of sexuality is a big part of who we are as glbt people (natch, human people), but there is a time and a place - on the street corner is not the place in my opinion. that said, i have no problem with public displays of affection, but i don't need to see someone getting a blowjob on the corner of 9th & hennipen. in a bar - fine if you must, children aren't gonna be in a bar.

like a moth to a flame, the media that covers pride is going to gravitate to the more gratuitous images from the parade and the park - shots of hunky guys in leather gyrating with each other on a float, or the queens in feathers and sequins spraying each other with whipped creme (and lapping it off each other) is just not good p.r. for the glbt world. again, there is a time and a place - i can appreciate a hot guy in leather (trust me), and i love a good show - but does flaunting the sexual aspect of gay life really help our cause.

we all know that being gay is not about sex. much of the straight world still sees us as sex starved perverts (their words) and love nothing more than pointing to pride to prove their theory. now sex is awesome (and i've been called a pervert a time or two - in a good way ), but there is more to me about being gay than about sex.

of course there are good things about pride as well - growing up, seeing (sneaking reads of the local paper covering it) pride made me feel like i wasn't wrong, it gave me hope that i could be part of a community - part of a group of people just like me. of course, it's not quite the same world today as it was 20 years ago, but i'm sure not ever gay teen is out... hopefully seeing pride on the local news helps them feel less alone.

and then there are the wonderful social organizations that are doing amazing work and really only get the kudo's they deserver during the parade. there is still something amazing (and still sends chills down my back today) about seeing everyone stand as the p/flag group marches by.

but then again, pride has become increasingly commercialized - it's not just about the gay organizations, today it seems that every crafter wants to sell their cheaply made jewelry to us next to every big box corporate store trying to woe us and our (apparently) considerable disposable income. it's getting kinda tacky.

::sigh::, it's time to remember my first pride... the first time i saw two men completely at ease with who they were and their relationship - walking hand in hand down a street on the way to the parade. that's what pride should be if you ask me. the parties are great, the over-the-top'ness of it all is a fun diversion, but a couple, showing pride in who they are in public - putting a face to us all for middle-america. that's what pride is for me.

so to all my friends around the country celebrating who we are, i raise a glass in your honor. now, don't forget to celebrate who we are every other day of the year.

peace.

music heard during the writing of this post:

faster kill pussycat / paul oakenfeld & brittney murphy
pulsatron / siobahn fahey
devil inside / utada
red blooded woman / kylie
ooh la la / goldfrapp
whitehorse / wonderland avenue
chains of love / erasure
promiscuous / nelly furtado & timabaland
girlfriend / queen pen & me'shell ndegeo'cello

they can't take that away from me / robbie williams & rupert everett

in or out / ani difranco

bring me some water - acoustic / melissa ethridge

global warming, pt II

from the front page of cnn.com today:

Study: Earth hottest in 400 years
The Earth is the hottest it has been in at least 400 years, probably even longer. A panel of top climate scientists told lawmakers that the Earth is running a fever and that "human activities are responsible for much of the recent warming

click for more: cnn.com global warming

choice

about a two weeks ago i saw the new documentary an inconvenient truth which is essentially former vice president (and personal hero of mine) al gore's speech on global warming (with amazing graphics) he's given over 1000 times all over the world. it was one of the most riveting, thought-provoking and disturbing films i've ever seen.

i've been struggling with my feelings about the movie since i saw it. i immediately wanted to blog about it, but what to blog? the topic is so enormous, where can i begin? i'm only one person, could i make any difference? so i've been sitting on my thoughts of the movie, but at the end of the day it's really now, or never.

so firstly, if your one of the people that believes that global warming is still a theory, rather than fact - nothing i'm going to say is going to make you change your mind. with that said, i urge you to do your own personal research on the topic. don't just believe what you read in the press or hear from industry. global warming is well documented and researched by the scientific community. still believe what you hear about it being a theory? go see the movie, then we can have intelligent debate - until then, don't bother me.

ignorance is not bliss

there are so many thoughts swirling in my mind about this topic, the enormity of it can certainly weigh you down. this movie will only serve to put more questions in your head. it doesn't answer the big question, as much as it forces you to take a long, hard look at your choices and actions, and asks you to ask yourself "how does what i do/choose affect the planet around me?" (tho' it does give you some great ideas on what to do in your own world).

or at least, i hope those in the very packed audience i saw the film with, walked out asking themselves that very big question.

but i'm afraid they probably didn't.

for me, even as eloquent a mr. gore was (and he was bloody brilliant), this move was more about my relationship with the planet. i walked out trying to understand that even those of us with the best intentions are, ultimately causing harm to the planet (and of course, this is the only planet we have). after all, i drive a v6 car (arguably, larger than i need), i spent a great portion of my time in airplanes, i drive more than 20 miles one way to work, i frequently drive the half mile from my office to the local shopping center for lunch (or drive the two blocks to the local wallgreens), etc.

ultimately, it all comes down to choice. the car's we drive, the way we drive, the energy we expend.

it's all simple choice.

as an example, for as long as i can remember, i've wanted a jeep wrangler. so much so, i'm convinced the reason i hate every car i drive soley for the fact it's not a jeep. a few months ago, i decided this was the year i was finally going to get a jeep - if only to get it out of my system. now, i work for a company that has a major environmental mission, and i consider myself to be fairly educated on the topic at hand, and i certainly knew the wrangler is not an environmentally friendly vehicle. 21 mpg does not make the planet happy. if i were to get a jeep, that would be a choice, and if i'm a responsible person, i would need to make that choice with all the facts. i'd have to weigh the good agains the bad and figure out what's right for me. right?

wrong. when i walked out of this movie, the message was clear - my choices intimately affect the planet. i can't - in good conscience - believe that i'm a good steward of the planet and it's just my neighbor's contributing to global warming. its' not about making choices that make me happy, it's about making the right choice for the greater good (funny how that also happens to be a very buddhist concept - i'm just not a quick learner apparently). plain and simple, my buying a jeep would contribute to global warming. it's a choice i can no longer make - no matter how much i may want one.

this is just one example, one way my personal choices can hopefully do something that works for the betterment of the earth, not just for my pleasure. yes, i know i'm not perfect, and i'm sure that i will do many many more things that ultimately are not right, but i can start with this one choice - this one small step - and find an another car that won't cause more harm than necessary.

some would say the simple answer is to get a hybrid. well again, do some research (don't just listen to the media). hybrids are great for city driving. i spend most of my time on freeways. it's not a good option for me. for me it's about finding a car that i can be comfortable in and one that i can be assured gets the best mpg available. i'm going to look into the new toyota yaris. sure it's small (how much room do i really need), but it's kinda cute and for fuck sake, it gets 40mpg! can't go wrong with that.

mpg... hmmm interesting how every industrialized country in the world has stronger mpg laws than the u.s., and we wonder why we are not competing on a global level.

and those suv's everywhere - wow, those are just a nightmare waiting to happen (oh wait, we're living the nightmare). can someone please explain why anyone would need a hummer (the gm kind, not the blow job kind - everyone needs those). talk about compensating.

- only 5% of suv's are ever taken offroad - (newsweek, july 2, 2001)

- fed reg's consider suv's light trucks (really? the ford excursion or hummer are light trucks? hmmm) and as such, only subject to 20.7 mpg ratings (vs the 27.5 cars have to have) - www.suv.org

- the intergovernmental panel on climate change (ipcc), formed by the world meteorological organization and the un environment programme, found that 3/4 of the anthropogenic (caused by humans) emissions of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere during the past 20 years is due to fossil fuel burning. the ipcc anticipates higher temperatures and heatwaves over the next 100 years, as well as more intense and dangerous storms - (http://www.ipcc.ch/ via www.suv.org)

- 1 gallon of gasoline your vehicle burns puts 20 pounds of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. choosing a vehicle that gets 25 rather than 20 mpgs will prevent 10 tons of carbon dioxide from being released over the lifetime of your vehicle.

it's all about choice.

do me a favor, click on this link: an inconvenient truth . do me another favor, read the information on the site and then - if your so inclined - go see the movie, and tell everyone you know about the movie.

so tomorrow night i will be seeing a special advance screening of another new documentary on essentially the same topic, the film is called who killed the electric car. i'm very excited about this one as there is a q&a with the filmmakers after the showing. the trailer for electric car was featured before the an inconvenient truth, it looks very interesting.


music heard during the writing of this post:

you take me up / the thompson twins

no man's woman / sinead o'connor

love has no name / babble

holier than thou / lloyd cole

mama i'm strange / melissa etheridge

body movin' / the beastie boys

tamborine / prince & the revolution

let me entertain you - live / robbie williams

turn it on (bound and gagged mix) / the creatures

three hits / indigo girls

slow emotion replay / the the

blister in the sun / violent femmes

violent / steller

irrestible bitch / prince

believe / the chemical brothers

too damn cute

so this is bob. bob the baby racoon. i discovered bob last night behind my apartment building. unfortunately, the corner of the lot he was hanging under a tree that cast a lot of shade, difficult to get a great shot, but he's about the cutest damn thing i've seen in, well, a coon's age.

not sure why i named him bob, other than he looks like a bob. no sign of mama - but he was eating the seeds on the ground so i'm sure he's doin' ok.

yes, this post pretty much blows any "cool-cred" or "detached rebel guy" image i may have had. what can i say, i'm a sucker for furry things.

from king george to joan jett in 1 hour or less

3rd brilliant thing in as many days.

maybe music is coming back to life.

joan jett & the blackhearts are back (for the first time in 12 years!). their new track: "a.c.d.c" (from their new album sinner) is a fucking brilliant ode to the joys of bisexuality (not that i would know about that) and the video features a divine carmen electra performance - yes, carmen-fuckin-electra. how can you go wrong? jett looks sexy as hell and the tune, while not exactly covering new ground - sounds fresh and fun and modern. the formula may be the same, but god bless joan for knowing what she does and doing it oh-so-very- right.

go here to see perfection in video form ---> Joan Jett And The Blackhearts a.c.d.c

political rant of the morning - i believe more than ever that our country is run by shitheads. king george and his homies are the singular worst thing to ever happen to the united states of america.

as such, i pledge that we all get off our collective asses and do everything in our power as citizens to get the fuckwad and his ilk out of office. that means one thing boys and girls - become politically active.

it's not about sitting on the sidelines and just watching the tides roll in and out and voting every four years (if you vote at all). i realize it's a daunting task - i do, but if you want to change, you need to begin to change. get involved locally - get involved at the state level - and most certainly get involved in the national debate.

get educated. challenge the status quo.

start with a visit to either of these:
democratic underground
move on

and buy cool shit here:
democratic underground store

for the gay at heart:
stonewall democrats/

for the women in all of us:
http://national organization of women/

for the tree hugger (first of all, go see the movie an inconvenient truth - more on that later):
the sierra club/

music heard:
missa solemnis in d major / beethovan ~ london symphony orchestra and the london voices

not a bad way to earn a livin'

one aspect to my job is that on occasion i have to deal with models. as such, it isn't rare for model agencies to send me their books so that i can "consider" their models.

today is one such day. in the mail a ridiculously large "book" featuring women, men, kids, twins (seriously), 45 & 55+ models arrived on my desk. the type of models i deal with are more for runway so it's rare that i would seek out a book to identify someone (tho' we have on occasion done just that).... so the books tend to collect dust.

with the exception of the... ahem.... male model section. this section proves to be wildly popular with some people around the office.

it's not a bad job to have to look at models.

yup, not a bad job at all.


music heard:

devil inside / utada
red blooded woman / kylie
can't stop the music / village people
never can say goodbye / communards

wow, something else that doesn't suck

paul oakenfeld & brittany murphy (yes, that brit murp) - faster kill pussycat.


two non-sucky things in as many days... maybe my mood is improving ....

in order to get over my animosity of pride, i've decided to make myself a new pride mix - this tune will be included - stay tuned for more. i love this tracks cool sexy vibe with a nice bassline to boot - a perfect way to start a monday.

the perfect man

i've decided that from time-to-time, i'm going to present a feature called "the perfect man".

a few disclaimers on my concept of the perfect man...:

1. ... is completely subjective
2. ... is subject to change at without notice
3. ... negatives or drawbacks are easily forgotton and/or ignored - any mention of a possible negative, will be summiariliy dismissed
4. ... should serve as notice that the man in question is on "the list" - the list of course, indicates that should i ever actually get a partner, the presence of any of these men give me an automatic "out" (for at least the night in question).
   

for the inaugural issue of "the perfect man", may i present j. maarten troost:

what qualifies maarten to be on the list? well for starters - look at that fuckin' picture - woof! smokin' sexy eyes, square jaw, hint of a furry chest.

but i'm not a total pig, this man has more than just pure base-sexuality. this man has a brain.

no really, it's true.

he has written two amazing books that have allowed me to enter his world (thus esacaping mine - something very necessary today). the first of his books sex lives of cannibals was the story of his two years on the atoll of kirabati in the south pacific with his girlfriend (yes, a negative - i'm choosing to dismiss the fact he appears to be straight, he just hasn't met me yet). this past tuesday his new book came out; getting stoned with savages . stoned is the next chapter so to speak in his escaping america for the south pacific. it details the years he and his now wife (ugg) and their children (hmmm daddies are sexy) lived on the islands of vanuato and fiji, "among cannibals, volcanoes... and the world's best narcotics"

given my general foul mood today, the fact that i had savages to escape into is a very very good thing.

maarten has this amazing (almost wicked) way of turning a phrase on it's head and getting you to laugh out loud. intelligence and talent always amp up the sexiness factor for me.

so there you have it, guy number 1 in what i'm sure will become a revolving door of the perfect man. j. maarten troost - woof!

music heard during the writing of this post:

we the people / john mellencamp

revolution / robbie williams

long goodbye / thompson twins

express yourself / madonna

yellow / sheila e.

wow... something that doesn't suck

firstly, you should know - i hate fathers day; this in conjunction with next weekend's pending pride festival (yes, another pride and i'm still single) are bound to make me one crabby boy - i even verbally bitch slapped bolt for no good reason earlier today.

so there you go, i'm crabby and depressed - a vicious combo. gonna lock myself up in my apartment today.

now, i'm a pop-music fan from way back. for every ear-challenging artist in my collection (hello recoil's first album), or punk gem from back in the day (siouxsie's lord's prayer comes to mind). all my street cred goes out the window when i pump some pop gem from the car stereo i'm sure, but fuck all the hipsters and their shoe gazing, pop music when done right can kick your ass, expand your mind and put a groove in your ass like nothin' else.

that said, pop music on the whole is a vacuous lot. i mean, britney is certainly no madonna (tho' i dig the duet), and christina is no whitney (then again, whitney is no whitney anymore).... the modern trick of mixing heavy r&b beats on a sampled gem from the past mixed with the latest pop chanteuse - it just doesn't work for me (rihanna are you listing to me? s.o.s. is not even in the same league as tainted love).

but every once in a while a singularly great pop song appears that captures everything that is right in the world of pop-music, yet throws a modern edge on the mix and pushes pop in a new direction.

for your listening pleasure please direct your computer to itunes and listen to nelly furtado & timbaland's pure genius - promiscuous. (if i could figure out how to link to itunes, i would - but until then just open your itunes and go there yourself :).

promiscuous is a brilliant pop song. a song that contains a killer hook, great beats, fun boy vs. girl call & response lyrical style. a song that can get your butt movin' in your seat and one that would sound killer blasting out of your car speakers on a hot, wet summer day as you drive around the lakes.

while i've never been a huge nelly fan (timbaland get's prop's for his work with the brilliant me'shell ndegeo'cello) - i can respect where she comes from musically. i love artists that don't want to get put into any one style or comfy music box. i like artists that challenge themselves and their fans. nelly get's props for that to be sure.

promiscuous certainly doesn't suck.

music heard while writing this post:

ummm.. duh. promiscuous / nelly furtado & timbaland

rockin' hair.

the above pictures are from my friend/colleague baker's editorial hairdressing collection which is nominated for editorial hairdresser of the year for the 2006 north american hairdressing awards. baker is a complete original - and has an incredible eye for hair, design and fashion. we find out if he wins in july.

i love the dogs as audience members :-)

music heard while writing this post:

the sheeps a woof / caterwaul

hello world

random things:

1) yay! my sidebar is fixed (with no discernible help from blogger - i had to comb thru every line of html - for some of you that would be no problem, html, for me, looks like aramaic). but all that matters is that it's fixed. i fuckin' rock.

2) now that you can see my sidebar without scrolling down for miles, and since you don't have to scroll, see that lil' cluster map thing-y over there? that's my new favorite toy. that allows me to see that in the past week i've had visitors from:

• france (don't believe the press, we american's love french people - well, except for gérard depardieu - we don't quite get him)
• germany (just a quick hello to my friends from wach's & wach's & zians - i doubt they're the ones from germany that are looking at the page, but they're the only people in germany i know, and i dig them - fuckin' great hairdressers)
• sweden (i love me some swedes. of course, i have to say that 'cause i'm 25% swede {also 25% french, forgot to mention that). sweden rocks!
• malaysia (ok, holy shit - malaysia... that's too cool. when i was in highschool i had a one-letter penpal from malaysia. i sucked as a penpal. it's a regret of mine - i wish i had stayed in touch. so who ever's reading from malaysia; send me an email - i'll try harder this time)
• australia (so i'm sitting here next to my didgeridoo (a gift from my mother on one of her visits), and i have an original aboriginal painting on the wall in my cube at work (also a gift) - i love love love love australia, so thank you for visiting)
• new zealand (my friend bolt - he of the mangina-monologues in the blog roll - will kill me if i don't mention how much he loves new zealand. i'm just jealous that he went instead of me.
• plus a whole fuckload from the u.s. (but interestingly enough, no canadians)

so i love clustermaps. i know there are other types of mapping tools, but i love how clustermaps works - you (the loyal sr...sl reader)doesn'tt' have to do a thing. it's big brother technology working for my benefit - and for those of you who know me personally know - it's all about me. clustermap's simply reads what geographical area your computer's ip addy is from and then tells me where you are. super spy stuff eh? now traditionally i'm against big brother, but when you live in a culture of fear like americans are now doing (hello king george, are you reading?), i figure this doesn't equal wire-tapping or reading my email. as a tribute to the australians in the audience, note the tune matjala (driftwood) below by the band yothu yindi, i played it just for them.

3) over on the blogroll you'll see a lil' link to a wonderful blog - ms. bee's knees. ms. knees is quickly becoming my favorite blogger chick in all of california (which of course, isn't hard to do as i generally find californiadisturbinglyy lame - i can count on one hand the number of people i adore in cali - and come to think of it, she's the only blogger chick in cali i read on a regular basis, but she still kicks ass). so take a moment and check her out if you haven't before. she's fun (and dirty too - very very dirty).

4) i can't mention cali though without mentioning my favorite chick in the entire fuckin' state. lupe is one of my most favorite people in the entire world - it's not her fault she lives in that god-forsaken state. lupe and i have travelled the world together (ok, ok, just london, hollywood and miami) and she never ceases to amaze me by her talent - one of the greatest hairdressers i've ever had the pleasure of seeing work - not to mention, she has a killer killer smile.

music heard during the writing of this post:

don't look back / lloyd cole

staring at the sun / wendy & lisa

lay down your pain / toni childs

matjala / yothu yindi

jack u off / prince

angry anymore / ani difranco

sex as a weapon / pat benetar

when jesus left birgmingham / john mellencamp & the sounds of blackness

turn it on (black smoker mix by omnivore) / the creatures

say what you want / texas

wow... is this necessary

yes, it's true - you can now listen to your ipod while you poo. now, on first thought, i couldn't imagine needing/wanting this... but then i realized i do love my ipods (yea, i have 2) and perhaps for those occasions where in your in the loo for more than a quick visit, rocking out to megadeath or listening to the soothing sounds of rick astley might be fun.

according to reports in the british press, it will retail in the u.s. for approx $99, and was designed to, according to the us manufacturers, to "enhance your experience in the smallest room". thoughts?

http://www.atechflash.com/products-icarta.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=390737&in_page_id=1770

hugging a tree (insert joke here)

as you may or may not have heard, daryl hannah is off to jail on a civil disobedience charge.

text from: http://www.courier-journal.com/ written by angie fenton:

Daryl Hannah and 16 other protestors were arrested Tuesday in Los Angeles South Central Urban Garden after protesting its closure.The 45-year-old actress was sitting 40 feet above ground in a walnut tree when police forcibly removed her from the 14-acre fruit and veggie garden slated for demolition. The urban farm, which provides food for hundreds of families, most of whom are Hispanic immigrants, is to be turned into an industrial space. “I’m not thrilled about (being in jail), but I felt it was important to sustain my commitment,” Hannah told People on Wednesday.

now, i totally understand it's easy (a little too easy actually) to make a joke about daryl hannah and the situation, but i think that it's important to actually recognize the importance of what daryl did - and that's something your not reading about. daryl took a stand for something she believed in. that's the core of what it means to be an american i think. taking a stand and honoring your value system. we should honor people willing to take a stand. even the famous.

text from: http://breakingnews.iol.ie/ (no byline provided):

Actress Hannah, 45, said of her arrest: “I’m not thrilled about it, but I felt it was important to sustain my commitment.“I spent the last 23 days down at the South Central farm, which is the largest urban farm in the nation and provides food for hundreds of families." “The subsistence farmers are from one of the poorest communities." “This farm should be a model for sustainable urban agriculture. It needs to be replicated, not eradicated.” She said she had got involved after filming the garden for her website blog, when she “fell in love with it and the farmers”.

the destruction of the urban farm she was protesting is believed to be the largest urban farm in the country and doesn't currently cost (the city or the taxpayers) anything to run. it's completely self-sustaining. how many things in our country can we say that about these days? what purpose does bulldozing a garden/farm for an industrial complex serve? does l.a. need yet another industrial complex. the city is riddled with them. and south centrapositivelys positivly overrun with them (i should know, my company's l.a. warehouse/sales office is in south central) - one bloody boring industrial building after another with virtually no green space to be had. cities need green space. and inner cities really need them.

"the garden was an example of what should be done in cities all over the united states" - dennis kucinich

so where was i (i get so distracted when i'm on my soapbox)? oh yea, instead of making fun of a celebrity who get's arrested for their convictions - why not celebrate them. the country would be much stronger if more people took a stand for what they believed in.

music heard during the writing of this post:

will the circle be unbroken / the neville brothers
get up i feel like being a sex machine, pts. 1 & 2 / james brown
zoo station / u2
bring me some water (acoustic) / melissa ethridge

play in the sunshine (live in paris) / prince

detonation boulevard / sisters of mercy

el capitalismo foraneo / gotan project

casualties. impeach bush now.

2497*
american forces casualites to date

42747**
reported iraqi civilian casualties


http://icasualties.org/oif/
http://www.iraqbodycount.org/database/

roving tour of minneapolis

so on saturday, i joined scooty on a tour of minneapolis parks and public spaces. he had a project where he needed to take pictures of folks interacting in public spaces - i just used it as an excuse to wander the city pretending to be a tourist.... here are the fruits of the excursion (just a random smattering, perhaps i'll post more in the future).

oh, and ignore the colossal fuck up to the right - i have no idea why my sidebar went all the way down to the bottom of the page; i'm trying to get that fixed tho'. be kind to my mistakes.

this is the front of the new central library for the minneapolis public library. it's 2 weeks old - i have many pics of this space. it is a stunning architectural space - in a later post, i will show more images of the cesar pelli designed space. the cantilevered "sails" over the building are a site to be hold. http://www.mpls.lib.mn.us/newcentrallib.asp

and the rear of the building

i love card catalogs. i'm not sure, but they are so cool... there is something about flipping through a card catalog in order to find your book that i find incredibly comforting. hmmm...

talk about incredible architecture - this is the new guthrie theater. i was very hesitant when word that the original guthrie was going to be torn down and moved to a new space on the banks of the mississippi in the warehouse district. i'm such an old theater whore, and the original guthrie is where i fell in love with all things theater. i have many fond memories of the original space - but i gotta say, i'm very excited to get inside the new building.
the new 3 theater space was designed by french architect jean nouvel - it's his first major north american building. the blue walls are actually called a ‘skin’ and images from the guthrie’s past will be broadcast on the skin allowing the theater building to have a multi-dimensional feel.
additionally, note the cantilevered "bridge" - apparently cantilevered is the word of the day -

another view - note how the round corner of the guthrie mirrors the old round grain silo's of the minneapolis waterfront.

just west of the guthrie lies the new mill city museum - the mill city museum actually is composed of a number of abandoned grain and flour mills from the turn of the century (19th to 20th). the "bombed-out" building in the foreground is actually part of the meeting/public space for the museum. you can rent it out for events (i'm thinking renting it for an upscale dinner i'm planning next year) - they have an amazing clear tent to protect you from the minnesota elements as well. the building actually exploded in the late 80's causing the beruit-esque look.

self-portrait. now, i hate pictures of myself, but this was just too cool. this was taken at the walker art museum's minneapolis sculpture garden (http://garden.walkerart.org/index.wac). this is a reflection of me taken in the 'two-way mirror punched steel hedge labryinth' created by dan graham. http://garden.walkerart.org/artwork.wac#head. i love the ghostly image.

this is actually my favorite piece of sculpture in the entire garden - i probably have about 100 photo's of this from the past few years - i'm drawn to it's simplicty and grandure constantly. it's elsworth kelly's 'double curve' -http://garden.walkerart.org/artwork.wac#head - in the background you can see part of the conservatory (my second favorite place in the garden). more on that in the future i'm sure.

minneapolis, aka the city of lakes (indeed minne is native american for water and polis, of course greek for city), you can't drive in a straight line in the city without hitting water of some sort. the above picture is the boat rental building on the northeast edge of lake calhoun. http://www.minneapolisparks.org/default.asp?PageID=4&parkid=263

again, more boats. gotta love boats if you live in minneapolis :-)

music heard while writing this post:

passion / peter gabriel

stunning.

ran across this photographer in my day-to-day life (he shot a headshot for one my colleagues) and was blown away by his vision. incredible scale and eye.

a sample:

check him out:

http://chrisborgman.com/
http://chrisborgman.com/book2

music heard while writing this post:

the killing jar [lepidopteristic mix] / siouxsie & the banshees

all hail henry rollins

A Love Letter From Henry Rollins To Ann Coulter

henry rollins is a god. need proof? below is henry rollin's response to ann coulter's bullshit conservative vitriol. for the record, ann coulter is a whore for the anti-christ. need proof of that? check this out

so, i say, two cheers for hank. now, if only we really could get ann to shut the fuck up the world would be a much better place.

music heard while writing this post:

the sweet dulcet tones of henry rollins attacking ann

color u peach & black

2day is going to be an exceptionally good day - i can feel it. now, u may have gotten the impression that i'm addicted 2 music (hence the footer at the end of every post that tells u what i'm listening to)... my cd collection, itunes & ipod are my constant companions. in fact, with the exception of npr, i rarely ever listen 2 the radio anymore.

until this morning that is. i was thoroughly sick of every single cd i had in the car so on the drive to work this morning, i flipped on the radio and the very first song i heard was prince & sheena easton's classic 'u got the look' - how can u possibly go wrong hearing that gem first thing in the morning.

from the slinky horn lines, 2 the funky drums (courtesy of the divine sheila e. [on video at least, the cd version is of course prince) and sexy bass line - put it all 2gether and u have the makings of a fuckin' crucial pop song! "boy versus girl in the world series of love" that's what i'm talkin' about!!!

of course, u got the look is off of my all time favorite prince cd: sign "o" the times - so it's bound 2 make me happy just to hear it unexpectedly, but i'm tellin' you, this track (along with the rest of the record) is bloody brilliant.

if u've not heard sign "o" the times - trust me, u must own this album.... a better prince album u won't find. "if love is good, let's get to rammin"

in honor of hearing prince first thing 2day (thus ensuring a wonderful day), i've changed the subtitle 2 this blog - a little tribute to my love of music. i'm gonna change it every thursday. anyone know the lyric?

music heard while writing this post:

u got the look / prince - album version

u got the look / prince - sign "o" the times tour rehearsal, live @ 1st avenue 2.21.87 version

u got the look / prince - new years eve paisley park performance, 12.31.87

well this is utterly depressing

i expected a higher score - poo

You Are 50% Evil

You are evil, but you haven't yet mastered the dark side.Fear not though - you are on your way to world domination.

How Evil Are You?

tighty-whities

so apparently i have a fetish for underwear. this comes as a pretty big surprise to me, as i've never given much thought to underwear. i mean, i know that it is a huge fetish for some people, but i've never really cared one way or another. of course, certain men look very very good in certain types of drawers, but really, who cares what the wrapping paper looks like, it's what's inside that matters right?

hmmm, apparently not for me. i fancy myself a amateur photographer and as such, it's pretty rare that i don't have a camera with me. a friend of mine was looking through some recent photographs from my trip's to hollywood and san Francisco and noticed a theme in my photography.

apparently, i enjoy taking pictures of billboard advertising featuring underwear clad men.

who knew?

now, what's interesting to me about this is i didn't realize i had a theme going (but who am i to argue with precedent, i will need to continue looking for this sort of image), and i can honestly say i'm not particularly attracted to either gentleman in the photos. certainly, they ain't bad to look at, but they are no gil gerard in his hey-day. and if i were to have an interest in underwear, i never thought it would be for the tighty-whitey variety. and yet, here we are with the 2xist version of the banana hammock and the american apparel version in blue. i can honestly say until i was forced to examine the evidence, i never thought one way or another about underwear...

if i were still in therapy, i'm sure my analyst would have a field day figuring this one out.

music heard during the writing of this post:

rock the house / gorillaz
halo / depeche mode
army of me / bjork
sexuality / prince

bad internet, bad! very very bad

the internet is a very bad thing i've decided. now, mind you this is not a new discovery on my part; there are as many things about the world wide web that are wrong as there are that are right (probably more actually), but i've recently had my bubble popped so-to-speak by google (or more accurately google image search).

but i'm getting ahead of myself.

last tuesday, sci-fi channel had an all day marathon of that brilliant late 70's television show buck rogers in the 25th century. now of course buck rogers (and it's sister battlestar galactica) were the bastard children of star wars and in reality (or is 27-year old hindsite), the show(s) were really not that good. the scripts were sub-par at best, the acting kinda scary (don't worry erin grey, we don't blame you. your only as good as the script allows - we blame the script, well, the script and the guy who played hawkman - that was just awful), and the special effects were painful. but to the eyes of a 9 year old boy; the show fuckin' rocked. and of course, you got to see a new episode of buck ever week, whereas you had to wait a couple years to get up to date with luke, leia & han. for a kid that's a lifetime. all hail the tv.

but i'll give you the real reason to watch the show in two words: gil gerard. now, as a budding homo, i certainly didn't possess the words at that time to describe what i was feeling when gil/buck was on screen, but boy do i know now. gil gerard was fuckin' hot as hell. a perfect specimen of 70's era machismo. that beefy ex-professional football players body, those twinkling eyes, that shit-eating grin and that perfect hairy chest. many a future fantasy were formed from watching buck rogers in 1979. sure he wasn't that great of an actor, with a chest like that; who needs acting chops.

need proof? here ya go, 3 perfect photographic specimens from back in the day.

oh bless the internet for providing the above pictures. oh wait, i forgot i was ranting against the internet wasn't i? so your probably wondering what in gay-hell does this have to do with gil gerard and/or buck rogers.

hmmm well, lemme tell ya. on tuesday during the aforementioned marathon, i innocently thought to myself, hmmm, i wonder if gil is still hot? so i did what any self-respecting homo with a wireless connection would do. i googled him.

this is what i got:

oh gil... oh gil... wow. i so didn't need to ruin my pre-adolescent fantasy by seeing that. now of course, mr. gerard is allowed to age just like all of us (and god knows, i'm not the perfect specimen of manliness that he once was), but this is just sad. next time, i go to that special spot in my mind where we hold our idols up to higher standards, my image of gil (by the way, i usually picture the leather vest image from above), may be replaced by - shudder - the above.

oh my.

so learn from my lessons kids, leave your childhood idols/fantasies where they belong - in your mind and heart (and perhaps groin). for the love all things good and sacred, please don't do a google image search unless your ready to have your memories dashed, slashed and generally fucked up.

i'm gonna go back to watching my dvr'ed episodes of the hotty gil gerard and his plucky fag-hag/side-kick erin grey to try and get the taste out of my mouth of that image.

hmmm, but now that i'm thinking of 70's sexual icons, i wonder what bj & the bear's greg evigan looks like now. <<>>> step away from the google toolbar....

:-)

music heard during the writing of this post:

don't change / inxs

walk away - chris cox mix / kelly clarkson

supreme / robbie williams

kinda i want to / nine inch nails

somebody to shove / soul asylum

never again / the mission u.k.

jack u off / prince

wake up / alanis

clocks / coldplay

hung up / madonna

recovery....

..... sorry for the lack of posts.... have been in the hospital since wed. no sweat, all's good now - had an abdominal/intestinal issue coupled with a 102 fever (doctors get so freaked out when you don't have a spleen and you have a high fever - the pansy's), high white blood cell count and super high platelet count (over 850,000).

anywho - all's better now.

no idea what caused the fever or the other issues, but everything's coming back to normal (tho' i still need to have a conversation with my hemotologist next week about the platelet count). oh, they did find a lil spot on my liver during the ct scan and the ultrasound - have to have that looked at again in 3 months.

only highpoint of the entire ordeal was the super hot ultrasound technician, beefy, masculine, hairy muscular arms - woof.

no music for this post