Semi-random thoughts

● A couple of years ago I posted about how Tab Energy had become my favored morning drink. Sadly, some months ago CocaCola discontinued it, at least here in the U.S. I hoarded my last few cans, saving them for days when I really need to get myself going when I wake up. But now I'm down to my last one.

● I got some new hand towels and washcloths to replace my worn out ones. I washed them before I used them, but the towels are still leaving a lot of little fibers--with the red ones I can't tell if I nicked myself shaving or it's just the towel. Grrrr.

● The only kind of "boutique"-boxed tissues the supermarket had was Kleenex's Anti-Viral type, so my wife bought that. The anti-viral claim puts the product under the Food and Drug Administration rules, I guess, so they are required to print various bits of information on the box. My favorite part:

It is a violation of Federal law to use this product in a manner inconsistent with its labeling. Use only as a facial tissue.

So if I use a tissue on any other part of my body do I risk a visit from the FBI?

Fossella in more trouble

Earlier this week I posted about New York Republican Congressman Vito Fossella being arrested for drunken driving. Now he has admitted that he was on his way to see his child that he had with a woman he's being having an affair with for years. His wife and three other children were back in New York.

It looks more and more like New York City will be rid of its only Republican congressman by next year.

Plat du jour

A former highway patrol officer?

Sen. Grassley, back to Economics 101 for you

From the Associated Press:

Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, one of the Senate's two working farmers and a longtime ethanol booster, said he finds it hard to believe that ethanol could be "clobbered the way it's being clobbered right now" over the issue of food costs. What does the cost of corn have to do with the price of wheat or rice, he is telling people.

It's called the Law of Supply and Demand, Senator. Ethanol production has increased the demand for corn, causing its price to rise. This will have two effects:

• Corn consumers will switch to wheat or rice, causing price rises for those grains.
• Farmers will, if they can, switch from producing other crops to producing corn. This decreases the supplies of these other crops, also causing price rises.

It's really sad when a United States senator displays such ignorance of basic economics.

Another Republican in trouble

NYC congressman charged with DWI outside DC

It's not for corruption, or even attempted sex in a public restroom, but I doubt this is going to win Vito J. Fossella any votes. The Democrats have already painted a big target on his back for the upcoming election. This might help.

Posted without comment

Plat du jour

I'm off to Albany

Later today I'll be getting on a train and going up to Albany for the Empire State Pride Agenda's Equality and Justice Day. They are expecting 1,000 to 1,200 LGBT people and allies to gather to press for three pieces of legislation for New York State: Marriage Equality, the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act (GENDA) and the Dignity for All Students Act. We are hoping that 10% are transgender (last year we had about 80).

E&J Day is actually tomorrow, but I like to go up the day before. It takes me so long to get ready, I'd have to start at about midnight to make a 6:00am bus.

This year I've been appointed a Meeting Facilitator. That means I get to coordinate a group of people meeting with their legislators. I've been assigned to meetings with Brooklyn representatives. It should be interesting.

Spring has sprung

...at least in my neighborhood.

Plat du jour

Yummy! But, sadly, it's not on my diet.

Semi-random thoughts

● I was a little surprised to read that there have only been 110 U.S. Supreme Court justices since we adopted the Constitution--over 220 years now. I realize that the court didn't always have nine members (I think it started with five--I've always found it curious that the Constitution does not specify the size), but it has been at its present size for quite a while. I would have guessed there have been more.

● It somehow escaped my notice that among the stockholdings I inherited from my mother were three shares of Collective Brands. So now when I buy shoes at Payless I'm actually buying them from myself.

● It's great to see the judge threw the book at film star Wesley Snipes, at least as far as the law would let him. These "tax protesters," who believe that there is no requirement in the law that most U.S. citizens have to pay income taxes, are just a bunch of selfish fools. It's too bad that Snipes was acquitted on the most serious charges, but at least he's getting three years in jail for his misdemeanors. So, Judge William Terrell Hodges, I salute you.

I'm back blogging. Sort of. Kinda. Somewhat.

For the last year plus I've been having computer problems. My old machine, running Windows XP, was crashing more and more frequently. It never worked right after Service Pack Two. Also, my Internet response time was slower than it should have been. The result was that it took several hours just to read my e-mail every day.

I hoped the answer to my problems was to get a new, more powerful computer running Microsoft's brand new operating system, Vista. I should have known better.

The new computer still crashed sometimes, though not as frequently as the old one. In addition, the keyboard and mouse stopped working at random intervals. And Internet response was still slow--it took 13 days to download all of my files from Carbonite, the web-based back-up service I use, when it should have taken only a few hours.

To make a long story short, I had problems with the computer hardware (specifically the hard drive), the Vista operating system, and my cable service. But it took a long time to figure it all out. Dell replaced my hard drive in early August. That solved the crashing problem. But as time went on, the keyboard/mouse problem got more and more frequent.

Dell tried a couple of times to fix it. I was on the phone with their support people (one guy mostly) for hours. They tried all sorts of things--mostly removing stuff they thought might be incompatible with Vista. Maybe it helped a little, or maybe we just hit a random good period (it could be 30 seconds, or 3 days, between these failures). But the problem kept coming back.

I was afraid I would have to do what Dell was recommending: reformat the hard drive and start from scratch, with a clean copy of the operating system. I went out and got an external hard drive, so I could back up everything locally and avoid another 13 day download. But the back-up software that came with it didn't work right. It refused to back up to the external drive. It would only do its back-up to the same internal drive it was copying the the data from. I could then manually copy that onto the external drive. But I really wasn't happy with the situation.

And then the keyboard/mouse failures stopped. A couple of months ago, I think, I noticed it wasn't happening any more. I think it must have been one of the periodic Windows Updates Microsoft sends.

But my Internet was still slow. I kept putting off calling Time Warner, because I didn't want to have to clean out my office even enough to give them access to the outlet under the table next to my desk, which was blocked by a file cabinet, which I couldn't move without cleaning up two piles of junk and at least one stack of boxes. (I also really didn't want to even think about having to run a new cable on the exterior of my walls from the cable distribution box down a long hallway to my office--though I realize now that it probably would have been easier to have an electrician run a power line into the closet where the box is, and put my modem and router/wi-fi transmitter there).

But last week the Internet speed was so slow I had to bite the bullet--it was taking 5, 10 even 15 minutes to see one e-mail, and I had a couple hundred piled up. So I called the cable company. In fact, I killed two birds with one stone, because the hard drive in one of our DVRs had just died. I told them about that one first, as I figured it was the easy one. We scheduled an appointment to fix that (the CSR said it was possible that the hard drive could be fixed, but I had my doubts--I was 99% sure they would want to replace to whole DVR). Then I said I also was having slow Internet problems. I expected to be transferred to someone else, as that is a separate choice on their voice-prompt menu.

But the same CSR said she could handle it. After the usual rebooting which they always try, she sent some sort of signal, and it looked to her that everything was fine. But my response time was still horrible. So she put me on hold and had someone in their tech department run a more sophisticated test. She got back on to me and said that the modem needed to be replaced. She said I'd have to schedule a separate appointment--or I could just take the modem down to their office at 23rd St and get a new one. And I could also swap the DVR also, if I didn't care about them trying to fix the old one. That sounded great to me.

So Friday afternoon I went down to 23rd St, making sure I made it there before the after-work rush. I only had to wait about 10 minutes, and I walked out with a new modem, and a different DVR. It obviously wasn't new, but presumably it worked. It did come with a brand new remote control, with more buttons, which were all back-lit. Very nice.

After a some more shopping, lugging the DVR and modem (most of the weight was the former), I eventually got home. I connected up the easy one first--the DVR. The first two attempts to boot it failed, but I gave it one more shot and that worked.

Then I connected up the modem. It was a completely different manufacturer than the old one. It took a couple minutes or so for it to identify itself to the server and do all its handshaking or whatever it needed to do, but eventually the lights on it lit up, and I tried reading an e-mail. Boom. It appeared in a couple seconds. I tried another. It came up quickly. I found a You-Tube video, clicked and it started in seconds--AND PLAYED WITHOUT STOPPING! I haven't been able to this in over a year! I was in heaven.

It's taken me a while to get all caught up on my e-mail--not to mention a whole bunch of videos from You-Tube and elsewhere that I really wanted to see. But now I'm basically current. I had a nice 80-minute workout on my exercise machine this afternoon--the longest I can remember having had in months. This was after single-handedly putting away our weekly grocery order from FreshDirect, as my wife was out.

So now I have more time to blog than I have had in over a year--though I really don't know if I'm going to go back to the level I did when I first started, at least for a while. I still want the get my office cleaned up, and I want to get my audio-video system working the way it's supposed to. We don't use the VCRs much any more, but the last time I tried them there was no sound from the VHS one, and the Betamax (yeah, I still have one in my system) wasn't working at all. And the unified remote control has never worked right. But I do think I'll be posting more than I have been, more long posts, especially.

Headline of the day

Police on Pope Patrol Rescue Beaver from East River
I know it's very early, but I have a hard time imagining anything can top this one.

Neologism of the day

Quippie: a queer hippie.

I guess this one has been around for a while, but I hadn't heard it until today (Jennifer Finney Boylan describing herself--though she said she was more the hippie part).

A strange websearch

Someone in Japan found my glob Googling my name. Why would anyone in Japan be interested in me? I know no one there, and I don't remember having any contact with anyone there.

The only thing that makes this slightly understandable is that the ISP belongs to Temple University's branch there. So it was probably an American in Japan who did this search.

Wearable art museum

I have blogged how a museum (NYC's Metropolitan) can be art as well as contain art. And it's nothing new that clothes can also be art (at least women's clothes--men's stuff tends to stay away from this category). Now you can combine the two ideas. You can now wear a small piece of an art museum.












Just a few blocks up Fifth Avenue from the Metropolitan, the Guggenheim Museum is restoring its signature, Frank Lloyd Wright-designed, exterior. They have figured out a way to make some money out of this expense. They're selling the old, curved, walls.

But they're not just selling chunks of concrete, or whatever it was made of. They are embedding little bits of it in pieces of jewelry. Called "Restoration Rocks," they are priced from $175 for sterling silver hoop earrings to $4,350 for a 14k gold large cuff bracelet.

Even men can get in on the act. They have a set of gold cufflinks for $1,500.

If you really want to wear a bit of an art museum (I don't--I think you'd need rocks in your head to wear these rocks on your head), here's a tip: join the Guggenheim first. Members get 10% off.

Another interesting websearch

This morning someone at the Wal-Mart headquarters found my glob by Googling ga walmart shooting. Damage control time, I guess, though it does seem rather late.

Living with wild turkeys IV

Wisconsin: Postal Workers Attacked by Wild Turkeys

My old college town!

An interesting websearch

Well, I assume it was a websearch (which wasn't recorded on my log). Someone using the Information Systems, U.S. House of Representatives ISP visited my recent post on Rep. Weiner.

Maybe Weiner isn't that bad

Last month I posted that probably would not be voting for Rep. Anthony Weiner for NYC mayor next year, because of his comments about the Roger Clemens-baseball-steroids controversy. Last night, at the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force New York Leadership Awards Dinner, I was reminded that Weiner was one of the seven Congressmembers who refused to vote for ENDA last fall because protections for transpeople had been removed from it.

This certainly raises Weiner way up in my appreciation--ENDA is far more important than steroids in baseball. But NYC Council Speaker Christine Quinn is still my personal frontrunner. I hope she isn't hurt by the ficticious group appropriation mess.

Semi-random thoughts

● There is something wrong when a benefit for the Harvey Milk High School in New York City contains material that "May be inappropriate for people under the age of 18."

● It's good to see Andy Roddick finally beating Roger Federer after 11 straight losses to him. It reminds me of when Vitas Gerulaitis won a match from Jimmy Connors back in 1979, after years of losses. Afterwards Gerulaitis quipped, "Nobody beats me 17 straight."

● I hope the delay in the adoption of the New York State budget doesn't interfere with Gov. Paterson's appearance at the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Leadership Awards Dinner on Monday, that I'm going to.

Being a fashionista can be hereditary

And stay out of malls

Man Fatally Stabbed in Ariz. Mall
It's not just individual chain stores and restaurants that are dangerous.

Plat du jour

Another Republican leaves under a cloud

HUD Chief Resigns Amid Criminal Probe
Now it's one of Bush's cabinet members exiting. There is just so much corruption among the Repugnants, oops, Republicans.

I'm quoted again on the ISTHMUS

My post on the Wisconsin Badgers' men's hockey team's loss in the Midwest Regional Finals was quoted in the Madison Miscellany column on the Daily Page of the ISTHMUS. This was second time my glob was quoted there. I love when that happens.

Semi-random thoughts

● I wonder if my post last August had anything to do with Dell's change of marketing strategy. I noted that I would not buy another printer from them, because I could buy ink cartridges only directly from them. Now I can buy them at Staples (along with other Dell products).

● Someone from Bahrain Googled something and found my blog. I did the search also, and noticed they would translate my site into Arabic. I wondered what that would look like, so I clicked on it. What was interesting was they couldn't translate any form of the words "crossdress," or "transgender." And they had nothing for "misogynistic." Why am I not surprised.

● My brother saw my little post about the recent disappearance of spam e-mails. He has noticed the same thing. But he said he kind of missed them. He called them "sort of an electronic Walmart for the perverse."

Now it's all the Badgers

If college hockey games were the same length as college basketball games, the Wisconsin men's team would be making their travel plans to Denver to play in the Frozen Four. But their 2-0 lead at the end of 40 minutes did not hold up. North Dakota scored twice early in the third period, and eventually scored their winning third goal in overtime.

The Badgers were totally superior in energy and effort during the first two periods. Only the excellent goaltending by the Fighting Sioux's Jean-Philippe Lamoureux kept the game from being a rout. It took a perfect pass from Kyle Turris to Jamie McBain to get the first Wisconsin score, just after a power play ended, and the second was a fluke when a shot that went wide caromed off the boards, and bounced off the back of Lamoureux's leg into the goal.

But North Dakota was a completely different team after the second intermission. Not only were they the more energetic, their coach adjusted their lines a bit. Wisconsin could not handle the change.

So now all of the big winter sport Badger teams are through for the season.

Well, not all the Badgers

Meanwhile, back in Madison, the Wisconsin men's hockey team won its first game in the NCAA tournament, 6-2 over Denver. The Badgers were a team that didn't even have a winning record, but were picked for the national tournament on the basis of its record against top 25 teams and its computer ranking. It was even seeded third of the four teams in the region. I suspect the fact they would be playing at home might have had something to do with it.

Next up for Wisconsin is North Dakota, who beat Princeton. The winner goes to Denver next week for the "Frozen Four."

That's it for the Badgers

The Wisconsin men's basketball team got bounced out of the NCAA tournament by the red-hot Davidson squad. Their season is over. But it was fun while it lasted.

Weird websearch of the day

pat paulsen for president blogspot "password ="

And what about the time you played hookey, Governor?

First the new New York State governor, David Paterson, revealed he and his wife had had extra-marital affairs. There was nothing illegal about this (unlike his predecessor's paying for sex), but I'm sure he wanted to make sure no one could blackmail him about it.

Now he's admitting to having used illegal drugs 30 years ago or so. Presumably this is to prevent any blackmail on this subject also--though it's something he already admitted to when he was running for lieutenant governor in 2006. But no one took any notice back then.

Now I'm waiting for his admission that he stole a candy bar when he was 8.

Semi-random thoughts

● Honduran cantaloupes have been identified as the source of an outbreak of salmonella poisoning. So it's very nice that the FreshDirect customer service could immediately assure me that the cantaloupes we got from them yesterday were from Costa Rica.

● Where has all the spam gone? The last couple days I've only been getting a handful of spam e-mails. Usually it's dozens. Not that I'm complaining, mind you.

● Wisconsin is quietly making its way through the NCAA men's basketball tournament. Already it has surpassed the number 2 seed in its region, which has been eliminated. The selection committee's making the Badgers number three was clearly wrong. Next up, Davidson on Friday. (I notice that all three teams that beat Wisconsin this year are already out of the tournament.)

Living with bears XXXVIII

Canada: Residents riled after police shoot black bear in northwestern Ont, Polar bears in your yard? Call the Polar Bear Hotline

Nevada: Bear biologist will be added to basin

Switzerland: Problem bear wakes from winter slumber

Number three for Wal-Mart

Pepper Spray Discharged at Long Island Wal-Mart
So now, instead of getting shot at Wal-Mart, they'll just pepper-spray you. I guess that's an improvement.

Plat du jour

Weird websearch of the day

Yesterday, actually. Someone in Spain found my blog searching for ear birth john coghlan. Perhaps they meant "year" instead of "ear." That would make more sense. But it still wouldn't help that there are a zillion John Coghlans.

Plat du jour

French for "My Blue"--on a very blue Audi.

Books on Transgender

Someone reached my blog doing a search for read any good crossdressing books lately. By coincidence, my friend Helen Boyd has just posted a list of her top 10 books on transgender on her blog. I will certainly bow to her expertise--she has been teaching college courses on transgender since last fall, and she is far better-read on the subject than I am. Her list:

• Butch Is A Noun - S. Bear Bergman
  
  
• Gender Outlaw - Kate Bornstein
  
  
• Crossdressing, Sex and Gender - Bullough & Bullough
  
  
• Sex Changes: The Politics of Transgenderism - Patrick Califia
  
  
• Head Over Heels: Wives Who Stay with Crossdressers and Transsexuals - Virginia Erhardt
  
  
• Transgender Warriors: Making History from Joan of Arc to Dennis Rodman - Leslie Feinberg
  
  
• Becoming a Visible Man - Jamison Green
  
  
• Mom, I Need to Be a Girl - Just Evelyn
  
  
• Whipping Girl - Julia Serano
  
  
• Transition & Beyond - Reid Vanderbergh
  

She is too modest to include either of her own books, but I can't imagine a top ten list by an objective observer that didn't include My Husband Betty.

Her blog post also lists some additional books that she recommends.

Don't tease me!

I got this e-mail advertisement from Bluefly.com for this gorgeous purse. Now I'm sure it sells for far more than I'm willing to pay for a handbag, and it doesn't have the shoulder strap I usually want on a purse, and I don't even know how big it is--but I'd like to at least fantasize about owning one. So I went to the Bluefly site, but it's not there! Maybe they've sold out already. But I can't seem to find it anywhere on the web. Does it really exist?

They shouldn't tease me like this.

I'm quoted on the ISTHMUS!

My post on the Michigan game was quoted in the ISTHMUS Daily Page Madison Miscellany column. Wow!

A very easy one for the Badgers

The Wisconsin men's basketball team added the Big Ten Tournament title to its regular season championship, with an easy 61-48 victory over underdog Illinois. The clock stuck 12 for the Cinderella team of the tournament, as the Badgers' had no trouble beating the Illini for the third time this season.

But the double Wisconsin championships, and its 29-4 season record, even its #8 national ranking, failed to impress the NCAA tournament selection committee, as the Badgers were only seeded #3 in their region. The team sat silent, stunned at the announcement. I think it was their squeaker over Michigan State yesterday that determined the decision. Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan didn't even get his hoped-for extra day off: they will play Cal State-Fullerton in the first round on Thursday.

One very good sign: Trevon Hughes was able to play, and play pretty well, on his injured ankle. Only once or twice did it look like it affected him very much.

Plat du jour

A hard one for the Badgers

One day after an easy win over Michigan, the Wisconsin men's basketball team had to perform their biggest comeback of the year against Michigan State. Down 12 at one point in the second half of the Big Ten tournament semi-final, the Badgers rallied for a 65-63 victory. Probably the biggest factor was MSU's foul troubles--they had four players foul out, including almost all of their big men. They had to go with a four guard line-up towards the end of the game.

On paper, Wisconsin should have an easier time tomorrow against Illinois--whom they beat twice already this year. But the Badgers are only playing for the tournament championship (and maybe a #2 seed in the NCAAs). The Illini are also playing just to get into the NCAAs--without the automatic berth that goes the conference tournament champion, their 16-19 record (assuming a loss tomorrow) will certainly not get them an at-large spot. But they are on a hot streak, having managed three upsets already in the tournament--they were seeded #10 coming in.

Another reason for concern about the Badgers in the final is the health of starting guard Trevon Hughes. He injured an ankle in the Michigan State game, and it looked bad enough to me that he is certainly questionable to play again just a day later.

Stereotypes galore!

Customer: I'll take this sushi and the spicy chicken with brown rice.
Girl at counter: Do you want dark meat or sub with all natural chicken breast?
Customer: I don't know -- it's not for me, it's for a coworker.
Girl at counter: Is it a guy or a girl?
Customer: A guy.
Girl at counter: Just get the dark chicken. He'll never tell the difference.
Customer: He's gay.
Girl at counter: Oh. Then get the white meat.

1303 South Congress Avenue
Austin, Texas
Overheard by: Pracca

via Overheard in the Office, Mar 14, 2008

An easy one for the Badgers

Wisconsin won its first game in the Big Ten tournament with a 51-34 win over Michigan. They scored the first 10 points, and never trailed--which means they've been ahead about the last 150 minutes they've played. It didn't matter that their top scorer, Brian Butch, got in foul trouble early, and ended up with only one point.

Fortunately, Michigan wasn't able to take advantage of that, or of some rather sloppy ball-handling and poor shooting by the Badgers. The Wisconsin defense was up to the task--Michigan's 34 points was by far the lowest by any team ever in the decade-or-so old Big Ten tournament. Michael Flowers got some pay-back against Wolverine star Manny Harris, who had burned him for 26? points in a game earlier in the season, and perhaps preventing Flowers from being named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year. Flowers guarded him super-close, and Harris managed just 4 points this time.

It was good to see Tanner Bronson, who worked his way up from team manager, get into the game in the last minute and end up on the scorecard with a free-throw. I wonder if Butch will get any ribbing for only being able to equal the point output of a bench-warmer.

Next up for Wisconsin, the winner of the Michigan State-Ohio State game, tomorrow afternoon.

Republican corruption knows no bounds

Over the last few years we've seen Republican after Republican get bounced out of office (and frequently thrown into jail) for bribery and other misdeeds, usually betraying the public trust (not that there haven't been a few Democrats in the same boat, the latest and biggest example being Gov. Spitzer). But now we have Chris Ward, a Republican who is alleged to have stolen huge sums from his own party. They gave this guy sole control over $400 million dollars over the last 5 years, and it is alleged that some of this money found its way into his personal and business accounts.

What really gets me is that if he's 39 years old now, then he was 35 when he became treasurer of this organization. Yet they said he had handled their finances for many years previously. Did he start when he was in college? High school?

I think this, and all the other corrupt Republicans that have been exposed in the last few years, shows that the Republicans are totally incapable of judging someone's character.

I also just love that this money won't be available to help Republican candidates get elected.

Plat du jour

Love to roll? Love Derol? or Daryl? Love something else? I dunno.

I never know when to give up

I see I've gone over 1,000 posts on this blog! This is number 1,002.

Sometimes I amaze even myself.

Another Denny's warning

This is my second warning about how dangerous Denny's is: Brooklyn Man Charged with Fatal Knifing in Upstate N.Y. Fight

(The first warning.)

Semi-random thoughts

● There's a marketing genius out there in Oregon: Clinic: Have Vasectomy, Watch NCAA Hoops

● It seems Myspace "new" friends aren't new forever. Mine were recently reset.

● I sure hope Gov. Spitzer's political meltdown doesn't screw up our chances of passing the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act (GENDA).

Living with bears XXXVII

It's been months since I did one of these. Of course, the bears have been hibernating. Here's the round-up from February:

Nevada: IVGID, county find bear solutions

Canada: There's a bear in there, Nuisance bear calls topped 1,400

Colorado: Boulder Offering Bear-Proof Garbage Cans

Georgia: A bear-human story with happy ending

Massachusetts: Police offer advice on black bear encounters, Un-bear-ably cute

Wisconsin, Big Ten champions!

Wisconsin's men's basketball team won the Big Ten season championship this afternoon, with an easy victory over Northwestern, the league's last place team. They won the title outright. Only two losses, both to Purdue, marred their conference record.

When I attended UW, back in the dark ages, being regular season champions would have given them an automatic berth in the NCAA tournament (not that they ever had a competitive team back then). But about 10 years ago a post-season conference tournament was added, so now they'll have to win three more games, on three consecutive days, to get in automatically.

Not that they have to worry about getting in, anyway--they're ranked tenth in the nation, having won 26 of their 30 games. So even if they should lose in the Big Ten tournament (perish the thought), they will certainly be picked for an at-large berth. But winning the conference tournament on top of the regular season championship might get them a #2 seed in the "Big Dance," as the NCAA tournament is called.

Unlike last year, the Badgers are all healthy, so I'm hoping for a much better post-season (they lost in the second round of the NCAA tournament, with their center, Brian Butch, out with an injured elbow). Friday is the Badgers' first game, which I can watch from the comfort of my own home. ESPN will be carrying it, so I won't have to go to the bar to watch it, also unlike last year.

Plat du jour

Weiner pandering to the Yankee fans

It's really sad the way politicians suck up to sports stars, and their fans. First we had Congress members fawning over Roger Clemens before he testified to their committee--while their staffers were perhaps violating the law getting his autograph. That was bad enough.

Now Rep. Anthony Weiner, the Queens Democrat preparing to run for mayor of New York City next year, is asking the FBI to drop its probe of Clemens' allegedly false testimony. His reasons are that:

1) Clemens has already suffered enough.
2) The FBI has more important things to do.
3) Congress shouldn't have been involved in the first place--the professional sports leagues should handle steroid use by the athletes.

Weiner is wrong, wrong, wrong.

1) Clemens hasn't begun to suffer enough, for the exact same reasons I noted in the Marion Jones case.
2) Nobody should ever think they can get away with lying to Congress.
3) The professional sports leagues (and the athletes' unions) are the last people I'd trust to keep athletes from using performance-enhancing drugs. They know that the fans want to see their teams win, and most want to see records being broken, and few care how it's done.

What Weiner is doing is simply pandering to Clemens' fans, of which there are many in New York, since Clemens played for the Yankees. He's looking for votes in an extremely difficult constituency for him--he's a Mets fan, and Yankees fans generally hate the Mets, and their fans.

I don't think I'm going to be voting for Weiner.

Now I know we're in a recession

Last week I semi-joked that we're already in a recession. Then Warren Buffett agreed. Now I've found hard evidence: Job Discrimination Complaints Jump. When employers start dumping people, the first ones to go are the ones that are "different"--minorities and women, and ones that tend to be more expensive--older workers and the disabled. When discrimination claims go up it's a good sign the economy is going down.

Plat du jour

On a beautifully restored Chevy.

New template

Someone on the myHusbandBetty message boards said she noticed a correlation between misogynistic postings and pink backgrounds on crossdressers' blogs. While I don't think I have ever been guilty of any misogyny here, I don't want anyone to be misled--so I've changed my blog's template.

I've tweaked it a little, but there are some more things I'd like to do. I wish I could figure out how to decrease the size of the borders, so the main column (now white) would be wider.

Likewise, Wendy's

Another addition to my list of dangerous places to avoid.
Fireman, Gunman Dead in Wendy's Shooting

Plat du jour

A snowbird--back in NY a bit early, perhaps.

Talking back at the headlines

The Associated Press "Top News" at 11:39am:

• Bush: US Is Not Headed Into Recession
He's right--we're already there.

• Bernanke Says It's Not As Bad As in '70s
Yet.

• Al-Maliki: Iraqis Are Reconciling
They're all reconciled to keep fighting.

• Kenya's Rival Politicians Sign Deal
Any bets on how long that will last?

• Economy Slows to Near Crawl
See the first headline.

• Cribs Recalled for Faulty Railing
What is the matter with these manufacturers? This isn't rocket science.

• Harvard Scholars to Explore Net Safety
Maybe they should be studying crib safety.

• Car-Building Legend Boyd Coddington Dies
Who?

Maybe they should reconsider the route

There's going to be a Vegetarian Pride Parade in NYC in May. It starts in Greenwich Village's Meatpacking District.

McCain seems surprised his backer was indicted

Last August I posted how the Republicans had yet another congressman intending to leave office under suspicion of illegal activities. Yesterday the hammer fell, and Rep. Rick Renzi was indicted. What was interesting to me was McCain's reaction--he seemed surprised at the whole thing. Didn't he know that the co-chair of his campaign in his home state of Arizona was under investigation? He knew Renzi well enough to know how many children he has. Wasn't there anyone on McCain's staff smart enough to tell him that having Renzi as a state leader of his campaign wasn't a good idea? Or maybe there just wasn't anyone on McCain's staff brave enough to risk angering him.

Weird websearch of the day

lolita nude beach illegal

Another one from the Department of Ambiguous Headlines

Rights Group: NGOs Choked in Russia

Semi-random thoughts

● They added my friend Helen Boyd's second book, She's Not the Man I Married, to the list of nominees in the Transgender Category for the Lambda Literary Awards. Her first book, My Husband Betty, was a finalist.

● My new ACLU card says I've been a member since 1974. I can't honestly say I'm a card-carrying member--my wallet is stuffed with more than enough cards that might actually be useful to carry. I also can't say that I agree with absolutely every position the ACLU takes. But I'm glad I've been able to support them in the fight to ensure that our Constitution is more than just a bunch of words on paper.

● How long does Myspace consider a friend "new?" Forever? It sure seems that way. BTW, I've got over 300 friends there now.

● I hate being sick.

● There is an interesting difference between the coat-check policies at the New York State Theater and its neighbors at Lincoln Center, Avery Fisher Hall (home of the New York Philharmonic) and the Metropolitan Opera House. The latter two charge $3 per item, while the State Theater only charges $1.50--but unlike the other two, it won't accept fur items. Very egalitarian.

Sad but true

How it works:

The fat lady is singing at the format war

About a year ago I posted on how the battle of formats of high definition video disks was becoming irrelevent. Between the plans for dual format players and dual format disks, all the bases would be covered. Well, a lot has changed in the last 13 months.

The dual format disks never actually appeared. The dual format machines did appear, and the most recent models were pretty much full-featured, from what I read (the initial ones were basically Blu-ray machines that could also play HD-DVDs, but with very little of the special stuff). But the prices of the single format machines fell so much that you could buy one of each for significantly less than a dual format player.

Meanwhile, a lot of the movie studios and big retailers really started choosing sides--and most chose Blu-ray. Now the final nail in HD-DVD's coffin has been nailed: Wal-Mart has announced it will sell Blu-ray exclusively.

Though there are arguments as to which format is technologically superior, it seems to me that Blu-ray has a slightly better case--though I doubt very many people could ever tell the difference visually. What is really important is that there will be one single standard. People, even people like me, have put off buying anything. Now we know what to purchase.

Meanwhile, the ability for people to get their movies via internet download has been picking up steam. I foresee a big problem with this--if it gets extremely popular there just won't be enough bandwidth. It will clog up the internet completely. I really wonder if that's at least part of the cause of the slow internet problem I've been having recently.

Male or Female: Choose one!

Recently I got a new Myspace friend, Queering MySpace's Gender: Official Petition. This is someone who's trying get Myspace to change its requirement that everyone identify as either male or female. He/She/I-don't-know-what-pronoun-to-use has also just started up an online forum, Gender is Not Binary: Queering the Gender of Social Networking Sites, "the official discussion forum of the Queering Gender movement." I really doubt there is anyone qualified to designate it the "official" one, but I'll accept it as the site's self-identity.

But he/she/whatever has a little problem with the site (actually there is more than one--I also found a technical glitch in trying to access my Profile from at least one page): To register you are required to identify as Male or Female! It turns out this is a restriction of phpBB, the software the forum is using, but the founder never had to register, so he/she/whatever didn't know. A request has been put in to phpBB to change this.

This just shows how ubiquitous the gender binary is.

Headline of the day

No Homicides in Newark for More than 30 Days
That's great for Newark, but I think it's really sad that this is seen as something unusual.

Plat du jour

French for "the teacher."

Plat du jour

From the upcoming movie: Hamlet, the Sequel

Vote for Obama!

I was a Richardson supporter, but now that he's dropped out I'm voting for Obama. Clinton is OK, but I think we will get out of Iraq more quickly with Obama as president.

Have they stopped teaching literature in the UK?

British Stores Halt `Lolita' Beds

LONDON (AP) - Woolworths stores in Britain have stopped selling "Lolita" beds for young girls after a parents' organization complained because of the name's association with the famous novel about a pedophile.
...
"There aren't many people in the company, in the whole world, who know about the 'Lolita' book or films," Lim said. "There might be a few people in the country who have a problem with it, but it's just a name."

Groundhog Day

So it's Groundhog Day. As is frequently the case, the various groundhogs the media turn to for a weather prognostication disagree. Somebody really should organize the groundhogs so they all present a common forecast.

BTW, the observance of Groundhog Day does not entail eating pork sausage.

Plat du jour

Awwww!

Another headline pair coincidence

(assuming it really is a coincidence)

Mormon Church President Dies at 97

Head of Greece's Orthodox Church Dies

are the first two "Top News" articles of the AP at the moment.

An odd pairing of headlines

The Associated Press lists these two headlines consecutively in its National News:

1 Killed in LA Helicopter Freeway Crash

Speeding Car Wrecks on Runway, Kills 5

People have got to learn, it's cars on the freeways, aircraft on the runways. Don't get it backwards.

Lost in translation

You never know what you will find in an international market.

One of the people on the myHusbandBetty boards found this, in Indianapolis, of all places. I've added her blog to my list.

EDIT: Behind the bar at the Zipper Theatre (which I went to Friday night for drag performer Sweetie's birthday party), they had a pack of the soup. But the package was slightly different: it had "COCK FLAVOURED" in the big letters, "Soup Mix" in the small type. I don't know which is the newer version. I don't think it matters--it needs some retranslation regardless.

Vote for Choice

I believe it is important to vote pro-Choice because the government has no right to control people's bodies. It should be the sole right of a woman to determine whether she wants to have a child.

This is the reason I stopped supporting the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. They started supporting anti-Choice candidates.

The return of an old weird websearch

madison square garden stagehands is back, after a lapse of 18 months. It's still from Arizona. This is the only site Google has for that exact phrase.

Weird websearch of the day

Somebody found my blog doing a websearch for "the awe and dread with which the untutored savage contemplates his mother-in-law are amongst the most familiar facts of anthropology." Somebody in Korea.

How in the world is that going to get someone to this blog, I wondered. It turns out that it was the title of some spam that I made my Spam of the Day a couple years ago.

BTW, it was a quote by the British anthropologist Sir James George Frazer.

Happy birthday, Smurfs!

Smurfs Mark 50th Birthday in Belgium

I can't say I've ever watched an entire Smurf episode, and I'm certainly not a Smurf expert. But as I understand it, originally there was only one female Smurf, with many male ones. It appears that they later added a couple more females. This leads me to believe that at least one of the following is true:

1) There are a lot of horny male Smurfs.

2) The female ones are very tired servicing all these guys.

3) Many of the male Smurfs are gay.

Semi-random thoughts

● Sometime last week my glob received its 25,000th visitor.

● Immigrants Protest Against Western Union Fees It's the law of supply and demand, the way we do things here in America. If they don't like it, they can go to some other country. Or start their own competing service.

● I hate it when people confuse loose and lose.

● I've added links to the blogs of a couple of people from the myHusbandBetty boards: Jude's Scenic Root and Sandyshoes' Noted and Blogged. I've also rearranged the order of my blog links a bit. I've moved up some of the more frequently updated ones, and moved down the ones where there is seldom (if ever) a new post--though it's not strictly in frequency order by any means.

● And I still hate Vista.

Plat du jour

Someone from Seattle?

And Arby's, too

Another one on my list of dangerous places to avoid:
Elderly Woman Killed When Van Crashes Into Queens Restaurant

Semi-random thoughts

● Burlesque shows are fun.

● It's great to see Lindsay Davenport playing and winning after leaving the tennis tour to have a baby. What really amazes me is that she now has the highest percentage of singles wins in the women's tour history. She's never dominated the tour the way Steffi Graf did (at least after one of Graf's fans stabbed Monica Seles with a knife). That's who I would have guessed has the best percentage.

● The Southern Poverty Law Center has sent me my 2008 Membership card, awarding me the status of "Lifetime Member," since I've been donating to them for more than 15 years--in fact, it's been since 1983. But I doubt I'm going to increase my donations (which are made automatically every month) any time soon. I've noticed in the fine print on the back of the contribution form that the Center's endowment is up to $175 million dollars. (The last time I looked, maybe two years ago, it was $153 million, I think.) They say that the income from the endowment is insufficient to pay for their current activities, so additional contributions are "crucial." I have no reason to think this isn't true, but if I'm going to increase my donations to any of my favored organizations it's going to be to one that's a little more hard up.

● I went to a birthday dinner party for a friend of my wife's, a former colleague from before my wife retired. Her friend is an evangelical Christian--though certainly not extremely conservative: wine was served, and most of the guests had some. A bit to my surprise (and relief), there was nothing religious at all about the evening, apart from a short grace before the meal delivered by the honoree's minister. But I did notice one small thing I thought extremely telling: the seating arrangement. There were placecards for everyone, and I noticed that no one was seated next to a person of the opposite sex except for one's spouse--which happens to be the exact opposite of the seating at a French dinner party. I guess the evangelicals want to minimize any temptations.

● Someone found my blog Googling "Mary Carillo nude." Now that's a new one.

Plat du jour

Your H1ghness!

Semi-random thoughts

● My plain black leather skirt has died--after about 10 years and many, many wearings. I had it even before I started going out as a woman, when I was just wearing a few things at home when my wife was elsewhere. One of the seams is coming apart at the hem. But I'm told it isn't worth trying to repair it because the leather has dried out and the stitches won't hold. So I'll have to get a new one.

● Sometimes when I pull out the stem of an apple before eating it I have the urge to throw the apple and duck for cover.

● Mary Carillo must be broadcasting one of the tennis tournaments from down-under. I'm getting a lot of hits on my blog from people searching for "Mary Carillo lesbian" or something similar.

● My blog was Google's top choice for "protest HRC" a few days ago. Wow! But now I've dropped down to sixth.

Plat du jour

I wonder if s/he knows EVENPAR1?

Go to jail. Go directly to jail. Do not pass Go. Do not collect $200.

Marion Jones thinks she shouldn't have to go to jail, that her fall from "American hero to national disgrace" and the loss of her unfairly obtained medals, wealth, etc. is sufficient punishment for lying to investigators about her steroid usage and check fraud.

It's absolutely amazing what celebrities think they are entitled to. Jones' loss of all that stuff just puts her where she should have been had she not cheated as an athlete--it doesn't start to make up for her violation of the law.

I hope the judge throws the book at her.

UPDATE: It sure looks like the judge wants to.

Headline of the day

Man, 75, Hurt While Riding Pet Buffalo
You can't make up this kind of stuff. No one would believe you.

Semi-random thoughts

● It's a scary thought that 40% of all DVDs are sold in Wal-Marts. I'm proud to say I've never set foot in a Wal-Mart.

● WQXR played something by Englebert Humperdinck (the composer, not the singer who used his name) other than his opera Hansel and Gretel--a first for me, at least. He's a classical music one hit wonder, as far as I know.

● I really can't complain about the Wisconsin football team losing to Tennessee in the Some-Commercial-Entity Bowl. They played pretty well, the game was close all the way, and it was very entertaining. They just came up a little bit short. If they can find a decent quarterback next year they should do quite well--outside of that position it's a pretty young team.

● I still hate Vista.

Plat du jour

It's God's will that they only have 6 characters on the vanity plates in Virginia.

Movie micro-reviews

The Savages: Excellent. Philip Seymour Hoffman is great--yet again.

Atonement: A marvelously made movie of a ridiculous story. (Memo to Keira Knightley: Eat something!)

No Country for Old Men: Super! I saw this several months ago at the New York Film Festival.

Plat du jour

For whom?

Hooters--another place to stay out of

2 Shot in Tab Spat at Hooters in Tenn.
Add Hooters to my list of dangerous places: Wal-Mart, Denny's, Starbucks.

Plat du jour

How sweet.

Semi-random thoughts

● I hate Vista!

● Driving with a GPS is wonderful.

● From the NY Times Metropolitan Diary column:

One of the perennial joys of the holiday season: the hearty good wishes for a very merry Christmas exchanged as my Jewish husband hands our Muslim doorman his year-end tip.

Been there, done that--though I usually just say "Happy Holidays."

Plat du jour