Out, damn hypocritical closet-case senator, out!

Mike Rogers from blogACTIVE has threatened to out a Republican Senator if he doesn't vote against the Alto conformation for Supreme Court justice today. Now that Alto is confirmed and this country looks like it's on a one-way train ride to becoming a Christian supremacist police state, all I have to say is "IT'S ON!"

The outing is supposed take place sometime before the mid-term elections in November, at a time when it'll do the most damage to the re-election efforts of the Senator.

.... you will decide if your political position is worth more than doing what is right for others like you. For others like you, Mr. Senator, who engage in oral sex with other men. (Although, Mr. Senator, most of us don't do in the bathrooms of Union Station!) Your fake marriage, by the way, will NOT protect you from the truth being told on this blog.How does this blog decide who to report on? It's simple. We report on hypocrites. In this case, hypocrites who vote against the gay and lesbian community while engaging in gay sex themselves*. When you cast that vote, Mr. Senator, represent your own...it's the least you could do.

Thanks to JoeMyGod for this. BTW there is specualtaion on that blog that Satan-torum might be said politican.

Depression

I must have been really upset about reading Sunday's article about how some of the local lawmakers are planning to pass an amendment to the state constitution to ban gay marriages, as well as domestic partnerships and the like, since I pretty much spent yesterday doing nothing but moping around the house. I try to tell myself that I'm good person every day, but then people come and blame me for the downfall of everything in this country because I'm gay. Or whatever else. Sometimes it feels that I'm still in junior high and the other kids are teasing me for wearing glasses, not being athletic enough, being too "faggy," being a "brain," or name what other trangression against teenage manhood here, and the teachers and my parents say that it's all my fault and they just let the harassment continue. I know that that junior high and high school are in the past now and I ought to just "move on," but how can I do just that when people are still putting me down and saying that I don't deserve equal protection under the law? How can you move on when the discrimination continues? It may different players now (your state "representatives" instead of your follow high school classmates) but it's the same bullshit and emotional violence.

Say that I'm being silly, but I think I'm having a slight case of post-truamtic stress disorder afetr hearing this disturbing news. I'm pretty sure that more gay people will be having the same thing if this amendment is passed and becomes law. At least Governor Ed Rendell has spoken out against this, though I don't know if he'll keep that stance given that he'll be up for re-election this year.

Some recent music purchases

Here are some records that I have purchased this past month...

Helen Kane - Boop-Boop-A-Doop: 27 Original Mono Recordings 1928-1951 - The famous singer who would be the inspiration to the cartoon character Betty Boop. Includes two versions of her best known song "I Wanna Be Loved By You."

Junior Vasquez - Party Groove: White Party 7 - Bought this from the Centaur Music website. Junior's latest mix-CD of circuit anthems.

Taylor Dayne - How Many CD maxi-single - When I ordered the Junior Vasquez CD, I got this as well. Two discs worth of remixes. Of all the tracks I listen to the Menergy's Sound Factory Vox Dub the most. She hasn't released a single since this came out a couple of years back.

Liliput - Kleenex/Liliput - A double-disc compilation of the entire recorded output of the late 70s/early 80s Swiss female post-punk outfit (who started out as Kleenex but changed their name due to a copyright lawsuit). Some great post-punk stuff here, including "Ain't You," "You," "Split," and their best-known song, "Die Matrosen" (which would be covered by Book Of Love a few years later).

Delta 5 - Singles & Sessions 1979-81 - Great retrospective from the Leeds, England post-punk quintent. Having two bassists give them a jagged rhythmic edge. Lyrics often sarcastic and biting. It starts off with its first single and best known track "Mind Your Own Business;" IMHO that is one of the best post-punk/New Wave songs EVER. It sets the mood for the rest of the disc. "You" is a riot with its hilariously accusatory lyrics ("Who took me to the Wimpy's [that fast-food to you Yanks] for the big night out? YOU! YOU! YOU! YOU!"). "Try" swipes a bit of a line from the Christmas song "Do You See What I See?" "Make Up" is a crtique of, you've guess it, make-up. ("Do you wear it? Does it wear you?") Some of the radio session tracks would be rerecorded in more polished form for their one proper album See the Whirl, which came out in 1981 (and is still out of print). And there are two great essays in the linear notes as well.

Pitchfork ran a good review of this album. So has Allmusic.com. And you can check out a couple of MP3s on the Lost Bands Of The New Wave Era blog as well.

BTW I heard the Pet Shop Boys' remix of the new Madonna single "Sorry" and I think it's wonderful. I knew it would sound good considering the excellent job they did remixing Yoko Ono's "Walking On Thin Ice" a couple of years back. Thanks again to Hot Lunch for turning me on onto this.

Hearing nothing but the sound of discrimination in PA

I just found out five lawmakers from my county, including my own state representative Elinor Z. Taylor, are co-sponsoring the state bill that would re-write the state constitution to ban gay marriage. The bill has been introduced to the state House of Representives on Janurary 24. I feel very hurt, like someone stabbed in the back a hundred times. I hate it when bigots blame me for all the straight marraiges going wrong. As if, as fucking if.

I heard that Taylor will be retiring after this term. Good riddance.

Knowing when someone can do a better job than you

One reason why I had started this blog was to try and document Philadelphia's new wave scene in the 80s. Well Robert Drake can do a far better job than I can, considering the great job he has been doing with his new blog Reflections Of A Rock Robster. But I'll still do an occasional piece or two...I'm working on a piece about the band Executive Slacks.

(BTW speaking of Robert, his monthly 80s new wave program on WXPN-FM Land Of The Lost will be airing tonight from 7pm to 11pm.)

Finally picked up the new Delta 5 retrospective yesterday and so far it sounds good. I'll have to post a review of it sometime next week.

Stomach bugs, panic attacks, and is anticipation so much better?

Sorry for not posting since Thursday but I've seemed to have experienced some sort of writer's block. Plus over the weekend I caught some sort of stomach bug or something. I woke up Friday morning feeling tired, noxious and lightheaded. So for the next two days I pretty much cancelled any plans I had for that weekend except for going to work on Friday and Saturday. And though I did feel better on Sunday I still just stayed in and rested. Also had some nasty panic attacks around the same time as well, the worst ones I had since the late 90s to be exact. Shoulders and chest were feeling very tight. I know that they weren't something like a heart attack because I had recently gone to the doctor and she said that my heart and lungs were fine. So I had to simply ride it out, and when the stomach bug went away the panic attacks died down as well.

Today I went to a couple of local record stores to pick up the new Delta 5 retrospective, but neither of them had it in. They were supposed to get the CDs in but they hadn't arrived in the mail, so they said to come back in a couple of days. So I have to wait a couple of more days for that record. It looks like the label's (Kill Rock Stars) distributors has been asleep at the wheel here. Oh well as the Delta 5 song goes: Anticipation is so much better...

Dreams of unfinished school projects

Did you ever dream that you found yourself back in high school or college, and you found out that you were supposed to turn in a project or paper and you have been putting it off? And now you realize that you might have enough time to complete it? I had that dream last night. I guess I feel that I have a lot of unfinished business with my life. Or maybe I need to go take some night school courses or something like that--just as long as I don't have to return to my high school to take them!

Rappers + Repubulicians > Gays?

RepubliKKKans scream and holler that gays marrying would destroy the sanctity of marriage (and try to pass as many laws banning gay marriage as they possibly can, like here in Pennsylvania), and yet they say nothing about a Detroit rapper who re-marrys his ex-wife, whom he had written vicious songs about in the past. Could Eminem be secretly giving lots of bling-bling to the Repigicans?

Sorry I haven't posted more

Sorry I haven't posted much outside of the Tri-Cen run stuff recently. I've been suffering from another of my colds. This one has drained a lot of energy from me. If I wasn't going to work or my doctor I stayed home and rested. Wanted to check out out a movie this Sunday but I thought I'd rest and swave it for another day. Monday I did go into Philly for the Philadelphians general meeting though. Feeling better now, though I'm not completely over it.

I wish I could be in DC for the Mid-Altanic Leather Weekend. Some fun stuff going on down there. But I have work a good portion of that weekend, and besides I'm kinda broke from going on Tri-Cen. Plus one of my sisters is coming up from Nashville to visit a couple of days. Anyone going down there, have some fun for me!

More Tri-Cen XVII photos

Here's a couple of additional pictures from the Tri-Cen run that I forgot to post earlier:

The butter at the dinner buffet at the Bike Stop that Friday night.

Me and fellow pledges Rob and Marc in the "Hospitality suite" of the Courtyard Marriott wearing our "Staph" T-shirts. (Yes the misspelling is intentional!) Notice the leather pride flag colors on the Rubic's Cube design.

BTW the Philadelphians has put up some photos from the event up on their website. More pictures will be added on soon.

Tri-Cen XVII: That 80s Run, part two

'Cause I love rock'n'roll, put another dime in the jukebox baby...

Third day of the Tri-Cen XVII run continued with another Eye-Opener Cocktail Party at the Courtyard Marriott, this time by the Spartan MC. Then it was back to Sal's on 12th again for brunch, this time held on the first floor. Then it was the People Games at the William Way Community Center, where the games included a "Create The Philadelphians' China Pattern" (shades of First Lady Nancy Reagan and her imfamous china) contest, a 80s trivia contest to end all 80s trivia contests, and a contest that where you had to make your own "Mummer Barbie" by gluing feathers, strings and various bits of cloths and glitter to cheap Barbie-like dolls in a certain amount of time.

That evening there was a Pre-Dinner cocktail hosted by Excelsior MC, where us pledges had to make a big run to the nearest 7-11 to get as much ice as we could carry. Then it was back to Tavern On Camac for a dinner buffet and some awards were given out. Below is a photo of three current Philadelphians pledges Marc, Ron and me done up in our finest leathers at that dinner. (I'm amazed that I was somehow able to get myself into my size 32 leather pants; I need keep my New Year's resolution to get out and exercise more.)

The most talked-about cocktail party was the Post-Dinner Cocktail Party that evening, hosted by the Twilight Guard. The theme was Mommie Dearest. Not only they showed the movie, the piece of pure unintentional camp that it is, they really went out on the theme. There was the party's staff that went by the title of "Joan Crawford's Cleaning Crew," themed drinks such as Lysol Punch, a couple of aprons you could sign with witty sayings (one said "Miss Crawford, the dirt is mad at you too!"), and in the background bits of dialouge from the movie were mixed with 80s songs that touched on the movie's themes (such as Culture Club's "Do You Really Want To Hurt Me?"). And nothing screams party like Faye Dunaway bellowing "DON'T FUCK WITH ME, FELLAHS!" over a techno beat.

The final event was the brunch that Monday morning at the Bike Stop where a few more awards were given out and we all said our good-byes. Then us pledges and a few more Philadelphians went to the Courtyard Marriott to clean out the "Hospitality Suite" and move some stuff out of there to store at the William Way Center. Then Marc, Ron and I went back to their apartment to rest for the whole afternoon since we were tired from running around. And I unfortuneately I came down with an energy-draining cold due to a nasty rainstorm that afternoon, so I wound up leaving around 7pm, later than I had originally planned. Other than that last bit I had an enjoyable weekend. Thanks to Marc and Ron for all their hospitality. (Plus a shout-out to Blackkat and his boi tony, plus a wink to Jeff for demonstrating what "pledge-on-pledge action" means!)

Tri-Cen XVII: That 80's Run, part one

Tri-Cen XVII, the run by the Philadelphians MC during New Year's Day weekend was busy, busy, busy. Drove into the city Friday afternoon and stayed with my fellow pledges Marc and Ron at their apartment. Got a haircut by a local barber and then at five we went to the Top of the Stop of the Bike Stop to help set up for run registration, which was from six to ten. There was also a dinner buffet from seven to nine. There was a cake with a mock Crisco can on top of it and little Pac-Mans as decorations. Lots of eighties pop music too. Met a lot of people from different leather fraternaties.

The next morning there was a hospitality room set up in a room on the second floor of the beautiful Downtown Courtyard Marriott (which was several blocks away from where I stayed), where several Eye-Opener/Pre-Dinner/Post-Dinner Cocktail parties were held for the next two days. 80s movies like Pee Wee's Big Adventure, Ferris Bueller's Day Off and The Breakfast Club would play on the TV as more 80s music chimed in the background. Then it was off to Tavern On Camac for brunch. Then there was their version of "Amazing Race," where players had to pick up various clues at five different locations in Center City. Me and an associate member stood in front of the Wanamaker's building (actually it's Lord & Taylor now) on Chestnut & Juniper (FYI the location for the shit hit movie Mannequin) and hand out clues for the next location. We stood there for about an hour before the game got called off because the weather got rainy and chilly, so it was back to the Courtyard Marriott for another cocktail party to warm our cockles.

Dinner was held at the top floor of Sal's on 12th, and then a fun Post-Dinner cocktail party at the Marriott, this time given by the Collingswood Cows. Then it was off to the Bike Stop for a couple of hours to bring in the New Year with a champange toast. After that was the After Hours Club Social & Cocktail Party hosted by the Long Island Ravens MC at Club Body Center. Didn't get to bed until four in the morning. What a way to bring in 2006. Man I'm beat!

To be continued...

Song for 2006

Got back from Tri-Cen last night. Tired from running around all over the place. Will talk about it later in the week when I feel better. And I got some pictures as well.

Driving home I had this song pretty much on a continous loop. I guess this could be the song that describes where I am in my life right now. I'm tired of being a scared little boy who's afraid to go out into the world.