Archive
Cherchez on the fires is what to read today
While I've some silly stuff to chat about regarding Shakira's "She Wolf" video and the Rosetta Stone language learning program teaching NASA how to speak Venutian and more, I'll hold on those for now in the wake of the effed-up goings on in...big burger, tiny berger – feeling big and small back in my old city
Hi Valley,I'm visitng San Francsico, where I moved to Turners from going on five years ago now. I always tell people I took the typical Albany-NYC-San-Francisco-Turners-Falls route. I haven't been back here for three years. It’s wicked intense to be...(Repost:) Quit yr damn cryin'!: a post-election RANT
(for some reason, this post disappeared from the site this morning. conspiracy? you decide)Get over it. All this doom and gloom and whining and moaning I’ve heard last night and today in the bar, in the café, on MSNBC, NPR, WHMP, just PATHETIC. One...what did YOU hear last night in the SOU address? (a brief post-rant rant)
I heard a speech that utterly uninspired and as middle-of-the-road suck-up as can be. Hard to believe it was the same guy who made that great race speech, and several others, less than two years ago. Of course, all the assholes on the right wing radio and TV heard...For J.D., with vague memories and mixed feelings
I remember that I, like most boys, loved Catcher in the Rye and was hugely influenced by it in middle school and probably to this day, but I don't remember the story. I remember loving 9 stories too, and liking Franny and Zoey a lot too. But about all of them I...Bo: 1995-2010, R.I.P
Those of you who know me or have followed this here for a while know of Bo, my dear dear dog. She lived a long and wondrous life, that began on July 29, 1995, and ended on Tuesday, 2/2/10. I spent nearly every day of fourteen years with her – fed her, picked up...One of the reasons I branched out from having MAID be just about masculinity issues is that it's more fun to be able to pop off about whatever comes to mind on a given day. Another, though, is that it started to feel like everything I had to say had been said....
What it takes
As I watch Bode Miller and Lindsey Vonn and Apolo A. Ono and all the other men and women racing to and fro lo this past week (and I really do love watching them), I consider my own efforts, as a writer, a performer, a businessman, a basketball player back in the day,...Anybody see the Olympics’ closing ceremonies? Let’s just say the Chinese aren’t losing their title as the best spectacle ever any time soon. And the William Shatner monoogue with slide show? I just don’t know what to say. People are paid a LOT...
THE SONIC LIST (a post about music, not fast food)
Lately I’ve been thinking about songs that I don’t necessarily think are works of genius but that I just love anyway because of something I can’t quite define, because of, pardon my vagueness, the way they sound. Nearly always, it’s something...SONIC LIST REDUX, aka “Plane takes off from Baltimore and touches down on Bourbon Street”
Here are some more from your lists, most of which make it to mine too, so thanks! I’d say “Signed Sealed Delivered” is the only one down here that really doesn’t do the Sonic thang for me. Also, some newbies from my now thoroughly obsessed...Just plain bad bad people
A few months back I asked if there was a better word than “shameless” to describe the political right in America today. My friend Mitche suggested maybe “shameful.” Both and more and then some. How about un-fucking-believable?! Can’t seem...The Phoenix Suns Man Up in AZ
American athletes and sports organizations (Charles Barkley and Muhammed Ali being the oft-trotted-out exceptions) are notorious for avoiding taking any political stand (Michael Jordan particularly so, I’m sad to say), so it’s especially great to see that...Speaking truth to those OUT OF power
Great piece from Amanda Marcotte on how Repubs don’t seem to be able to accept that the party that wins the election, (even if some of them are queers and blacks and other not-real Americans) gets to run the show for a while. God bless you and God bless the...These Charming Men: Conan and Barack rock the mikes, yo!
If you missed the POTUS’s Correspondents’ Dinner speech, you should really check it out. Could this be the first president ever to serve his two terms and then hit the comedy circuit? He’s absolutely killed at this one for two years running. (link is...Chatroulette / My Interview with the JONAS BROTHERS!!!
So, last week, after growing tired of seeing the term “chatroulette” mentioned over and over and over and over again on facebooks and the twitters (and needing something besides fbook to procrastinate with as I finish my MFA thesis), I googled it, and...The Kagan Lesbian Brouhaha as a GOOD Thing
Call me Pollyanna, but I see a definite bright side in the whole “Is Kagan gay/Did someone accuse her of bein gay?” to-do. While the fact that the words “accusation” and “scandal” still suggest a strong stigma to homosexuality, the...Just a kid with a stuffed tiger, aka Amphetamine Blues
So I’m told this is a few years old, but I just saw it for the first time yesterday when my friend Matthew (his real name) posted it on the facebookses. I’ve Topeka-ed it but can’t find out who made this incredibly effective piece of propaganda....Write to me and escape
So Anja (aka The Missus) was driving along listening to the awesome WIZZ the other day, as she is oft wont to do, and found herself, for the very first time, listening to the lyrics to “Escape (The Pina Colada Song).” She found it disturbing that someone...on this beautiful if apocalyptically warm spring day . . . .
. . . I think of Bo, of her first days back in the water each year, gingerly taking first steps into the still cold river/pond, etc. before taking that last . . . one . . . step into the deeper water and then paddling paddling paddling after her ball. On especially...One Wacky Week in Montague, and now Google FAIL
After having no power for going on two days now, (incredbly quick, intense thunderstorm Weds. night, felt like a Tornado, took out hundreds of trees, powerlines, etc. for those of you far afield) dealing with that mess as a bar/restaurant owner with three thawing...A Friday RANT
As much as I often argue that the moneyed in America are absolutely intentionally raising an ignorant population by gutting our public schools, I still don’t get the Tea Partiers’ screaming about the horrors of socialized medicine and the redistribution of...Stuck inside on a lovely friday
Hiya Gang, Sorry I’ve been awol this week. I’ve been getting ready to go public with a big, exciting (at least to me) new project that I’ll tell you all about on Monday. Today, though, I’m stuck filling in on the lunch shift at the Voo for a...Leaving – a short-short piece of fiction
Hiya gang, I thought I’d occasionally start putting up some creative writing stuffs. Here’s a short one: Leaving Ran into you on the street the other day, standing outside the bar, smoking. You always were a sexy smoker. I didn’t want to chat,...the boy your man could smell like
If you loved this, you’ll probably be really fond of this too. Two more days of grading A.P. English Exams in Louisville, then headin’ back home. I’ve saved some gems from student essays, but I better wait til we’re done to post ’em. Miss...Last week, the tireless Amanda Marcotte either Facebooked or tweeted this xkcd comic. It made me laugh. But more than that, it led me to the “Porn for Women” series of books which, well, I think the comic really says it best.
The Thrive Project is born, The Thrive Project needs you.
A request. Please read THIS then THIS before proceeding. Thanks. After 25 years of choosing jobs almost solely based on making time to pursue “my art,” and just as many years of procrastinating making said art, of sorta kinda making said art now and then,...because they ARE racists
Every night, On Alan Colmes’ show (I’m kinda on an Alan tear lately), people call in and complain that anyone who criticizes the president is labelled a racist. Of course, then they usually go on to say how they’re tired of paying taxes so that...The Big Scam (aka The A.P. Exam system)
Scam isn’t exactly the word I’m looking for, really. Con? Not that either. . . Racket! That’s the Word I’m looking for. The Advanced Placement system, at least when it comes to English language and literature, is a big racket. Okay,...Tim Wise: “Imagine if the Tea Party Was Black”
Here’s the first para of a blog post from Tim Wise. Click anywhere down there to read the rest. “Let’s play a game, shall we? The name of the game is called “Imagine.” The way it’s played is simple: we’ll envision recent...A Return to MAID's roots because I'm gonna be on the radio talking about masculinty on wednesday
Tomorrow (Wednesday), from noon to 1pm, The Colin McEnroue show on WNPR, Connecticut Public Radio, is doing a show about “the state of men and masculinity in today’s culture” and I’ve been invited to sit on the panel with Christina Sommers who...Adapting Spike and Charlie, pt. 1
The other day I found myself watching a bunch of interviews with grumpy auteur/screenwriter Charlie Kaufman on Youtube and it made me want to drag an old chestnut out of the closet. Back in San Francisco, toward the end of my years there, I worked for a wretched...My Colbert crush just grows and grows
The Colbert Report Mon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c Garret Keizer www.colbertnation.com Colbert Report Full Episodes 2010 Election Fox News This clip shows the subtlety, the humor, the charm of my Stephen. If there’s any part of the Report that’s at all...Adapting Spike and Charlie, pt. 2
(click here for part one) Thursday evening arrives and, sporting a spanky new haircut, I get caught in heavy rush-hour traffic heading over to Berkeley and barely make it to the grand, old California Theater before the screening is scheduled to start. Word of mouth...LEBRON PICKS, aka “My facebook chat about the lebron circus of grossness last night” (for nba fans only, mostly)
Just some chatting about the pukey Lebron sideshow last night: me: Such an embarrassing spectacle. such a BAD decision. If he wins, it’s because the deck was stacked. The pressure is huge. And not nearly enough basketballs for him and d wade to dribble and...Adapting Spike and Charlie, pt. 3 (of 3), with interview exceprts
(click HERE for part one, HERE for part two) After a very long and nerve-wracking Friday, it’s finally 6 p.m. and I arrive at the Clift, a swank hotel in downtown San Francisco, where the interview is to take place. A bright-eyed young bellhop gets in the...E.J. Dionne on Tea Party/Palinator vs. the Tea Partiers
E. J. Dionne sums it all up quite nicely in today’s Washinton Post: “Guilt by association is wrong, but it’s legitimate to insist that those who believe in democracy and freedom take forceful steps to disassociate themselves from people in their...at a loss / barkley and jordan laugh at lebron
While it would be natural for me to write about the Shirley Sherrod debacle, it’s just so very depressing that the slimiest pissants on earth weild the kind of power they do, controlling the conversation to the extent that when they say jump even the goddamn...If you like “Charlie the Unicorn” . . .
. . . you’ll LUUUUUUUV Charlie teh Unicron!!! (Um, I don’t get it, it sure sounds like the same Charlie to me, maybe there were copyright issues? – but I’m not complaining).A fellow posted this on Facebook today, adding: “I took this photo as evidence that neither Ms. Palin nor her cabal of PR handlers had the providence of encountering this quote, not to mention reading “Babbitt”.”
Sarah rolls her eyes. If you don't want her to live in a big white house in DC, run with it!
Many years ago, when I lived in San Francisco, a Brazillian friend and I were, for some reason, watching the Republican National Converntion on TV. This was well before GWB was even running for prez. Bush The Younger was speaking. My friend says to me, “He will...Many years ago, when I lived in San Francisco, a Brazillian friend and I were, for some reason, watching the Republican National Converntion on TV. This was well before GWB was even running for prez.
St. Stephen on how to ruin same-sex marriages
I laughed, I cried, it’s this year’s “Moonstruck”! Amazing. Really. If this doesn’t sell you on Colbert, well, then he’s just not for you. And neither am I! If you’re pressed for time, the genius stuff starts at about the...Sarah Palin could very easily be your next president. Ready to start fighting dirty yet?
Many years ago, back in San Francisco, a Brazillian friend and I were watching, although I can’t for the life of me remember why, the Republican National Convention, on TV. Not even sure if that’s what it was, but regardless, Texas governor GWB was...Barack talking NYC Mosque, acting wise and presidential, aka committing potential political hari kari
Here’s a clip of the president answering questions about ithe comments he made about the NYC Islamic center mess at the annual White House Iftar dinner last Friday. He’s clear and articulate and sensible and stands on unquestionably firm moral,...“Hallowed Ground” photo essay by Daryl Lang
As seen on his blog, History Eraser Button, here are A few photos of stuff the same distance from the World Trade Center as the “Ground Zero Mosque.” Lang’s point is that: “This neighborhood is not hallowed. The people who live and work here...Stephanie Miller comes out; Dr. Laura gives up; Cathy is put to bed – and the world is a better place
One of the AM leftie yappers I listen to even though she (and they all) tend to drive me nuts is Stephanie Miller. Last Friday on her show she came out as, as she put it, “a gay woman.” As much as part of me wants to pick on her for maybe riding the Rachel...apocalypstick, anyone?
So my friend Molly posted a video from Almie Rose, aka, Apocalypstick, on Facebook. Then I found myself watching all her videos and reading her blog. Here’s a blog post on being hit on that I thought was swell. The content is nothing new, but her tone, her...Thank God for CeeLo Green!
This song is called “Fuck You!” If this offends you, and you don’t click on the link, you will be missing out on something very very very very special, simple as that, that will likely make you smile from ear to ear. CeeLo’s site tells us...“I Sarah Palin, do solemnly swear, to uphold . . . “
Re my recent post: Sarah backed five candidates in primaries yesterday. They all won. The percentage of Americans who think the prez is that nasty, dirty, evil thing, a Muslim, has risen to the twenties, the percent who say they “don’t know” his...Frivolous Friday video to give my little rightie Shreks a day or two to catch breath and gather “thoughts”
Here’s something that has nothing to do with the awesome hypocricy of John McCain or idiocy of Sarah Palin. It’s not CeeLo, but it is a music video, and it is awesome! Click HERE to see the amazing Leslie Hall kickin’ her “Tight Pants/Body...Friday Fun!
In a country in which Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin are increasingly powerful people, in a week in which a redneck preacher with less than a hundred parishoners held the world hostage (and made not only his name but I presume some big dollars as well), I give you some...forget you
It’s so sad. Apparently CeeLo’s “Forget You” has started gracing the radio waves. I can’t bear to even give it a listen. I so wish he hadn’t made a “clean” version. It would be great to see how big a hit FU...Welcome to My Universe
For my inaugural blog post, I’ve decided to refer you, my almost certainly nonexistent readers, to my latest column, "Pomegra-Nation," in which I explain how it is that the pomegranate, very recently a fruit celebrated almost exclusively by swarthy...I'm a bad feminist, I think
I happened by alternet.org yesterday and was forced to confront, once again, what I like to call the Amy Goodman Conundrum — named after the intrepid but unfortunately dowdy host of Democracy Now!. In truth, it’s only a conundrum for the small class of...The Beta Test Post
Welcome beta-testers, You are the proud, the few, the exclusive coterie of friends and associates of The Dexter (as I’ll henceforth be known) who’ve been given the rare opportunity to beta-test my new blog (pardon me, "The Dexter’s new...I'm a bad white man, I think
Take a tour with me of Salon.com?s four-part viral video festival of the ridiculosity of Cynthia McKinney, the soon to be ex-congresswoman from Georgia?s fourth congressional district (the fightin? fourth, as my good friend Steve Colbert would say)....E-Edition
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