I first heard about this over a week ago. I thought it was a joke. After I got two e-mails , I decided to check it out for myself.

Oh yes...I neglected to say what it is ....there is a Church in Connecticut that "performs" Gay Exorcisms.

After chasing this story down all over the web, I sincerely doubt if it is the only church that offers this type of "service."

 

 

From the Contra Costa Times:

 

From YouTube.Com:

 

From the Los Angeles Times:

I'm either getting older or the Gay Pride Parade has become something very normal and routine.

I thought it would be political, it wasn't... at least not as political as it could have been.

There was less of a corporate presence, but that can be chalked up to the economy. Chevron, Clorox, Oracle and many other corporations were absent from the festivities this year.

There were more churches and congregations in this year's parade. It seemed as if the Christians and Jews were in competition to see who could get more people out onto the streets. Even the gay Catholics of Diginity participated this year and they haven't been seen in the parade since the early 1990's.

The gay veterans were once again out in force and loudly and lovingly applauded and saluted. Along with them was also a first for the pride parade: graduates of West Point Academy. Also adding to the military presence in the parade were numerous members of the US armed forces who are facing discharge because they have chosen to not remain silent about their sexuality.

There were the usual participants in the procession, local politicians and some from the state level, the Womyn's Motorcycle Contingent (Dykes on Bikes!), Mikes on Bikes, Belly Dancers, Drag Queens and Kings and another first for the festivities: The Asexuals marched this year. They were bragging that they were one of the few groups that DID NOT have sex on their minds this weekend.

One odd thing about the parade this year, there were more heterosexual couples with children marching than there were homosexual couples with chidren.

There were only two men completely nude and only about ten women who were topless by my personal count...nothing worth looking at and I only noticed because they tried to get me to take pictures...I politely declined to do so.

It was a fun parade overall...a bit tame, but fun none the less.

The photos below are  my favorite ones from this year's parade. The first one is of a young man making his way down Market Street during the parade. The second is an expectant father painting his wife's belly. He said he felt as if the coming child was being left out of the party!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Boy, if you don't move quickly, I will grab you in the name of Mickey Mouse and teach you to step quick!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The first thing one should know is that we do not have either cable or satellite television in our home. We have not had cable tv since 1998.  To be honest we could not justify spending money to watch commercials. The other thing one should know is that we have been collecting movies for over 17 years. The movie collection now numbers over 2,500 titles.  As a child, I never spent much time watching tv...it was boring compared to books, and the parents never ever disturbed a child that spent time reading books. One could stay up until two or three A.M. as long as one was reading. This bad habit of reading books continues to this day and is obviously enhanced by the movies we have collected over the 17 years we have been together. 

 

I forgot that last week, June 12, television transmission signals went digital. I was wondering for more than a few minutes tonight why I could not get any signals so I could watch the 11:00 news. Then I remembered about the changeover. I asked the Ball & Chain about getting the antenna and converter box so we can see what this brave new digital programming has to offer. Then we both started laughing. Neither of us could come up with a reason to even spend the money to see more tv commercials. We then began to wonder how many others have made the same choice that we have.

 

We aren't worried about missing too much, it can all be found on the web if we really want to watch.

 

 

 

 

     There truly is such a thing as too much information.  A man who used twitter to keep his 2,000 followers up to date about his life, came home from vacation to find that his home had been burglarized.

 

 

 

This is one of those true life stories that makes one stop and think for a minute. You have to salute the sheer cheekiness of the "endeavor". The truly frightening thing is that one really is not shocked that such a thing can happen. On a certain level, it makes perfect sense.

 

A pirate radio station in Orlando, Florida was shut down  March 6, 2009. What attracted the attentions of Law Enforcement were the on-air discussions of where to find drugs and prostitutes in the area. Oh yes, the advertisements from the area street gangs also caught the attention of the police.

 

I reaally should get back into the habit of bringing things like this forward.

 

The Orlando Sentinel

March 7, 2009

 

San Francisco Chronicle

March 7,2009

via Associated Press

 

One day soon the world will hear of a human clone.

Expect planet Earth to go into immediate panic mode when that news is announced and confirmed. I won't be surprised if it happens within the next 10 years. Think of what it will mean. Who is a parent. What rights do the donor (s) have if any claim by DNA to the clone. What happens if a corporation claims ownership of the clone. What if the clone proves fertile and has children? Will a corporation also have claim to such those offspring? What would be the legal status of a person, a human being, created through such methods.

For a real mind trip, imagine a coporation putting a lab up in high orbit to avoid the sticky planetary laws regarding cloning! (I know, over-active imagination!)

So far in America, those states with laws regarding cloning limit such activities to produce cures and new medicines. Federal law seems to be folllowing the states.

I think I have a new long term reading project.

 

Just two articles about the subject:

 

The Congressional Research Service

Updated May 14, 2003

 

CLONING HUMAN BEINGS

The Current and Future Legal Status of Cloning

Lori B. Andrews, J.D.

Chicago-Kent College of Law

Somethings are important...one should take care to never forget them.

 

I went dancing this week. I had forgotten what surrendering to a good, tasty beat can do for the soul. There is nothing like surrendering to the beat and moving with music, letting it take control of the body, thinking of nothing but rhythms and harmonies. For a few hours this week, the world and all of its troubles melted away on a dance floor.

 

When I was  younger I thought nothing of the effect that came over me in a club. I was there to see and be seen, to down a few drinks, and maybe meet an interesting person. It was good to be there with friends and to step together in rhythm. Back then it was always midnight, and yet the Sun was high in the sky, no shadows could exist on the dance floor. The circle of friends was large and the world was ready for a good time at whatever "humpy-bumpy" we chose for the night.

 

We were much more innocent during that time. The years had yet to mark us...both spiritually and physically.

 

Now my friends and I dance for many more reasons than simply to have a good time. We dance because we can. We dance to shake off frustration. We dance for those who no longer are with us. We dance to bring the past into the present. We dance in defiance of, and to welcome what the future may bring. We dance for each other.

 

Dancing is good for the soul.

 

Dancing is important.

 

 

I thought I was alone in seeing some of the things Mark Morford mentions in his recent column in the San Francisco Chronicle. There is much truth to what he says. So far in the nation only people who are right-of-center (I can't call them Republicans or conservatives!) are complaining loud enough to be heard. But there are also many who are left-of-center (far to the left!) who are quietly complaining. Read the column at your own peril or amusement:

 

From the San Francisco Chronicle

Mark Morford

"Ode to the unhappy. Conservatism let you down? Obama nothing more than Bush II? Oh, you poor thing!"

P,

You asked about last November's election and what the results may mean.

I wrote about some of it earlier here. Thats right, look for it! 

 

President Obama ran a masterful campaign. He managed to keep all attention focused on him, and had an absolute minimum of missteps when compared to all other candidates. All he did was chant "change" and the nation listened to every word he said after that.

Obama stayed above the mudslinging and rumor mongering. He stayed "on message and on point." He never told people that he would "have to check with his staff and get back to you later." When he was seen, he appeared cool, considerate and thoughtful. His "exaggerations" were minimal when compared to all other candidates....except for Ron Paul, who had almost none at all.

He also benefitted from NOT BEING a white male.

 

Mr. McCain's campaign on the other hand, looked like a plane crash at an oil refienery. His first mistake was being seen with President Bush. Other mistakes were:the Bomb Iran joke(?), saying that America may be in Iraq for a hundred years, telling the nation that we must stay the course, things like Joe-the-Plumber, and the rumor mongering and untruths repeated and attributed to his campaign. 

His biggest mistake was pandering to the Religious Right by picking Governor Sarah Palin. He had that election sewn up until he picked her.

 

What it all may mean is that the Republican Party could soon fade away into the history books. I watched the GOP convention last August, what I saw was a sea of middle aged people of European descent, and maybe ten non-whites. Believe me, the ethnic minorities (!) were very hard to not notice, especially since the cameras kept showing them over and over again.

Why else do I think it will fade away? That crowd lacked the sheer number of youths that the Democrats had attending their convention. If things don't change in the GOP and within the next 20 years...much of their party membership will be dead and buried.

Another reason why it may fade away, by the numbers and statistics, America is becoming a plurality...probably within our life time the number of Americans of European descent will drop below 50%. In short, America is becoming less "white" by the hour. For further evidence look at your current president.

We may also have witnessed a rejection, perhaps the first real one in nearly 30 years,  of the Religious Right in America. But that remains to be seen. The one thing we did learn about the Religious Right is that they can't tell the difference between civil and  religious matters.

 

Don't get to happy at the prospect of a diminished Republican Party, it should be a concern that we could, by sheer lack of foresight, be left living in a nation dominated  by one political party...not a situation I relish at all.

 

I told you that music is temporally circular.

All you have to do is stand still every now and then

and a song will once again pass you by in life.

If you live long enough, it may pass you three or four times.

Each time it passes, look around at life,

and see what has changed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have a feeling that the Detective asked you this one and you are looking for additional explanations from others. Don't worry...Myra will write a long essay about this one, and she'll tell the Detective in ways that will startle you out of your mind.

 

I'll TRY to keep this one short, Myra's answer will take a very long time to digest.

 

 

 I would rather deal with earthquakes than tornadoes, hurricanes, humidity and blizzards/white-outs than any other weather. Earthquakes  last seconds, maybe a minute or 90 seconds. You either survive or you don't in those seconds. The others involve hours or days of waiting the storm out. Your Detective (?DICK?) was very right in his analogy. At times SF does seem like an all too real Atlantis. We may all be waiting for the quake that will drop us into the sea. It won't happen though. We don't have those kinds of earthquakes.

 

In the US, there are only three other places I can picture myself living in. Everything east of Denver is alien to me.  Almost like being in another country. You know about the alien thing, or have you forgotten that 2,000 mile road trip on the I-80 back in the day? Remember what happened in Wyoming?

 

I'm suspicious of the rest of the country. In the past I wondered why so many from all the other states keep moving here. I now know that much, if not most of the country has concerns that force their youth, and those who do not "fit in"  to leave for other states.

 

I am NOT giving up Chinese food! Outside of California I have only found two real, down home cooking Chinese restaurants. One of them was in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, the other in NYC.

 

Where else can we live where we don't have to deal with "noise" and "deliver" six-packs of whup-butt every month or so? You took plenty of heat in that place you just left!

 

 You never know what you will see simply walking around this town.

 

We have some of the best street parties and festivals on the planet.

 

You can be what you want to be here, and people will encourage and applaud you...if you do it well!

 

One can go to the Opera early in the evening, then afterwards go South of Market to surrender to the beat on a dance floor...all within a 7 block bus ride!

 

As long as you have the monthly bus pass, or $1.50, you need never worry about getting a DUI citation.  See the reason above this one! The Opera Coffee is more alcohol than coffee and many of the drinks served in SOMA will knock you out if you have more than a few! 

 

One thing you wil come to notice after being gone for 21 years is that there are very few native born Californians over the age of 35 that you will meet. Many of those we ran with in the last century have scattered all over the Earth. You will find that you know more native born Californians living overseas than you know living here. Out of 40 million plus people (I count the illegals as well!) maybe four out of ten will have lived here their whole lives. You may find it very strange to live in a state full of newcomers...but then again Texas has the same scenario at work! You were the import there!

 

I'm done for the day!

 

The song comes from Jamiroquai

 

 

P,  question #15 got both of us laughing. More memories than we care to share!

 

#1) "Damn, the ink on the divorce papers ain't dry yet and Princess Diana already got herself a job!"

      At a performance of the Los Angeles Symphony in the Dorothy Chandeler Hall around 1995 or 1996. It was either the week of, or the week after the divorce of Chuck and Di. The featured soloist was a dead-on ringer and clone for Princess Diana. I wasn't thinking, the seats were 7th row center.  The conductor, then Essa Peken Salonen, most of the Orchestra and much of the audience heard me say that.

 

#2) "I see that winter is over, look at all the Bears!"

      Said at the Castro Starbucks in March of 2007, by the B & C. For those who don't know, a "Bear" is a large and burly gay man with a mustache and beard. Don't be fooled by the gruff exterior. Most of them are purring kittens as long as their belly is full and there is plenty of booze!

 

#3) "I may be your Fairy Godfather...it does not mean that you are going to get your wish."

      Said to the niece by the B & C while babysitting once.

 

#4) "Where are all of the people of color?"

      The Ball & Chain said this VERY LOUDLY once he noticed "something" about a mall in Southern California. It was strange...after all it was 2:00 in the afternoon on a Saturday.

 

#5) "If anybody has any plans for 'mayhem' on this flight, know that we are having a sale on Ass Beatings, 3 for the price of one! This sale will last for the duration of the flight only!"

       Both of us on a flight coming back to Cali in 2002! 

 

We go to the classical category for this one.

(In my case from my big mouth!)

From the Requiem by Gabriel Faure

     

     

     

Never.

Being able to do things "My Way" for the most part is a myth and dream.

There are 6 billion humans on this rock orbiting Sol. Those few humans who reached the pinnacle of power, fame, notoriety and wisdom all had to deal with humanity. Very few have been treated favorably by history. What we usually see in these instances is merely the "Icarus Syndrome." Icarus flew to high, and what goes up must eventually come down. Just google the name of Icarus.

No one human will ever be listened to by all humanity. It goes against the DNA. We are a fractious and quarrlesome species. There is no herd mentality for the most part. When we do see a society that thinks cohesively, we usually don't like what we see. Either the society collapses (see the Roman Empire), or it is conquered from outside with ideas that are foreign to their thinking (see Japan), or it is swallowed up whole by another nation (see Tibet, and probably within the next 10 years, Taiwan).

If you ever do get to a point where you can "call all of your own shots", you will have to deal with the competition, and people who just don't like you for one reason or another. Some one is alway looking to get into that top slot. You will have to deal with people who will take pot shots at you, and you will have to employ people to prevent from getting hit. In the end, you will wind up with one of two things: A Battery of Lawyers, or an Army...the kind full of soldiers with weapons. No matter what you do in life, you will have to answer to some human.  Dr. M.L. King, Mahatma Ghandi and many others lost their lives when they failed to take all precautions to guaranty their lives. How many of those Big-Time rappers run around without their "muscle?"

You can ask until all you want, but you will always have to compromise with some of the 6 billion others on this planet.

 

The song comes from the band Sparks.