| Some epic race fail |
[17 Jul 2009|04:40pm] |
I am saddened, but not surprised, that this happened in a community very close to where I grew up. The racism and sexism, while alive and well all over the country, is palpable amongst the good 'ol boys in the Central Valley. It disgusts me. What disgusts me further is the contention that the "jokes" weren't racist and that they had no racial component. And invoking the "I have black friends" thing is so tired. I mean, really. ATWATER -- In the past several months Atwater City Councilman Gary Frago has sent at least a half-dozen e-mails to city staff and other prominent community members containing racist jokes aimed at President Barack Obama, his wife and black people in general.
In all, the Sun-Star obtained seven e-mails that Frago sent from October 2008 to February 2009 from an anonymous source.
Some compared Obama to O.J. Simpson while others suggested that "nigger rigs" should now be called "presidential solutions."
Perhaps the most overboard e-mail was sent on Jan. 15. It read: "Breaking News Playboy just offered Sarah Palin $1 million to pose nude in the January issue. Michelle Obama got the same offer from National Geographic."
Frago admitted sending the e-mails, but showed no regret. "If they're from me, then I sent them," he said. "I have no disrespect for the president or anybody, they weren't meant in any bad way or harm."
The list of people who either sent or received the e-mails reads like a who's who of Atwater community and political leadership, including a county supervisor, a former police chief, a city manager, a former city council member, a former president of a veterans group, a former grand knight of the Knights of Columbus, among others.
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| whimper |
[17 Jul 2009|03:01pm] |
today i am not dealing at all well with the world.
part of it, i know, is that day-after-drinking feeling. since i cut way back on drinking, i'm uber conscious of that next-day metaphysical hangover...the fact that even 1 drink can cause it (let alone a few beers and then wine paired with dinner).
but i don't think its just that. today i feel heavy with grief. too much death. too much sorrow. too much loss. most of it not even mine. but i grieve for it, and my world feels changed forever by my own losses.
je suis sad.
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| Cupcakes and Muffintops: Clothing and Bake Sale |
[16 Jul 2009|05:14pm] |
Big Moves Bay Area and friends of NOLOSE present:
Cupcakes and Muffintops
A size-positive, gender inclusive Fat Clothing Flea and Bake Sale where only the prices are small!
Sunday, August 9th, 2009 12-4 PM
Humanist Hall
390 27th St. Oakland, CA
Clothes sizes L and up, up, up! Butch, femme, men's, women's... and tasty treats, too!
Clothes $2-$7/per item. $5 door fee (applicable toward any clothing purchase).
All proceeds to benefit Big Moves Bay Area and NOLOSE
We still need clothing donations! We are asking you to dig deep and come joyously out of the closet with all the fat clothes that you don’t want anymore. They say if you have not worn it in a year, it is time to get rid of it – but don’t send it to the landfill! We’ll help your fat clothes find a great new home. That outfit that did not look right on you will be perfect for someone else! And you are raising money for fat culture at the same time. All you need to do is bag up your donations and email us at cindy@bigmoves.org, matilda@bigmoves.org or CupcakesandMuffintops@gmail.com - we will schedule a time to pick your clothes up in the next 10 days. (We will pick up pretty much anywhere in the San Francisco Bay Area!) We are taking wearable, non-stained clothes, shoes in good condition, scarves and accessories. Only clothes size L/men’s 36 and women’s 14 and larger, please!!! Donations accepted until July 26 only, so please act fast! Thank you in advance for cleaning out your closet!
And if you want to volunteer at the Flea, let us know! We need help with set up, clothes presentation, personal shoppers, getting the word out, security and more. Email CupcakesandMuffintops@gmail.com to volunteer.
Unsold clothing will be donated to area shelters after the sale.
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| more SYTYCD commentary |
[15 Jul 2009|11:25pm] |
Yes, I am writing about that dance/"reality"/competition show, "So You Think You Can Dance." If you have no idea what I am talking about you might consider yourself lucky ;-)
OK, so we are Top Ten, which really the producers should just rename "Top Ten People We Want on Our $$$$$-Making Tour." It is clear they have kept some people who perhaps should have gone home for their audience draw on the tour. Anyhow, before I get any further, let me say this: these are all good dancers, some better than others. The twenty who started were mostly good dancers. Many, many stellar dancers who auditioned didn't make it. That said, some of these dancers are not all that much better (if that) than people I dance in studios with every week or take classes frp, every week--it is really luck of the draw that they are on TV, or more likely, they fill a profile the producers want to fill. I will readily agree that I cannot dance as well as any of the ten onstage tonight...but that doesn't mean I cannot critique what is going on. So onward...
1.) The judges. Again, STFU with your self-congratulatory crap. You are not that special. Yes, this show is popular, but it is by no means the bastion of great 21st century dance you seem to think it is.
2.) Hey, Nigel, your comments about the historical strife in Africa and "the people" coming together to make powerful dance as a result came across as patronizing bullshit from a wealthy, muppet-choregraphing white dude. Add to that your awkward comments about interracial dance partners and you are gunning for a first class ticket on Race Fail 2009: The Summer Tour.
3.) Choreographers: Really, can we be done with the male-female love story. I am so fucking sick of it I could scream. You are supposed to be pros...is this all you can think of? It is BORING!!!! Similarly, all dance doesn't have to have a neatly confined narrative. Whatever happened to thematic dances? Or what about a narrative that isn't instantly transparent to the audience?
4.) Choreographers: Lose the distracting, literal props. Travis, that necklace you used made that dance infinitely more cheesy and trite than it needed to be. It wasn't as bad as that chain 'ol Nappy Tabs used a couple of weeks ago, but it was still bad. Don't be afraid to make your audience think.
5.) Nigel (again), quit commenting on how pretty the "girls" are. We get it. You like traditionally beautiful women 1/3 your age with next to no body fat on them (breasts excepted). Comment on the female contestants' dancing ability and leave it at that. Likewise, making fat-phobic "jokes" about one of the male dancers' was really distasteful and full of fail.
6.) The Viennese Waltz with Evan and Kayla was actually quite nice. Usually not a fan of the dance, but I liked it.
7.) Didn't care for the hip hop with Janette and Ade mostly because I tend to loathe Nappy Tabs' pair choreography. Janette seemed too perky/bouncy as well. Shane Sparks and Dave Scott need to choreograph for the show a whole lot more than they are.
8.) Jeanine and Jason's contemporary was well-danced, and Jason certainly showed tremendous power, but I wasn't a huge fan of the literal male-female love story choreo, complete with a necklace. I did like that both of them did some strong floor work in unison requiring a lot of upper-body strength. The kiss at the end was, again, too literal for me.
9.) Randi and Kupono's Paso Doble was a hot mess. Just not good. And he dropped her at the end. Not good. His leaps continue to be underwhelming.
10.) Melissa and Brandon's "Broadway" (which on the show seems to mean any dance performed to a canonical song from a Broadway show) was much better than most the crap Tyce trots out. They were both strong, though way too clean-looking to be performing anything from "Hair". Also? Tyce maybe should have thought twice before using a song so strongly associated with "40-Year-Old Virgin". It kind of increased the cheese factor.
11.) The solos: I like Jason's a lot. Good modern sensibility and nice choice of music. Brandon's was strong and had good stillness mixed with his power. Ade's was so-so--I saw where he was going with the music but he didn't hit it and it looked off. Evan's was good and cute, even if it is not a style I am drawn too. I do wish he was ease off the comedy once in a while and dare to be taken seriously as a performer sans goofiness. Kupono's was the best I've seen him do, but was just OK. He is not as strong as the others. Melissa's was so-so--she is a nice ballet dancer, but not stunning and her movement tends to be pretty generic. Kayla's was her usual level of meh-tude--she can dance, for sure, but those solos are just not much of anything. Jeanine's was quite nice but her costumes bug. I keep fearing she is going to lose the two scraps of fabric she has pasted onto herself. Randi's was pretty good, but I saw her fall out of turn which is not great. Jeanette's was sassy and strong, but odd in the same way that all solos done my ballroom/social dancers are.
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| a public post |
[14 Jul 2009|10:59pm] |
from ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) superdillon
Six Facets of Exquisite Self-Care (not in any order) - Nourishing Touch
- Nourishing Food
- Nourishing Connection
- Nourishing Movement
- Nourishing Stillness
- Nourishing Rest
This is to all the men in my life. Also. You.
A Thank-You Note to MenBy Mary-Louise Parker To you, whom it may concern: Manly creature, who smells good even when you don't, you wake up too slowly, with fuzzy, vertical hair and a slightly lost look on your face as though you are seven or seventy-five; you can fix my front door, my sink, and open most jars; you, who lose a cuff link and have to settle for a safety pin, you have promised to slay unfortunate interlopers and dragons with your Phillips head or Montblanc; to you, because you will notice a woman with a healthy chunk of years or pounds on her and let out a wolf whistle under your breath and mean it; because you think either rug will be fine, really it will; you seem to walk down the street a little taller than me, a little more aware but with a purpose still; to you who codifies, conjugates, slams a puck, baits a hook, builds a decent cabinet or the perfect sandwich; you who gives a twenty to the kids selling Hershey's bars and waits at baggage claim for three hours in your flannel shirt; you, sir, you take my order, my pulse, my bullshit; you who soaps me in the shower, soaks with me in the tub; to you, boy grown-up, the gentleman, soldier, professor, or caveman, the fancy man with initials on your towels and salt on your chocolates, to you and to that guy at the concession stand; thank you for the tour of the vineyard, the fire station, the sound booth, thank you for the kaleidoscope, the Horsehead Nebula, the painting, the truth; to you who carries me across the parking lot, up the stairs, to the ER, to roll-away or rice mat; to you who shows up every so often only to confuse and torment, and you who stays in orbit, always, to my left and steady, you stood up for me, I won't forget that; to you, the one who can't figure it out and never will, and you who lost the remote, the dog, or your way altogether; to you, wizard, you sang in my ear and brought me back from the dead, you tell me things, make me shiver; to the ones who destroyed me, even if for a minute, and to the ones who grew me, consumed me, gave me my heart back times ten; to most everything that deserves to call itself a man: How I do love thee, with your skill to light fires that keep me warm, light me up.
Read more: http://www.esquire.com/women/women-we-love/mary-louise-parker-naked-0809#img
PS-follow the link, there's nekkie pics of Mary Louise Parker
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| OMG |
[14 Jul 2009|09:41pm] |
Click below for attractive womenz who I think are all sexy!
( Read more... )
Also they are all centuries-old ghosts, even the flatchested ones, so don't worry, they're all over 18, the magical time when people become informed! Plus they could all kill me (that's hot). Although since they're all ghosts (dead?) I think that means they're not fertile. I'm not sure, can ghosts get pregnant? It seems like there are families in Soul Society so maybe. Even so, they don't seem to age, what with how Yachiru stays the way she is, lol.
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| fan squeeee |
[14 Jul 2009|11:40am] |
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mood |
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 determined |
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my friend is sitting next to Kate Mulgrew in jury duty.
i asked her to steal her and bring her to me.
lol.
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| hi |
[13 Jul 2009|01:49pm] |
what a difference a day, and the continuous process of opening my heart to love, makes.
still feels like leaping off a cliff. but i'm beginning to enjoy the looking out at the sky, rather than down into the abyss.
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| Sleeptalk |
[13 Jul 2009|12:30pm] |
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I woke up early and had some coffee and went back, and then I was dreaming about school, in a portable I think. I had some good questions about the graph the teacher wanted to make, but I was afraid to speak up because I thought I might actually say the questions out loud in real life, because I knew I was dreaming. That's an odd kind of lucidity.
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[13 Jul 2009|01:54pm] |
Robert has been officially served with the divorce petition and is not contesting anything. That sounds very dramatic but the reality is we filled it all out together and have no issues! :) Things on that front are going very well.
Adrianna is being treated for swine flu. She's doing okay. Half hour before her medication she gets very lethargic. Half hour after her medication and she's bouncing off the walls like nothing's wrong. Typical 4 year old!
Cody was sent home today from school - headache, hot, feeling sick. Hot: he'd been playing out after lunch and got overheated. Headache: overheated AND dehydrated. Feeling sick: boys normally do after girls kick them in the nuts!!!!
Otherwise things are fine.
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| stop doing that! |
[12 Jul 2009|01:47pm] |
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I saw my shrink on wednesday, he decreased my strattera so i wouldn't be having heart palpitations and tried me on a new antidepressant, cymbalta @ 30 mgs.
Doing much better, thanks.
I posted my finger grossness as my facebook photo, but for those of you who haven't got me on facebook (i've not picked out my username URL yet)
@ 4 days post-trauma
The depression comes from a culmination of things... events and mostly my own negative feelings about myself. I MUST learn to not blame myself for things going wrong...
but in any case, my hummus never got made and my finger is well on the way to healing
the moral of this story is to ALWAYS UNPLUG YOUR HAND BLENDER before fingering out your chickpeas. I am such a genius :p
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