Up the Down Staircase

Orphah (as it should be) and Sarah; as Wilde described fox hunting, The unspeakable in pursuit of the uneatable; or in this case, The unwatchable in pursuit of the unthinkable.

Soon I have to get on a bus and go to NYC and am consequently very cranky.

Oh, and First!!!1!1! Woo hoo!

My lovely wife and I saw Parade last night. Very well staged and performed, but here’s what I’m wondering: when someone first proposed making a musical from the story of Leo Frank’s lynching, what was the reaction?

I should think they were thrilled. Musical people love to think their work is ‘about’ something, that it promotes big ‘themes’. Same is true for plays in the US. We had a spate of plays about South Africa which allowed a privileged white audience feel superior to racism and gave us the divine Seraphina, followed by a spate of plays ‘about’ AIDS, which allowed a privileged white mostly straight audience feel like they cared and gave us Angels. Everybody is on the hunt for sensational material. Haven’t seen the show in question. Glad you enjoyed it.

TJ: Death of Newspapers Watch: Southern Voice, Washington Blade, and other gay news & other publications shut down abruptly this morning. We’re without a gay newspaper here, though Project Q Atlanta is trying to fill the void online.

as promised I saw 2012 yesterday. wow. what a crappy movie. unbelievable effects but wow. what a crappy movie. I actually left before it was over.
I calculated the effects were over and I couldnt take any more.
but for me it was worth seeing the effects on the big screen.

ps
the only good thing is you get to see the Vatican destroyed.

Here’s a wacky idea – let’s not put chemicals in the water and air.

Signed,
The Lorax

@SanFranLefty: I’d be out of a job.

TJ, what a delightful essay on that species of fucktard known as the ARA, Ayn Rand Asshole: http://www.gq.com/entertainment/books/200911/ayn-rand-dick-books-fountainhead

I just went into the kitchen and hugged my Brita pitcher.

@rptrcub: And speaking of the media, CNN paid Lou Dobbs $8 million to go away.

@Capt Howdy: Son of RML saw that on Saturday on his first date. “Epic,” my 7th grader said. “You have to see it on the big screen.” I was barred from going with them so I’ll have to wait.

@rptrcub: Wow, sorry to hear that. Mrs RML’s paper is hanging in there, still come out daily, losses are manageable, but the workplace is just toxic. She might have won an award over the weekend for her special publications. She’ll know the results later.

@redmanlaw:
well it was epic. and he is right. to appreciate the amazing effects you need to see it on a big screen. its just to bad it was not 30 minutes long and nothing but effects.
also. he may not remember Emmerichs other movies which were exactly the same. almost shot for shot with different actors and every so slightly different plot/reasons for destruction.

@redmanlaw: I’ll keep my fingers crossed.

this is so cool:

Will Phillips, 10-Year-Old, Won’t Pledge Allegiance To A Country That Discriminates Against Gays (VIDEO)

the kid is even from arkansas!
finally! we can be known for something besides Walmart and two bluedog demorats.

@Capt Howdy:

The other side has lost on Gay rights issues. They just don’t know it yet.

@Tommmcatt is hunkered down in the trenches:
you are probably right but what a gutsy little kid.
there are risks in this for him.

@Tommmcatt is hunkered down in the trenches:

in other news, check out the book I just ordered from amazon

Sodomy and the Pirate Tradition: English Sea Rovers in the Seventeenth-Century Caribbean, Second Edition

really there was two items in the order this is the other one

@redmanlaw: RML Jr’s first date, how exciting! Did you sit him down for a little chat beforehand? Did you interview the young lady in question to make sure her intentions were pure or at least put the fear of god into her?

@redmanlaw: @flippin eck:

Isn’t it weird, I’ve only met this kid once but upon reading that I thought “Oh, no, little SORML! Growing up too fast!”.

@Capt Howdy:

I’ve always said there should be more pirate-themed Gay porn.

@Capt Howdy: The first bad sign was the trailer where they talk about jumping in an escape ship.

The second bad sign was a development deal for a “2013” TV series.

(Actually, the first bad sign was Roland Emmerich. But that’s presumed.)

@Tommmcatt is hunkered down in the trenches:
On a manly ship!

@Tommmcatt is hunkered down in the trenches:
I agree but you understand this is not gay porn. THIS is a scholarly treatise

@nojo:
the really ridiculous part is the “tense” part at the end is about if the rich people on the working arks will save the rich people (who bought seats for 1 billion euros) who get stuck on the dock by a not working ark.
and I am wondering, “I am supposed to give a shit about this”
(this is after pretty much everyone in the world except the rich people are dead)

thats when I left. oh, and its long.

@Capt Howdy:

Oh, sure. I’ll believe anything.

@flippin eck, tommmcattt: GF of SORML is a cute little Hispanic cello-playing metal head in the 8th grade who rocks the Invader Zim gear. We met the family afterward and found out that we (except for Mrs RML) were all at a big heavy metal show that got rained out a couple of years ago. We had a pre-game chat, and I helped with logistics and etiquette. I recommended to the boy that he burn some Yo Yo Ma cds for his gf as a thoughtful gesture.

@Capt Howdy: I didn’t say the Pledge in 7th grade in my rural northern New Mexico town adjacent to the rez because I felt I was within my rights of expression not to say it, although I heart my country. No one gave me any shit about it either.

@redmanlaw: who rocks the Invader Zim gear

As the proud bearer of a Zim hard drive, a Gir (as dog) desktop and a Gir (as robot) iPhone wallpaper, I could totally dig a Gaz chick.

@Tommmcatt is hunkered down in the trenches:
anyway the really important part of that order was the three wolf moon tshirt.

@Tommmcatt is hunkered down in the trenches:
oh, and the reviews are worth a look:

Ahoy me fine salty sailors. If ye be lookin for gripping adventure on the high seas, this be the book for ye. It hoisted me mizzen mast and shivered me timbers, Yar! If you’ve ever wondered exactly what to do with a drunken sailor, this is the book for you. The author, Barry Richard Burg is a great expert on seamen and it really shows through. I was dissapointed to find that the nautical phrase “a three days blow” didn’t mean what I thought it did, but the author’s loving descriptions of how these pirates would oil each other up with whale blubber and lash each other with the cat o’ nine tails more than made up for it.

@Capt Howdy: What’s long and full of seamen?

A submarine.

ADD: Wired’s online Somali pirate game.
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2009/11/navy-pirates-wired-with-online-sea-jacking-game/

@redmanlaw:
I knew that

@redmanlaw:

Online Sea-Jacking Game

pfft

@redmanlaw: They sound like an adorable, sensitive, metalhead couple….and after all, you can’t go wrong with cello players.

@flippin eck: Cellos + metal = Apocalyptica.

http://www.apocalyptica.com/

Performing the Metallica song Nothing Else Matters:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbTozgoj9OQ

@Capt Howdy:

Yah, what was that about? It looked like something one might find at a furry convention. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

@Tommmcatt is hunkered down in the trenches:
well, for me it was being a part of history. that shirt has become famous as a result of the comments about it on amazon.

This item has wolves on it which makes it intrinsically sweet and worth 5 stars by itself, but once I tried it on, that’s when the magic happened. After checking to ensure that the shirt would properly cover my girth, I walked from my trailer to Wal-mart with the shirt on and was immediately approached by women. The women knew from the wolves on my shirt that I, like a wolf, am a mysterious loner who knows how to ‘howl at the moon’ from time to time (if you catch my drift!). The women that approached me wanted to know if I would be their boyfriend and/or give them money for something they called mehth. I told them no, because they didn’t have enough teeth, and frankly a man with a wolf-shirt shouldn’t settle for the first thing that comes to him.

yikes

“Denmark has unveiled official research showing that two-year-old children are at risk from a bewildering array of gender-bending chemicals in such everyday items as waterproof clothes, rubber boots, bed linen, food, sunscreen lotion, and moisturizing cream. A picture is emerging of ubiquitous chemical contamination driving down sperm counts and feminizing male children all over the developed world. Research at Rotterdam’s Erasmus University found that boys whose mothers were exposed to PCBs and dioxins were more likely to play with dolls and tea sets and dress up in female clothes. ‘The amounts that two-year-olds absorb from the [preservatives] parabens propylparaben and butylparaben can constitute a risk for oestrogen-like disruptions of the endocrine system,’ says the report. The contamination may also offer a clue to a mysterious shift in the sex of babies. Normally 106 boys are born for every 100 girls: it is thought to be nature’s way of making up for the fact that men were more likely to be killed hunting or in conflict. But the proportion of females is rising. ‘Both the public and wildlife are inadequately protected from harm, as regulation is based on looking at exposure to each substance in isolation, and yet it is now proven beyond doubt that hormone disrupting chemicals can act together to cause effects even when each by itself would not,’ says Gwynne Lyons, director of Chem Trust.”

@flippin eck, redmanlaw: you can’t go wrong with cello players.

It’s so true.

@IanJ, flippin eck, nojo: We have now heard favorable comments on her from the metal, cello and Invader Zim communities, as well a rare nod from Disapproving Rabbits.

@redmanlaw:

Incidentally, do you have the game Brutal Legend yet?

Get it, trust me.

@Tommmcatt is hunkered down in the trenches: Not a gamer. This place, FB and my other pursuits keep me busy enough, although I may ditch it all to get some house painting done before Thanksgiving. We may get the system that you can play Blu-Rays on for Christmas, however, so Son of RML doesn’t have to go play games at some unsupervised location.

@redmanlaw:

Trust me, Brutal Legend. If theyhave it for the “cheap blu-ray player”, that is. It may only be on the other system.

@redmanlaw: Wait, she likes Disapproving Rabbits too? OMG, do not let you son let this one go!

@flippin eck: I meant to say from the readership of Disapproving Rabbits. She may be more of a FU Penguin type because of the glare she gave her mom’s chihuahua whn we were meeting the fam.

@redmanlaw: I highly recommend that SORML include in the cello CD burning (not that I’m advocating burning CDs and violating copyright, maybe he can order this on Stinque), the CD of Yo-Yo Ma Plays Ennio Morricone. Worth it alone for the rendition of the “Ecstasy of Gold” from The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.

@Capt Howdy: That’s a fascinating book. A fave of mine. They really did sail under the Jolly Roger. It’s a strangely heartwarming book

@SanFranLefty: Metallica have used Ecstasy of Gold as their entrance music for a couple of decades now. They have now arranged it as an instrumental for the band. The crowd sings the melody in this performance this year from Copenhagen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJEAeRdgqKAasty

@redmanlaw: Check out the Lou Reed cello thing I sent you on facebook.

@Promnight: Thanks. I sure enjoyed that.

@Tommmcatt is hunkered down in the trenches: I read that cats are going under the hood of the PS3 and getting a hell of a hot rod pc out of it.

@Capt Howdy: Three wolf shirt? Damn. Will you wear that on our first date?

@Benedick:
only if we can eat at Walmart