Category: Other People

My brother is now blogging from Bolivia. He says he’ll be posting more once he gets internet at home. In the meantime, check out his friend Pancho en Ecuador, (sitio en Español) who’s working on a similar project in Ecuador. Particularly amusing is his story of a visit to story Lago Agrio, a town known principally for what are called the three Ps (putas, petroleros, y pistoleros — that is, whores, oilmen, and gunslingers). Plus, tips for flying through the Andes in a tiny plane rated for flights below 2500 meters: start to worry if the pilot looks terrified.

Notes from a refugee from New Orleans:

As we approached the bridge, armed Gretna sheriffs formed a line across the
foot of the bridge. Before we were close enough to speak, they began firing
their weapons over our heads. This sent the crowd fleeing in various
directions. As the crowd scattered and dissipated, a few of us inched
forward and managed to engage some of the sheriffs in conversation. We told them of our conversation with the police commander and of the commander’s assurances. The sheriffs informed us there were no buses waiting. The commander had lied to us to get us to move.

We questioned why we couldn’t cross the bridge anyway, especially as there
was little traffic on the 6-lane highway. They responded that the West Bank
was not going to become New Orleans and there would be no Superdomes in their City. These were code words for if you are poor and black, you are not
crossing the Mississippi River and you were not getting out of New Orleans.

On the other hand, if we weren’t cruel, how would we define, ostracize, and destroy the weakest and least fit among us? And more importantly, if it weren’t for mocking the ugly, the bad-at-spelling, and the self-importnat, what would we do for fun?

Bookdwarf says: “I can barely tell it’s him. He kind of looks like Anthony Michael Hall from 16 Candles.”

May 18, 1964: Brighton turns into a battleground between warring teenage gangs. Of course, now, the mods and rockers actually have their rallies together, and they don’t fight so much as reminisce about the good old days.

Tonight, if I’m lucky, I’ll be right near Brighton (Boston’s Brighton, of course), at O’Brien’s in Allston at the 2005 Boston Scooter Rally run by the Boston Stranglers and associated nogoodniks. Actually from my experience they’re all very nice folks, the sort to wave to anyone else on two wheels.

The much-rumored retirement announcement has come out of the court, and in a surprise to me, it turned out to be Sandra Day O’Connor who is leaving. I totally thought it would be Dumbeldore. I’ve already got a preorder in for the next session.

Romney is backing a new bill to keep uppity queers from getting hitched, and the PAC supporting it is called Vote on Marriage. Because, you see, they want to put civil rights to a vote. I’m not really opposed to the voting– any law in this country and in this state is a combination of judges, lawmakers, and people, and fighting about stuff is how it gets resolved. But the fact is, they don’t want you to vote “on” marriage. They want you to vote against marriage for some people. They want you to vote for hate. My concern is less over whether it’s voted on, adjudicated, or legislated over, and more over whether the just decision is made.

As always, in situations like this, I return to the standup-comedian approach, because humor is how many people deal best with things that make us uncomfortable, and the gayness does make people uncomfortable. Hence the slogans like “I approve of gay marriage if both chicks are hot.” So I sent this letter to Romney and a similar one to the Globe, reiterating themes from previous letters I’ve sent to both of them.

You may be appealing to social conservatives by opposing gay marriage, but you are certainly not doing any favors to economic conservatives that voted for you. Legalizing gay marriage has brought a great financial gift to Massachusets: gay weddings. Happy couples and their celebrations have helped to boost the economy through wedding gifts, hotel stays, party hall rentals, and catering expenditures. In addition, a reputation for tolerance attracts creative and innovative people who will fuel the future economic success of our commonwealth.

Banning gay marriage would drive gay couples to Vermont and Canada for their weddings, taking dollars out of local pockets both straight and gay. If we increase regulation of the wedding industry at the risk of harming the economy, we will prevent the Commonwealth of Massachusetts from competing with Canada on a level playing field to host the gala weddings of the coming century.

Sadly, No! covers Republican backtracking over the Schiavo autopsy more effectively than I ever could.

This is really my favorite kind of event: one where I was right, but other people went ahead and ignored me, and now I can say, “I told you so!” Wow, I’m passive-aggressive.

This article about the Italian IVF law is pretty screwed up and depressing.

I think this is a joke but you never can tell.

Now that it’s warm out and I am riding the scooter and people are driving around with their windows down, I hear funny music with fun bass lines. Also I notice that a significant portion of the people in cars around me are smoking pot on the way in to work in the morning. I think this may explain the way people drive around here.