Wednesday, November 30, 2005

...it's about the illusion of love. We can all relate to the love we miss out on

Tuesday, November 29, 2005

Interview with Michael Cera from Arrested Development, on Arrested Development:
I mean, it's just a really dirty show. There are a lot of dirty jokes.

Do you think though that you need a certain amount of intelligence to understand the jokes on the show?

I guess. Here's the thing: they are just filthy jokes, but you have to have a certain amount of intelligence to decipher them and know that it's just a dirty penis joke. But when it gets right down to it, that's what it is.

Are you surprised at all with any of the jokes you guys have gotten away with?

Yeah, especially recently with stuff that I just wince at, but it's incredible. Like... GOB has a competing banana stand in an upcoming episode and he gets strippers for his, and he says, “Instead of going into that banana stand, maybe these girls can make your banana stand.” Is there any way that they can get that on television?

I think the thing I like about the show is that it's so smart, yet there will be the dumbest penis jokes on it.

Exactly. The simplest of penis jokes.

Monday, November 28, 2005

Another week, another Republican goes to jail. Today, it's Congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-CA), who once invoked 9/11 to push a flag-burning amendment and whom prosecutors have been eyeing for months. ("Duke," "Hammer," "Casino Jack," "Scooter," "Mayor of Capitol Hill"...really, the fact that every high-ranking GOP official has a street name should tell you something.)

...he doesn't mind cozying up to racists if they offer political advantage. That's [bush's] greatest failing: He always chooses dividing the nation if he can plot a path to victory through the wreckage.

Sunday, November 27, 2005

Bush has borrowed more money -- $1.05 trillion -- from foreign governments and banks since taking office than all other presidents combined. From 1776 to 2000, the nation's first 42 presidents borrowed a combined $1.01 trillion from foreign interests, official statistics show. In just five years, Bush has out-borrowed them all.

new column

Losing One’s Voice While Fighting for It
and
It’s Just So Much More Fun When Everyone Joins In

I’m not really a yeller. But I lost my voice during this year’s campaign.

I lost my voice because I was yelling. A lot.

Standing out in front of Café Flore in the Castro and handing out the Alice slate card, it was pretty easy for me to end up yelling. I was mad. And I don’t usually get mad that much. But after Arnold’s veto of Assemblyman Leno’s marriage equality bill, I just got mad. And then this whole right-wing power grab that he launched through his ‘Special Election’ just got me more mad. And then his blatant attempts to rile up the right-wing voters of California through his veto of us and his support of Prop. 73, well, that just got me mad as hell.

And like I said, I don’t get mad. And I don’t yell.

But I did this campaign.

And, honestly, it was kinda fun to be mad and yell during this year’s campaign. Because everyone else in the state was mad and yelling too. Every time I yelled in the Castro about vetoing Arnold, people yelled with me. I didn’t even have to explain what or how to vote, everyone was already there with their own big ‘NO’ vote. This made it real easy to hand out our endorsements.

And what a ‘special’ campaign this turned out to be.

Everyone was so riled up and angry that turning out the vote, and turning out the ‘NO’ vote, just turned out to be so simple. I’m not saying it wasn’t a ton of work, but the work itself was made that much easier when everyone was with you already.

So, as I said, I lost my voice a few weeks before the campaign. But you and I didn’t lose our political voice this election. Let’s keep it up and get rid of Arnold and the anti-gay initiatives next year. We can do it! Even if we have to lose our (talking) voices once in a while so that our political voice will never be silenced.

P.S. A special ‘thanks!’ to IRV (instant-runoff voting) or RCV (ranked-choice voting) or whatever you want to call it. On Thanksgiving Day, as I sat to dinner with Assessor-Recorder Phil Ting, I toasted to his victory, and to the greatness and wonderfulness of our new voting system. Otherwise, even though he had a solid lead among the three candidates, if we were still in a December Runoff scenario, you and I and the rest of Alice would not be able to rest right now—we would still be out campaigning for him in a Runoff election that would find that race the only one on the ballot. And we can all be thankful we don’t have to worry about that this year! So here’s to Assessor-Recorder Phil Ting winning in November, and deservedly so!

Friday, November 25, 2005

RENT is awesome. such an emotional movie, let alone the play and the music itself. the movie does a great job of using the music to pack a wallop of emotion to truly take over the viewer. i cried several times and i never cry at movies. the scene with the song 'will i?' just had me break down.

the other thing to note about the movie is how awesome and wonderful Jesse L. Martin truly is. i mean, i always knew he was sexy on 'law & order' but he's just vibrant and shows so much emotion and depth in his eyes and smile throughout. he's definitely the light of the movie, as well as Wilson Jermaine Heredia. but i'm in love with jessie-- oops, i mean jesse
anyway, here's another pic of mr. martin:

great article, here's an excerpt:

We think we're all individualists... But we're actually being manipulated by the largest and most expensive propaganda system ever developed... It's always the same: Buy stuff and you'll be happy, buy stuff and you'll be complete... And it works. People are buying stuff. But studies show that it doesn't really make them feel happy...Christmas is a time when we're supposed to be celebrating the birth of one of the greatest anti-materialists who ever lived... Instead, it's become a time to go out and spend a lot.

i'm already bored and annoyed with the holiday season and it's only just begun. can't wait for the new year...

Thursday, November 24, 2005

so susan (right), who along with beverly (below) put together my fabulous birthday party back in september (and both wearing my frog-hat gift), finally gave me her photos from the party. i've posted them all. and now, along with the previous photos jessie took, you can see it was a great time.
and don't forget my little man! the great staff at zeum made it for me, and of me, and i just love it.




below you can see them blindfolding me along the drive there corby preparing me to enter the building: luke, with his boyfriend kris, having fun with the make-your-own-cupcake table: jerry and john: sexy daniel with me and a hiding jessie: julian making a claymation movie: susan making one of her own movies too:

Monday, November 21, 2005

so they finally did it.
when california was going through the Recall in 2003 i continually talked about how it was all just a giant Simpsons episode in real life and how i couldn't wait for the show to take on this political insanity. i kept thinking they would have an episode about it rather soon after, but they never did.
until last night. and while it had some cute moments, they really didn't take on the issue as much as i hoped. they left me wanting more and wishing they had made a much longer and detailed episode on the issue (it's ripe for more satirization). and they barely even had their 'arnold' character as part of it and i think that could have been highlighted more. oh well.

...here in Hollywood, we expect the spin, the question dodging, the shamelessly untruthful statements ("Though divorcing, my client and her ex-husband remain best of friends," "My client checked into the hospital due to exhaustion"). Hollywood, after all, is the land of fantasy, the world's dream factory, the place where fame-seeking civilians like Brad Pitt and thousands before him have moved with the dream of reinventing themselves (with the help of image handlers, of course) as the Sexiest Perfect People Alive.

Somewhere along this narcissistic path, however, Hollywood celebrity and its PR trickery have become the nation's single most powerful tool of consumer, and now, political persuasion. More than ever, the marketing tools of the Celebrity Industrial Complex are being used to sell shampoo, cars, tampons and now -- as evidenced most profoundly during the past few months of crisis in the White House -- political goals.

When the CIA-leak scandal kitchen got too hot for Karl ("The Architect") Rove, he did what any self-respecting publicist would have his celebrity client do when, like, say, the shoplifting Winona Ryder, the client is all but guilty as charged: disappear. Likewise, when it became clear that the federal government's response to Hurricane Katrina was woefully pathetic and ineffectual and thus embarrassing to the White House, Bush did what any image-aware celebrity does during a wave of bad press: the Mother Teresa photo-op. In Bush's case, that meant bringing a media pool the size of the Gulf of Mexico to capture staged images of him pressing the flesh with victims in his blue jeans and everyman button-down shirt. Makes one wonder if the White House now has a wardrobe department.

A movie studio publicist insisting that its latest flop is an Oscar contender is marketing. But the president -- reading from a meticulously crafted script -- maintaining with paternalistic glare and a pointing finger that thousands of Americans dying in the war in Iraq is somehow vital to our national security reeks of propaganda. In Hollywood, a certain level of such drivel is palatable; in Washington, it's nauseating.

Thursday, November 17, 2005

yesterday was the 18th birthday of an intern in our office. for her birthday, we walked her over to the Elections Department at City Hall and registered her to vote. what a cute exciting moment in her history and what a good way to make it fun. and we did have fun.

while we were walking her over, we discussed when we each registered to vote for the first time. and i can't remember. back when i was 18 i wasn't political at all and didn't know anything about anything along those lines. i know i registered at that age because i remember voting for my very first time a few months later in november of 1988 in the presidential election. i know i registered mostly because it was part of civil responsibility and my family was all about civil responsibility and they always voted, no matter how unpolitical they are/were. and i appreciate that greatly about my family and my parents and grandparents.

i was so unpolitical at the time i didn't know what i was doing in the voting booth, although i happily know that i voted for Dukakis rather than Bush I in 1988, but solely for personal reasons of dislike for Bush I rather than any policy issues or whatnot. i didn't start getting political or interested in policy matters until i Came Out in college and started understanding the realities of politics and the needs for being involved for myself and for the world.

anyway, walking with her to register her to vote for the first time was a great experience, even if it may seem a minor one. she's on the path of a long-road of public involvement and she will be a terrific participant. i'm in the midst of my participation and do what i can to make the most of it. i hope all my readers can and do what they can to participate in our social and political process, and thank you for your activities. (and if you're not registered in your state, register to vote through this informational link.) a simple moment in time can make such a difference in all of our lives.

do you remember your first time registering and/or voting? share your story.

Wednesday, November 16, 2005

interestingly, i've been getting push-polls this week, again. i haven't been home so my machine catches FEC Research (via automation) asking to do a 45-section environmental survey with me. i'd be interested in being home when the call comes and doing the push-poll, if only to mess with them and to hear what they're trying to promote, but it doesn't much matter since it's not a real survey, as i discussed before. it's interesting though that they're doing this in san francisco of all places...

Tuesday, November 15, 2005

this is the Gay boy in me coming out, but...

i'm so excited there's a new madonna album out today!!! i'm running out to the music store later this afternoon to pick it up. yay!

Monday, November 14, 2005

so the conference is now over-- and it was amazing!
and the election is now over-- and it went terrificly well!

so now maybe i'll have some free time again.

oh, and next year's conference is in my hometown of kansas city so i just may have to travel home and get a two-fer with visiting family too. or maybe go home before the election and help get rid of our terrible republican senator talent. or maybe i'll stay here and get rid of our terrible republican governor. who knows what will happen next year, but there's possibilities...

most importantly, i get some free time again in my life right now.

Friday, November 11, 2005

been real busy since the election actually. we're having the annual creating change national lgbt conference here in oakland this week and i'm on the host committee. so i've been in oakland everyday, all-day, since yesterday and through sunday. been great to see so many people and getting so much work done.

although after this and the election and all the work in both, i'll be happy to have regular life back on monday...

Wednesday, November 09, 2005

it's a terrific day people! thanks so much for everyone who voted yesterday. you did a great job! (and locally here in san francisco, my candidates (including my good friend phil) won! it's a beautiful day (well, except for texas, but it's always a dark day there..., but thankfully in maine the state voters did the right thing where third time's the charm)

i'm very happy today. finally a happy election! maybe just maybe we're finally starting to turn this country around

Tuesday, November 08, 2005

VOTE TODAY
VOTE TODAY
VOTE TODAY
VOTE TODAY
VOTE TODAY
VOTE TODAY
VOTE TODAY
VOTE TODAY
VOTE TODAY
VOTE TODAY
VOTE TODAY
VOTE TODAY
VOTE TODAY
VOTE TODAY
VOTE TODAY
VOTE TODAY
VOTE TODAY

Monday, November 07, 2005

Tab Hunter came out too. Now we've all known about him and Star Trek's Sulu forever, but it's great that they both came out recently. Mr. Hunter's a bit before my time and I never really knew him as a star, but I'm sure my mother's generation would be fascinated by his stories of dating Anthony Perkins and others (check out this all-too revealing photo and Rudolf Nureyev) of him and back when he was supposed to be the straight "all-American" Hollywood heart-throb.

Friday, November 04, 2005

i totally forgot

but my blog, this site, reesesworld.com turned 5 in september. it's hard to think of what life would be like without it now. i mean, there are days i don't post and sometimes i wonder what to do, but in the long run i feel so blessed to have this outlet. in fact, the outlet itself has greatly influenced my life, my writing, brought me new friends, kept me in touch with other friends, got me closer with my family, and just made everything so much more lively. i'm really blessed to be on here and thank you, whoever you readers of mine are, for being here with me.

happy 5th anniversary to me and my blog!

and, as always, thanks to dear jessie for making it all happen


He even voted to uphold a government requirement that women notify their spouses before choosing abortion.

i just got push-polled. push-polling is where it's not really a poll at all, but a way to make it seem like a general public survey but twists the language of the questions in a way to inspire an answer the 'poll'-ing company wants you to think. thereby not really polling you of your thoughts but trying to push you into a position to take or at least make you think about something in their frame of mind.

so my push-poll came from this same outfit that claims to be a research company, but in reality is an advertising company. listen (and do listen!) to some of their 'polls' on their website-- they don't even pretend that they're research on their own site! if you listen to some of their 'polls' you'll hear biased questions, questions about whether specific (i.e. Republican) campaigns can call you later for volunteering, the polls done by well-known conservatives, and other such nonsense-- non-research, non-scientific, non-polling.

so what did my push-poll 'ask' me? well, first they wanted to know if i was in support of proposition 73 (and asking me in a way that highlighted the word 'abortion'); then they asked me if i was in support of proposition 75 (and asking in a way that nuanced it against unions); then they asked about whether i considered myself 'pro-life'; then they asked me if i believed that 'marriage should only be between a man and a woman'; then they asked me whether i liked arnold; then if i was a republican; then if i was a democrat; and then some other stuff....

what kind of 'research' does an advertising company do other than to simply promote their clients' interests? obviously this push-poll group isn't into really studying the public's thoughts but pushing their own agenda onto the public in the name of 'research.' and the sad thing is, it denigrates professional public research companies by doing these type of shenanigans-- which is all part of the master plan anyway...

Wednesday, November 02, 2005

VOTE TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 8TH
...this is where we are two years after a special election in which we elected a governor who promised he'd terminate special-interest fundraising, partisan monkey business and big borrowing, three categories in which he now reigns as undisputed heavyweight champ.

We're about to have an election that was entirely unnecessary and cost $200 million in political donations — favors to be named later — plus at least $50 million in election-day costs.

And the governor wants you to stay home?

I can't think of a better reason to stop everything you're doing next Tuesday, get off your duff, and run — don't walk — to the polls, where your mission is clear as never before:
Vote early and often.

Tuesday, November 01, 2005

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger ordered next week's special election to take his agenda to "the people," but his campaign strategy relies on relatively few people showing up next Tuesday and large segments of voters staying home.

did you VOTE yet? please VOTE. only one week left until november 8th

Just saying 'no' means you have to go and actually vote 'no'

Inaction in this case means [Schwarzenegger] wins

The world is run by those who show up

cutest halloween costume ever! i understand my niece got into the role of a queen yesterday too: