Meanwhile, Back at the Hall of Justice...

(which is where I've been for the past few days, having been placed on a jury...)



the lesbian shoes serve in the neverending battle of good versus the forces of evil (and its extremely-ugly tile floors and bad lighting)

Up and Down and Up and Down

It's going to be midnight on the Left Coast by the time I finish this, and the husbear and I are hightailing it out of town and down to LA for a few days for his business and our pleasure.

At 6 AM.

And to save shipping costs for his supplies, we are driving down, of course.

Thankfully, while he lives out of a suitcase and eats bad conference food for the next week, I will be carried back to SF in the loving arms of American Airlines on Sunday afternoon.

Just in time for jury duty Monday morning.

Highs and lows. Gotta love January.

Eerie Convergences

As I read written in the headlines of the Chronicle this morning:

"Debate rages over prewritten obituaries for young, living stars"


As I read on my way home this afternoon:

"Actor Heath Ledger dies at 28"


That's just more than a bit creepy.

Priorities, or Lack Thereof

This whole MRSA thing and the associated comments have gotten me more than a bit perturbed on one point -- namely, that when it comes to making hard criticism of gay behavior versus keeping PR spin, the spin wins.

Let's be realistic, people. Case in point.

"The medical community has known for years that homosexual conduct, especially among males, creates a breeding ground for often deadly disease. In recent years we have seen a profound resurgence in cases of HIV/AIDS, syphilis, rectal gonorrhea and many other STDs among those who call themselves 'gay'."

Are you a bit upset? Mad? Angry that these folks are saying such mean things about gays? Ready to fill out a petition, picket, scream, do all those other things that might get you a GLAAD award and the adulation of the community?

Because we all "know" there has never, not under any circumstances, been a "profound resurgence" in HIV, syphilis, gonorrhea, and so forth -- and that gay men are not once, not twice, but thirteen times more likely to get/have MRSA than average.

Surprising, eh?

Now, instead of screaming at CWFA, how about screaming at the people who are generating these statistics?

Because, you know, getting rid of all of these would save thousands of people from getting sick and dying, or being dependent their entire lives on HIV meds.

That is, if that matters more to you than the bad publicity that would come from actually admitting.....yeah, there might be a problem here.......

Food for Thought

An interesting and well-stated article on John McCain from the San Francisco Chronicle's resident non-liberal columnist, Debra J. Saunders.

No Surprise Here

What is your political ideology? Your Result: Libertarian   This quiz has defined you as a Libertarian. Keep in mind, this ideology can be applied to the right or left in the social sense. You believe in a minimal role of the government in solving problems and believe that the "Free market" can handle almost all economic situations.
Conservative
Liberal
Social Democrat
Fascist/Radical Right
Communist/Radical Left
What is your political ideology? Make Your Own Quiz

But interesting in context.

(h/t Presidential Candidate FARB)

CubsTracks, Shiny Bubbles Edition

One of the best facilitators with whom I've ever worked had a simple icebreaker for particularly-tough meetings; she'd put packs of sugar-free gum on the table and see who could blow the largest bubble. For some reason, as she put it, nothing loosened up tight executives better than splattering goo all over their face.

With that in mind, here's a nice piece of bubble pop for your evening.

Can't Get Over, September

Bigger, Faster, Stupider

Sometimes I wonder why we bother paying these people to discuss the obvious.

Look, everyone knows that baseball players are juicing. The only thing the past three seasons has proven beyond a shadow of a doubt is that steroids cause amnesia in people who take them. Despite all the hand-wringing about "cheating" and the high-minded rhetoric about "playing clean", year after year, it's the same old needle-happy musclebound thing.

In short, these guys use for the same reason that strippers have plastic surgery; it increases their revenue potential. And no matter how many Oversight Committee posturing sessions there are, there are billions of dollars at stake each season in ticket revenues, broadcast fees, bobbleheads, and $8 beers.

Oddly enough, you would think Congresspersons would realize that "money talks".

If there is a solution to this problem, it will be on the demand side of the curve, i.e., fans start getting bored with watching bulked-out freaks with testicles the size of their fingertips lumber around the diamond. But then again, WCW and boxing still survive, so that's going to probably take a while.

Until then, I would suggest that, if steroid use so bothers Congress, they start spending more money on enforcing the laws against it.

Playing It Safe

Today's latest bit of edifying news.

A new variety of staph bacteria, highly resistant to antibiotics and possibly transmitted by sexual contact, is spreading among gay men in San Francisco, Boston, New York and Los Angeles, researchers reported Monday.

The study released online by the journal Annals of Internal Medicine found the highest concentrations of infection by the drug-resistant bug in and around San Francisco's Castro District, and among patients who visit health clinics that treat HIV infections among gay men in San Francisco and Boston.

As the article points out, the researchers stopped short of saying that this was a sexually-transmitted disease -- but pointed out that the most consistent locations were areas that have high....um, contact.....during sex.

What this and other examples seem to be telling us is that, regardless of how hard we try to serosort our way out of problems, unprotected sex spreads more disease than protected sex.

As I have stated before, there's no question that bareback sex does feel better on a physical basis. However, when you have it, you are trading peace of mind and your long-term health for short-term thrills.

Unfortunately, this sort of thing makes one wonder if the gay community is glad to make that trade -- and if so, why?

This Gives a Whole New Meaning to "Sunday Drivers"

Ouch.

Choose Your Own Explanation....

for this news item.

A home robbery suspect allegedly tripped an alarm at a house on the 2200 block of Clement Street at 4:10 a.m. Dec. 17. Arriving officers saw that the glass on the front door had been shattered. The suspect took cash and 300 cartons of cigarettes.

Obviously, this house is the location of:

1) John's latest flip

2) QJ's next orgy ("If I can't smoke it, maybe I can absorb it from their skin!")

3) Jamie's new agricultural export venture

4) Famous Author Rob Byrnes's secret writing studio

5) The anti-Malcontent insurgency.

Of course it wasn't me. No cancer stick (or even a doobie, for that matter) has crossed these rosebud lips, torched this trachea, or polluted these pristine lungs.

But I do wonder what the buyer of my college roommate's house ultimately did with our four-foot-tall garden sculpture made entirely of Copenhagen lids.

Rage For the Media Machine

There are several things I don't know, and one of them is how I ended up on Logo's press release distribution list.

But at any rate, after an average of one of them a week for untold months, it's probably time to reward whatever nameless and long-suffering soul put me on it as someone of importance -- hence, my official repeat of their announcement that they are going ahead with Sordid Lives: The Series, based on the play and camp-classic movie.

While you're waiting, here's a lovely aperitif along the same lines.

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

My mantra for 2008 is, in the immortal words of Thoreau, "Simplify, simplify".

So I shaved my head.



Note, not the body. Just the head.

Reverse Angles

If QJ can post pics, so can I.

Especially when he asks for them in regards to a totally unrelated subject. :)

Not safe for work, by the way.