I love shit like this. It makes it look like CNN has a video of them having sex. Reminds me of a Simpsons quote: Marge -- "Fox turned into a hardcore sex channel so gradually, I hardly noticed." *...

"Dear patrons of SundayMASS DC:

For the last year and a half, we have been proud
to offer SundayMASS DC as an entertainment and
social alternative for the Capital area GLBT
community. You have responded with great
enthusiasm and loyalty and have adopted the
event as your own. In turn, as producers,
managers and more importantly friends we owe it
to you and ourselves to stay in touch with the
needs, concerns and issues of the community in
which we live.

SundayMASS DC and Club FIVE recognize the need
for immediate, visible and vast changes
resulting from drug and illegal substance use
that may have found its way into this event. In
order to make necessary security and educational
changes and to protect our loyal patrons and us,
SundayMASS DC is temporarily and voluntarily
closing its doors. As we make changes to
SundayMASS DC that will result in a safer and
more educational experience, we ask each of you
to consider doing the same.

We have no intention of permanently canceling
SundayMASS DC and we don’t want anyone else to
cancel it either. Additionally, it is certainly
not our right or position to suggest what is
best for others, but we are genuinely concerned
about the health of our community and want to
offer at least one alternative solution. We
hope you feel the same. Educate yourselves
about recreational drug use and its impact on
your health. Don’t let the decisions of your
friends take away those things you value or
enjoy. Become educated, make smart decisions
and put those decisions into action with
others. For further information, visit
www.tweaker.org or www.gmhc.org.

Your friends at SundayMASS DC and Club FIVE look
forward to seeing you soon and thank you in
advance for your consideration and understanding
during this period of positive change.

Regards,
SundayMASS DC"

Now I'm sorry, but this makes me fucking laugh. Like SundayMASS didn't make all its profits from drug users and the people that went with them. The only reason people went to there was to do drugs or buy more if they ran low. If SundayMASS thinks it can remake itself into some sober-only club, then it is sadly clueless as to the nature of its clientele. *...

Hey Friendster: Can I just say this about your new interface look: UG-LY.

kz's Journal: "Hot Topic disgusts me
While researching an upcoming story on Hot Topic at The Mall at Yuba City, I checked their Web site today.

I hate that store even more now.

On the site's lefthand index frame, there's actually a drop-down menu that asks 'What's your scene?' You can select from 'club, goth, rockabilly' etc.

Gag me with a dead horse dick."

As Mr. Burns would say: "HI-larious!" *....

The New York Times > New York Region > For Young Gays on the Streets, Survival Comes Before Pride

Check out this story from NYT. As someone who has been very close to homelessnes himself, this story really touched me. Its amazing that the gay community can't or won't do more to help those who find themselves out on the street because of their sexuality. *...

Woo woo! My friend Adam now has his own blog. Check it out! *....

Love the new Dogpile SearchSpy. You can see what people are searching for in real time. The first time I tried it, one of the first results I saw was "milking the prostate." *....

The New York Times: Movies: "Rattled one Republican, June 25, 2004
Reviewer: angeredux
They came to boo and heckle. Instead, they sat stupified as the evidence, clearly unrefutable as it played before their eyes, hammered at them until one elderly woman member of the group, who later told me she thought she had voted for Jesus's president (this is the Deep South), just erupted into tears at the sight of some of the collateral damage we left in Iraq. There was no heckling amongst that group of Evangelical Republicans. I spoke to them after the movie. Even the hardest cases answered my own distress with stony silence.

I am a Republican and I came to see this film with my wife so that I would have some intelligent criticism to level at the Michael Moore fans I work with. I was expecting a sloppy, fuzzy, highly manipulated treatment. Instead, Bush Administration damns itself through its own actions, its own words, its own lies...all documented for prosperity. Is the film biased? Hell, yes. But I can't see how any reasonable person would call this propaganda. It is documentary fact told by a man with a specific agenda in telling it. But there it is on the screen.Fact. It can't be explained away. And as for criticism that the film is disrespectful to President Bush; well, after what we did to Clinton I would expect W. to take the heat like a man. The only problem is that the Clinton issue was nothing to the moral breach of this administration.

Every Republican should see it before he casts his vote this November. It changed my vote."

A review of the new Michael Moore Film "Fahrenheit 9/11". I hope to go see it this week, but I'm going to be so busy with work, I don't know if I will have time. *...

U Street Bookstore's Eviction Ordered (washingtonpost.com): "The future of Sisterspace and Books on U Street NW comes down to this, after five years of bitter litigation over repairs, maintenance and utility costs and rising rent:

A D.C. Superior Court judge ruled that co-owners Faye Williams and Cassandra Burton have let their lease expire and no longer have any right to the storefront where they have sold books, offered GED classes and organized author readings and community gatherings since 1997.

This week, maybe next, officers from the U.S. Marshals Service are likely to show up to escort Williams and Burton from 1515 U St. They will carry out the books, most written by African Americans, the music and the brightly-colored artwork -- all the items that some black Washingtonians say have helped create an emotional and cultural haven in the city as it was being transformed racially and economically."

Sad. I've never been to this bookstore before, but I've had lots of customers comment on what a great resource it is for the African-American community *....

FUCK YOURSELF, CHENEY!: "Vice President Cheney today acknowledged that he had a bitter exchange on the Senate floor with a senior Democratic senator, in which Cheney uttered a big-time obscenity, but said he had no regrets and that he 'felt better after I had done it.'"

I am so sick of these FUCKING hypocrites. The FUCKING FCC should sue his FUCKING ass. I can't wait until FUCKING November when we can get rid of these FUCKING jerks. *....

Its been Clinton-mania at my store the last few days. We've sold several hundred copies. On the day of the release, I had people grabbing it right out of my arms as I tried to refill displays. And all the while, ABC News was filming me. No word on whether or not I was on TV, but my coworker Keri ended up on NBC's Today Show *...

Spent most the day yesterday with my old friend Russ. We've been friends since third grade, though we haven't seen each other in nearly six years. Of course, I had to take a picture of him taking a picture of me in the Air and Space Museum *....

I love the Independence Air In-Flight announcements. One more reason I want to try out this new, innovative airline. Check out the announcement by Chuck Berry, my personal fave *....

The Top Ten Conservative Idiots, No. 160 - Democratic Underground: "And finally, much has been made of John Kerry's alleged $1000 haircut, but whether it's true or not, at least he paid for it himself. That's not the policy of George W. Bush, who, it was revealed last week, had a $100,000 platform erected for his entry into a U.S. military cemetery during his recent visit to France. That platform will of course be paid for by the U.S. taxpayer, all because Our Great Leader wanted to 'walk in style' to a memorial ceremony. I should probably mention that Team Bush also had several rows of bleachers torn down because they weren't 'esthetically pleasing,' thus preventing several thousand spectators from attending the event. Always there for the common man, that's our George"

*....

Plastic: Politics, Culture, Point Of View: "We've all had bad bosses, even the occasional evil or otherwise dysfunctional boss. But a new documentary hammers home one salient point: If you work for a Corporation, which is also a 'person' in a strictly legal sense, then the person you're working for is a psychopath:

To more precisely assess the 'personality' of the corporate 'person,' a checklist is employed, using actual diagnostic criteria of the World Health Organization and the DSM-IV, the standard diagnostic tool of psychiatrists and psychologists. The operational principles of the corporation give it a highly anti-social 'personality': It is self-interested, inherently amoral, callous and deceitful; it breaches social and legal standards to get its way; it does not suffer from guilt, yet it can mimic the human qualities of empathy, caring and altruism. Four case studies, drawn from a universe of corporate activity, clearly demonstrate harm to workers, human health, animals and the biosphere. Concluding this point-by-point analysis, a disturbing diagnosis is delivered: the institutional embodiment of laissez-faire capitalism fully meets the diagnostic criteria of a 'psychopath.'"

Check out The Economist for more. *...

My top five songs, according to Itunes:

Darts of Pleasure - Franz Ferdinand
Take Me Out - Franz Ferdinand
My Definition - A Star vs Digital Cowboy
Rocket Ride - Felix Da Housecat
Meet Sue She Be - Miss Kittin

Does anyone know how to make a smart playlist so that it shows songs played by the highest playcount in a certain timeframe? Darts of Pleasure has a play count of 29, but thats for the entire time I've had my POD. I want to just see what has had the highest play count in the last week/month, etc...? *...

SURPRISE! Damn Mulan. Make yourself at home. *...

My new phallic bird feeder. The birds haven't really gone for it yet. I wonder if all the birds around here are lesbians. *... 

Ah. The new DJ Dara album does not disappoint. Is it odd that I find drum 'n bass strangely soothing? I can just lay there and feel the bass pound away in my chest, and its all very relaxing. Though this album is also great to get you up dancing. Its refreshing to hear a d/b album that isn't as dark as the more recent stuff thats been coming out. *...

My desktop view of the week. 

I was feeling a little spacey. And yeah, a little blue. *...

'Nuff said. *....

After months of wishing for one, I finally got a Gmail email address! I love google, and I'm loving 1Gig of google email space!

Of course, I'm as big of a privacy nut as anyone else, but I think some of the criticism aimed at Google in regards to the placement of ads is a little misguided. First off, I'm opting IN for this: Its not being done below my radar screen. Second, its an algorithm reading my mail, not a person. Anything I don't want read about I wont use this email address. I mean, I do have a half dozen at my disposal!

Oh, yeah, and I'm not posting my new email address right on here. I don't want any spam spiders trolling over this blog to get it. :) But hey, if you know me, you can probably guess that its ______@gmail.com. :) *.....

fox5dc.com | FOX 5 News | Boy Killed by Commuter Bus: "A six year-old boy has died after darting into the path of a Fairfax Connector bus. It happened just before eight p.m. Sunday night in Mount Vernon. Fairfax County police spokesperson Mary Ann Jennings says the boy and his family from Arlington were visiting other family when they parked their car on the street."

Wow. I ride that bus sometimes. Its the 105 from Huntington station, and if you ride it far enough, it curves through this neighborhood. The streets are really tight...guess it was just a matter of time. *...

Ok. Totally think the new Audioblogger capabilities are freaking awesome. How much will I use it, though, remains to be seen. *....

I love the newly unveiled Clinton official presidential portrait. It really captures the image of the strong leader that he was. What I would give to go back to those eight years of peace and economic prosperity. And the fact that the portrait was done by the first African-American, Simmie Knox, to paint an official presidential portrait.

We miss you, Bill! *....

Barry Launches Bid for D.C. Council (washingtonpost.com): "Former mayor Marion Barry yesterday formally declared his candidacy for the D.C. Council seat in Ward 8, saying he is emerging from political retirement to save his community from mismanaged schools, skyrocketing home prices and neglectful city leaders."

No! Nooooooo! Its just crazy man! And the residents of ward 8 will elect this joker, too.

"A rock in every pipe, and a whore on every corner." Welcome to Marion Barry's Washington! *...

Today I bought some shoe polish thingy. Its part of my continued downward spiral towards corporate respectibility. But as I was trying to figure out the damn thing, my coworker Corey grabbed it out of my hand. He started talking about how he had one when he was in the military, and then before I could stop him, he bent down and started shining my shoes.

I don't know, but I guess I have some collective white guilt in me, because I was really uncomfortable with him doing that. Corey is, of course, black. Just seemed really weird to be hiking up my dress slacks so he could polish my shoes.

And if he hadn't been doing such a damn good job, I would have asked him to stop. :-)

*....

In memory of Ray Charles. *....

Ok, I know I haven't updated in a while.

I'm sorry. Really.

Ok, not really.

Our DSL has been out for a few days due to an upgrade. It was supposed to be reconnected today, but of course it wasn't. I'm getting a mental image of Lilly Tomlin sneering at me right now.

Last night I went to this new party called Taint. It was seriously the best night I've had out in years. The music was electroclash and indie punk. Its been so long since I danced that much in a single night, and it was really reassuring to see that my musical tastes aren't an island in the DC ocean of crap.