Where's Katerine?

Where's Caterine Vauban when you need her? Actually, I'd prefer an attractive gay male version, but that is just another one of my attempts to "throw [myself] directly back into the Sea of Human Drama." I have to admit that after living my life as a mostly "glass half full" type person, Caterine is very persuasive. What I wouldn't give for Mark Wahlberg to hit me in the face with a rubber ball right now.

GIANT SCORPIANS!

Scientists have uncovered evidence that giant scorpians may have once roamed the earth. These suckers were 5 feet long and 3 feet wide. That's one big freakin scorpian. As a Scorpio, I suppose I could take some level of comfort in knowing that such creatures once threw their weight around. Of course, the other side of the coin is that these things are long since exinct. These days, we're nothing but small, annoying household pests.

I'm Done.

Of the 32 years of my life I can remember, I've spent them swimming upstream, trying to fight my way into making my own place in this world, mainly because I didn't have much of a choice -- things have always worked differently for me. And so, over my lifetime, I've really done my best to learn to be myself and bringing my own unique perspective to the world. Its always been a battle and I've had my moments where I've wanted to chuck it all... but I've always rallied under the belief that someway, somehow, everything I've worked for for has been worth it.

Until now. Whether its the music or blogging or work or relationships, trying to be myself has gotten me exactly nowhere. All that time I struggled because things didn't feel like they work for me they way the worked for the rest of the world, maybe its just because I didn't try hard enough. Well, enough of that. Fuck it, 'cause it ain't worth it.

Big. Blond. Beef!

This past weekend was a very good one at Miami - the weekend after Thanksgiving apparently is always very busy. Music-wise, I feel like I've gotten a lot better very quickly -- that seems to be the consensus from the feedback I've gotten, too.

Anyway, for the record, I'm the romantic type. Will always choose love over lust and all that. Given the notable absence of love in my life, however, I have to confess that up in the DJ booth, I've had a few... distractions.

Friday night featured a couple of different ones. First, a guy I've seen out for the past several years. In his mid to late 30s I'd wager, 5'8" or so, blond, and very well built. I've always seen him on the edge of the dance floor but never venturing on it... come on, Mr. Beef, either take your shirt off and shake your moneymaker on the dance floor or come on up to the DJ booth. One or the other, quit riding that fence.

The other one was just breathtaking. Around 6'2", also in his mid 30s, blond, and just big - not overly so, but just a whole lot of man. Oh my. The big drawback - he's apparently straight. I've seen him mack on a woman on my dancefloor. That's just wrong. Of course, I've seen him at the bar several times, which always raises a question. My, my, the things I could do with that man.

Saturday night featured one I can't really described as beef - too young, so I guess you could call him veal, but not really big enough to be called veal. Anyway, blond, young, very attractive, and rather stunning when he's gyrating shirtless. I was having a very good night musically Saturday - the crowd was rocking and I decided to take a quick trip down to the dance floor and managed to get an introduction -- he was rather sloshed and named Kirk. My, my. I told my friend that I would stop the music immediately unless I got Kirk as my very own. Sadly, Kirk left later with some other trick and I was left in the DJ booth all by my lonesome. The one that got away. *sigh* I'll just add him to my list.

Whoever said that DJing was a good way to get some action was sorely mistaken. Still, there's some great eye candy.

Justice is Crumbling!

With Pat Robertson and other crazy Fundamentalists attributing various natural disasters to God's supposed displeasure with the conduct of various groups, I decided to play along.

Here's my latest event: The Supreme Court is falling! Today, large chunks of marble fell from the facade from the entrance from the Supreme Court. After President Bush's debacle with Harriet "You're the Best Governor Ever!"Miers and subsequent nomination of ultra-conservative Judge Samuel Alito Jr. to replace Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, it is quite clear that God is angry at Bush's blatant attempt to fill the High Court with partisan ideologues. Indeed, God has chosen the image of the Court literally falling apart as a warning to us all. We would be foolish to ignore the will of God.

Hey, this is kinda fun!

ASU 23, UA 20

Having grown up in the shadow of Arizona State University with both of my parents as alumni, I've always had an almost pathalogical hatred of the University of Arizona. The culmination of this animosity comes every November, the day after Thanksgiving when ASU and UA square off in football. Growing up, ASU usually had the better team but for a 10 year stretch, somehow ASU would find a way to lose the game. It didn't matter what the records were or that ASU would outplay UA, every game something would inevitably happen - a key injury or botched play - that would change the momentum and hand the game to UA. What's even more maddening is that fate was never in ASU's favor... until today. This was a game where ASU struggled throughout most of the game but a punt return for a touchdown and a couple of key injuries allowed ASU to rally from 15 points down in the second half to pull out the win on a last second field goal. By all rights, we should have lost this game and yet the final score is in the record books. Damn, this almost feels as good as if we would have just pounded them. Nice to be on the winning side for a change.

A Great Job, Brownie.

I'd like to believe that there's an overall sense of justice to the Universe - call it karma or whatever you will, things tend to even out over time. Once in a while, though, something comes along and seems to disprove that. Take, for example, Former FEMA Director Michael Brown -- a man whose prime qualification for the job of directing FEMA was raising horses and famously praised by President Bush -- "You're doing a great job, Brownie!" -- for screwing up FEMA's response to Hurricane Katrina. Well, here's the kicker: Brown is starting a disaster planning consulting firm. Brown explained, "Hurricane Katrina showed how bad disasters can be, and there’s an incredible need for individuals and businesses to understand how important preparedness is."

Of course, a big question I'd ask is whether anyone would be stupid enough to hire Michael Brown to demonstrate how to prepare for a disaster. That would be like hiring Michael Jackson to take care of your kids, right? Brown says that companies have already expressed interest in his fledgling firm. Boy, it really inspires confidence in corporate America, doesn't it?

Wax Off...

For those of you old enough to remember... Pat Morita, who played Mr. Miyage in The Karate Kid, as well as Arnold on Happy Days has died, at age 71.

I guess the first thing that surprised me was that Morita was nominated for an Academy Award for his portayal of Miyage in the first Karate Kid - to think that The Karate Kid was nominated for an Academy Award just stuns me.

Taking a closer look at Morita's life, however, you get a much better sense of how extraordinary this man was. Born in the 1930s, Morita and his family were forced into an Internment Camp in Arizona during World War II. (An aside - as an Arizona native, reading about the two internment camps in Arizona is deeply troubling for me.)

Certainly, in today's culture there aren't many Asians in the media - a handful. Margaret Cho talked about how rare it was to see an Asian on TV when she was growing up - usually only as extras on M*A*S*H, where Morita's TV career got its start. Morita was one of the few actors who paved the way for more acceptance of Asian-American in the mainstream.

So, take a moment to remember the life of Pat Morita -- thanks, Pat, we'll miss you.

Thanks?

Well, it appears that the tabloids were right all along. Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson have officially split up. Of course, this is probably one of the worst kept secrets in a long time - Nick and Jessica have been denying the rumors for the past six months at least. This raises the question, in my mind, at least, how much influence did the media have in this situation, anyway? Of course, its impossible to separate out the effect the media has on celebrities, but you have to wonder what would have happened to them if they didn't have the eyes of the world on them every step of the way... Relationships are hard enough when its just the two of you.

That being said, if Nick decides he wants to have a night of debauchery or two, just send him to the DJ booth. I'll take good care of him.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Whether you're spending time with friends, family, or having some some quality alone time, I hope you have a great Thanksgiving!

Mmmmm, turkey!

Marc's Turkey Day Treat!

Ok, I try to be part of my family's Thanksgiving Day celebration and my contribution to the spread is homemade apple pie. Taking a cue from Ethan, I figured I'd share my piemaking experience with you. One note - I'm not wearing a Speedo while I'm making them (love ya, Ethan!).

I tried making crust from scratch one year. Its a real pain - once you get the dough, you have to roll it out and it doesn't really hold together all that well. If you knead it too much, it won't turn out flaky. So, I go with the premade crusts - they're good and easy. The newest innovation is the crusts that are rolled instead of folded - that way there aren't any creases or folds, which is great!

So, the first step is to unfold the crust and set it in the plate, making sure you get rid of any air between the plate and the crust. Once the crust is ready, its time for the filling.

For good apple pie, you need good apples. I like my apple pie to have a little tartness to it, so I go with a mix of Granny Smith and Pink Ladies. The Granny Smith are definitely on the tart side and the Pink Ladies are a nice mix of sweet and tart... kinda like me. ;) Anyway, you'll need 8-9 apples, depending on the size of the apples. Once you peel them and core them, you want to cut them into slices. I don't like to cut the slices too thin, otherwise they end up mushy when you bake them. Cut the slices a little thicker and the apples will be a little firmer.

Anyway, once you've prepared the apples, put them in a very large mixing bowl. Add a half cup of sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of ground ginger, 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon of ground cloves, a little bit of lemon juice and a little vanilla extract. You're going to mix everything together so that the apples are coated pretty evenly with the rest of the spices.

Now its time to fill the pie. You're going to want to make sure you put in plenty because the filling will shrink when you bake it. After you fill the pie, unroll the other crust and put it on over the filling. You'll want to go around the edge and pinch the sides together in order to seal it -- you don't want it to leak out the sides and be all messy!

At this point, to make sure the crust comes out nice and golden brown, I will cover the crust with an egg wash -- beat an egg and then brush it over the top of the crust. Then sprinkle some sugar over it. The last step is important -- be sure to cut some slits in the top of the crust for steam to escape.

Now its time for baking! Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Bake the pie for about 45 minutes or so - and then you're done! Your pie should come out golden brown and will be a hit with everyone, assuming they haven't eaten so much turkey that they're in the guest bathroom purging.

Have a great Thanksgiving, everyone!

Pre-Turkey Buildup...

Its been an EXTREEEEEEEEMLY slow day at work today and I've been wondering why I have to be here on Friday when most of the rest of the country will be having turkey sandwiches and watching football.

That's not the way to get into the Thanksgiving spirit, so let's talk about what I'm thankful for... Lord knows I've bitched enough about all the stuff I don't like.

20 Things I'm Thankful For:

1. My family. Sure they're crazy, but they're mine. And I have to admit that I couldn't ask for a more supportive and loving bunch...

2. My cat, Stinky. He is SUCH a good kitty! Even with his movie star good looks, he still hangs out with me.

3. Paulie - he's been with me through some of the nasty downs, and hopefully for a whole heckuva lot of ups to come.

4. Mr. Donut Jelly himself, Adam - How many people would let me use the hotel room while I shagged the beefy Italian guy in Palm Springs?

5. Scott - Its amazing how someone I've never met in person could become such a good friend. Thanks for showing me what true strength is all about.

6. Music - for giving my soul a voice.

7. My gig at Club Miami - I never knew how much I really loved the music until I started playing here.

8. My girl squirrel, Michelle. We speak the same kinda crazy, which is a rare thing.

9. All the cool blog people I've met. Being able to share with people I would have never gotten to meet otherwise is a wonderful thing.

10. A pretty kick ass planet - hey, we're not perfect but there's a whole lot to love.

11. The US - We're still working the bugs out, but one of these days we'll live up to our ideals of liberty and justice for all.

12. Hot mens - as if I needed any more proof that there is a God.

13. Brett and Alyson - for their encouragment.

14. My mom's chicken tacos. Mmm, they're my favorite!

15. My new cell phone - it plays mp3s! WOO HOO!

16. Notre Dame. I still cry when when we sing the Alma Mater.

17. All the teachers I've had who have nurtured me over the years.

18. All of my friends, near and far.

19. The 9 months of the year that aren't summer here in Phoenix.

20. Sleep. Does anything feel better after a long day?

Perfect?

A couple of conversations I've had lately with Scott have gotten me thinking... A big chunk of life, IMO, is looking at the world around you and then dealing with expectations. How should I look, act, walk, talk... how do I fit in? I think everyone has to deal with that to some extent, though some have an easier time than others.

As for me, I don't know if it was just being gay growing up, though it was probably a combination of things, but fitting in has always been a challenge for me -- I've always had that "swimming upstream" sort of feeling. Especially with DJing and blogging becoming bigger parts of my life, its made me ask the question: Just how far are you willing to go to fit the ideal?

This reminds me of an episode of the Twilight Zone called "Number Twelve Looks Just Like You." In this episode, everyone undergoes an operation on their 19th birthday that makes them look and act like everyone else - beautiful and well adjusted. One teenage girl, on the eve of her birthday, decides she wants to remain the way she is, to the alarm of her family.

For myself, I've spent a lot of time learning to be more comfortable in my own skin, with varying levels of success. At the same time, I can't help but wonder what it might be like with a little tweak here or there... How would things change? Would it make me happy? If it meant giving up what makes me who I am, would it be worth it? Would it be better? Would it be worse? How far is too far?

Holy Altar Boy!

I know there have been plenty of press about the Catholic Church's sexual abuse scandal. The latest news, however, hits close to home for me. My old parish priest, Monsignor Dale Fushek, was arrested today, charged with 10 counts of molesting several young men and boys.

I guess it would be easy for me to make some sort of glib comment, but I can't do it. Throughout junior high and high school, I was very active in the church and the youth program, which developed into a nationwide program, and knew and trusted Fr. Dale. For the record, I never heard of anything improper going on when I was there and never would have suspected. To be honest, I'd like to believe that it didn't happen, but I know its more important that the truth comes out, one way or another.

What a tragedy. So many lives ruined, the victims and his own. Ultimately, the responsibility falls back onto a Church that teaches its followers that they are unclean and should repress themselves. Of course, that same Church will continue to blame gays instead of acknowledging its own guilt.

The Dingo Made Me Do It!

I know plenty of people who don't smoke regularly, but once they have a couple of cocktails, they can't resist the urge to light up. Apparently, this phenomenon occurs the world over. CNN is reporting that, while in flight from Hong Kong to Australia, a drunken French woman tried to open the emergency exit so she could light up. The woman, who is afraid of flying, decided to get liquored up and take some sleeping pills before takeoff and has no memory of the incident.

Heh, tried to open the emergency door mid-flight for a smoke. That's classic!

White Party 2005

A little less than one week to go until Thanksgiving and most of the country is preparing to gorge themselves with turkey and stuffing. Thanksgiving weekend is also time for the 21st White Party in Miami, one of the world's largest HIV/AIDS fundraisers. For those who can't make it out to Miami or who attend and are looking for a musical keepsake, Masterbeat has just released its official White Party 2005 CD, mixed by DJ Brett Henrichsen.

WP 2005 is essentially a good main night set compressed into one CD. For those of you familiar with other Masterbeat releases, the core of Brett's CDs are mainstream club/circuit hits, heavy on the vocals. This year's edition follows that recipe for success and does not disappoint. At the same time, Brett manages to add some flavor that keeps the CD from being generic. Its a difficult line to walk but one that Brett does very well.

WP 2005 opens with a groovy feel with That Feeling (Bring It Back) by The Groove Foundation and Free by E-Volution before settling into more mainstream circuit fare. I haven't had a chance to hear Brett live in a while but this is a nice addition to his repetoire.

The core of the disc includes current favorites by Sissaunda (Shout), Simone Denny (Cliche), Suzanne Palmer (Fascinated), and Sarah Atereth (Lose My Mind) -- all very good tracks you're likely to hear out on the dance floor any given weekend. A couple of tracks by Offer Nissim, First Time and his remix of Fascinated, give you a little darker, more tribal feel for those who dig that kind of thing.

WP 2005 closes with a cover of Journey's Don't Stop Believin', which is a strange marriage of 80s power ballad and Chris Cox's mix of Debbie Holliday's Dive. A strange marriage, indeed, but one that seems to work, once you stop trying to remember where you remember the song from... (What? Is that JOURNEY?!)

All in all, whether you're cutting out carbs for the White Party or preparing for post-Thanksgiving food coma, Masterbeat's White Party 2005 is a great way to spend your holiday.

Yoga Beef

Because I had started my latest project at AmEx last week and had spun for the Madonna Release Party on Monday, last night was the first time I was able to make it to yoga in a week-and-a-half. Before I headed back to AmEx, I had been going on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays at 4:30pm. So, I was heading back on a different day at a different time, so I knew things were going to be different... different instructor, different people, etc. I didn't know just how different it was going to be.

As I came into the studio and set down my mat, I looked around and noticed that there were many more men that I was used to. Usually the classes I had attended had been mainly women with a couple or three guys. Settling down on my mat, I tried to quiet my head and get into yoga mode... That's when THEY came in. A herd of beeves made their way into the class. I couldn't help but be stunned. They were the types of guys you'd be more accustomed to seeing banging out reps on their bench press in the gym, in such numbers that I haven't seen in a while as I haven't ventured in Pure Fitness in a while.

I don't know if Bikram Yoga Tempe had decided to declare Wednesday as Frat Night, or the nearest gym had shut down unexpectedly, but 5 or 6, youngish beefy guys decided to make last night their first class at Bikram Yoga. Perhaps it was the power of the full moon, or just the Universe answering my prayers, but whatever the cause, I was thanking the Powers That Be for this unexpected gift. For some reason, these guys decided to come their first class last night.

Throughout class, it is customary to focus on one point, in order to help with concentration and balance. Unfortunately, I was having trouble deciding on whether to focus on the thick, bleached blond on my right, the taller, a shade older but no less impressive beef on the left side of the class, the shirtless, less bulky but ripped to shreds specimen, or the guy with the deltoids bigger than my head in the wifebeater. Choices, choices, choices.

Ultimately, I had the very odd combinations of feeling incredibly turned on while also feeling incredibly amused as these beefy, impressive specimens struggled through their first class. As they huffed and puffed after the first couple of poses, I smiled inwardly knowing that while they may have single digit body fat and legs bigger than my waist, I can at least straighten my arms and hold them out in front of me through the entire pose. Of course, its not as if I'm that far removed from my first class, so my schadenfreude was shortlived and soon gave way to a COMPLETELY ALTRUISTIC desire to help each one of them with some special poses outside of class.

Namaste.

Baby On Board!

No, I'm not pregnant. Here's an interesting take on the whole "unborn baby is still a person" theory. A woman in Mesa was ticketed for driving alone in the carpool lane. When the officer pulled her over she responded that she was pregnant and that there wasn't any difference if the baby was born or not. Of course, the officer didn't buy it and wrote her a ticket. She's going to court to fight the ticket presumably arguing that her womb is really a car seat. Will the Right to Life Movement be representing her in court?

On the natural disaster front, tornadoes have ripped their way through Arkansas, Missouri, Kentucky, Indiana, and southern Illinois. Is God punishing those states for listening to Pat Robertson? (Clarification: Of course not! But funny how the crazy fundamentalists conveniently ignore the weather patterns that don't fit their wacko world views...)

R.I.P.

My iPod Mini died today on my commute home from work. All attempts at resuscitation have failed. The cause of death has not yet been determined. More details as they come in.

Ugh, I gotta send the sucker in to get fixed. That blows.

Schadenfreude

Adam and I were chatting this afternoon about karma in the context of romantic entanglements - that is, having had a strong connection with someone, confronting them with your feelings only to have them deny it... and once you've finally moved forward, having them come back around. I'm not one to go into the details of someone else's story - that's not my place. Suffice it to say, Adam had mentioned that he was enjoying seeing this person be the one twisting in the wind for a change.

That led us to the discussion of schadenfreude. Just in case you hadn't heard the term, its a German word that roughly translates to taking pleasure in others' misfortune. My take on it was that you need to pretty careful when you venture into the realm of schadenfreude because you're asking for a karmic slap upside the head. Tell the Universe that you're enjoy the bad thing in someone else's life and you're basically inviting bad things into your life.

Adam disagreed. Specifically, he countered with seeing someone in the ritzy Scottsdale Fashion Square mall vomiting in the food court and having the schadenfreude to imaginewatch the prissy Scottsdale teen queens having to trudge through it. I had to admit that that scenario is pretty freaking funny. In that, I figure that any sort of schadenfreude related karmic slap must have a vomit exception because, let's face it, when vomit happens to someone else, it is undeniably funny... and I know the Universe has to have a sense of humor about those types of things... if I look at some of the romantic twists I've gone through, I have experiencial proof that the Universe has a very twisted sense of humor.

Comments anyone?

This Is My Life

Ok, last night was a long night, as I was spinning for the Madonna CD Release Party. Getting up for a long day at AmEx has left me tired and cranky, which, I'm not really enjoying. Especially after yesterday's, "Hey, let's look at the bright side" entry, I'm not in the kind of head space I'd like to be in.

Fortunately, Shirley Bassey to the rescue. God bless her.

This Is My Life

Shirley Bassey

Funny how a lonely day, can make a person say:

"What good is my life?"

Funny how a breaking heart, can make me start to say:"

What good is my life?"

Funny how I often seem, to think I'll find another dream

In my life.

Till I look around and see, this great big world is part of me

And my life!

This is my life

Today, tomorrow, love will come and find me

But that's the way that I was born to be,

This is me,

This is me.

This is my life

And I don't give a damn for lost emotions

I've such a lot of love I've got to give,

Let me live,

Let me live!

Sometime when I feel afraid, I think of what a mess I've made

Of my life.

Crying over my mistakes, forgetting all the breaks I've had

In my life.

I was put on earth to be, a part of this great world is me

And my life.

Guess I'll just add up the score, and count the things I'm grateful for

In my life.

This Is my life

Today, tomorrow, love will come and find me

ut that's the way that I was born to be.

This is me,

This is me!

This is my life

And I don't give a damn for lost emotions

I've such a lot of love I've got to give

Let me live,

Let me live!

This is my life

This is my life

This is my life

Good News for a Change

I don't know about you all, but it seems like we're innundated with bad news all the time. Whether its news from Hurricane Barney Rubble or tales of corruption at the local mini-mart, bad news just keeps flowing and flowing. Of course, a big chunk of it is economics -- bad news sells. Nobody wants to buy a newspaper that says, "Sun Rises Yet Again!"

I guess that's also part of human nature - we pick out the things that are wrong and miss all the things that are right. So, I thought it was a nice change of pace to run into this article at the BBC -- according to a new report by the UN, the rate of deforestation has slowed by about 18% the past five years. While that's not quite like saying that we've fixed the problem, its a sign of significant progress. I know I've tried to do things in the past few years to try and help -- donating money to reforestation projects and such. Certainly its a drop in the bucket, but reading this makes me feel like it was worth it and that we can make a difference. Ultimately, its a good reminder for me that its important to recognize when you're making progress, even if you haven't quite made it to where you're trying to go.

Friday Night Fun

My actual birthday was pretty boring, but Adam took me out last night to celebrate. I brought my camera along to give you a taste of the rip-roaring fun!

First stop was Malee's on Main, in Scottsdale, which is an excellent Thai place. In honor of Jonny, I've taken a shot of my Sweet and Sour Tamarind Chicken, which was excellent. The food was great and the company was engaging, with Adam and I discussing such important things as how there's just no point in watching TV unless its the WB, and how Shannon Doherty learned how to be a bitch in real life from starring in Heathers.

Next stop was over to Drift, a Tiki-themed bar in Scottsdale. Since our unique experience at Tiki Oasis in May, the opening of Drift set off my newly developed tiki radar. We had hit a tiki-themed gay bar in Palm Springs the night after Tiki Oasis, and this was a much different experience. While the tiki theme was apparent, there was also the ever-present Scottsdale (read: pretentious, but I'm trying to be nice) feel. Still, it was nice to bring back good memories of the Palm Springs trip via the tiki vibe. We saw a guy who looked like Brian Krause, who plays Leo on Charmed, only younger. He was attractive in a very Scottsdale (read: plastic) way.

Time was ticking, as I had to DJ at Club Miami later. So, we packed up the truck and moved to Amsterdam. Adam has an aversion to gay bars - he's worried about running into some former trick (but its been so long since Adam's tricked, I doubt anyone would remember him), but since it was my B-Day celebration, he came anyway.

Once we hit Amsterdam, we were lucky enough to watch one of my favorite bartenders, Robert, get in some hot and heavy tongue action with the shark at the patio bar. I have to admit that I was very turned on. Shark porn will be the next big craze, I can feel it.

Finally, as it got closer to my start time, Adam got a little antsy at the prospect of having to be in a gay bar by himself. So, I decided to let him scurry home, but not before I caught him feeling up Captain Morgan. Hey, Adam I guess you really are gay!

God Damn!

I've really tried to steer clear of politics and religion on the blog lately -- personally, I know a lot of people out there have a range of views in these areas and even if I don't agree with them, I respect them, and I don't want to get sucked into the drama that often surrounds these issues.

Recently, however, a couple of things have just obliterated my restraint. A bit of background - the Dover, PA school board had instituted a new rule to add Intelligent Design to the high school curriculum, prompting a federal lawsuit. I'm not going to delve into the debate over whether Intelligent Design is appropriate in public schools - reasonable people can differ on that, I guess.

In this week's elections, eight of the school board membors supporting Intelligent Design went up for reelection and lost to candidates who prefered keeping an evolution-based curriculum. After the election, the so-called man of God Pat Robertson warned citizens that God would strike them down for voting the wrong way.

Robertson blasphemed, "I'd like to say to the good citizens of Dover: if there is a disaster in your area, don't turn to God, you just rejected Him from your city. And don't wonder why He hasn't helped you when problems begin, if they begin. I'm not saying they will, but if they do, just remember, you just voted God out of your city. And if that's the case, don't ask for His help because he might not be there."

Speaking of blaspheme, this sort of thing isn't limited to the U.S. Reverend Ame Tugawe, Secretary General of the Methodist Church of New Zealand, has made similar claims. Apparently while the Methodist Church in New Zealand has been permitted to have one anti-gay march, officials have refused another permit because they country's Human Rights Commission determined that a second march would cross the line into encouraging hate against the gay community. Tugawe told the Fiji Sun that the country should be prepared to suffer God's wrath if it does not permit the second march.

Now, I suppose I shouldn't expect too much out of Robertson, seeing as he advocated the assasination of the President of Venezuela last year... obviously Robertson has ventured off the deep end. Still, this goes beyond one self-righteous nutcase. Once again, it raises the question of the difference between the radical fundamentalism developing in the Christian world and the virulent fundamentalist Islam we have been taught is bad bad bad.

It seems that these types of statements could not be further from what I've always believed God is all about. Indeed, at their core, these are naked attempts to control others through fear. Not that I'm not used to that from any of a wide variety of people, its just that I'm tired of people sullying God's name to do it.

Shatner Sings!

I'd love to be able to tell you I've been having my best birthday ever. Truth be told, things have been pretty blah today... fortunately, I've stumbled on this little gem that may make up for all the blah in one fell swoop.

Back in the early days of the Internet, I had stumbled upon one of the world's hidden wonders -- could it be? William Shatner does a cover of Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds?! Indeed. I was strangely fascinated, much like when you pass a wreck on the highway - no matter how much you try to turn away, you're compelled to look.

Fast forward 10 years or so and I discover that someone has done a video for the song. OMG, HOW BRILLIANT! This is just what I needed for my B-Day! Well, that and an orgy with several large, muscled studs.

Eche-Day

Today is the 32nd Annual Eche-Day. Damn, I'm getting old.

Confession...

So, I managed to track down a copy of Madonna's soon-to-be-released Confessions On A Dance Floor. (I have my secret DJ ways, so don't ask) I like Madonna, though I generally treat her like any other artist - there's stuff of hers that I like and stuff that I don't. We're having an official Madonna CD release party at the club on Monday, so I'm going to have to listen to the CD whether I like it or not.

As you can guess from the title, the album is very dancey -- similar to her Ray of Light album. In fact, each of the tracks flow into each other, almost like you'd find on a mixed dance CD, though not to that extent. Musically, the entire CD is very well done, especially if you're into electronic music.

As for the content itself... something about this album rubs me the wrong way. There's plenty there that I like, a couple of tracks that I guess were trying to be insightful came off as pretentious to me, nothing that I really loved, and the "I Love New York" track, I just can't stand.

All in all, a pretty good effort by Madonna, but not the earth-shattering, groundbreaking spectacle I've heard some people label this. But then again, I'm very picky.

Weekend Update

Another weekend draws to a close. Had a decent time, music-wise -- wasn't at the top of my game and at the same time wasn't too bad. The highlight of the weekend was that Fred Schneider of the B52s was at the club. One of my friends knows him and brought him to the club both nights, as Fred was in town for a concert. I didn't really get to say more than a few words, but I really enjoyed getting the chance to meet him. I've loved the B52s for a lot of years. There were a couple of songs where Fred got on the dance floor and shook his ass like he meant it, which I took as a tremendous compliment.

I also got the chance to sit down and chat with the owner of the club Friday night. He's been very happy with things the past month, month and a half -- quite impressed with how quickly I've come in so short a time. In fact, he wondered what was so different that prompted me to shift directions in the way that I did. It was very gratifying because I feel like over the past month or so I've finally felt comfortable enough to be myself and play what I feel as opposed to trying to please everyone. That's not to say I don't try to accomodate people or work with the crowd, but I'm having a much better time balancing everyone else with what I want to play. I have to admit that its been quite nice starting to have a little success through being myself. Another lesson from this weekend is that everyone and their mother thinks they know what a DJ should play. While I do my best to be open to different ideas and other peoples' points of view, the past couple of weekends have been a reminder to stay grounded in myself and in what I want to do.

On the whole, I guess my biggest challenge is to keep working at everything I'm trying to accomplish in my life - there's a lot - and appreciate the progress I'm making instead of getting frustrated when things aren't quite where I'd like them to be. Especially with my 32nd B-Day coming up on Thursday, I've caught myself in that mode lately. I guess that even in that, I have to try and ease up and appreciate that I've gotten better at it, even if I'm not that way all the time.

For my B-Day...

Just a quick note for now... This past week I've been watching the series, Firefly, which is the predecessor to the movie, Serenity. I may have to buy the series just so I can watch Sean Maher over and over and over again. Sean plays Simon Tam, the doctor, on Firefly/Serenity. Ok, without question, the man is just stunning. What I also love is that the character is just incredibly amazing -- intelligent, brave and caring as well a little awkward and quirky. Put all that together with stunning good looks and baby, that's marriage material. That would be about as close to my ideal husband as I can think of. Of course, he's just a character, who knows what Sean the actor is really like. Still, you figure there's gotta be someone out there like that somewhere...

If you want to know what I want for my B-Day... ;)