To commemorate the 30th Anniversary of the Rubik’s Cube, my friend Tyson was on the Today Show this morning and the hosts, Hoda Kotb and Dan Abrams proved to be huge douchebags!! I sent Tyson a text telling him that, and his reply was simply, “They always are…” (Even Anderson Copper was a little douchey but not as bad as these clowns:)
Through Tyson and the Cubing Community (yes, there’s a community), I’ve made a lot of good friends. Like:
Macky, a genius in his own right, who’s doing amazing things at Princeton now, just like he’s done in my living room: (i.e. juggling two apples with one hand while solving a Rubik’s Cube with the other!)
Last year Tyson was tapped by the Rubik’s company to create an instructional DVD to be sold with Rubik’s Cubes exclusively by Barnes & Noble. So if you would like to learn how to solve the Cube, check it out. Several of my readers have bought this DVD and told me that it worked!
Oh, and to continue with the Asian TV stars theme, Alex reminded me that I forgot to post this photo of me and James Kyson Lee from Heroes that I took a couple of weeks ago. I’ve seen most of the Heroes around town now; here are just two:
We went to the free Depeche Mode concert on Hollywood & Vine last night. The last time I saw them in concert was twenty years ago in 1989 with Daniel! It was a last minute thought, and we actually walked there from Mike’s house as Hollywood Blvd. was closed. They were appearing on the Jimmy Kimmel show and promoting their new album Sounds of the Universe. There were over 12,000 people on Hollywood Blvd. They performed some new songs and some old classics for about an hour. Here are two of my favorites: Enjoy the Silence and Personal Jesus:
Speaking of Jesus, Tyson found this video and I thought it was worth posting:
We always hear about the many amazing things that Jesus of Nazareth apparently did, but nobody ever asks about the things that Jesus supposedly COULD have done, being omnipotent; but either didn’t bother to do or didn’t think were all that important. You know, things like… reducing human misery and suffering… that kind of thing. Read more…
Ever since then, Tommy has been playing with the cube, but hasn’t mastered it yet. I think it was good for him to see kids younger than him, who could solve it with ease. He brought his own cube along and I was careful not to let him ask anyone to solve it for him early on, as I knew that once his cube was solved, he would quit trying, because he didn’t want to “mess it up”.
At one point though, Tyson was being interviewed by a TV station that sounded Chinese. He didn’t have a cube in his hand, and since Tommy was shadowing him, Tyson asked Tommy to borrow his cube and to hold some papers for him. Tommy was elated. As Tyson proceeded to work his magic fingers, Tommy watched in awe. I told him he’d probably be on TV in China, seen by a billion people, and needless to say, he thought that was pretty cool! Of course, now he wouldn’t touch his cube anymore, because Tyson had solved it. Here’s the video:
After that, I gave in and bought Tommy another mini Rubik’s Cube on a keychain. When we were watching the speedsolving competition in the theater, Tommy asked the kid sitting next to him if he would solve his mini cube. The kid, Justin, a former speedcuber told Tommy that he had been “clean and sober” from the cube for a year. He said that even touching a cube made him want to do it obsessively, and that he had already been down that road of addiction. I was watching him though, and he was really tempted to take that little cube from Tommy. It might as well have been a bag of heroin! Apparently, speed solving can become quite addictive! Of course, wouldn’t you know it, a few minutes later some girl came up to Tommy and asked him if she could solve his mini cube. As he watched her, I could see hearts in his eyes!
My friend Tyson flew from New York to LA earlier this week to make a special presentation at the world famous Magic Castle in Hollywood, and he was nice enough to put me on the guest list. For those of you who don’t know, The Magic Castle is a members only private club whose membership boasts the best magicians in the world. It’s ridiculously expensive and very “old Hollywood”. Tyson was there to teach some of the magicians how to solve the Rubik’s Cube. After all, it was Tyson (and his brother) who taught Will Smith how to solve the Rubik’s Cube in the movie “The Pursuit of Happyness“.
Tyson & Carey at The Magic Castle November 3. 2008
Because of Tyson’s ability to relate to everyone, he was tapped by the Rubik’s company to create an instructional DVD to be sold with Rubik’s Cubes exclusively by Barnes & Noble. It makes a great Christmas gift for young and old and is only $15 if you buy it online!
Here’s Tyson at The Magic Castle the other night, explaining the first two steps in solving the Rubik’s Cube. If you want to learn the rest, buy the DVD!
Tyson is actually responsible for my Xanga. He’s had a Xanga for years, and in order for me to leave comments in the old days, I signed up. I would have never started blogging if it weren’t for Tyson. He’s also the reason I met Macky, who’s amazing in his own right, as this video I took this past summer will attest:
Click below to play the video and be amazed! If it’s not working, click here.
The “cubing” community is full of wonderful people, old and young. Kids like Daniel who at such a young age is really trying to make a difference in the world. They give me hope for the next generation. I’ll leave you with another video I took on Monday of Dan Dzoan and his brother Chris solving the Rubik’s Cube with one hand, and then doing it again with one in each hand.
Lisa, Joel, Tommy & Andy met me at the Discovery Science Center today, which was hosting the World Cube Association 2008 competition. Since Tyson is moving to New York next week, this was my last chance to see him for a while. He competed in the blindfold solve (see video below) and did great as usual. Tommy really took a liking to the whole “cubefreak” phenomenon. When asked if he would rather go to the dinosaur exhibit or go meet Tyson, he opted for meeting Tyson. At one point afterwards, he said to me, “I’m the luckiest kid in the world. I just got to meet Carey’s famous friend.” (I had explained to Tommy that Tyson was on Beauty and the Geek and had taught Will Smith how to solve the cube for The Pursuit of Happyness. That really impressed him!) After they got home, apparently Tommy donned a blindfold and gave it a try. LOL. He was also infatuated by the video of Macky I had on my iPod where he solves the cube with one hand, while juggling 2 cubes with the other. See for yourself:
Tommy has now proclaimed himself, “Tommy the Science Nerd”. It’s going to be an interesting next 12 years. LOL. Best of luck in New York Tyson!
Tyson and I had dinner at the beach in Santa Monica tonight. He may be moving to another state soon, which would would be a bummer for me, but I hope he gets the job he wants. It’s funny, but had I never met Tyson, I wouldn’t have started my Xanga. The only reason I opened an account here was to comment on his blog. And had I not first seen Tyson on the reality show Beauty & The Geek, a few years ago, I wouldn’t have ever gotten to know him. (LOL, I just found out that he was the “Geek of the Week” on this website, geeksugar.com last year. What a hoot:)
Wonder where Will Smith picked up his impressive Rubik’s Cube skills in The Pursuit of Happyness? Thanks to one of the world’s top competitive Rubik’s Cube champions Tyson Mao, Smith was able to learn how to master the mind-boggling cube for his leading role.
When Mao’s younger brother Toby taught him how to solve the cube inJuly 2003, it was only a matter of time before Mao could solve thepuzzle faster then his brother…that is in less than two minutes-blindfolded of course. When not covering their eyes, Tyson and Toby are’speedcubing’ wizards, solving the cube in less than 20 seconds andtaking part in competitions all over the country. Twenty-two year oldSan Franciscan native Mao has only been beat by two of the world’s top3x3x3 blindfolded Rubik’s Cube competitors. This and the fact that hewas one of the ‘geeks’ in the hit reality show Beauty and the Geek last year, makes him a perfect geeksugar geek of the week.
Now that Tyson’s moving away, I guess I need a new reality show friend. Who should it be? Danny Noriega or Christian Siriano?? As Jad so artfully illustrates here, they’re both bottoms…which is more than I can say for Tyson. LOL
Christian was on Ellen yesterday, and Danny was on today. I recorded both, but haven’t watched yet. It would have been fun to see them on together, don’tcha think? LOL I also saw on YouTube that Ellen tried to call that idiotic Oklahoma representative Sally Kern, who made news recently by proclaiming that gay people were more dangerous than terrorists:
“I would like Sally Kern to move up in government, because if she thinks that homosexuality is a bigger threat than terrorism, then maybe she’ll get our troops out of Iraq and they’ll go invade West Hollywood! Anything to get our troops home!”
But wait, it gets better! Apparently, salacious Sally has a big ole’ GAY SON! As reported by Queerty:
At any rate, I still have American Idol (I suspect I’ll have another bottom to add to the mix…a gay stripper to boot) and Top Chef to watch tonight, so, back to reality.
Tyson used to blog about this sushi chef named Taka who owned a wonderful, cheap little sushi hole in the wall in Santa Monica. We went there the day before Christmas Eve last month after seeing Juno. Sadly, Taka couldn’t afford to keep his restaurant open and it shut down shortly after Christmas. Taka had a very loyal clientèle though, and it didn’t take him long to find work, this time as the head sushi chef at Kaizuka, in Culver City. We went there last night and it was wonderful. As soon as we walked in Tyson knew all of the people at the sushi bar, as they were all of Taka’s customers from his old place. As the evening progressed, more friendly faces showed up and the people were constantly buying sake and beers for Taka and his young apprentice. What a convivial atmosphere! The sushi was to die for (I even accidentally ordered the yellowtail twice. The first time, Taka’s apprentice made the roll and it was great. The second time, Taka made it and it was amazing.) I highly recommend the Hiko roll (albacore and crispy onion) and the spicy tuna on crispy rice. I ate so much, but I’m fat and happy!
Tyson, Taka & me
Afterwards I came home and ended up playing (wasting time) on Facebook for like 3 hours. I must admit I’m addicted to that silly Friends For Sale application. I’m still relatively cheap and poor, but I’m coming for you Jad!! I also updated my profile pics and added some videos and montages. Why would anyone ever pay a lot of money for something like match.com when Facebook can do all of that? Speaking of that…I found a great group to join. This pretty much sums it up, LOL:
He pokes her, she pokes him, they poke each other back and forth. (Or he pokes him, he pokes him back) Cut the shit already, I want it, you want it, we’re not fooling anyone…
Enough with the poking! Let’s just have sex.
Seriously. People don’t understand why “poking” exists on facebook. It’s pretty clear that it’s facebook’s classy way of flirting, none of this “I was just thinking about you” bullshit. You want to have sex, so you poked me. End of story. Be realistic, how often are you poked by a member of the same sex (or opposite sex if you’re gay)?
–THE TEN COMMANDMENTS OF POKING–
I) Never poke someone you dont know and haven’t spoken to, simply because you find them attractive. Stop being obvious and gross/stalker-y.
II) Don’t poke anyone you don’t want to have sex with. You’d just be an asshole giving them the wrong message. If you “just want to say hello”, then IM them or comment on their profile etc, and actually say hello.
III) Don’t return any pokes to the person who poked you if you dont find them attractive. You’ll just be leading them on. It’s not cool to break unnecessary hearts.
IV) Straight men don’t poke other men. It is never appropriate. End of story. Gay men however, can and do poke straight men all the time…and love it.
V) DONT OVER-POKE! If you’re poking more out of routine than to display real affections, you’re poking too much. Limiting the frequency with which you poke helps retain the value of a single poke.
VI) If your poking is becoming too frequent, you need to have sex already. Once you’ve been poking back and forth for a few days, it becomes time to take the poking from the internet to the bedroom…or shower, kitchen, main lounge, attic, museum, airplane, fast-food restaurant bathroom, Chuck-E-Cheese’s ball-pit, etc.
VII) Be careful when you decide to hide your pokes. Hiding a poke is the same thing as a rejection, and you don’t want to send the wrong message to someone you might be interested in. If you are attracted to a person but don’t want to be bothered with constantly poking back and forth, just leave the poke up there, it doesn’t bite.
VIII) Poke wars are retarded (see #6). The process of poking isn’t fun. You’re just clicking a friggin’ button. The sex that comes afterwards is the fun part. Two people competing over who “gets poked last” or who “pokes the other the most” or whatever is the most ridiculous concept I’ve ever heard. It’s like two people sitting across from each other saying “I want to have sex” back and forth but with neither of them actually doing anything. They poked you, you poked them. Now stop the poking, and go have sex.
IX) If you like being an elusive, hard-to-get poke, don’t give it up too soon! Sometimes, witholding that poke for a few days can intensify the relationship. Or, if you like subtly letting others know you’re angry, take a long time to return their pokes, or hide their pokes altogether. Internet poking is as mental, as real poking is physical.
X) The last, but certainly not the least important Commandment: PRACTICING SAFER POKING. It was already stated in the First Commandment that it’s wrong to poke those you dont know that you only have physical attractions for, however, creeps are out there, and it happens nonetheless. DON’T POKE PEOPLE YOU DONT KNOW. You never know who that mysterious person poking you is. You never know who they’ve poked, or even if they were safe pokers themselves. Unsafe poking can lead to stalker-esque relationships, both in and out of Facebook. And you never know who might give you a virus (be it spyware or herpes). Neither of us want that. Two ways to poke safer are: to completely abstain from poking (this is the only 100% safe, religiously appropriate way), and to only poke people you know. Also, putting up sexy, cute, or marginally attractive profile pictures that non-friends can see might lead to unwanted poking. Be wary…and slutty/hoish at your own risk. I recommend neutral profile pictures of puppies, flowers, or famous athletes. Doing anything else might attract attention and end disastrously!
If you were: a victim of a poke-and-run, poked anyone without protection, a forced-poke victim, or gave accidental drunken pokes to that “less-than-par” sorority girl, please contact your local teen crisis hotline, police station, health center, school counselor, or any trustworthy adult.
–Get the word out!– Invite your friends, but in particular, invite the people that you’re always poking, so that they can FINALLY get the real message you were trying to convey.
My best friend Dan’s six year old daughter Sophie got on the phone with me today, and this was our conversation.
Sometimes it’s hard to get in the Christmas spirit when it’s so warm and sunny outside. But today really felt like Christmas, because everyone was so friendly and cheery. It was such a beautiful day. So clear in fact that I could actually see the snow on the mountains surrounding my house (and I rarely even see the mountains surrounding my house, let alone the snow). I took advantage of the 76° (25° C) weather and walked all around town to get my errands run and deliver some Christmas presents. Later, Tyson and I went to see Juno. We both really liked the movie, but neither one of us could articulate why. What starts out as a sharp, albeit superficial comedy, becomes a poignant coming of age film with Oscar caliber performances. And the soundtrack is just delicious! (Listen here.) I need to think about why it was such a feel good movie, as the the subject matter wasn’t exactly tidy. Somehow it worked though.
After the movie, we went for sushi at this great local spot in Santa Monica. Tyson knew the chef and he took good care of us. We ate $50 worth of food for $20. On the way home I stopped to take some photos of the Christmas lights at the Mormon temple. I still didn’t get all my Christmas shopping done. Oh well…there’s still 2 days! Here are my pics from today:
Homeless Santa in Beverly Hills. I gave him a couple of bucks and asked if I could take his photo
If you’re a fan of British music, you’re probably familiar with an Irish band called The Pogues. Perhaps their biggest hit is a “Christmas” song called “Fairytale of New York“ The song is consistently voted the #1 Christmas song in England. This year however, there was a problem.
It’s two days from the 50th birthday he thought he’d never see and Shane MacGowan is even more bemused and befuddled than ever. How, after a life of such famously bacchanalian excess that he was told 25 years ago that he had six weeks to live, has it come to this? It’s one thing to be best known for a sentimental Christmas ballad, no matter how esoteric, but it’s quite another to have Middle Britain rise as one to prevent Radio 1 censoring ‘Fairytale Of New York’.
If the Pogues’ larger-than-life frontman and chief songwriter has become something of an unlikely national treasure, it is mainly thanks to his bittersweet duet with the late Kirsty MacColl, which returns with Slade-like inevitability each Yuletide. But it’s easy to forget that it wasn’t always thus. Nineteen years ago, the BBC banned another of his songs, ‘Birmingham Six’. “They’re still doing time/ for being Irish in the wrong place/ And at the wrong time” sang MacGowan as Patrick Hill and five innocent men served time at Her Majesty’s displeasure. They’re out now but the song is still off the playlist.
The same is not true of MacGowan: he’s back in vogue in a way he hasn’t been since the critical acclaim that greeted the revolutionary, high-octane albums Rum, Sodomy And The Lash and If I Should Fall From Grace With God made the Pogues one of the hottest bands in the world. Just yesterday, his toothless coupon leered from the pages of the tabloids as he stumbled out of actress Davinia Taylor’s Christmas party with fellow good timers Kate Moss, Sienna Miller and Sadie Frost.
Make no mistake, his consumption of alcohol and narcotics has been dizzying. MacGowan says he was fed Guinness from the age of four by the collection of aunts and uncles who raised him in Tipperary in an attempt to put him off alcohol in later life. It didn’t work: at eight he drank his first bottle of Powers whiskey, and he soon added drugs, smoking joints at 13 and taking acid at 14. By 17, he was hanging out with rent boys and junkies (he says he was once the former, although that seems unlikely given his trademark jug-eared plug-ugliness), and so strung out that his doctor threatened to have him sectioned unless he submitted to six months in the notorious Bethlem detox clinic, the first of four stints trying to dry out.
At one stage he claimed he was polishing off 50 LSD tablets and three bottles of whiskey a day and, as he came apart at the seams, his antics became increasingly bizarre. In New Zealand he painted himself blue, claiming he’d been ordered to do it by Maori spirits; back in London, the night before the Pogues were due to fly out to tour with Bob Dylan, he took so much LSD that his girlfriend came home to find him covered in blood after eating a Beach Boys album. He told her he was about to host a summit of world leaders to avert the Third World War. He missed the plane and never toured with Dylan.
At one stage in 1999, his friend Sinead O’Connor found him snorting heroin and called the police, leading to another spell in rehab which ended abruptly when he was thrown out for bad behaviour. But not all of MacGowan’s celebrity friends – they include Bono, Nick Cave and Pete Doherty – believe that he is totally out of control. Bono argued that his self-destructive behaviour is “a mask, his way of ignoring people he doesn’t want to deal with. Shane is more together than people imagine”.
Not that those people will necessarily include the other members of the Pogues, who fired their garrulous talisman after he disintegrated on tour in Japan in 1991. After falling out of a train door at a station and knocking out the few blackened teeth which hadn’t been removed in drunken fights, he then performed an unscheduled exit from a van at 50mph on the way back to the hotel. When they got there, the other members of the band sacked him, replacing him with Joe Strummer. All he had to say was “Thank you, you’ve been very patient with me”.
Bombastic yet with a deeply sensitive streak, MacGowan perceives himself as a latter day Brendan Behan; as a romantic Irish iconoclast with a ready wit, a free-thinking republican writer who suffered for his art, his convictions, his unwillingness to be shackled. Perhaps that is why he allowed himself to be typecast as a drunken minstrel in the Johnny Depp film The Libertine, or why he called his caustic memoirs A Drink With Shane MacGowan.
He has a razor sharp mind, even when addled with drink, and is incredibly well-read. MacGowan says he was reading Marx and Trotsky as an 11-year-old, and he references William Burroughs and James Clarence Mangan regularly, even if he doesn’t have a lot of time for Samuel Beckett (“a miserable fat old bastard”), WB Yeats (“an old fairy”) or even Plato (“basically just some Greek c***”).
An avid reader as a child, the moment MacGowan decided to channel his vast energies into music came when he left detox aged 17. “It was like fate,” he says. “The first thing I saw when I came out of the madhouse was the Sex Pistols, a bunch of people who looked like they ought to be in a loony bin.” He became Shane O’Hooligan, living the punk dream and fronting first The Nipple Erectors and then the Millwall Chainsaw. Read more…
And so I present to you, a true Christmas classic
It was Christmas Eve babe In the drunk tank An old man said to me, won’t see another one And then he sang a song The Rare Old Mountain Dew I turned my face away And dreamed about you
Got on a lucky one Came in eighteen to one I’ve got a feeling This year’s for me and you So happy Christmas I love you baby I can see a better time When all our dreams come true
They’ve got cars big as bars They’ve got rivers of gold But the wind goes right through you It’s no place for the old When you first took my hand On a cold Christmas Eve You promised me Broadway was waiting for me
You were handsome You were pretty Queen of New York City When the band finished playing They howled out for more Sinatra was swinging, All the drunks they were singing We kissed on a corner Then danced through the night
The boys of the NYPD choir Were singing “Galway Bay” And the bells were ringing out For Christmas day
You’re a bum You’re a punk You’re an old slut on junk Lying there almost dead on a drip in that bed You scumbag, you maggot You cheap lousy faggot Happy Christmas your arse I pray God it’s our last
I could have been someone Well so could anyone You took my dreams from me When I first found you I kept them with me babe I put them with my own Can’t make it all alone I’ve built my dreams around you.
The dogs woke me up licking my face at 6:30 this morning despite the fact that we went to bed at 3 AM. Ruby apparently had to pee. I knew she shouldn’t have had that last strawberry daiquiri. So I threw on some sweats and took them out. We ran into my friend Ken & his dog Ginger outside Starbucks, and since I was out of Diet Coke, I went in and ordered a mocha frappuccino. Then I realized I didn’t have my wallet as I was just wearing sweats. So I told the woman, “Never mind, I forgot my wallet.” She said, “Don’t worry, it’s on the house!” It kind of took me aback for a moment, and then I just said, “Wow, thank you!” Can you believe that?
So, if you’re reading this, you should “Pay it forward” and buy 2 frappuccinos (on me) next time you go to Starbucks.
After work I took Garbo & Ruby for a four hour walk. Well, we didn’t really walk the whole four hours. We met Tyson for dinner. While we ate our pasta, Garbo & Ruby played with a cute Jack Russell Terrier puppy. Afterwards we took some pictures in Beverly Hills and headed home.
Tyson, Ruby & Garbo
Slummin’ It
Suffice it to say, they are pooped!
Carol invited me to another screening at the Screen Actor’s Guild Theater again on Saturday morning. We’re going to see Pirates….with a real cast of characters!
On the subject of subverting government, Carol also told me about one of the words in the recent National Spelling Bee, which I had never heard:
leadership or predominant influence exercised by one nation over others, as in a confederation.
2.
leadership; predominance.
3.
(esp. among smaller nations) aggression or expansionism by large nations in an effort to achieve world domination.
Speaking of the National Spelling Bee, Jimmy Kimmel had Evan M. O’Dorney, this year’s champion on his show last night. This is painfully funny to watch. The poor kid is absolutely clueless, but it’s so hilarious!!
That’s his parents laughing about halfway through. The poor thing is such a genius but he just couldn’t understand what was going on.
And last but not least, from California to Munich, HAPPY BIRTHDAY CATHY!!!!! xoxoxo GLY
I took a night off blogging last night, so I have a lot to talk about today. I usually don’t post this many videos, but I think you will find them all interesting to say the least. I might start blogging every other day, not sure.
I finally uploaded this video I shot of Tyson at the “Kickin’ it Old Skool” Red Carpet Party two weeks ago. He was nice enough to invite me, as well as Christine, Jamie & Tammy. They had just arrived that morning from Green Bay, Wisconsin, and that afternoon we went to the American Idol Gives Back concert at the Disney Concert Hall downtown. It was quite an introduction to Hollywood. I think they assumed that all my nights in here were like that! (Shhhhh…let’s not tell them the truth.)
Screw MIT!!
I may have posted this one before, but he’s just so cute!
It’s down to the wire. I’m making plans to go to the finale next week. Incidentally if anyone wants to go to the “American Idol Tonight” show tomorrow, I have 2 tickets, first come first served. These are NOT tickets to American Idol. They’re tickets to another show called “American Idol Tonight” that’s hosted by Kimberly Caldwell and Justin Guarini. It’s pretty “D List” if you ask me, but if you’re a fan of either of these two former contestants, I have the tickets.
Are you wondering why we haven’t heard from Sanjaya lately? It’s because the poor thing has been doing drag shows in Seattle. I kid you not. This is almost painful to look at. Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you:
“Sanjina”
Bad huh? They might as well have kicked him out of the closet. It’s hard to watch…
BUT, not NEARLY as hard to watch as this: (Warning, hide the children!!!)
I still can’t watch it without screaming.
And then there were three…
So who do you like? I’m hoping it comes down to Melinda and Blake (though I don’t think it will). Although Jordin is a good singer and quite marketable, she’s a bit too polished for me. She’s only 17 and it feels like she’s been being groomed for this all her life. She’s already a plus sized model used to being in the public eye. She just seems a little plastic to me. I’m sure she’ll be a star no matter what. A lot of people like her. Melinda, who I didn’t like much in the beginning, has really grown on me. She comes across as a person of honesty and integrity. But has anyone else besides Ryan and me, noticed her resemblance to ‘Ouzzie of The Jeffersons?
Separated at birth?
Farewell Falwell – See you in Hell
Jerry Falwell was known for his commitment to right-wing causes of all kinds, and in particular, his hostility to civil rights, feminists and gays. Remember when he said the purple Teletubby Tinky-Winky was gay? Or when he blamed 9/11 on feminists, gays pagans, and the ACLU? Ah yes.
I tried to reach Tinky Winky the purple Teletubby before this blog posting went to press, but was told by his representatives that he was out celebrating at the local leather bar.
Though I offer Falwell’s family condolences, I’m glad he won’t be spewing his hate laden rhetoric any more.
Is Smoking a Civil Liberty?
If you saw (if not you should), the movie “Thank Your For Smoking” you know how downright criminal the tobacco industry is. If you read the New York Times article about tobacco companies actually increasing the amount of nicotine in cigarettes to make people more addicted; then you know how desperate they are.
Drinking is not a crime. But if you drink and drive and end up hurting or killing someone you go to jail. Being overweight is not a crime. You won’t end up hurting or killing someone if you’re overweight, except yourself. Smoking is not a crime. Yet every smoker who smokes in public runs the risk of hurting or killing someone through secondhand smoke. Do I sound alarmist? Of course I do. I’m really pissed off though. The past 3 weekends, I’ve had houseguests staying with me who smoked. Granted they were all extremely courteous about their habit. They only smoked on my patio. They never smoked around me. We even joked about them exhaling extremely deeply before they came back in the house.
My mother has always smoked. She smoked in our house the whole time I lived there, despite me being very asthmatic. The older I’ve gotten, the more allergic I have become to smoke and the more I’ve resented smokers. If I even get a whiff of it in a hallway or elevator,I feel my lungs begin to tighten. That’s how bad it is. Perhaps some of it’s in my head, but who cares? I have a physical reaction to smoke.
I understand that tobacco is one of the hardest addictions to curb. I understand that tobacco lobbyists are still huge political contributors. I understand that most smokers want to quit. But the more I have to walk past a building where people are huddled around smoking, the more I begin to hate smokers. I shouldn’t hate smokers, I should hate smoking. I know that. But I’m beginning to hate smokers, and that’s really scary and sad and I have to stop. It’s going to be something I have to deal with, because I know, like any addiction, people won’t quit until they want to, and I don’t want to hate every smoker I know.
So what is there to do? Since you’re not allowed to smoke inside any public places, including bars and clubs in California, people have to smoke outside. This means I am not able to eat outside anywhere. It means I can’t enjoy the beautiful California sunshine when I go to a park. When we went to Disneyland a couple of weeks ago, I told my friends that it was all non-smoking, and you should have seen the look of horror on their faces! Unfortunately I learned that there are a few smoking areas in Disneyland, and you’re allowed to smoke outside in Downtown Disney, which almost ruins the entire experience for me.
So, what to do? I guess I’m lucky I don’t live overseas. Although, now that Italy and even Ireland, as well as other notoriously smoke filled countries have gone the way of the U.S., the tide is slowly turning. Whenever I go overseas, I literally take 3 inhalers with me. That’s how bad it is.
If you were a smoker, smoking in a public place, and I walked past you fanning my hand in front of my face with a disgusted look; would you be angry at me? Offended? Would you think I was an asshole? What about if we were both at a restaurant sitting outside where smoking was allowed. How would you react if I came over to your table and politely told you that the wind was blowing your smoke towards me and that I’m allergic to smoke and it was really bothering me? Would you be angry? Offended? Would you think I was an asshole?
One of my best friend’s an I got into an argument recently when the above situation happened (though the big difference was that it was an outdoor restaurant that did not allow smoking). Instead of me going over to the table and asking them to quit, he wanted to do it. He thought it would be better coming from him, as he was a smoker. I think he also feared I would be a bit nasty about it. By the way, this particular restaurant in Disneyland did NOT allow smoking outside, so they were already breaking the rules, not to mention inconveniencing me. After my friend asked them to stop, they did. But they continued to give me dirty looks until they left. The crux of our argument was why, if I wanted to ask the girls across from us to stop smoking, why didn’t I go to the bar, and ask the people there to stop smoking? My answer was because I couldn’t smell that smoke, it wasn’t affecting me. If I did smell it, I would have had the same reaction. We argued about this for a while and never came to an agreement, which is OK. Friends don’t always have to agree.
Now, if I was an “activist” I probably would have gone to the bar and asked people to stop smoking because it wasn’t allowed (even at the outside bar of this restaurant). I’m not really an activist though. I think they are an important part of any divisive issue, but I would rather confront me “enemy” when they are directly impacting my rights. In this case my right to breathe clean air outside.
I’m writing about this because I’m literally at my wit’s end. It’s getting to the point where I hate going out to public places that allow smoking. Here in LA, all of the malls are outdoors. On a Saturday afternoon it’s like being in a wildfire in the Hollywood Hills! So, back the the original question. As defined by Wikipedia:
Civil liberties is the name given to freedoms that completely protect the individual from government. Civil liberties set limits for government so that it can not abuse its power and interfere with the lives of its citizens. See also civil rights and human rights.
So, is smoking a civil liberty? Please weigh in. I’m going to go get my inhaler.
Why are all of my favorite bands selling out to big corporations for advertising? I guess that’s a rhetorical question.
They’ve ruined some of my favorite songs. Comments?
Bush Gets Owned by CNN!
Don’t you love it! LOL
ON THE LIGHTER SIDE “I was going to have Mom come out [to New York] for Mother’s Day. I thought it would be great fun. But she doesn’t have enough Greyhound miles.” — David Letterman
Of course, now he wouldn’t touch his cube anymore, because Tyson had solved it. Here’s the video:
So I threw on some sweats and took them out. We ran into my friend Ken & his dog Ginger outside Starbucks, and since I was out of Diet Coke, 
I went in and ordered a mocha frappuccino. Then I realized I didn’t have my wallet as I was just wearing sweats. So I told the woman, “Never mind, I forgot my wallet.” She said, “Don’t worry, it’s on the house!” It kind of took me aback for a moment, and then I just said, “Wow, thank you!” Can you believe that? 
