gay

  • Viva La Vie Boheme!

    What a week!  After arriving from Africa, Darlene & Jay left California on Monday and Rob arrived on Tuesday.  It was a whirlwind week, and he made me realize I’m not as young as I used to be.  I think I slept a total of  six hours all week!  We had a great time though, as these photos will attest.  It was exciting to have him here on Wednesday when the California Supreme Court finally ruled that Proposition 8, the ban on gay marriage, was unconstitutional.  My feelings on this are well documented.  It was nice to be able to attend the rally in West Hollywood with Rob and celebrate this small victory on the road to equality.  For those of you who don’t agree, please watch this:  :) 


    The Colbert Report Mon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
    How to Ruin Same-Sex Marriages
    www.colbertnation.com


    For more of my photos from Wednesday’s Prop 8 Rally in West Hollywood, click here.  For last year’s star studded rally (where Chazz met President Obama), click here.


    The fabled sign will never be the same!


    Psychedelic Rob!


    Hooray for Hollywood!


    At the historic rally, listening to Ted Olson, David Boies and Chazz’s buddy, Dustin Lance Black


    We even managed to meet Thai Elvis at The Palms!


    Our friend August’s back yard in Perris, CA was stunning!


    Apparently guns are allowed in Perris! :)


    August making a ninja catch!


    Trying not to laugh or move!


    At The Abbey with Ryan & Claudio


    It’s late!


    Snuggle buddies!


    Here’s to good times at The Hotel Careyfornia!


    Click here for the best of the rest…

    The week was topped off last night with a performance of “Rent” at the famed Hollywood Bowl.  Directed by Neil Patrick Harris, who originated the role of Mark in L.A. in 1997, and starring Vanessa Hudgens, Nicole Scherzinger, Wayne Brady, Tracie Thoms, Gwen Stewart and other Rent veterans, the show was a dazzling, sumptuous feast, set amongst the tranquil Hollywood Hills. Even though this was my 16th viewing (in 7 countries and 5 languages), it never gets old. “There’s only now, there’s only here. Give in to love, or live in fear. No other path, no other way. No day but today.

    rent

    The underlying themes in Rent” have resonated with me for nearly 15 years.  When I first saw the play in 1996 in New York City it spoke to me like nothing I had ever seen.  The story is an old one, 159 years old to be exact.  1851 was the year that Henri Murger published the book Scènes de la Vie de Bohème a story about his friends; so called “Bohemians” or “starving artists” living in the Latin Quarter of Paris in the mid 1800′s.  His friends had the same names as the central characters in “Rent” (with American updates; Rodolpho became Roger, Marcel became Mark, etc.).  50 years after the book was published, Puccini turned it into the famous opera La Boheme, which in turn, 100 years later became the musical “Rent“.  The central themes of all three were the same, though the times, plagues and vices were different.  Wikipedia presents this chart:

    Character in La bohème Character in Rent
    Mimi, a seamstress with TB Mimi Marquez, an S&M dancer with AIDS
    Rodolfo, a poet with TB Roger Davis, a musician with AIDS
    Marcello, a painter Mark Cohen, a filmmaker
    Musetta, a singer Maureen Johnson, a bisexual performance artist
    Schaunard, a musician with TB Angel Dumott Schunard, a gay cross-dressing drummer with AIDS
    Colline, a philosopher with TB Tom Collins, a gay computer whiz and Anarchist philosopher with AIDS
    Alcindoro, a state councillor Joanne Jefferson, a lesbian lawyer
    Benoit, a landlord Benjamin ‘Benny’ Coffin III, also a landlord

    No matter how hard the characters try to fight it, they all come to the realization that love is the strongest force we know.  Stronger than heroin, AIDS or even death.  Be it the “starving artists” in the Latin Quarter of 19th Century Paris, the American Bohemians like Jack Kerouac in the 50′s or the drug addled, AIDS victims in Jonathan Larson’s masterpiece “Rent”; they all knew this “fact”, and they lived their lives accordingly.  Even in this age of social networking and a truly wired global technosphere; it’s good to be reminded that we are all connected by the powerful force of love, and that a broken heart universally hurts.  “We don’t own emotion, we rent.”  How ironic, that Jonathan Larson, the composer and playwright of “Rent”, dropped dead of an aortic aneurysm the night before the show opened on Broadway in 1996.  After all, “Rent” is about living for today, because you never know what tomorrow might bring.

    Last year I had a conversation with an acquaintance I first wrote about in this post, entitled “Perceptions” three years ago (she’s also an evangelical Christian).  She told me that I would be proud of her, because she finally watched the movie, based on the musical “Rent”.  I asked her how she liked it, and she basically thought it was “disgusting”.  At first I was taken aback by her response.  I know the movie wasn’t nearly as good as the play, but it was unfathomable to me how anyone could find these ageless, central themes anything but life affirming and beautiful.  She admittedly shed tears at the sad parts, but implied that all of the tragedy and sadness of the movie was a result of the characters (“Lesbos” was one of the words she used), not seeking the “love of God”.  They were seeking love in the wrong place.  Their addictions, (heroin) and diseases, (AIDS) were their own doing.  I fail to see the Christ-like thinking in this sentiment and told her so.  Coincidentally, the initial person I referenced in the “Perceptions” post in 2007, whose family fled from tyranny, starred in the ensemble of “Rent” this past weekend at the Hollywood Bowl.  A full circle moment.

    “To sodomy
    It’s between God and me.
    To faggots, lezzies, dykes, cross dressers too.
    To me….To you….
    To people living with….not dying from disease.
    Let he among us without sin,
    Be the first to condemn.
    La Vie Boheme.
    Anyone out of the mainstream.
    Is anyone in the mainstream?
    Anyone alive with a sex drive.
    Tear down the wall.
    Aren’t we all?
    The opposite of war isn’t peace.
    It’s creation.
    La Vie Boheme.
    Viva La Vie Boheme.”

    Here are some photos and a video from last night:


    Sorry for the shoddy video…I was trying to be discreet…but you get the idea!

  • From Germany to Africa to West Hollywood

    Four years ago, I traveled to Germany for the World Cup.  Americans aren’t exactly known for their love of football (soccer), but being of Italian ancestry and watching Italy win the Cup with all of my European friends was something I will never forget.  I would like to be in South Africa this month, as it is one of the most beautiful countries I’ve ever visited.  Cape Town especially is one of my favorite cities in the world.  Here are some of my photos from a trip to Africa I took in 1998-99:

    For those of you who are going this year, enjoy!  Take lots of pictures.  And make sure you get your shots.  You don’t want to end up like poor little Misery Bear:

    Here are some of my favorite snapshots from when Germany hosted the World Cup four years ago:


    Billboard going to the airport….the back was pretty cool too!


    Lovers quarrel


    Downtown Munich


    Watching the finals


    Perennial favorite, Brazil


    The World Cup!


    Viva Italia!


    A swan we saw on a picnic to Lake Starnberg


    Produce Market


    Surfing on the Isar River!  It’s cold…I know

    If you didn’t see the opening concert the other night, this is definitely worth watching!

    In other news, it was a busy week at The Hotel Careyfornia.  I had Chazz all week and we had a good time.  Tuesday, he voted in his first primary.  Friday, he enjoyed the sights of Beverly Hills.  He also made a new friend this week…a crazy bird in my front yard that kept attacking him.  I think Chazz thought it was playing with him!  LOL…take a look:


    Chazz posed with Simon Cowell’s 1.7 million dollar Bugatti Veyron on Rodeo Drive.  More here…

    Last night Claudio & Ryan came home and we had a Pre-Pride Pasta dinner.  This morning, once again the movers, shakers and fringe of gay society gathered at the bottom of my street for the annual, over-commercialized Pride Parade. This year featured Sharon & Kelly Osborne, lots of politicians, stars of RuPaul’s Drag Race and the usual …protesters from Fred Phelp’s loving “GodHatesFags.com” organization. You’ve gotta love the haters!  Happy Pride!

  • Chasing Rainbows for $46,008.02

    My mortgage was sold to Chase Bank last month.  This month I got this email notification that my payment had been made:

    Gmail Carey Anthony

    Your home loan payment alert from Chase
    1 message

    From: Chase Manhattan Sun, Dec 6, 2009 at 6:44 PM
    To: Carey

    Chase
    For your account ending in 0950: Thank you for your recent payment of ($ USD) 46,008.02.

    This Alert was sent according to your settings.


    Excuse me!!!???  I mean, I know The Hotel Careyfornia is one of the finest boutique luxury hotels in Southern California, but if my mortgage payment is $46,008.02 per month, I’m going to need to raise our room rates!!

    A day later, they sent this message.  Not a great way to start a business relationship Chase!!  FIGURE IT OUT!!  You wouldn’t like me when I’m angry!

     

    Dear Valued Customer:

    We’re writing to let you know you received an Account Alert on 12/06/09 that contained inaccurate information about your mortgage payment. Please disregard the Alert, and accept our sincere apologies for any inconvenience it may have caused.

    If you have any questions about this message or your mortgage account, feel free to call us at 1-800-848-9136. Our service representatives are available to help you Monday through Friday, from 8 AM to 9 PM Eastern time, and on Saturday from 8 AM to 5 PM Eastern time.

    Thank you for your business. We look forward to continuing to serve you.

    Sincerely,

    Alexander Krantz
    Senior Vice President
    Customer Care

    Speaking of Chase, people in West Hollywood were chasing rainbows yesterday all over town (how cliche, in a gay city)!  This one was snapped from my rooftop and it ended right at Ryan Seacrest’s office on Sunset Blvd..  Damn that Seacrest.  Does he really need more gold?

    It doesn’t storm very often here in Southern California, but when it does, I head to my roof to take photos as the sky is usually beautiful. The first 13 photos in this video and are all from last night between 4:30 and 5 PM. The rest are from other storms we’ve had the past two years.

    The rain made for some beautiful skies for Chazz to pose against.  It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas:

    Tonight, Seth and his band played a set at Crane’s Tavern in Hollywood:

  • President Obama’s Gay Revelation

    With the recent California Supreme Court ruling upholding the ban on gay marriage, the city I live in, West Hollywood, has mobilized once again.  Just like last November, before and after the election, rallies have been held the past two nights.  Last night’s star studded rally featured the likes of Drew Barrymore, Kathy Griffin (and her mom, a gay icon), Perez Hilton (yuck!), Emmy Rossum, Debbie Gibson (I got lost in her eyes),  goofy Gloria Allred, George Takei (of Star Trek fame, and his husband) and many more.  Tonight, the rally moved to the Beverly Hilton, where President Obama was holding a fundraising dinner for Hollywood’s A listers.  My dog Chazz and I walked the three miles to the Hilton to meet with President.  Here’s how the meeting went in my my mind:

    Me:  Thank you for agreeing to meet with me Mr. President.
    Barack:  No problem.  I enjoy reading your blog via Twitter.
    Me:  Thanks, I liked your last book too.
    Barack:  And this must be the famous, Chazz.  He’s even more handsome in person.
    Me:  He is gorgeous isn’t he?  He’s been looking forward to meeting your dog Bo.  Now that Chazz has his own children’s book too, they have a lot in common.
    Barack:  (Whistling) Here Bo…come meet Chazz. (Bo bounds from little Sasha’s arms.  He and Chazz commence sniffing each other.  It’s apparent, the connection is immediate and magnetic.)
    Me:  Wow, they really like each other.
    Barack:  You ain’t kidding!  I’ve never seen Bo so excited.  It’s like love at first sight.
    Me:  I know.  Chazz is entranced.  Too bad they can never have puppies.  I guess they could always adopt.
    Barack:  Wait…Chazz is a boy!!??
    Me:  Ummmm, well, he’s neutered, but yeah.
    Barack:  But they love each other so much.
    Me:  You can’t choose who you love Mr. President.
    Barack:  Michelle, get me the Supreme Court Justice on the phone.
    Michelle:  Who was your Negro last year??
    Barack:  Fine, I’ll do it myself.  This gay marriage ban is silly.  You can’t deny love, it’s the strongest force we know.  (Cue “Rent” music.)
    Me:  Thank you Mr. President.  Can you or your Chief of Staff Twitter me the details on Chazz & Bo’s White House wedding?
    BarackYES WE CAN!  By the way, I loved your American Idol photos.  How about that Adam Lambert?
    Me:  Um, I voted for Kris.
    Barack:  Really?  Well, as long as you didn’t vote for Sarah Palin, we’re good.
    Me:  You never have to worry about that sir!

    Of course, we couldn’t get that close to the president tonight (unless Chazz and I paid the $30,400 price tag per couple), but we did rub elbows with Drew Barrymore and Kathy Griffin last night, as shown below.  Chazz even upstaged Los Angeles Mayor, Antonio Villaraigosa.  As I was photographing the mayor, I told Chazz to go sit by him.  He actually sat on the mayor’s shoes while the “his honor” was giving an interview to a Spanish TV station.  The mayor looked down and started laughing at Chazz.  Then the reporter started laughing and Mayor Villaraigosa reached down to pet Chazz.  What’s next?  Deputy Mayor Chazz??

     
    Chazz with Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and the faces of gay marriage, 2009.

       
    The delightful Drew Barrymore (with George Takei & husband looking on) and 80′s pop princess Debbie Gibson.


    Phantom of the Opera’s Emmy Rossum.


    Comedienne Kathy Griffin and her lovely mother.


    I lifted Chazz up on the state with Kathy  & her Mom!


    Chazz on stage!


    Lt. Dan Choi, an American hero and an eloquent voice in this struggle.  Watch and learn.


    No, I don’t want to marry my dog! (Or Claudio & Ryan’s)


    The repugnant, Perez Hilton, sans Miss California, with a little taste of his own medicine coming from his mouth.


    Chazz, preparing for same sex marriage.


    The L.A.P.D. on full alert.


    Lt. Dan Choi addressing the crowd outside the President’s hotel.


    President Obama’s motorcade at the Beverly Hilton.


    Best of the rest…

  • Young, Gay & Dead

    I’ve been thinking about bullies a lot lately.  Last week I heard about this study on NPR:

    Keiko Fujisawa, from Keio University in Japan, filmed the interactions of three- and four-year-olds at a local preschool. She identified two distinct social networks. One, The Good Boys’-And-Girls’ Club, consisted of sociable kids who did NICE things.

    The other, The Bad, contained aggressive and disruptive kids.

    Then Fujisawa modeled and analyzed the influence of each child on the integrity of the mini society. She did this by removing certain children – say, Bully Number One – from the model and re-simulating the interactions among the rest.

    Deleting Good Kids never affected either social network. Removing a Bad Kid, however, DID.

    Surprisingly, it wasn’t a positive change. Taking away the bad seeds actually led to the breakup of the GOOD Group.

    That is, the mere PRESENCE of diapered despots kept the Good Kids united. . . even IF like a nervous flock of pigeons.

    And THAT means that bullies actually PROMOTE overall classroom harmony.

    I meant to ask Marcelo about this when I Skyped with him last week, but I forgot.  (This subject is closely tied to his field of study.)  While it makes sense that bullies serve some purpose in the grand evolutionary plan (just like gay sheep); the recent drastic increase in teen (and pre-teen) suicide is indeed alarming.  Last weekend, I read Peggy Orenstein’s piece in the New York Times Magazine entitled “The Way We Live Now“.  It basically posits that our children’s youth is being stolen by adult agendas.  The  chart to the left says it all.  Coincidentally, Oprah’s show last night was all about bullying.  She had an expert on that claimed the Bush Administration’s insistence on “No Child Left Behind“, has pushed testing and literacy agendas to the brink.  Just look at what our kindergartners are doing in school.  In order to receive funding, teachers must spend all their time focusing on test scores, even in children as young as 5.  Sadly, bullying is becoming rampant, and it’s not just on the playground anymore.  It’s online…as the case of Ryan Halligan shows.  His father was also on Oprah last night; and the sad story of his son who was bullied to death for being gay was recently profiled on Frontline:

    The recent rash of boys hanging themselves over anti gay taunts is truly alarming.  From Oprah:

    The Truth About Bullying

    Bullying takes place in every school and playground in our country. But what some parents see as a typical challenge of growing up is becoming more serious than ever before.

    On April 6, 2009, 11-year-old Carl Walker-Hoover’s family says he hanged himself after enduring bullying. Just 10 days later, 11-year-old Jaheem Herrera, another victim of bullying, took his own life, according to his family.

    Carl’s and Jaheem’s mothers are speaking out in hopes that what they say happened to their sons will never happen to another child. “Today begins a national conversation on bullying,” Oprah says.  Read more…

    The more we ostracize and separate gay people in our society, the more we model this behavior for our children.  The problem was also highlighted last year when Newsweek did a cover story on another boy who was murdered here in Oxnard, for being gay:

    As Orenstein wrote, “When I was a (child in kindergarten), we danced the hokey-pokey, swooned in suspense over (Duck, Duck, Goose) and napped on our mats until the Wake-Up Fairy set us free.” Yes, you do the hokey pokey and you turn yourself around, that’s what it’s all about. That’s all it should ever be about when you’re five.”

    Update:  http://careygly.tumblr.com/post/619238040/this-is-the-saddest-thing-ive-read-in-a-long-time



    On a much lighter and brighter note, and speaking of the hokey pokey, my cousin Andy knows all about it.  He’s such a bright light in our lives.  I wish he could stay 4 forever!


    Our Thursday family dinner tonight

  • “You’ve Got Pluck, Girl”

    I’ve used this space to write about schadenfreude in the past.  Usually, it’s been in relation to American Idol, and the cruelty of the auditions.  When Paula Goodspeed killed herself outside of Paula Abdul’s house last fall, I wondered if the tide had shifted and if people would finally tire of laughing at the misery of others.  Of course, reality TV is rooted in such schadenfreude and it will always be present.  But the eventual success of people like William Hung (who’s now a millionaire) and Paul Potts have given these underdogs the last laugh.  When Susan Boyle’s video went viral, it marked a true tipping point in the medium.  In his blog, Douglas McLennan writes about the “New Arts Gatekeepers”, and Leonard Jacobs expands on this by stating:

    With everyone from the lowliest poor person to the Pope, presumably, atwitter (literally and figuratively) over Susan Boyle — who I hereby predict will become the enduring symbol of this we-have-hope period — I have been reflecting on a blogpost by Doug McLennan on his Diacritical.  McLennan writes:

    Power in the mass culture model is controlled by gatekeepers – the TV networks, radio stations, record producers, publishers. They had power because they could afford expensive cameras and studios and recording equipment essential to making things and getting them to an audience. Some of the “talent” – the musicians, actors, writers, journalists – did very well in this model if their work found a huge audience. The vast majority of musicians, actors, writers, and journalists did considerably less well.

    The mass culture model only works when the means of creation and distribution are limited in some way – a small number of TV channels available, for example. One could think of the record companies or the TV networks as middlemen who were essential for an artist to connect with a large audience.

    But the online world has largely been a revolution of plenty. Now anyone can make studio-quality recordings, professional-looking books or movies or radio shows. So goodbye to the middleman, right?

    McLennan next quotes another writer who views the middleman mythos with a quick-and-dirty  historical mega-analysis that returns him to his point:

    Gone are the days when a Sol Hurok could make a star or a Tchaikovsky Piano Competition winner have an instant career.

    …Now artists can produce their own work and often distribute and promote it better than the old channels could. But one can imagine so many voices braying for attention that just being able to make and get one’s art out to an audience doesn’t mean that there’s an audience interested in it.  

    And that brings us back to Susan Boyle. What is going on in terms of the media hoopla surrounding her proves that mass media is still the gatekeeper, yet it is necessarily a partnered gatekeeper; i.e., TV can launch but the Web must distribute. Just read the comments on this story alone. Indeed, Boyle will now have a career that is so indescribably instant that just three or four days after her appearance on Britain’s Got Talent, rumor is she’ll sign a contract with Simon Cowell’s label.

    As Mark Blankenship points out on his blog, Susan Boyle means so much to us now because she “Rebukes the bitchy cynicism that often defines reality talent shows, and she isn’t young.”

    “When we laugh at someone for being a freak, we’re laughing out of fear. We’re laughing because  we want to prove that we are not like that loser over there. If we can shame the people who don’t belong, then we can prove that we do.

    When we embrace an outsider, though, we’re paving the way for our own acceptance in the future. Eventually, we’ll all feel like outcasts, and none of us wants to be laughed at. The Susan Boyle Story suggests we won’t be. Instead of fearing for our own eventual shame, we can count on society to hear what’s beautiful in us. We can trust that if we just show our true selves, we will be embraced.

    Whether or not that moral is true in the real world, it’s alluringly true in the Susan Boyle Story.  By participating in the narrative that television has constructed for her, by cheering her on and watching her video over and over, we can not only feel good about graciously welcoming an outsider, but also feel relief for helping create a world that will someday welcome us.

    It’s the same reason Slumdog Millionaire connected with so many people around the world.  Most people alive today have never lived in tougher times.  These stories connect us all.  DListed reports that, “Even Patti LuPone, the original Fantine in Les Miz, called up Susan and said, “Susan, you’ve got pluck, girl.Way to slap a ho in the caterpillar-brows, Patti!”  Of course, Susan’s choice of song didn’t hurt either.  It’s always been one of mine and Claudio’s all time favorite songs!   So now we know who’s going to win “Britain’s Got Talent”.  I guess now, only one question remains:

    Update:  Here are some photos I took of Adam and the others at the American Idol after party in 2009.

    I personally, don’t like Adam Lambert (sorry Jason).  He just annoys me.  It has nothing to do with his sexuality.  But let’s face it, Adam Lambert makes Clay Aiken look like Frank Sinatra.  I’m personally rooting for Kris Allen, but if Adam can win American Idol, more power to him.  David Hernandez couldn’t do it.  Danny Noriega couldn’t do it.  Sanjaya couldn’t do it.  Clay couldn’t even do it.  If family friendly Idol viewers can vote for Adam despite their “Prop. 8 voting and Milk watching preferences”, then maybe there’s hope?
    There are still some reasons to enjoy schadenfreude!

  • A Gay Traffic School Valentine

    Remember that speeding ticket I got last summer?  Well I finally got around to signing up for traffic school before the February 17th deadline.  Unfortunately, because I got the ticket behind the Orange Curtain, I couldn’t take traffic school online.  So when I looked at the list of state approved classes, this is what I found:

    The “Gay Community Traffic School” is coincidentally the closest one to my house.    When I called them, the queen on the phone was very friendly.  He told me that the only day available before my deadline was February 14th from 9-5.  I said, “Fine, I’ll take it”.  Then he paused dramatically and said “You know that’s Valentine’s Day, don’t you??”  I laughingly told him I was aware that February 14th was Valentine’s Day, and then he actually asked me if I had a Valentine!  I kind of stuttered in disbelief, and told him “No”.  After that he told me he’d call me the day before to remind me,  and to show up with $32.95 in cash that morning.  LOL.

    Apparently this Gay Traffic School is quite popular here and in San Francisco.  To wit:

    The Best Place to Meet If You’re Looking For:

    A Speed Queen

    Calling Erik Estrada. Gay traffic violators commiserate, cruise, and discharge their points at Joey Randall’s Gay…community Traffic School. For eight hours, students trade traffic jokes and play “Traffic School Jeopardy.” Randall says classes are bumper-to-bumper because “people know they’re going to meet others they might be interested in.” An instructor at Randall’s L.A. school teaches in drag, so watch what you say about women drivers. Classes meet weekly. Call (800) 429-4968.

    Maybe my instructor will be the one in drag?!  Now that would be blog-worthy!


    Here are some photos from over the weekend with David & Hyun Ju.  We went downtown to meet up with CJ so I could finally give him the Rubik’s Cube that Macky signed for him last summer.  He was so appreciative!  I hadn’t seen him since the competition at the Discovery Science Center last spring, when he was so nice and patient with my little cousin Tommy.


    Me with future world famous video game designer Daniel Chan


    Then we went to Chinatown to celebrate Chinese New Year, but I didn’t see an ox, just these turtles!


    Poolside at The Standard Hotel, downtown Los Angeles

     


    I wish they would have told me I still had the damn Bluetooth in my ear!


    Taken from the car at 60 mph


    The aptly named Sunset Blvd.


    Best of the rest…


    ON THE LIGHTER SIDE

    “J. Crew’s stock has gone up 10 percent because first lady Michelle Obama has been spotted wearing their clothes. Which begs the question, Mrs. Obama, how would you feel about wearing a Buick?” –  Conan O’Brien

    Update:  Click Here to see how Gay Traffic School went!

  • Wireless Blogging, Petting Anderson, Peace Tunes & A Spectacular Sunset

    I want to thank Tom & Cathy for a most spectacular gift they gave me that I alluded to last week.    It’s an Eye-Fi wireless SD card.  It saved me so much time last week in San Francisco because the pictures I took automatically went to my Xanga wirelessly (through Picasa which I had synced to a web album) without even having to download from the card!  What a time-saver.  All I needed to be was at least 30 feet from my computer.  As long as my camera was on, the pictures got uploaded instantly and automatically.  Pretty cool!  Thank you both so much. 

    I saw this picture of Obama yesterday and thought it was really nice.  Did anyone catch the “Puppedential Debate” on The Daily Show the other night?  Anderson Cooper is pretty damn funny.  I met him last year at a book signing and he was really friendly (I didn’t meet his his boyfriend).  If you missed it, check out “The Road to the Doghouse” The last frame is my favorite!  Hilarious.

    Also, you may remember my appearance in Seth’s “Peace on Earth” video and benefit song last Thanksgiving.  I promised you guys I would let you know when it was available on iTunes, and now it is.  If you have iTunes installed, you can click here to purchase the song.  Otherwise, just search for “Seth Freeman” from the iTunes Store.  It goes to a good cause!

    Finally, here are some photos I took from my roof of the sunset on Monday night.  Peace!

  • Best in Show & Best Shows

    Yesterday I took Roscoe to Runyon Canyon and he had a blast.  It was a picture perfect sunset.  Doesn’t he look handsome?

    Later that evening, Claudio & Ryan drove down and we went to see “Milk” and then had dinner.  The reviews are right, it was really well done and we all enjoyed it.  This review from slate.com, particularly resonated:

    Few reviewers will miss the opportunity to point out—the parallels are hard to ignore—that Harvey Milk was the Barack Obama of his day, a minority candidate who represented change, opposed the party machine, and preached a gospel of hope. Milk’s stump speech was dubbed the Hope Speech, and the last line of his recorded will, which also closes the film, was: “You gotta give them hope.” Milk was also, in essence, a community organizer, a grassroots populist with a gift for reaching out across San Francisco’s patchwork of minorities. After Prop 8 passed, some gay activists were all too eager to blame blacks and Latinos (two groups in which majorities voted “yes”) and to define the problem along racial lines. Milk’s impassioned rhetoric of inclusivity—he called his hodgepodge coalition, which ran from Asians to seniors to blacks to labor unions, “the us-es”—is helpful to keep in mind in light of the recent finger-pointing.
    Viewed in a post-Prop 8 environment, Milk might well suggest strategies for the culture wars to come. But had it appeared earlier, could this particular battle have been won? While it’s naive to presume that movies can swing electorates—just ask Michael Moore—those what-if questions are hard to dismiss, not least for the filmmakers. Interviewed by the San Francisco Bay Guardian recently, Van Sant conceded, “Harvey would have opened it in October.”
    That the question of timing and impact is being raised says something about where Milk falls on the spectrum of gay cinema. In one sense, it belongs with the AIDS melodrama Philadelphia and the closet weepie Brokeback Mountain in the relatively small group of serious gay-themed Hollywood movies that, partly because of their scarcity, still exist as consciousness-raising vehicles or as markers of social progress. (Milk is all but guaranteed a good night at the Oscars, given that many members of the Academy are likely to see a vote for Milk as a vote against Prop 8, not to mention a way to make up for giving the Oscar that was thought a lock for Brokeback Mountain, also a Focus release, to the odious Crash.)  Read more…

    So Milk and Slumdog Millionaire are clearly my two early Oscar favorites.  Apparently, I’m not the only one who thinks so.  This chart from the LA Times compiles several critics early pics.  Slumdog is the one consistent Best Picture pick across the board.  

    “Slumdog Millionaire” is truly the top dog in our latest round of Oscar pundits’ predix. It’s the only contender in the best picture race that gets a vote from all six of us pundits, who include Anthony Breznican (USA Today), Edward Douglas (ComingSoon.net), Peter Howell (Toronto Star), Steve Pond, author, “The Big Show“) and Kris Tapley (InContention.com).

    BEST PICTURE Breznican Douglas Howell O’Neil Pond Tapley
    ‘Benjamin Button’

    X

      

    X

    X

    X

    X

    ‘Dark Knight’

    X

    X

    X

     

    X

     
    ‘Frost/Nixon’

    X

    X

     

    X

     

    X

    ‘Gran Torino’

     X

      

     

     

     

     

    ‘Milk’

     

    X

    X

    X

    X

    X

    ‘The Reader’    

     

         
    ‘Revolutionary Road’

     

    X

    X

    X

    X

    ‘Slumdog Millionaire’

    X

    X

    X

    X

    X

    X

    BEST ACTOR Breznican Douglas Howell O’Neil Pond Tapley
    Leo DiCaprio, ‘Revolutionary Road    

     

    X

    X

    X

    Clint Eastwood, ‘Gran Torino’

    X

     

    X

    X

     

    X

    Richard Jenkins, ‘The Visitor’

    X

    X

     

     

     

     

    Frank Langella, ‘Frost/Nixon’

    X

    X

    X

    X

    X

    X

    Sean Penn, ‘Milk’

     

    X

    X

    X

    X

    X

    Brad Pitt, ‘Benjamin Button’

    X

    X

    X

     

    X

     

    Mickey Rourke, ‘The Wrestler’

    X

    X

    X

    X

    X

    X

    BEST ACTRESS Breznican Douglas Howell O’Neil Pond Tapley
    Kate Beckinsale, ‘Nothing But the Truth’  

    X

           
    Anne Hathaway, ‘Rachel Getting Married’

    X

    X

    X

    X

    X

    Sally Hawkins, ‘Happy-Go-Lucky’

     

     

     

    X

     

     
    Angelina Jolie, ‘Changeling’

    X

     

    X

    X

    X

    Nicole Kidman, ‘Australia’  

    X

     

           
    Meryl Streep, ‘Doubt’

    X

    X

    X

    X

    X

    X

    Kristin Scott Thomas, ‘I’ve Loved You So Long’

     

    X

    X

     

    X

    X

    Kate Winslet, ‘Revolutionary Road’

    X

    X

    X

     

    X

    X

    Kate Winslet, ‘The Reader’      

    X

       

    After the movie, we came back to the Careyfornia for some leftover cherry pie.  Life is good.

  • A Fresh Coat of Hate – “Faggots”, “Niggers” & the Paradox of the Christian Right

    I wrote about this over a year ago, but with the recent events surrounding Proposition 8, I thought it would be a good time to revisit this topic.

    Back in March of 2007, before Proposition 8 and a black President Elect, I wrote a post called “Perceptions” about a woman I know whose father didn’t let her listen to Diana Ross & the Supremes when she was little, because he said it was “nigger music“.  As a child she did not perceive this as a racist remark.  (Just as I grew up hearing my own mother routinely use the expression, “Who was your nigger last year?”, when I asked her to get something for me.  It was a phrase her mother used to say to her and so on…)  Similarly, my older relatives who lived through World War II have very different perceptions of Germans and Japanese people than I do.  No one is born with perceptions.  They come from our upbringing and our life’s experiences; and the older we get, the harder they are to change.  (Though apparently it is possible, as several of my elderly family members voted for Obama!!) 

    This is why a large majority of younger voters have traditionally voted the political party of their parents (see graph).  Since just roughly 60% of Americans live in the same state they were born, it stands to reason that voting patterns remain consistent in states throughout the years.  (Indeed the 40% who move away, typically move to more traditionally liberal and urban areas.)  So perceptions may not be as easily changed as one might think.

    The book “Talking Right – How Conservatives Turned Liberalism Into A Tax Raising, Latte Drinking, Sushi Eating, Volvo Driving, New York Times Reading, Body Piercing, Hollywood Loving, Left Wing Freakshow”, tells the story of a “a subtle linguistic campaign whose architects – from Spiro Agnew to Karl Rove, have altered the meaning of our everyday political vocabulary. ‘Values’ has strayed far from its dictionary meaning to become the exclusive property of the right; liberal has become a designation for people whose taste in cars, cheese, and coffee puts them “out of touch” with real Americans; the “ownership society” has become a pretext for apportioning wealth to the haves and have-mores.”  After reading the book I had a better understanding of the divide, and how it happened.  I understood the whole “red state/blue state” thing much better.  What I still couldn’t put my finger on however, was how the perception of love could be so different between groups of Americans.  The divide in America between right and left is growing, and it’s evangelical Christians that are leading the way. (People like Peter Singer, the so called ”Blue State Philosopher are rarely in the media, perhaps for good reason.)  From gay marriage to racism, I could write pages about how the Christian Right’s positions (perceptions) on so many of these issues is patently “un-Christian” and hardly reflects the “Love Thy Neighbor” dictum.

    Some of you may have already seen this Keith Olberman video that’s been circulating widely regarding Prop. 8. 

    Today, I sent this video to a conservative Christian friend of mine (who believes that being gay is a choice), wondering how he could counter such an impassioned plea.  This was his response:

    I’ll take him on!  Liberals just don’t get it.   They think it is about denying happiness and rights.  It is not “Hate” (which is interesting given that a group who hates others for taking away something where they tried to do a total end-around by having four judges invalidate a proposition on a technicality then didn’t have the guts to bring the issue to be people and explain their position before opening the floodgates… and then complain about something being “ripped away”)    Please, it’s a little disingenuous to see people who abuse the democratic process accuse anyone who does not hold their position of hate.    I guess people who don’t like smoke being blown in their face “hate” smokers (oh but that is a liberal thing… that can’t be hate), and anyone who would like to see a child born rather than aborted “hate” women (though I guess if it is the other way, do I “hate” unborn children?).  It’s solely about procreation and protecting the child’s stability and environment.  Going back to my Biblical soapbox, Genesis 2:14 says:

    For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.

    Nothing about this is about all of the self centered adults (either divorced or gay). 

    Of course, everyone is entitled to their opinion.  If you think like this and believe the Bible is infallible, I suspect no amount of protesting or arguing will change your mind.  If you remove the religion from this argument (to level the playing field), at least it’s articulate.  The Mormons take it to a whole other level.  Case in point:  Listen to this incredibly ignorant Mormon woman who called Michelangelo Signorile today.  It’s about 15 minutes long, but she starts getting really goofy at about 8 minutes.

    rent

    Whenever I hear this kind of rhetoric, I think of the musical “Rent” and how its message resonates in my life.  When I first saw the play in 1996 in New York City its philosophy was so profound that I went on to see it more than 15 times in 7 countries.  The story is an old one, 156 years old to be exact.  1851 was the year that Henri Murger published the book Scènes de la Vie de Bohème a story about his friends; so called “Bohemians” or “starving artists” living in the Latin Quarter of Paris in the mid 1800′s.  His friends had the same names as the central characters in “Rent” (with American updates; Rodolpho became Roger, Marcel became Mark, etc.).  50 years after the book was published, Puccini turned it into the famous opera La Boheme, which in turn, 100 years later became the musical “Rent“.  The central themes of all three were the same.  Wikipedia presents this chart:

    Character in La bohème Character in Rent
    Mimi, a seamstress with tuberculosis Mimi Marquez, an S&M dancer with AIDS
    Rodolfo, a poet with TB Roger Davis, a musician with AIDS
    Marcello, a painter Mark Cohen, a filmmaker
    Musetta, a singer Maureen Johnson, a bisexual performance artist
    Schaunard, a musician with TB Angel Dumott Schunard, a gay cross-dressing drummer with AIDS
    Colline, a philosopher with TB Tom Collins, a gay computer whiz and Anarchist philosopher with AIDS
    Alcindoro, a state councillor Joanne Jefferson, a lesbian lawyer
    Benoit, a landlord Benjamin ‘Benny’ Coffin III, also a landlord

    No matter how hard the characters try to fight it, they all come to the realization that love is the strongest force we know.  Stronger than heroin, AIDS or even death.  Be it the “starving artists” in the Latin Quarter of 19th Century Paris, the American Bohemians like Jack Kerouac in the 50′s or the drug addled, AIDS victims in Jonathan Larson’s masterpiece “Rent”; they all knew this “fact”, and they lived their lives accordingly.  Even in this age of social networking and a truly wired global technosphere; it’s good to be reminded that we are all connected by the powerful force of love, and that a broken heart universally hurts.  “We don’t own emotion, we rent.”  How ironic, that Jonathan Larson, the composer and playwright of “Rent”, dropped dead of an aortic aneurysm the night before the show opened on Broadway in 1996.  After all, “Rent” is about living for today, because you never know what tomorrow might bring.

    Last year I had a conversation with the same woman I spoke of in the first paragraph (she’s also an evangelical Christian).  She told me that I would be proud of her, because she finally watched the movie, based on the musical “Rent”.  I asked her how she liked it, and she basically thought it was “disgusting”.  At first I was taken aback by her response.  I know the movie wasn’t nearly as good as the play, but it was unfathomable to me how anyone could find these ageless, central themes anything but life affirming and beautiful.  She admittedly shed tears at the sad parts, but implied that all of the tragedy and sadness of the movie was a result of the characters (“Lesbos” was one of the words she used), not seeking the love of God.  They were seeking love in the wrong place.  Their addictions, (heroin) and diseases, (AIDS) were their own doing.  I fail to see the Christ-like thinking in this sentiment and told her so.  It’s like the Pope’s recent proclamation that only Catholics can go to heaven.  Excuse me?  

    She quoted Matthew 6:33 

    6:33  But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

    After reading my original blog on this subject, the same woman wrote to me and said the following:

    Ok, Carey, I read your blog and my quotes, which I really don’t remember using the word “disgusting” but rather the word “sad” in regards to RENT.  Anyway, read your own blog and tell me what is wrong with this picture?  Compare the characters of the two casts. 
     
    Today, it is…
    Dancer with AIDS
    Musician with AIDS
    Bisexual artist
    Cross-dresser with AIDS
    Gay computer whiz with AIDS
    Lesbian lawyer
     
    What does this cast say about the state of the world today?  How messed up are we?  Oh, but I’m sure that all those that march in the Gay Pride parades will be happy when all of society looks like this, and there are no healthy heterosexual people left.  Hey, come to think of it, Africa is starting to look a lot like this today.
     
    But of course, it’s not their fault, and they are only seeking love and feeling good, whether that comes from drugs or a readily available sexual partner, no matter the cost, because the cost is not worth giving up the pleasure.  Hey, I understand.  I felt the same way.  No way was I going to give my heart to Jesus because I just knew it meant I was going to have to give up the good times.  But I realized that there was only heartache at the end of those good times – a hangover, infection or unwanted pregnancy, lung cancer.  A lot of wonderful things to give up, and still I hung on – you know that, Carey.  I still do not want to give up some of those “fun times,” but now I find myself having more fun in seeking a different kind of joy, so it is not “giving up” but “desiring” something else more.
     
    By the way, your blog only tells half the story & I resent that you present me & my perceptions being handed down and totally accepted by what my parents said.  Just because my father called our music “nigger” music and told us not to hang out with those niggers at church and that we couldn’t even be in the same house as my cousin that married an African, didn’t mean that we didn’t recognize these as unfair racist beliefs, and believe me we didn’t stop playing our music, hanging out with the colored kids, or visiting my cousin.  You have to remember Martin Luther King Jr. was a hero of ours also, because he stood up for what was right and fair and did so without violence.  Those perceptions were part of my environment too.
     
    And, let me say this about what you call “un-Christian” attitude and not showing love to our poor “it’s not my fault” homosexuals.  I have not, nor have I ever not cared for a friend or family member (yes I have them in my family too) because they were homosexual.  God’s Word tells us to speak out against sin, but never the sinner.  You know, we don’t have Christian Right parades.  We don’t have “all white” colleges.  We don’t have Heterosexual Pride parades.  But somehow we should accept what is an abomination to God as ok, and before long MANBLA (or whatever that organization of men with little boys is called) will be trying to convince you that the little boys “like” what is happening to them, that they “want” done to them what these men are doing & they will convince the little boys too.  If God says fornication when not married, with the same sex, or with animals is wrong, forgive me, but I cannot say that God is wrong, and I only have to look at the way we were beautifully and wonderfully made for our own species to realize He cannot be wrong.
     
    Sorry, I went on too long, but you know I love you, little brother..
     
    – M
     

    My response:

    Thanks M,
     
    I’m going to try to reproduce in writing what you and I talked about on the phone after you sent this email.  As I explained, I didn’t say you “said” Rent was disgusting, I said you “thought” it was disgusting.  That is what I gleaned from the contempt in your voice when we discussed it.  That contempt was what initially took me aback. Much of what you say boils down to the fact that you think being gay is a choice.  I do not believe this is true, and since we have talked about this many times, I won’t rehash it here.
     
    I do apologize if my words implied that you agreed with what your father said, or did not recognize it as racist.  I simply meant to imply (through my examples), that most people form their initial perceptions of things from their parents, and many children grow up not knowing any other way.  Though I don’t consider you or I racists, I’m sure that there are people who would, simply because of some of our beliefs (just like one of the comments already posted here, called me a “nigger lover”).  Your point about Martin Luther King is well taken.  I wonder how you would feel if there was an equivalent leader fighting for the rights of gays?
     
    I think you’re such a good person M, and I know you think the same of me.  You’ve never tried to strongly impose your beliefs on me as others have, and I enjoy our debates.  I know that neither of us know all the answers, and I’d like to think we’re both living our lives the best we can.  As I grow older and continue to lose my religion, I take solace in the fact that there are people like you that help bring another perspective to the matter.  I’m also comforted by the fact that there are other things in this world besides religion that help people to understand we’re all connected by common bonds.  Be it simply a musical that teaches us to live for today and that love does indeed conquer all, or a global event that unites all humans as one (the tsunami for example).

    I know that we both agree that the websites and videos referenced above, represent evil and the worst kind of hate; and whether or not you believe in God, no one deserves such vitriolic rage directed at them.  I’ll end the way I began.  There’s a song from Rent that talks about this “Bohemian” life which some find so repulsive, called “La Vie Boheme” (The Bohemian Life):

    To sodomy
    It’s between God and me.
    To faggots, lezzies, dykes, cross dressers too.
    To me….To you….
    To people living with….not dying from disease.
    Let he among us without sin,
    Be the first to condemn.
    La Vie Boheme.
    Anyone out of the mainstream.
    Is anyone in the mainstream?
    Anyone alive with a sex drive.
    Tear down the wall.
    Aren’t we all?
    The opposite of war isn’t peace.
    It’s creation.
    La Vie Boheme.
    Viva La Vie Boheme.

    So that’s the paradox.  The older I get, the more this kind of thinking is what roils me about organized religion.  Be it movies like “Jesus Camp” or websites like www.lovegodsway.org or www.godhatesfags.com; I think I’ll stick to “The Golden Rule“.

    godhatesfags3

    I rest my case: