Landis update

The Associated Press has issued an updated story on Floyd Landis. It does seem unthinkable that he would take a chance on getting caught like this, but who knows how one thinks under the huge stress of competing in Le Tour de France--particularly after the disasterous performance Landis had in Stage 16.

UPDATE: Landis has denied cheating.

Floyd Landis a doper?

Floyd Landis has failed a drug test taken the day he made his remarkable recovery in Le Tour de France. Excessive testosterone was found. If this is confirmed by a test of his back-up sample he will lose his championship, and probably be banned from cycling for two years.

Testosterone is not easily administered. It can't be taken orally, and must be injected or gotten topically with a patch or a gel spread on the skin. So the chance that Landis got this drug accidentally (assuming the test was not in error) is small.

It will be sad if Landis is disqualified. And it could dampen the popular enthusiasm for cycling, already reeling from one drug scandal right before this year's Tour. I find the whole thing very disheartening. I have already lost a great deal of my interest in track and field because of past doping scandals. Now this. Phooey.

Plat du jour

This one is a bit of a puzzle. I'm guessing that the "4" was substituted for an "A," which would make this read "ALKY DOG"--as in "alcoholic dog."

Living with bears XIII

Connecticut: Bear making a habit of wandering where people live
Colorado: Bear nabbed after snack in Red Mountain home

A little experiment in attracting visitors

Yahoo has a "Buzz Log," a list of what the most popular Yahoo searches are each day. So I'm wondering what will happen to my visitor count if I mention the top 10:
1 Miss Universe
2 Ashlee Simpson
3 Miss USA
4 WWE
5 Zuleyka Rivera Mendoza
6 Kurara Chibana
7 Jessica Simpson
8 Wikipedia
9 Nicole Kidman
10 Paris Hilton

A very ambiguous headline

Artie Shaw's Ex-Wife Gets Half of Estate
He was married eight times.

Amnesty International may back right to abortion

The Nobel Peace Prize-winning human rights organization Amnesty International is considering altering its "neutral" stand on abortion and birth control, to include them among the rights of women they will fight for. Naturally, anti-abortion people, including some who have some who have previously supported the group, are opposed. Some have already ceased their contributions, even though the change in policy is only in the early discussion stages--it would not be voted on until August of next year at the earliest.

While I think Amnesty International has occasionally gone overboard in declaring certain government actions violations of human rights (not that I can remember a specific instance at the moment), they do good work in general. They should support all human rights, including the right of women to choose to have an abortion. If they do actually change their policy, I'll think I will start to contribute to them.

The 10:1 ratio

Israel seems to have lessened its efforts in Lebanon, at least looking at the death toll--or perhaps it's that Hezbollah is resisting more effectively. The Associated Press has it at 391-43. Of course, as was pointed out in a comment to my previous post on the subject, these are only the reported deaths.

UPDATE: Now (5:26pm ET) the AP has it at 422-42 (Israel's went down one?).

(slightly) Weird websearch

Someone found my blog searching for "thai food." Someone from Thailand!

That's a relief

I took the test, and it said:

You Will Die at Age 79

You're pretty average when it comes to how you live... And how you'll die as well.

At What Age Will You Die?

UPDATE: If I floss my teeth every day I can add three years!

Plat du jour

A well-balanced Californian.

The last stage of Le Tour de France

Right now they're about 50 miles from the end of the Tour. In case you haven't heard about it, Floyd Landis did take the yellow jersey (the overall race leadership) in the time trial yesterday.

This last stage, ending with several laps up and down the Champs Elysée in Paris, is ceremonial--sort of. It does count, but the unwritten rules prohibit attacks against the jersey holders. The racers are taking it easy, talking with each other, having a nice ride. Landis, surrounded by his teammates for protection, stays up front, to avoid any entanglements with others in the peloton. At the end some of the lesser lights will probably fight for the stage win, but Landis will play it safe, ensuring his victory.

The 10:1 ratio holds

Now the Lebanon-Israel death count is 375 to 36. My prediction still looks good.

A weird websearch returns

Back in June I noted how a websearch for "stagehand stagehands madison square garden 2006" brought someone to my blog--someone from Arizona. This week, on Wednesday to be precise, I received another visit from an Arizonan--presumably the same person--searching for madonna july 18 madison square garden stagehands. (The entry for my blog has disappeared from the search list as of now.) I really wonder what s/he is looking for. Maybe it's a friend or relative of a stagehand. I dunno.

Plat du jour

.

Living with bears XII

Colorado: 3 bears get probation after raiding kitchen

Still 10:1

The latest AP report has the Lebanon-Israel death count at 335 to 34. As I said before, this 10:1 ratio will continue.

Living with bears XI

North Carolina: Bear rummages through Lake Norman neighborhood
Colorado: Bear Activity In Vail Prompts Emergency Law, Glenwood also battling bear problem
South Carolina: Experts say bear just passing through Cornelius

Floyd Landis--incroyable!

Yesterday Floyd Landis "blew up," coming in 10 minutes behind the stage winner and losing the yellow jersey (overall race leader) by over 8 minutes--falling down to 11th place. Everyone wrote him off for this year's Tour. Today he shocked everyone by demolishing the stage (the last in the mountains)--almost as if yesterday never happened. He's clawed himself back up to third place, only 30 seconds behind.

It was an amazing race. Landis pushed hard from the first climb--shocking the overall race leaders. At one point he broke a spoke and had to change bikes. He ended up winning by 5 minutes and 42 seconds, in what commentators are saying is the greatest single day effort by anyone in the modern era.

The race will probably be decided Saturday, when there's an indivdual time trial--a discipline at which Landis excels. I'm going to get up early to see all of that one.

Comic book stamps

The U.S. Postal Service is issuing stamps and postcards commemorating DC Comics super heroes.

But I'm sure these are all self-stick stamps. So you still can't lick Superman. Or Wonder Woman, if that's your preference.

10:1--a pretty steady number

According to the AP round-up, there have been about 300 people killed in Lebanon, and 29 in Israel. This 10 to 1 ratio has been pretty steady--and I suspect the Israelis will keep it steady.

Plat du jour

.

Back by popular demand!

My friend Johanna is bringing her show of Kurt Weill and Jacques Brel songs back to The Duplex for four more performances in August--before she takes it out to Colorado where she's been asked to perform at the Telluride Film Festival. I went to her show last spring and had a great time. And she says she's made improvements!

So get your tickets now before they're all gone--only $10, plus a two drink minimum at the show.

Living with bears X

Alaska: Bear goes Dumpster diving
California: Wounded bear found dead near Tahoe lake

Nevermind what's good for the people

Lawmaker Clubs Have Little Accountability

Sen. Conrad Burns, a member of 18 caucuses, said he joined the Sweetener Caucus at the behest of sugar beet growers in his state.

"I don't think I've ever attended," Burns, R-Mont., said of caucus meetings. "I do what my growers tell me. I know we grow a lot of sugar beets in Montana."

They also seem to grow Republican senators who don't bother to do their own thinking. They just do what a special interest tells them.

Plat du jour

I wonder what s/he thinks of C.S.I.?

How much is that doggie in the window?

At Victoria's Secret. Sooooooo cute!

Potty mouth Bush

Now here's some really big news: President Bush used the word "shit" when referring to Hezbollah's actions. He was caught on an open microphone while conversing with UK Prime Minister Tony Blair at the G-8 conference in Russia.

So now we know that he not only talks shit, he says shit.

Weird websearch of the day

the beatles: glob ticket company lists my blog as third. Even if it were "globe" it doesn't make any sense to me.

Grendel

Last night we went to see Grendel, a new opera that is part of this year's Lincoln Center Festival. The big attraction was the work's director, co-librettist, co-puppet designer, and, according to the program "co-conceiver," Julie Taymor. I had marveled at her wonderfully inventive The Lion King puppets on Broadway, as well as her staging of Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute) at the Metropolitan Opera. (I also loved her film Frida.) So I wanted to see her new effort.

There was a lot of press about Grendel's recent world premiere at the Los Angeles Opera. The computer controlling the scenery failed, and it did not open on schedule. They got things sorted out eventually, and it drew mixed reviews. But I still wanted to see it. So it was off to Lincoln Center, past the Midsummer Night Swing dance area, under the boat sculpture, to the New York State Theatre.

As usual, I got a seat which could use some new springs, but it wasn't too bad.

There is a lot about Grendel that is innovative. It is the retelling of the ninth century tale of Beowulf, the mythical Swedish hero who slays a monster. Many people read it in their English classes, though I never had it. What's different in this retelling is that it is from the point of view of the monster--Grendel. It is based on the 1971 novel by John Gardner. Basically Grendel doesn't like being a monster, but comes to realize that that's his lot, he can't change it, and humans need monsters to fight in order to define themselves.

Another innovation: there are five singers portraying Grendel. Eric Owens (pictured above) is the main one, but there are three "Shadow Grendels" also, which basically allow Grendel to easily talk to himself, as well as to give the voice of the main Grendel a chance to rest now and then--it is a huge part. The fifth one is the Child Grendel, used in a flashback. This was sung by the diminutive soprano Michèle Eaton, whom I've seen perform a number of times at the P.D.Q. Bach concerts.

Also unusual, if not quite innovative, is the use of two languages in the libretto. Grendel sings in modern (sometimes quite vulgar) English, while the humans sing in Old English. (Both are shown in modern English on the supertitles, but they use a different font for the translations of the Old.)

It was clear from the start that the music is not Grendel's strong point. Composed by Elliot Goldenthal (Taymor's significant other), it is tuneless, modern "movie music," as I like to call it--great for setting the mood, for conveying emotion, but not pretty in the least. And in this case, not memorable in the least.

The most impressive part of the production (outside of Owens' performance, which I'll get to), isn't the staging (the scenery computer worked just fine, BTW) or even the puppetry. It is the dancing. A series of ensemble pieces continues throughout the show, and a long solo by Desmond Richardson as Beowulf caps the opera. If they could somehow extract the dance portion of the opera, it would make an excellent stand-alone ballet.

The much-anticipated scenery is nothing extraordinary. It's a rotating wall, which is not uncommon in operas. The only innovative part of it is a trapezoidal section in the center that swings down at various angles to become anything from a throne room to a children's snow-covered sliding hill. The use of projections now and then is actually a more useful device.

The puppets are every bit as good as Taymor's Lion King efforts. Sometimes Grendel is portrayed by a huge puppet, fighting normal-sized humans. Other times miniature puppets battle Owens as Grendel. There are a number of others.

As I've said, Owens' portrayal of Grendel was excellent. It is a huge role, said to be one of the longest for a bass-baritone. Also wonderful was Denyce Graves' cynical Dragon (to whom Grendel goes for advice on being a monster). It's a much smaller role, but still difficult.

As I've also said, this is not a music-driven opera. It's too bad there isn't another category to put it in. It's an interesting, off-beat story of an unhappy creature, with great dancing, excellent puppetry, and more than adequate scenery--appropriately set to off-beat, unhappy music. If you need your opera to have beautiful music, Grendel isn't for you. Otherwise, it's an excellent evening of sung theatre.

Living with bears IX

Connecticut: Black Bear Spotted in Weston
California: Squaw bear faces grim fate
New York: Hungry bear has tongues wagging

Plat du jour

Johnny One Note.

It's July 15!

Happy St. Swithin's day!
St. Swithin (or Swithun) was the Bishop of Winchester back about 1,200 years ago. He was immortalized in the rhyme

St Swithun's day if thou dost rain
For forty days it will remain
St Swithun's day if thou be fair
For forty days 'twill rain na mair

Well, there's no rain in Winchester today, so they can put away the umbrellas over there. At least until St. Bartholomew's Day.

It's July 14!

It's Bastille Day, which marks the beginning of the French Revolution in 1789--their 4th of July.

And happy anniversary to Helen and Betty, and happy birthday to J.!

Me? I'm going to a Bastille Day Ball.

Bad film reviews

I get the little weekly e-mail newsletter from Elliott Kanbar, the president of the Quad Cinema here in NYC. This time he listed some excerpts from reviews for films the critics, let's just say, disliked. My favorites:

HUDSON HAWK (1991). "A solid contender for the longest 95 minute movie in history." Chris Hicks, Desert News (Salt Lake City).

ROLLERBALL (2003). "Say this for the soundtrack, it drowns out the lousy dialogue." Peter Travers, Rolling Stone.

CATWOMAN (2004). "CATWOMAN doesn't belong on the big screen. It belongs in the litter box." Connie Ogle, Miami Herald.

THE BAD NEWS BEARS GO TO JAPAN (1978). "And they can stay there." Ken Hanke, Mountain Xpress (Ashville, North Carolina).

Kanbar said he got them from "The Bathroom Reader." This is a site I think I want to explore.

Living with bears VIII

North Dakota: Black bear spotted in Grand Forks
California: Bear problems persist
Connecticut: Bear in Bloomfield Center draws lunchtime crowd

Plat du jour

.

Living with bears VII

Virginia: Black bear sighting in Tysons

Two headlines, one mess

On the 1010WINS site there's a story, Government Emergency Alerts to Ping Cells, Internet, about how the Homeland Security Department is working on a system to send emergency alerts to a wide variety of communications devices. Two headlines below is Connecticut Civil Emergency Message Sent in Error. Great. We'll be able to get erroneous alerts on our cellphones.

Another thing to opt out of.

The idiot is still at it

The stupid anti-choice blogger (see my previous post) is still at it. He still doesn't understand the point of satire. He just digs himself in deeper and deeper.

This is the worst! Bravo!

The winner of the annual Bulwer-Lytton literary parody prize has been announced. It is awarded for the worst opening sentence of an imaginary novel. This year's first place entry:

Detective Bart Lasiter was in his office studying the light from his one small window falling on his super burrito when the door swung open to reveal a woman whose body said you've had your last burrito for a while, whose face said angels did exist, and whose eyes said she could make you dig your own grave and lick the shovel clean.

Oh, yeah, I'd really go to her for advice

Donna Hanover Offers Love Advice Online
Let's see. Here's someone who's on her third husband. Her second one (former NYC Mayor Rudolph Giuliani) cheated on her, then told her he wanted a divorce via a public press conference. So we know how good she is at picking husbands. Yeah, she's a great one for love advice.

I knew AOL was pretty weak. But is this the best they can do? My advice: stick to Dear Abby.

Anti-abortion stupidity

Forgive me if you've seen this a zillion other places, but this is just too good to pass up. An anti-abortionist stumbled on a 7-year-old pro-abortion satire from the Onion, thought it was real, and wrote a blog entry (WARNING: graphic photo added) ripping it to shreds. The stupidity of his post is funny, but the comments to it (which he seems perfectly happy to leave up) are hilarious. There are hundreds. I didn't get through half of them, but my favorite is

I laughed so hard I aborted my foetus. Thanks for nothing, babykiller.

So after making a complete fool of himself, and instead of quitting while he was behind, he posted another article defending his original one, even after admitting that the Onion article was fake. His theory: he's heard real women say the same sort of thing--never stopping to think that maybe they were pulling his leg, also. Then he goes on to demonstrate that, even after looking it up in the dictionary, he still doesn't understand what "satire" means. I'd tell him to look up "gullible" also, but I doubt he'd understand that, either.

It's good to know that the anti-abortionists have such idiots among their numbers. It's scary to know that he has as many votes as I do. On the other hand, there's a decent chance that anyone this stupid will accidentally do himself in before the next election.

(P.S. Thanks to Betty for pointing this out.)

UPDATE: He has disabled the comments, and added a picture of what he alleges is an aborted fetus.

Plat du jour

Yes, driving an SUV in the city is obnoxious.

P.S. You can't spell, either.

Living with bears VI

Maryland: Black bear sighted in Montgomery County
Norway: Polar bear chased from airport
Oklahoma: Un"bear"able neighbors

Le Tour de France: Let the race begin!

Now that we've gotten a couple of other international sporting events out of the way, my focus is now on Le Tour de France, the world's greatest bicycle race. 23 days long, it goes all around France (with a few little excursions into neighboring countries) for 2,261 miles this year--the ultimate test for cyclists. Each day (minus a couple for rest and travel) is a separate race, or stage, but the overall winner is based on the lowest total time--it is theoretically possible (though highly unlikely) to win the race without winning any of the daily stages. There's a big article in the Wikipedia explaining everything, with a separate one on this year's race.

It's actually been going on for over a week now, though I haven't watched it very much, as the broadcasts conflicted with Wimbledon's. And I haven't missed that much really, because the race doesn't truly start until tomorrow. That's when the first mountain stage occurs. Some of the stages (five this year) go up mountains, and that (along with the time-trials) is usually where the race winner is largely determined.

It is a strange race--the tactics (and the rules) are not intuitive. Though it is primarily an individual competition, the riders are on teams--20 this year. The teams, nine riders each, are there to support their team leaders. This can be as simple as riding in front of the leader, breaking the wind for him. But it gets much more complicated. There are riders who are only sprinters, who are not good at climbing mountains. But they are trying to win the flat stages (there is a competition just for sprints, on a points basis). Their team members will also be helping them, as well as for the main leader.

The real non-intuitive part, though, is the breakaway or "attack". One or more of the lesser riders will speed away from the main body (the "peloton"). A few others may decide to join. They then work together to try to stay ahead, but usually the peloton does catch up. The race overall race leaders will usually not go with the breakaway, saving energy, because the attackers are seldom those with a real chance to win the whole race. The leaders will just stay in the peloton, as it chases down the attackers.

Which is what happened today. I tuned in for the end of the race. The breakaway group was caught within the last couple miles, and the sprinters eventually raced for the stage win. After 105 miles, 3 hours, 35 minutes and 24 seconds, Oscar Freire grabbed it by inches.
As I said, though, the race really begins tomorrow. American Floyd Landis is in second place overall, a minute behind--not that much in the mountains. We shall see.

Living with bears V

Tennessee: Man Shoots Bear That Walked Onto His Deck

A Prairie Home Companion--the movie

The movie got a good review in the New York Times, so my wife wanted to see it. I had heard, a few times years ago, the radio show of the same name upon which it was based. I liked the comic monologues, the music was OK (though country is not my favorite genre), so I agreed to see it.

Garrison Keillor, the creator and host of the radio show, is the screenwriter of and actor in the movie, where he plays "G.K.," the host of a radio show called "A Prairie Home Companion"--which bears some (but only some) resemblance to the real radio show. If you can figure that out, then you'll be able to understand what the movie isn't. What it is, however, is another question.

I hadn't realized Robert Altman was the director. If I had, I would have been a little more prepared for the film's weirdness, its mild surrealism. The movie seems to start out as a tongue-in-cheek spoof, but then you realize there's no real plot. It just sort of wanders through a depiction of the chaotic last broadcast of a radio show before the theatre it uses is torn down and replaced with a parking ramp. Nobody seems to be in charge, people in their own little worlds just do their little thing. A pregnant woman tries to coordinate things, but few pay her much attention. A representative from the corporate headquarters, "the Axeman," arrives to make sure the show is over, but actually does nothing. Oh yes, there's an angel that some people can sometimes see who wanders around, occasionally killing people.

As I said, the radio show in the movie only bears some resemblance to the real thing. Keillor does not do a comic monologue--my favorite part of the actual radio show. The actors do all their own singing--it's fair, but significantly below the actual level.

Altman fans will probably like this movie. Maybe Keillor fans will like this movie. But if you're neither of the above, you should probably give this one a miss.

Plat du jour

They really do love their dogs up there.

Add one to the Lay murder suspect list

There seems to be someone else who might benefit from Kenneth Lay's death, besides his heirs, high Bush administration officials, and Lay himself (assuming he faked it). Now it seems there is a question whether his co-defendant Jeff Skilling might get off because of it (as blogged by my friend, The Lazy Cartoonist). So add Skilling to the suspect list.

Weird websearch of the day

Someone in Venezuela found this blog looking for penis "mail subscriber".

Living with bears IV

Nevada: Bear's last meal: Fresh goat
Florida: 'Repeat offender' bear, cubs trapped in Apopka-area yard
Tennessee: Bear's fate sealed long before attack

I'm a googling mouse potato...

but not a himbo drama queen. The Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary added 100 words to its listing this year. I have ringtones, but no spyware (I hope). Nor do I have avaian influenza, a gastric bypass, a soul patch or a unibrow. But I have, I'm afraid, supersized.

Farewell, Martina

Martina Navratilova, my favorite tennis player of all time, has played her last match at Wimbledon. Amid the the hubbub of the same-sex marriage decision Thursday, I missed this. This is ironic, of course--Navratilova is lesbian.

Actually, she played and lost two matches Thursday, her quarter-final one in women's doubles, and her third round match in mixed doubles. The mixed was her final one, unfortunately out on Court 2, not on Centre Court, where a player with her history at Wimbledon should have bowed out. Her partner, Mark Knowles, was understandably tired after his record-breaking men's doubles match. Navratilova will remain tied with Billie Jean King for having won the most Wimbledon championships, 20--another irony, as she helped, practically carried, King to her last title in the 1979 doubles.

Yeah, I said 1979. Navratilova will be 50 in October. She retired once before, but returned after three years. She picked up one more Wimbledon title in 2003, the mixed with Leander Paes, to tie King.

She has said she will retire this year. So, good luck, Martina. Thanks for all the great tennis, and thanks for giving us older folk a reason to smile. I hope you find something as rewarding as tennis has been to occupy your life.

A bouquet of boats

is what I later found out the New York Times called it, which is a pretty good name. But I had no idea it existed until I approached the Lincoln Center Plaza to go to a New York Philharmonic concert last evening (review coming). I saw this huge, colorful, thing a block away, and I didn't know what it was. As I got closer, I saw it was a bunch of boats, just hanging in the air. It looked like a monumental boat crash. I didn't have any time to investigate, but I did manage to snap a quick picture with my camera phone.

It turns out this is "Big Pleasure Point," a sculpture by California artist Nancy Rubins. I found somewhat better pictures on flickr. It's just been put up in the last few days.

I'm looking forward to my next trip to Lincoln Center, so I can really get a good look at this thing. From what I did see, it looks wonderful.

Sad websearch of the day

It's still early, but I think this will hold up as the saddest of the day: transgender mary carillo. Mary Carillo transgender????

What this comes from, I think, is some of the people (probably all men) who dislike her commentating style saying she used to be a man, or at least questioning her birth sex. She states her opinions strongly, she doesn't defer to the men she works with, she doesn't act girly in any way, her voice is a bit low-pitched, so these yahoos think she can't be a woman.

Well, she is. She's given birth (twice I think). She's not transgender, or transsexual. She's just a woman. End of story.

Are things getting a bit uncomfortable in the White House?

So now it's been found that Secret Service logs show that Jack Abramoff, who has pled guilty to influence-peddling charges, made six visits to the White House in 2001, not just the two previously known ones. One was to Dick Cheney's domestic policy aide--just six days before one of Abramoff's associates was appointed assistant secretary of labor. I wonder what they talked about.

Abramoff is cooperating with the prosecutors. One White House official has already been convicted. I doubt he'll be the last.

Plat du jour

.

Living with bears III

Florida: Bear Family Wanders In Driveway

NY Court of Appeals denies same-sex marriage

The New York State Court of Appeals (the highest court in the state) has rejected the argument that same-sex marriage is required by the NY State Constitution(decision text). The fight now moves to the State Legislature.

I don't have the time to discuss this right now--I've got to get ready for the rally about it. It's at 6:00pm at Sheridan Square (7th Ave South and Christopher St). In case of rain it will be held at the LGBT Center, 208 W 13.

Join me. You don't have to be gay to want equal rights for everyone.

There are also other rallies across the state:

Hudson Valley
Start time: 7:00 PM
Location: Memorial United Methodist Church (250 Bryant Avenue, White Plains)
Rain location: same location

Long Island
Start time: 7:30 PM
Location: 34 Park Avenue, Bay Shore; march to Bandshell (Main Street at Park Ave.)

Buffalo
Start time: 6:00 PM
Location: Bidwell Park (@ Elmwood Avenue)
Rain location: Unitarian Universalist Church, 695 Elmwood Avenue (corner of West Ferry & Elmwood)

Albany/Capital District
Start time: 6:00 PM
Location: Capitol Park (Washington Avenue & Swan Street, adjacent to the State Capitol Building)
Rain location: Emmanuel Baptist Church, 275 State Street

Rochester
Start time: 6:00 PM
Location: Washington Square Park
Rain location: First Unitarian Church of Rochester, 220 Winton Road South (coming from 490 take Exit #20 Winton Rd./University; coming from 590 take Exit #4 Highland Ave.)

Syracuse/Central NY
Start time: 7:00 PM
Location: Hanover Square (Downtown Syracuse)
Rain location: Hendrick's Chapel, Syracuse University

Living with bears II

California: Bear pays holiday visit
New York: Close Call after Woman Encounters Cubs, Mama Bear
Michigan: Bear ravages honey farm, taken away by DNR
Tennessee: Black bear caught

500 posts!

I've posted 500 articles on this blog. Actually, this is the 501st. OK, some of them haven't been particularly long. But still, I'm sort of amazed I've kept at it. I've been doing it for nearly 11 months. I've posted via a hotel room television, using a silly little wireless keyboard. I've posted from Spain. I could have posted from my cellphone, but I'm not that driven.

People keep reading it, so I guess I'll keep writing it. I shall blog on, as they say. And special thanks to those who leave comments.

What is he complaining about?

The men's doubles quarter-final at Wimbledon of Mark Knowles and Daniel Nesfor vs. Simon Aspelin and Todd Perry went a record six hours and nine minutes, 5-7, 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 23-21. It would have been longer had they not instituted the tiebreaker rule used in the third set.

Nesfor had the nerve to complain. He didn't like having to work so much. I really don't feel the least bit sorry for him. He and Knowles each won $24,931 more than the losers. Even with the match going that long, that's still $4,053.75 per hour played. Not exactly minimum wage.

You can't take it with you, but...

Assume for the moment that Kenneth Lay did not fake his own death, and that he wasn't murdered by agents of high Bush administration figures afraid of his testimony against them. Who else would profit by his death?

Last Friday prosecutors moved to seize $43.5 million they say Lay illegally earned at Enron. But his death apparently will block any seizure. The money will stay in his estate (unless the shareholders' lawsuits are successful).

So, my question is, what does Lay's will say? And does anyone think he would be noble enough to commit suicide to ensure the money goes to his heirs?

Nah.

Observation of the day (well, yesterday)

My supermarket put up pictures of its managers, I guess so it's easier to identify them. One is of the Front End Manager. But I saw no picture for a Rear End Manager.

Of course they don't have a Rear End Manager. But I asked, just to make sure.

You can't win them all

I see the Yankees got some revenge for last night on my Indians this evening, 11-3. Oh, well.

Plat du jour

Hi, Joe!

Living with bears I

There have been a number of news stories lately about the results of the increasingly overlapping domains of people and bears. There are bears in New Jersey, Tennessee, a multinational bear killed in Germany, and more out west. I see a trend. Now:
Tahoe Bear Swills Booze With Pizza Snack

Let's make very sure

Enron Founder Kenneth Lay Dies at 64
I mean, you don't suppose a convicted criminal facing maybe the rest of his life in jail might fake his own death? That's just fiction, right?

UPDATE: Now there are rumors floating around that he was killed because he was going to testify against high officials in the Bush administration in exchange for a lighter sentence.

Take that, George!

I'm not that much of a baseball fan. But I'm from Cleveland. That means I grew up rooting for the Indians. That means I grew up hating the Yankees. Even though I've lived in New York for over thirty years, I still root for the Indians. And I still hate the Yankees.

So when I saw the headline "Indians 19, Yankees 1" all I could do was smile, smile smile.

On top of which, today is Yankees owner George Steinbrenner's birthday, which makes the Yankees' loss even more enjoyable. I detest him. Not just because he bought the Yankees (after being thwarted in his attempt to buy the Indians), but because he was a big supporter of President Nixon. Too big. Steinbrenner was convicted of illegal campaign contributions and obstruction of justice. (At the end of his presidency, Ronald Reagan pardoned him--clearly an early sign of Reagan's mental deterioration.)

Steinbrenner's also just a thoroughly nasty person.

So happy birthday, George. I hope you really enjoy your little gift from the Indians. 19-1. Ha, ha, ha!

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Wordplay

Last night we saw Wordplay, a documentary about crossword puzzles and the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament. We went across the park and downtown (sorry about that--I couldn't help myself) to the Lincoln Plaza Cinemas for the Sundance Festival entrant.

The film centers on Will Shortz, the New York Times crossword puzzle editor and NPR "Puzzle Master," who founded the tournament in 1978. It explains a bit about how puzzles are constructed--which I find fascinating. It never occurred to me the clues are barely thought about until the puzzle itself is finished--or that Shortz as the editor modifies a great many of the clues on the puzzles that are submitted to him.

There are number of interviews with celebrity puzzle solvers--headlined by, as the credits list him, William Jefferson Clinton--who uses a felt-tip pen to do the Times puzzle. The Daily Show host Jon Stewart, NY Yankee pitcher Mike Mussina and the folk-rockers Indigo Girls are featured.

But the most interesting part of the film is the coverage of the 2005 tournament. The top contenders are profiled (including one who is gay--he's shown in a quick kiss with his partner, which the filmmakers had to fight to keep in), and they are shown going through the competition from the first puzzle through the finals--where the winner is determined from the top three standing on a stage and putting their answers up on boards for the audience to see. (They wear headphones so they can't hear the commentators--or the groans when they make a mistake.) The coverage of their talent show is precious.

It's an interesting hour and a half. I really haven't tried doing the Times puzzle for a number of years. Maybe I'll start again.

My week in review, part 2: Superman, Spelling Bee, Dada

FRIDAY: Superman Returns
I should have known better than to go to a 7:00pm showing of a popular comic book spinoff. The theater was packed, with a lot of kids whose parents decided to ignore the PG-13 rating of the film. Actually, most of the kids were quite well-behaved. It was the adults that were the problem. Most quieted down when the film actually started. But one...

She was in the row behind us, with a kid way too young to sit through a 2½+ hour movie of any rating. She thought the solution to the bored, fidgety kid was to talk to her--basically narrate the film: "See the man? That's Superman. He can fly." My wife asked her to be quiet. Her response was to switch her narration to Spanish.

So my wife asked her to be quiet in Spanish. This actually worked! Except that the kid now became more than fidgety. I heard the mother say, "Stop pulling my hair," but that didn't seem to help the situation. She took the kid and left--but not before cursing out my wife and calling her a bitch.

After that it got reasonably quiet--which was a good thing, because the volume of the audio was not all that high. But there was still one problem. Occasionally a woman in a wheelchair three rows back made some random sounds. I assume it was involuntary, but regardless, nobody was going to complain about her. So I did miss a word or two here and there.

The popcorn was pretty good, though.

Oh yes, the movie.

I liked it. I found it less comic book-ish than the previous Superman films. These were real, multi-dimensional people. Outside of the bad guys nobody was over-acting, and even they were relatively subdued. I really liked Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor. He wasn't a super-villian, he was a criminal mastermind, able to use his brain power to thwart Superman's powers. Almost.

Everyone else handled their roles pretty well. Brandon Routh makes a fine Superman/Clark Kent--quite able to fill Christopher Reeve's shoes (and tights and boots as well). Kate Bosworth's Lois Lane was a bit understated (and a bit too young)--I didn't quite see the hard-driving, Pulitzer-winning reporter there. Sam Huntington was great as Jimmy Olsen. And Frank Langella makes an excellent Perry White--though I'm not quite sure I can buy his "Great Caesar's Ghost!" (I also can't buy a pool table on a boat.)

The story was good, the special effects wonderful. And everything is set up for the sequel.

SATURDAY: After a very nice meal at Caffe Cielo we walked over to the Circle in the Square Theatre for The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. I actually could have seen this a couple years ago when it was being developed at the Barrington Stage Company. It was being shown at their "Stage II," which was really the cafeteria of the Sheffield, MA high school the Company uses each summer. But we went there to see the Main Stage (the auditorium) production--I think it was Sweet Charity that year.

We missed it in the Berkshires, but the play followed us back to New York. So now we could see it here, in more comfortable seats, for not much more money--several Broadway shows were offering great deals for Independence Day week, maybe the worst week for the box office all year.

They've done the whole theatre over as a school--apparently one that covers at least middle and high schools, if not the entire K-12. There are banners for the "Putnam Piranhas" even in the upper lobby. Downstairs there is even more: childish-hand posters saying things like "Piranha Spirit! Join the school!" There are a host of plaques for "Student of the Week" and "Musician of the Month"--with real kids' pictures. (I noticed later that these were the names and presumably the real pictures of the people behind the production. The musician of the month was the show's conductor/pianist.) The restrooms are renamed "Boys" and "Girls."

There is also a sign-up desk for spellers. Four audience member volunteers are called up on to the stage and take part in the early rounds.

The spelling bee takes place in the school gym (not the auditorium, for some unknown reason). There are ropes hanging from the ceiling and a small set of bleachers where the spellers sit. There are also tons of banners attesting to Putnam's athletic acheivements.

The show is a lot of fun. Most of the original cast is still there, though not the Tony-winning Dan Fogler as William Morris Barfée (do NOT ignore the accent), who is now off making movies. They call up the four audience member-contestants to the stage. The ones at the performance I saw were able to get into it quite nicely, and went with the flow, as ad lib jokes were made about them, such as the one with the long name being announced as having won his school's bee by spelling his own name. An older woman in a kind of sweatsuit outfit was described as being on her school's mall-walking team. They are given the chance to stay on stage for quite a while--they do have to spell their words correctly, but their words aren't that difficult, at least at first. The audience is rooting for them, of course.

The "real" contestants are shown as a bunch of smart, nerdy but fairly likeable kids, except maybe Barfée, and even he comes around in the end. There's a lot of stereotyping, but nothing really derogatory. Each character, even the adults running the contest, gets a solo song.

The spellers are eliminated one by one, and eventually a champion emerges. There's a happy ending, and everyone gets to go home.

I stopped in the boys' room on the way out.

SUNDAY: We went to MoMA for Dada--the exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art on the Dada avant-garde art movement of the early 20th century. This was the first major exhibition in the United States on Dada, previously being shown at the National Gallery of Art in Washington before coming to New York. It originated at the Centre Pompidou in Paris.

I didn't know much about Dada before this. I'd seen a few things in general collections, but that was about it. I heard it was "anti-art." I pictured young artists rebelling against the art establishment and their pretty pictures.

The audioguide (free at MoMA!) explained that Dada sprung up simultaneously and independently in New York and Zurich in 1915 in reaction to World War I. Thus the exhibition, which is arranged geographically, has two entrances. I chose the one for New York--as did the other two Americans with me. The European in our group chose the Zurich one. Not terribly surprising.

I was immediately fascinated. The first piece I saw was a coat rack sitting on the floor. Marcel Duchamp had purchased one, but never got around to putting it up. He kept tripping over it, and decided this was art. He nailed it to the floor, and called it the Trap. This was one of his pieces of "readymade" art, objects discovered by chance, "a sculpture already made," as he called it.

Or was it? As I searched the Internet for a picture of the Trap, I found that some scholars believe Duchamp's Readymades were anything but. They offer evidence that these were not simple store-bought items, but objects Duchamp hand-crafted or greatly modified to suit his artistic purposes. The MoMA exhibition makes no mention of this.

But I didn't know any of this as I viewed the exhibition. I did find it curious that so many of his Readymades were not the originals, which had been "lost." They were reproductions that Duchamp did later, from photographs he had kept. The scholars point to various types of trick photography Duchamp was known to use. Duchamp played with photos, he played with objects, he played with words, he even played with his identity. Some of his work was signed "Rose Sélavy" or "Rrose Sélavy"--and there were a couple of pictures of him in drag as "Rose." (Hmmmm) I find it entirely possible that he played with the whole concept of Readymades.

We had arranged to meet back at the exhibition foyer, and by the appointed time I had barely gotten into the second room. I've got to go back. When I do, I'll post a complete report.

Dinner was at Mughlai--slightly above average Indian food--though my Tanqueray and tonic was excellent.

And then there were none

Shenay Perry got blown out of the fourth round at Wimbledon, 6-2, 6-0. So there will be no Americans in the quarter-finals. For the women, this hasn't happened since 1911--when there were no Americans entered at all.

A fun blog find

I have added a link to David Marc Fischer's Blog About Town in my Blogs and Blogoids section. It's the least I could do, after the nice things he said about my blog.

Actually, I first noticed Blog About Town a couple days ago. It's a lot of fun, full of silly videos and and online jigsaw puzzles, as well as Fischer's great observations on books, films and the city we both seem to love.

Enjoy, as the waiters say. I know I will.

Just move the sign

Kerik's Name Removed From New York Jail
It's too bad Kerik's plea bargain will apparently keep him out of jail--as far as I'm concerned that's where he belongs. Then they could just put the sign on his cell door.

My week in review, part 1

Catch up time.

MONDAY: Her Majesty The King, a retelling of the English War of the Roses through the eyes of Margaret of Anjou, Queen to the feeble Henry VI. This was produced down in Soho at HERE. I barely knew anything about the War of the Roses, other than that it was a conflict between the Houses of York and Lancaster for the throne of England. I didn't even know who won--my English history doesn't really go back before Henry VIII, and he was of the House of Tudor. So the subject matter was basically new to me--and the play did help me understand it a little more. Sort of. At least I now know who won.

Margaret was born into a family where the women exercised authority, and were active participants in politics (Anjou is in France, BTW). Married (at 15) to the weak, maybe mentally disturbed Henry VI, she took over the fight to keep him on his throne. At least that's the way playwright Sarah Overman explains it.

The play was convincing, though how far it strayed from the truth I have no idea. History tends to be written by the victors, and Margaret lost. The performances were very good, and most of the actors had to portray more than one character. A very interesting device was used to handle flashbacks: two actresses, one a bit younger than the other, portrayed Margaret, wearing identical dresses.

I had a good time. HERE's staff was very accomodating, though the facilities do leave a little bit to be desired--a pillar in the middle of the audience, not to mention one in the middle of the stage, made things a little difficult sometimes. And a trip to the restrooms requires one to exit to the street, go a number of yards to another entrance, then downstairs a good way back towards the way one came. It was interesting, I think unique in my experience, to have the urinals named for people, though.

WEDNESDAY: My usual open house at Crossdressers International. Afterwards some of us went to Will Clark's Porno Bingo--except it was (at least for the evening) renamed Broadway Bingo, and no porn stars were present. The reason was that some (or at least this week's) beneficiaries of the event (all proceeds go to the featured organization) objected to the porn connection.

After three games (I didn't win) we went down to the Monster Bar for Jesse Volt's drag show. They were shooting some sort of film while we were waiting, and sometimes the lights did get rather bright. Jesse's show was quite nice, including a couple of nice songs sung live by Epiphany, who is talented, and young and beautiful. Afterwards Edie, in male mode, came over to say hello. She said she had seen us going upstairs at The Threepenny Opera, and that we should have come backstage after the performance. I had to tell her that I didn't know how. Oh well, I would really have liked to do that.

THURSDAY: My last (thank goodness) LGBT pride event of the month: Our Pride 2006, sponsored by The Alliance, the Gay-Straight Alliance of the New York State Courts, and my group, the LGBT Law Association of Greater New York (LeGaL). It was even co-sponsored by my LGBT Issues Committee of the New York County Law Assn.--this despite the fact that it took place in Kings County: specifically, in the Brooklyn Borough Hall. I made it there just before it really started to rain--and found that I was the only one from LeGaL there, apart from our administrator. So again I was dragooned into making a little speech, as I was at the City Bar event last week.

This event featured remarks by Susan Sommer, Senior Counsel of Lambda Legal and lead attorney for the plaintiffs in the same-sex marriage lawsuit in New York, Hernandez v. Robles. Oral arguments before the Court of Appeals (New York's highest court) were May 31 (webcast). She spoke at some length, and took questions from the audience. She said they expected a decision any day now, very possibly Wednesday or Thursday.

The second speaker was supposed to be State Sen. Tom Duane, but he was delayed. Thus we got to the reception a bit early. We could see the rain was very heavy outside, but there was plenty of food, soda and wine, so no one was in a hurry to leave. The turnout wasn't so great, probably because of the weather predictions. So we ate and drank and mingled for a while. An aide to the Brooklyn Borough President (absent due to illness) introduced himself and asked if I lived in Brooklyn. He was rather disappointed when I said I didn't. He explained they are looking for a transgender person active in civic affairs to honor at next year's pride celebration. I took his card, and said if I thought of anyone suitable I'd let him know.

Eventually Sen. Duane did show up, through the pouring rain. He did get a chance to make his remarks, which soon became quite humorous. He noted that nobody was fighting same-sex marriage back when gay and lesbian groups, especially some of the lesbian ones, said they wanted no part of marriage. There was no "don't ask, don't tell" policy in the military when gays and lesbians avoided military service. Only when they started wanting these things did opponents pop up and object. So Duane said that if LGBT people want something, we should say we don't. Then we'll get it.

Afterwards, he chatted with various people, and posed for pictures. I chatted with his aide, Colin Casey. We had a nice talk about reapportionment, both of the New York Congressional districts and the State Senate, and also about his job.

Finally the rain let up, and I ducked into the subway for the trip back to Manhattan. I went to Lips for a couple of frozen cosmos and to see Jesse Volt's show there.

Make that the only American, period

On a day that saw five Americans go down to defeat in singles (three on Centre Court), only Perry survived to the fourth round. Sentimental favorite Andre Agassi (in his farewell appearance at Wimbledon) and No. 3 seed Andy Roddick both lost in straight sets. I can hear the teeth gnashing at NBC headquarters from here--probably no Americans in their "Breakfast at Wimbledon" broadcasts next weekend. Ratings disaster.

The only American woman in the fourth round of Wimbledon is...

Shenay Perry? Who would ever have guessed that? She's ranked 62nd in the world, but this will go higher after the fortnight, as she went out in the third round last year.

I find it strange that people are talking about "the next generation" of American women including Perry and Jamea Jackson--but Perry's actually only 4 years younger than Venus Williams.

As for Williams, the defending Wimbledon champion, she lost today to 29th seed Jelena Jankovic. Thus, for the first time since 1999, there will be no Williams sister in the final--Serena didn't even enter this year, due to injury.

Minor rant: Wimbledon commercials

The ESPN coverage of Wimbledon is pretty good, but they keep using the same commercials over and over.

I'm really sick of the Fanta one.

I say bake and flush

Bin Laden Wants Zarqawi Buried in Homeland
Yeah, right. I say cremate him and dump the ashes down the toilet, with the other excrement.

Why I've never joined the ABA

Bar Association Agrees to Pay $185G Fine
I've always gotten the feeling that the American Bar Association was more interested in protecting the incomes of its members than in advancing the law. I get absolutely none of that feeling with the New York County Lawyers Assn., and the LGBT Law Assn. of Greater New York, which I have joined.

Obviously the ABA does some good things. But there has been this undercurrent of resistance to anything that makes it easier for anyone to a) become a lawyer, or b) build a practice in any way outside of the "Old Boys' Club." I've never felt any impetus to send them any of my money.

Plat du jour

Cool! A limo that goes both ways!

To B or not to B

I see there's no "B" in my changing logo above. I assume flickr spell is just having a temporary problem. Otherwise I guess I'll have to rename my blog.

UPDATE, 2:54am, Thursday: I see it's working correctly again. So no blog name change.

Weird blogsearch

Someone just found my blog doing a blogsearch on "blogsearch."

Plat du jour

Another broker?

Plat du jour

I retiree.

Is Rush Limbaugh really this stupid?

Rush Limbaugh Under New Investigation
A few weeks after he made a deal with prosecutors on prescription fraud charges, he's caught going through customs with Viagra prescribed in someone else's name. Did he not think he would be under heightened scrutiny after this? Did he not think to make sure everything having to do with his prescriptions was totally in order? Did he just not think?

This is another example of a high profile person who just doesn't believe he has to take care not to violate the law. It's the same mentality that gets public officials thinking they can take bribes or skirt campaign finance laws, entertainers thinking they can violate the drug laws, or corporate executives thinking they can juggle their books. They are so isolated from everyday life, surrounded by aides and security people, that they forget they are subject to the laws just like everyone else.

Maybe Limbaugh's infraction is minor enough that it won't upset his previous deal. But it's certainly an indication that he's not taking the situation seriously enough. Which is stupid.

Weird websearch of the day

Someone in Germany did a blogsearch for "my office" shredder. S/he had to go all the way to the ninth page to find mine.

Wimbledon surprise--NOT

It's raining at Wimbledon! I tuned in to the first day of Wimbledon (ESPN2) and found them broadcasting last year's men's final. It just wouldn't be Wimbledon without rain. Sometimes the rain delays are fairly brief, but they say this one has been two hours already, with another hour predicted.

The one time I saw it in person, there was one day that was totally rained out. We sat under umbrellas for hours hoping, but it never stopped. That is very unusual though.

They were able to get some play in before the rain started today. It was odd looking at the highlights, with the grass all green and pristine. Soon there will be brown areas, especially at the baseline. It's a shame that there aren't more grass court tournaments (the game's real name is "lawn tennis"), but I guess it's just too expensive to maintain the courts.

The rest of the week

Well it's Sunday night (no, it's Monday morning, actually), and I've only blogged about what I did through Tuesday. So here's the rest of my week, briefly:

WEDNESDAY: To mark the longest day of the year, we went out to Port Washington for dinner with friends. We had mediocre seafood at a dockside restaurant while watching the sunset.

The best thing about Port Washington was the treasure-trove of vanity plates. Unfortunately, I couldn't photograph them from a moving car. I did get one in the restaurant parking lot. My favorite: HEMATOMA.

THURSDAY: "Reception and Cocktail Party Celebrating Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Week 2006" This was co-sponsored by the LGBT Rights Committee of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York (City Bar), as well as their Sex and Law Committee, and the LGBT Law Assn. I volunteered to make some brief remarks on behalf of the latter--despite the fact I hate public speaking. It's even worse when I try to maintain some semblance of a woman's voice. But I did manage to get through it--though despite my notes I still forgot one thing I wanted to say.

Otherwise it was a very nice affair. I've gone to this event the last four or five years, and this was probably the best. The turnout was quite good, much more than last year. And this year there was a pianist to serenade us (nice touch when he played the theme from Brokeback Mountain).

I got to talk with my friend Donna, who's on the City Bar LGBT Committee, though she had to leave before my speech. Tom Hickey and I also continued our conversation from Tuesday. After my speech I had a nice chat with Lisa Badner, the co-chair of the City Bar Committee--we found out we both went to the University of Wisconsin--though I attended a number of years before she did.

The reception lasted a couple hours. Then I went down to Lips to finish the evening. I had a little dinner at the bar, as the place went from nearly full to very crowded. I saw Jesse Volt's Show (she did Joan Rivers and Cher, while Frankie Cocktail did her usual Dolly Parton, Madiva did her usual Madonna, and Jason Cosmo did Liza Minelli. But the big surprise was Ginger, who usually has Thursdays off--she did Bette Midler).

FRIDAY: It was an unusual event, but my wife wanted to do something without me (normally we do things together on the weekends). Left to my own devices, I arranged to see The Threepenny Opera with my friend Rochelle, the president of CDI. We missed out seeing it in April, and I really wanted to see it before it closed Sunday. I know a couple of the cast members, at least slightly: drag performers Edie and Flotilla DeBarge. Edie wanted to perform on Broadway since she was a child, and she had finally made it--curiously not based on her dancing talent.

I e-mailed Edie to tell her we'd be coming. She said she'd see us before the performance, as some of the cast members would be out in the audience then. Unfortunately we arrived a bit late, and went directly up to our seats in the mezzanine. Rochelle told me later that she had seen Edie standing behind the orchestra section, but hadn't recognized her in her costume. Oh, well.

The production did not get very good reviews, and I could see why. It sort of wandered from song to song, with a very explicit new translation--sometimes I thought the idea was simply to shock the audience. The performances I liked, though I was underwhelmed by the biggest name in the cast, Cyndi Lauper. The rest of the cast was at least adequate, with Jim Dale nearly stealing the show. (He was the star of one of the first shows I saw on Broadway, Scapino!, back in 1974! I also saw his Tony-winning performance in Barnum, opposite Glenn Close, a few years later.) I also really enjoyed the amazing Brian Charles Rooney as Lucy Brown. His soprano had no touch of falsetto whatsoever. This was the role Edie was supposed to have, until they added "Lucy's Aria" to the show, which was way too high for her to sing. (I love the cartoon of him as Lucy on his site.)

After the show we went down to the Brazil Grill for a late dinner.

SATURDAY: After seeing a pair of Sarah Bernhardt's films, and an exhibition about her at the Jewish Museum, we followed that up with I, Sarah, a one-woman play in town for three performances from Eugene, Oregon. This was in one of the smallest theatres I've ever been in--31 seats, if I counted correctly, though these were comfortable armchairs.

Mindy Nirenstein portrayed the world's first international superstar actress rising from her deathbed to describe her life, with a few monologues from her plays thrown in. Her acting was quite good, though the writing left a little to be desired. At one point Bernhardt says that she had no trouble crying on stage, but could not in her real life--after saying that she wore a veil at Molière's funeral to hide her tears. The monologue from Phaedra went way too long.

Afterwards we went around the block to Caminosur for a couple of pisco sours and some plaintain chips.

Tuesday: Democratic women, comedy(?), thai food

Tuesday I went to Therapy for the "first annual" (ahh, optimism) Stonewall Democrats of New York Women's Event, "A Celebration of Women in Politics."

I'm always a little leary about going to "women's events," as some are transphobic. But there was no question here--the invitation I received explicitly said transwomen were welcome. Then Stonewall Dems president Dirk McCall said men could come too, when he announced it at the 20th anniversary celebration. (The first women's event after 20 years? What took them so long?)

So after the question of whether I would be welcome was settled, my next question was, what to wear? This being a political event, I decided to keep it pretty conservative--a royal blue silk blouse paired with my black-on-black paisley slacks. I ended up getting compliments on both.

My final question was, what kind of turnout the event would get? I don't know that much about the club, really. I've been to only a handful of their events in the last four or five years. I actually joined just this last year. One thing I did notice is that there were relatively few women attending the events. (I get the feeling that LGBT groups are no different than any other mixed-gender organizations--men tend to predominate.) It turned out to be pretty well-attended. There were a fair number of men there. There were three of us transwomen also--joining me were Clover Honey (who is on the Stonewall Dems Board of Governors), and Melissa Sklarz, who arrived late after attending something at Gracie Mansion. Notably absent was Diana Montford, who is on their Board of Directors. Clover was happily telling everyone that the television show she appears on, Under the Pink Carpet, might be shown here in New York on one of the public TV channels.

I had a nice conversation with Eliyanna Kaiser, aide to Assembly Member Dick Gottfried, prime sponsor of the Gender Non-Discrimination Act (GENDA). Then I talked with Carol Polcovar, artistic director of the Fresh Fruit Festival. She's all excited about the upcoming world premiere of her new play My Mother Told Me I Was Different: Voices from the Rebellion, a docudrama about Stonewall in the words of the people who of lived it.

Finally, I chatted with Tom Hickey, the former chair of the LGBT Issues Committee of the New York County Lawyers Assn., before Clover and I went upstairs to claim seats for the presentations.

First up was comedian Michele Balin. I had seen her on a segment with Clover from Under the Pink Carpet. She was quite funny. Then came the award presentations, and this being a political event, the inevitable speeches. City Council Speaker Christine Quinn could not be present to accept hers, as it's "budget time." Councilmember Rosie Mendez was present though. Finally one went to Lisa Canistracci, owner of the lesbian bar Henrietta Hudson. One thing seemed to puzzle a number of the presenters and awardees. The award, a 10" lucite obelisk, was rather phallic-shaped. A couple of them made remarks about it--I think one even used the term "strap-on." I'm wondering if this was due to the fact that most of the work organizing the event was actually done by a man--Patrick Yacco, from the law office of Yetta Kurland, the Host Committee Chair and Stonewall Dems Corresponding Secretary.

After the ceremony Clover and I said our good-byes to people, and then made our way around the block to Vlada. We got drinks and waited for the show. Soon a rather lame host/comedian got up and introduced a very lame gay Indian (like from India) "comedian." I use quotes, because he really wasn't very funny. Even worse, he had to refer to a loose leaf notebook to remember his "jokes." Next up was Allison Castillo. Actually, she was pretty good--though still not quite in the class of Michelle Balin. Finally the host returned for his lame act.

By then we were quite hungry, so we went back to Ninth Avenue and had a decent dinner at a Thai place.

Plat du jour

To make this car go faster, you yell "Mush! Mush!"

Another goat in trouble

Goats are really having it rough, lately. First this, now British Army Demotes Mascot Goat, Billy:

LONDON (AP) - A British army regiment's ceremonial pet goat (picture) was demoted in disgrace after it marched out of line before a host of dignitaries during a parade to mark Queen Elizabeth II's birthday, a military spokesman said Saturday.

The military mascot, a 6-year-old male goat called Billy, was downgraded from the rank of lance corporal to fusilier - the same status as a private - after army chiefs ruled his poor display had ruined the ceremony earlier this month at a British army base in Episkopi, western Cyprus.

Lance Cpl. Dai Davies, 22, the goat's handler, was unable to keep control during the June 16 march. The mascot darted from side to side, throwing soldiers off their stride, Capt. Crispian Coates, a spokesman, said by telephone from the base in Cyprus.

"The goat, which has been the regiment's mascot since 2001, was supposed to be leading the march, but would not stay in line," Coates said. "After consideration, the commanding officer decided he had no option but to demote Billy."

Ambassadors from Spain, Sweden and the Netherlands were among those who attended the march along with U.N. dignitaries.

Since the goat's demotion, soldiers of a lower rank are no longer expected to salute Billy as a sign of respect, Coates said.

Capt. William Rose, a soldier present at the parade, said the goat "was trying to head-butt the waist and nether regions of the drummers."

The 1st Battalion, The Royal Welsh, has had a long tradition of traveling with a pet goat used in ceremonies. The Welsh regiment was presented with a goat from the royal herd in 1746, and Billy is a descendant from the same bloodline, Britain's Ministry of Defense said.

A total of 11 ceremonial pets - including a ferret, an Indian black buck and a ram - are kept by the British army, but regiments do not take the mascots to combat zones. British legislators were told last month that keeping the pets costs the equivalent of $55,000 a year.

Plat du jour

We certainly know what kind of lawyer owns this one--unless it's talking about an illuminated reptile (which, come to think of it, is still a good description for a lawyer for some people.)

Weird websearch of the day

stagehand stagehands madison square garden 2006 lists my blog as 11th. Interestingly, if you eliminate the "stagehands" from the search, you get many more results, and I'm nowhere near as high. Not that I ever wrote about a stagehand or stagehands in Madison Square Garden--it's just that I have written about the two subjects in different articles.

With or without the "stagehands," I think it's a kind of unusual thing to search for--the results are all over the place. Lots of the results are like mine, where it's just a coincidence that I've written about two different things, and the search engine (Yahoo in this case, though I tried it with Google and got similar results) put the two together.

What also makes the search weird is that it came from Arizona.

Die Mommie Die!

Monday I went to a staged reading of Charles Busch's Die Mommie Die! at the historic Hudson Theatre. This was a benefit for The Actors' Fund of America, the 124-year-old human services organization dedicated to helping all those in the performing arts and entertainment world.

Though mostly known from its 2003 movie incarnation (which I haven't seen), Die Mommie Die! was originally a play that had a short run in Los Angeles in 1999. This was its first appearance in New York.

There is over-the-top, and then there's over-the-over-the-top. That's what this play is. As Busch (who was the writer and star of both the play and the film) described it, Die Mommie Die! is a cross between Greek tragedy and Hollywood kitsch. Over-acting is suggested, if not required. Add to that the fact the this was a reading--there were laughs generated just by the handling of the scripts, which the actors frequently relied on. There were mispronunciations, mis-readings, and bad word emphases aplenty, and the audience understood and laughed--no one expected a polished performance here.

The biggest star on the stage was Christopher Meloni, best known for his eight years on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, as well as his role as Chris Keller in HBO's prison series, Oz. He seemed the most under-rehearsed. Also in the cast was Jayne Houdyshell, who was nominated for a Tony in the recently closed Well. She did a fine job as the maid, but mostly she reminded me of Conchata Ferrell. Jenn Harris did a great job as the daughter.

I was a bit surprised by Busch's performance, however. Too often he dropped his voice (both in volume and pitch) for this line or that. But it wasn't for any particular type of line. It seemed to be totally random. Of course, I really don't know if this is typical of him--I've somehow managed never to have seen him act before. I did see the one play he wrote that made it to Broadway, The Tale of the Allergist's Wife, but he wasn't in it.

On the other hand, his costumes were gorgeous. Of course, who I'd really like to look like was Harris, in her 60's mini-dresses.

It was really a lot of fun. Afterwards I went down to Lips for a little dinner. I had a nice conversation with a couple of crossdressers, one of whom was from Texas making her first public appearance presenting as a woman. The other was someone from New Jersey who was showing her around. And I can again confirm that Bianca Leigh, the Lips Monday bartender/DJ/singer, is still alive.

Plat du jour

An admiralty lawyer?