Month: May 2012

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I Think I Found Another Distraction

Love this, but seriously…thank [insert deity of your choice] I'm not in my 20s any more, because some things never change. I remember the angst and the confusion and the general fucked-up-ness.

But it looks like this is going to be a very sweet series.

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Douchebag of the Day

So Porno Pete LaBarbera (the guy who trawls the Folsom Street Fair and other gay gatherings to capture photos for his "research" and self-proclaimed leader of Americans for Truth About Homosexuality) is flapping his jowls again—in between going down on rent boys—this time at a Hate conference in Spain:

"Simply put, we as a movement must conquer whatever timidity, fear and political correctness we have in NOT wanting to debate the morality of homosexuality–because our fanatically driven LGBT opponents will never relent in their audacious campaign 'sell' homosexuality to the public. Notice that while many conservatives shrink from the homosexuality debate, self-described 'queer' activists never back-track in their misguided, indeed, pathological quest to compel society to approve of their aberrant 'lifestyles.'"

Hey Petey Boy…lets try putting that sequined pump on the other foot:

"Simply put, we as a movement must conquer whatever timidity, fear and political correctness we have in NOT wanting to debate the morality of Christianism –because our fanatically driven 'Christian' opponents will never relent in their audacious campaign 'sell' Christianity to the public. Notice that while many progressives shrink from the Christianity debate, self-described 'pro-family' activists never back-track in their misguided, indeed, pathological quest to compel society to approve of their aberrant 'religious freedom.'"

How does that feel going down, Petey Boy? Probably not as good as those Spanish rent boys…

(That you're totally doing for research purposes, of course.)

Dude, we get it. You hate us. You really, really hate us. So stop wrapping your hate in the trappings of Christian Love® and just say it. At least then you'd be telling the truth.

In case you haven't noticed, this isn't the 1950s, where Negros moved to the back of the bus, a woman's place was barefoot and pregnant, and filthy homos were beaten with impunity, extorted, and made to cower in the darkness. The Millennial Generation doesn't care who loves who, and they see your bald-faced bigotry for what it is: psychological projection of your own inner desires that you can't reconcile with your all-consuming self-hatred. Every time you open your mouth and start spouting off about sin and the impending destruction of Western Civilization because of the acceptance of homosexuality, you're moving one step closer to total irrelevance and announcing to the world that you are, in fact, one big self-hating homo.

You and your little band of "culture warriors" have already lost the war. Give up and surrender.

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A Question for the Hive Mind

Can someone recommend a good, gay-friendly Primary Care Physician in Denver?

I hate the one who was initially recommended to me by a coworker so much that I haven't been back since the initial visit.

My doctor in Phoenix has been great about renewing my scrips, but I really need to find someone here I can work with.

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TGIF

It's going to be a long holiday weekend without my Bubba. Ben is leaving for Phoenix tomorrow and won't be back until Tuesday.

Yeah, I'll enjoy the extended "me" time, but this place won't be the same without him.

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Disappearing Act

I've always been impressed by the pros who can make items disappear from photos.  I know this can be done in Photoshop, but as I understand it's a pain in the ass and very time consuming for us amateurs.

That's why when I heard of a program called Snapheal I was intrigued.

I must say, it does a decent job of doing what it advertises:

This is one of the photos I took for May's 12 on 12 that didn't make the final cut. It took only a few minutes for me to make the sign and the skateboarder in the background disappear. Yeah, there are some obvious areas where adjacent areas were cloned to fill in where the sign was cut, but that's only because I used a pretty large brush. If the areas themselves are smaller, or you're willing to take more time to use a smaller brush multiple times, the program really does do an excellent job of removing unwanted items from your pictures.

In any case, it's super easy to use.

If you have a Mac and have a lot of photos that need doctoring, this might be for you. (It also includes the normal suite of tools for retouching/adjusting image quality and removing dust and scratches.)

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Thursday Dance Party: La Jeté – La Cage Aux Folles

It's rather gaudy but it's also rather grand
And while the waiter pads your check he'll kiss your hand
The clever gigolos romance the wealthy matrons at La Cage Aux Folles.
It's slightly 40s and a little bit New Wave
You might be dancing with a girl who needs a shave
Where both the riff-raff and the royalty are the patrons at La Cage Aux Folles.

Cage Aux Folles
A Saint-Tropez tradition
Cage Aux Folles
You'll lose each inhibition
All week long we're wondering who
Left the green Givenchy gown in the loo.

Here at La Cage we live life…how shall I put it?
On an angle.
Take a deep breath, a sip of champagne
And open your eyes
What do you see?

You'll be dazzled by the ambiance you're in
You'll never notice that there's water in the gin
Come for a drink and you may want want to spend the winter at La Cage Aux Folles.

It's bad and beautiful, bawdy and bizarre
I know a duchess who got pregnant at the bar
Just who is who and what is what is quite a question at La Cage Aux Folles

Cage Aux Folles
The maitre d' is smashing
Cage Aux Folles
The Hat Check girl is flashing
We import the drinkts that you buy
So your Perrier is really Canada Dry.

You go alone you'll have the evening of your life
You'll meet your mistress and your boyfriend and your wife
It's a bonanza, it's a mad extravaganza
At La Cage Aux Folles.

Cage Aux Folles
A Saint-Tropez tradition
Cage Aux Folles
You'll lose each inhibition…

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Quote of the Day

‎"Think of an experience from your childhood. Something you remember clearly, something you can see, feel, maybe even smell, as if you were really there. After all, you really were there at the time, weren't you? How else would you remember it? But here is the bombshell: you weren't there. Not a single atom that is in your body today was there when that event took place. Every bit of you has been replaced many times over (which is why you eat, of course). You are not even the same shape as you were then. The point is that you are like a cloud: something that persists over long periods, while simultaneously being in flux. Matter flows from place to place and momentarily comes together to be you. Whatever you are, therefore, you are not the stuff of which you are made. If that doesn't make the hair stand up on the back of your neck, read it again until it does, because it is important." ~ Steve Grand (Creation: Life and How To Make It)

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Oh Boo Hoo

Maybe if you stopped building cheap plastic crap, loading it up with garbage software and boxing it in such as way as to make unpacking it as annoying and unpleasant as possible, you wouldn't be having these problems.

Dell Chief Financial Officer Brian T. Gladden admitted during the company's first-quarter 2013 earnings conference call on Tuesday that its results "were mixed."

"We fell short of our own expectations," he said, according to a transcript by Seeking Alpha. "There were some areas where our execution was not as expected, and there also are some market dynamics that created some headwinds for us."

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Any Sufficiently Advanced Technology is Indistinguishable From Magic

I'm sitting here listening to Mozart's Symphony No. 40 on my laptop and reveling in his absolute musical genius.

Suppose you were able to bring Mozart 200 years into the present. Never mind cars, airplanes, television, computers, telephones and the rest of the technological and social changes he'd encounter; how would you explain digital recording to him?

This was a little thought exercise I actually had about twenty years ago while driving across the Bay Bridge one night. I had my second-generation Sony Discman (how quaint it seems now) plugged into the car stereo and was blasting that same symphony as I headed across the bay to visit friends in Albany. Or maybe it was to cruise UC Berkeley. I don't remember at this point. Both happened with pretty much the same regularity.

Anyhow, I wondered what Mozart would think if he were in the car with me; would he think recorded music was some form of witchcraft, or with enough explanation and possibly a trip to a recording studio, would he be able to comprehend and process the science behind it, or would he just go have a total breakdown?

This little fantasy serves to remind me just how far we've come in a mere 200 years and makes me wonder what life will be like in another two centuries (assuming we aren't wiped out by an errant asteroid, blow ourselves up, or otherwise bring about our own destruction) since technological development is progressing at an ever-increasing pace. If any one of us were transported to the year 2212, would we be able to understand any of what we encountered?

I seriously doubt any of us would view technology of the 23rd century as witchcraft since we would come armed with more of a technological mindset than Mozart's time would've provided him, but how would we react to AI (almost a given), routine commercial space flight and bases—if not cities—on the moon (again, a near certainty), not to mention the very real possibility of finally—if anyone else is really is out there—having made contact (if only by way of electronic signals) with alien civilizations?

Would it be more culture shock than our puny little 21st century minds could handle?

Share you thoughts in the comments below.

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GEORGE TIERNEY OF GREENVILLE, SC

From Bill in Exile:

Soooooo apparently one Mr. George Tierney of Greenville South Carolina has a sad.

See, George Tierney of Greenville South Carolina decided to go on the Twitter machine and attack Sandra Fluke—calling her a cunt and telling her that she needs to shut her "dick sucker" in a series of tweats directed at Ms. Fluke.

Sandra immediately re-tweated, to her 36,000 followers, Mr. George Tierney of Greenville South Carolina's tweat to her {apparently Mr. George Tierney of Greenville South Carolina was unaware that Twitter is not a private form of communication, but rather a public forum} and the brilliant TBogg picked up on the exchange yesterday, published it on his blog over at FDL and re-tweated it to his followers whereupon the haplessly dim, potty-mouthed misogynist named George Tierney of Greenville South Carolina soon found his name plastered all over Teh Google, at which point Internet hilarity ensued.

(More…)

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Monday Dance Party: ABBA – Cassandra

Down in the street they're all singing and shouting
Staying alive though the city is dead
Hiding their shame behind hollow laughter
While you are crying alone on your bed
Pity, Cassandra that no one believed you
But then again you were lost from the start
Now we must suffer and sell our secrets
Bargain, playing smart, aching in our hearts
Sorry Cassandra I misunderstood
Now the last day is dawning
Some of us wanted but none of us would
Listen to words of warning
But on the darkest of nights
Nobody knew how to fight
And we were caught in our sleep
Sorry Cassandra I didn't believe you really had the power
I only saw it as dreams you would weave
Until the final hour
So in the morning your ship will be sailing
Now that your father and sister are gone
There is no reason for you linger
You're grieving deeply but still moving on
You know the future is casting a shadow
No one else sees it, but you know your fate
Packing your bags, being slow and thorough
Knowing though you're late that ship is sure to wait
Sorry Cassandra I misunderstood
Now the last day is dawning
Some of us wanted but none of us would
Listen to words of warning
But on the darkest of nights
Nobody knew how to fight
And we were caught in out sleep
Sorry Cassandra I didn't believe you really had the power
I only saw it as dreams you would weave
Until the final hour
I watched her ship leaving harbor at sunrise
Sails almost slack in the cool morning rain
She stood on deck, just a tiny figure
Rigid and restrained, blue eyes filled with pain
Sorry Cassandra I misunderstood
Now the last day is dawning
Some of us wanted but none of us would
Listen to words of warning
But on the darkest of nights
Nobody knew how to fight
And we were caught in out sleep
Sorry Cassandra I didn't believe you really had the power
I only saw it as dreams you would weave
Until the final hour
(I'm sorry Cassandra)