Stumbling Block...

Having spent the last year searching for a job, I've really come to understand how many people are out there who are looking and how many people you have to compete with. Its very important to be able to set yourself apart from the crowd. Honestly, I think my background and experiences set me up to compete with just about anyone, I feel like its the intangible things, in addition to all the rest, that set me apart. Another realization is that I haven't done a very good job in trying to set that all out and that has to change if I'm going to get where I want to go. So, today I've been working on a bio that fleshes things out and will go into all the areas that I think the standard resume doesn't cover. Aside from the mental effort of trying to put together something that is well written -- which I really haven't done in a while, the whole exercise has begun to show me how difficult it is for me to really go out and present myself fairly. I'm not exactly sure why that's been such a problem for me.

Way Fucked Up!

I don't know if you have seen the last couple of Brawny paper towel commercials, but for those that haven't, aside from screaming with homoerotic subtext, they're just downright creepy. The ad people for Brawny have apparently taken things a step further... They have these "Innocent Escapes" videos that feature a Stepford-type Brawny Man with a variety of videos that I can only describe as incredibly fucked up in a ultra-creepy way. The guy, admittedly, is kinda hot - he reminds me of an unstylish Kyan Douglas (of Queer Eye fame)... Still, I can't escape the feeling that he has a dismembered corpse stashed somewhere in that cabin... Check it out.

Thanks to Towleroad for this...

Spring in AZ

Its been raining like crazy in Phoenix for the past couple of months. Of course, that's been very good since we've been in the middle of a drought for a while. The bonus to that is that the area just goes berzerko with color and life - the mountains are covered in green and the wildflowers bloom everywhere. It kinda makes you wonder where they all come from. I'm hoping that this will serve as a metaphor for my life - lots and lots of great things coming from directions I would have never expected.

Respect the Kat

Respect the Kat 2005 is here! Available for your listening pleasure on my radio.blog.

Ride It!

I don't really have much to say right now, but I found this picture and thought it was pretty much the greatest thing since sliced bread. In fact, I think this is even BETTER than sliced bread. Comments, anyone?

Crunch

Some crazy woman hit-and-ran my dad while he was taking a co-worker to lunch on Tuesday. Fortunately, neither my dad nor his coworker were seriously injured and they managed to catch the woman. Of course, she had no insurance and was driving on a suspended license. They booked her and released her, which means she's out there with no insurance and with a suspended license, ready to run someone else down.

I'm gonna miss that Grand Cherokee. Why couldn't my dad have totaled the freakin Daewoo they have he normally drives -- then they could have bought a real car instead.

Big And Dumb

I decided to have a little change of pace on the blog today. Anyway, let me start off by saying that at my core, I'm definitely a love and relationship kinda guy. I value intelligence, heart and a sense of humor. I'd rather spend an evening talking with someone I really connect with than having great sex.

That being said, I was talking with Rusty and we both agreed - big and dumb is HOT. It pretty much betrays all my relationship principles, but it's true. There's just something about a big freakin meathead that's hard to resist. Paulie and I always refer to that as "The Land of Duh." A great freakin place to visit, I must say. I've never tried dating anyone from the Land of Duh, but then again, I'm very picky when it comes to dating.

Of course, that's not to say all big guys are dumb - not true at all. I've met some very intelligent guys with pecs larger than my head.

I guess the whole point of Big and Dumb is that you don't have to overthink things around them. Just remember: Beef, it's what's for dinner!

Reporter by day...

Ok, I've tried to steer clear of politics since the election, but I can't resist this one. I don't know if you guys have been keeping track of the Jeff Gannon thing, but it just gets more interesting. Long story short, Jeff Gannon was a reporter for a very conservative news site. Despite his almost non-existent credentials, he makes his way to the White House press corps and lobs softballs to the administration during press conferences... it also appears that he had access to confidential documents that named former CIA operative Valerie Plame. Well, I don't know why, but some bloggers do some digging and it appears the guy is also a gay escort writing under an assumed name... there's talk that he may have gotten his credentials because of an intimate relationship with White House staff. That's just classic.

The Family Values administration is using a gay hustler as its mouthpiece to the conservative world. Just classic.

To boot, the guy is HOT. I'd definitely sleep with him.

You can read more (and see pics at) -
http://americablog.blogspot.com/2005/02/man-called-jeff.html

You can also check out more at http://rawstory.com/

Happy V-Day

Ok, I'll be honest, I've never been a big fan of Valentine's Day. Too artificial and contrived for me, but next time I'm in love around this time, I reserve the right to reassess. Anyway, I've always referred to February 14th as Arizona Statehood Day, which it is. But for you romantics out there, I am not without some sentiment... So, here's a nice Valentine's Day heart just for you.

An End of an Era

What we've feared has come to pass. GeekSlut has decided to stop blogging. First Billy and now this. We'll miss you guys. Things won't be as interesting without you.

Light a candle for our friends... We will never forget you!

*sniff*

No Ex-Gay Penguins

For those of you who haven't been keeping up on this, a German zoo had discovered that three of its five pairs of penguins were gay. Because penguins are an endangered species, the zoo decided to try to entice the male penguins to breed by introducing several new female penguins.

Well, this "conversion therapy," which has been attempted with other penguins unsuccessfully, has officially been declared a failure. Zoo Director Heike Kueck said, "The relationships were apparently too strong."

Zoo officials have also confirmed that the couples have been observed guarding rocks in their caves, as if they were eggs. There is speculation that the couples may be talking with some lesbian penguins about artificial insemination so that they can start little penguin families of their own.

First Daughter

As I've mentioned before, I love the Blockbuster Movie Pass. At the same time, you definitely hit a point where you run out of movies you really want to see and have to settle for movies you can live with. Right now I'm trying to find anything I can live with. So, I dug deep into the New Release section and came up with First Daughter.

Now let me say first off that I love Katie Holmes. I've loved her ever since the first episode of Dawson's Creek. She was the only thing that made the show remotely watchable... that and Dawson's uber-hunky father. I'm sure that if I were straight I would want to date/marry her. And watching First Daughter, I was amazed because in a couple of movies she reminds me a lot of Audrey Hepburn at times... in addition to her beauty, she has a certain elegance about her that Audrey exuded.

The other half of the movie is Marc Blucas, who played Riley in Buffy The Vampire Slayer. From watching him in Buffy, he is very attractive and charming, seems intelligent, but the character never had a lot of depth. Oddly enough, his character is strikingly similar here and it's left me wondering whether that's more about Blucas than the character itself. Maybe he just needs some meatier parts, I don't know. What I DO know is that the man looks incredible in a tux, my parents would probably love him if I brought him home and I'm pretty sure he'd be pretty good in bed, too. Still, I can't shake the feeling that you'd date for a year or two and then you'd have to dump him because you've outgrown him. Again, maybe he just needs meatier parts.

As for the movie itself - it's basically the Chelsea Clinton story (without the bad hair)... first daughter goes to college after growing up in the public eye. I ran into Chelsea and her Secret Service entourage on campus at Stanford a few times. Let me tell you, there were no agents anywhere near as hot as Marc Blucas. I wish there had been.

All in all, not a bad little movie, with plenty of eye candy to keep it watchable.

Three Cheers for Cock!

For those of you who weren't aware, it's the Chinese New Year! HAPPY NEW YEAR! Of course, one difference about the Chinese calendar is that they name the years after animals. This year is the Year of the Cock. I have to admit that this is my favorite of all the years in the Chinese calendar because, well... because I LOVE COCK. So, here's wishing that each and every one of us have a year filled with cock.

Antonio's Package

Last night was more of the Outfar Film Festival with K. Probably the most well attended of the three evening movies that K and I watched was Testosterone. Unlike most of the films at the festival, this film had some really big names and presumably a sizable budget. Antonio Sabato Jr. and David Sutcliffe (Gilmore Girls) headlined, with Jennifer Coolidge (American Pie films, Best in Show, Legally Blonde, etc.) stealing the show, as usual. The good: Unquestionably, the best part of this movie is getting to see Antonio Sabato Jr.'s unit. The man is gifted. Aside from that, the movie is pretty much a mess. Antonio isn't in it nearly enough. Very disappointing.

We also watched Poster Boy, about the gay son of a ultra-conservative Republican Senator, who is asked to be the family-friendly face of the Senator's campaign. A pretty bleak picture of the price of politics and what really goes on behind closed doors in campaigns.

The best picture of the evening, K and I agreed, was Dorian Blues. Essentially, this is about Dorian, a young gay teen going from high schooler to college in a conservative family. Certainly, the story is very similar to Poster Boy but a much different feel. Dorian Blues takes a much more humorous angle on a very difficult subject. Another big plus to Dorian Blues is Dorian's straight, hunky, golden boy little brother, Nicky, played by Lea Coco. Not only is Coco just a delight physically, the character is incredibly likable.

If you have a chance to see either Dorian Blues or Poster Boy, I would recommend them. If you want to see Antonio's package, Testosterone is the movie for you.

And let me say, K was quite a good trooper sitting through three movies last night.

Ode To Jonny

Earlier today I went to see one of the films at the Outfar Gay & Lesbian Film Festival. Specifically, I went to go see Eating Out, which I had seen at Outfar last year, but they showed an encore screening. It's a very funny, sexy gay comedy -- I highly recommend it... Oh yeah and it has some INCREDIBLY hot guys in it... *grin* I've got three more films I'm seeing later tonight. I've been badgering Adam all week to make him go and if the bitch doesn't show, I'm gonna kick his ass.

Oddly enough, this year I actually have someone to take with me to the festival -- K, who I have been seeing the past few weeks. It sounds really strange for me to say that I've been dating someone -- that's how long its been. It's really been nice to have someone to spend time with.

Anyway, K and I did a little browsing at Fashion Square after the movie and we wandered over to Z Gallerie, Williams Sonoma, Crate & Barrell, etc. I saw this display and immediately thought of our Asian food expert, the illustrious Jonny and decided to take this photo as a little bit of homage. Granted, the camera on my phone isn't great, but hey, it's the thought that counts.

On a final note, I was walking through the mall and I noticed quite a few young guys walking around in polo shirts with the collars turned up... OMG, how very 80s. Now I can't tell if that look went away and just came back or if it never left and I just didn't notice. It makes me want to go and watch Pretty In Pink or Sixteen Candles.

Bells n Whistles...

I just added blog.radio to the list of attractions here at echeblog. As some of you may or may not know, I am also an aspiring DJ, so I'm going to be rotating some of the CDs that I've made and will be making. This month I'm featuring my New Year's CD. Feel free to let me know how you like it.

Say 'No!' To Shrimp!

Since it seems like we're all on a trip to purge the United States of Jesus of all things unclean from the Lord's sight, I think we need to focus on something even more pervasive than the abomination that is homosexuality. You know what I'm talking about -- that's right, shrimp and shellfish.

The good book says in Leviticus 11:9-12:

"9 These shall ye eat of all that are in the waters: whatsoever hath fins and scales in the waters, in the seas, and in the rivers, them shall ye eat.
10 And all that have not fins and scales in the seas, and in the rivers, of all that move in the waters, and of any living thing which is in the waters, they shall be an abomination unto you:
11 They shall be even an abomination unto you; ye shall not eat of their flesh, but ye shall have their carcases in abomination.
12 Whatsoever hath no fins nor scales in the waters, that shall be an abomination unto you. "

It's time to rid Jesusland of this abomination!

Thanks to the good people at www.godhatesshrimp.com

Strange Bedfellows

The Guardian Unlimited (UK)
has a fascinating article describing how fundamentalist Christian and Islamic groups are working together to promote the so-called "pro-family" agenda around the world -- pro family meaning anti-abortion, anti-gay rights, anti-womens' rights, anti-sex education. Now, let me say that while I tend to be pretty liberal on social issues, I understand that reasonable can and do disagree on such basic beliefs as abortion, gay rights, etc. At the same time, these are pretty strange bedfellows... And it raises the question: What would be the difference between an Islamic theocracy and the Christian theocracy we are heading toward, besides the obvious differing cultural norms? Strange that some of the same conservatives in this country who so stridently support the war would be cooperating with the fundamentalist Islamic groups that are sponsoring the suicide bombers that attack our troops. Strange bedfellows indeed.