Random Musings

Okay, so while I’m still on a high from yesterday’s Supreme Court ruling striking down the Defense of Marriage Act and dismissing Prop H8 I found a truly wonderful story about the impact of the decisions.

Steven and Sean Brooks, a binational gay couple, were in court yesterday, in front of an immigration judge, whose ruling could have split up the couple because of DOMA.

According to Lavi Soloway, who represented the couple: “A copy of the 77-page Supreme Court decision in United States v. Windsor was delivered to the court by our summer intern, Gabe, who ran five blocks and made it in time for the decision to be submitted to the Immigration Judge and to serve a copy on the Immigration & Customs Enforcement Assistant Chief Counsel.”

‘DOMA is DEAD’ it announced.

The judge threw out the case against Mr. and Mr. Brooks because they are a legally married couple in America, entitled to all the rights of legally married couples.

I’m still grinning.

That Woman, fame-whoring, daughter pimping, sex tape fronting is getting a talk show this summer.

Since all Kris can do is talk about her daughters, I’m wondering how long it will take her to whore our her latest grandbaby meal-ticket, and then how long before the show is cancelled.

In the words of Margaret Cho, “This is gonna be a Kardastrophe!”

We had a Free HBO weekend a couple of weeks back, so I went mad DVRing movies from that channel.

One was, of course, Behind The Candelabra, about Liberace’s love affair, and bad breakup, with Scott Thorsen.

I found it good, but sad; it wasn’t until Liberace’s mother passed away that he felt he could truly be free as a gay man, though he remained deeply closeted until his death, and even afterwards.

That said, the shallow part of me, which I love, is beginning to run an ad campaign to see that Matt Damon’s Ass gets an Emmy nod.

It was real, and it was spectacular.

A little more on DOMA? Okay.

Some who are much more familiar with the rulings are looking very closely at the decision, for clues on how the court might rule on future challenges to state laws barring gay marriage. And they think they’ve found something ….

Buried in the decision is a reference to the Supreme Court’s decision in Loving v. Virginia, in which SCOTUS struck down a state law against interracial marriage as unconstitutional. To LGBT advocates, that reference looks as if it might signal a readiness on the Court’s part to do the same to state laws banning gay marriage.

In Loving v. Virginia, the Supreme Court ruled that the Virginia law outlawing interracial marriage was unconstitutional on the grounds that it violated the equal protection clause in the Fourteenth Amendment, ruling that the freedom to marry must not be limited by discrimination and that the Virginia law had no legitimate purpose other than maintaining discrimination.

And that’s exactly the argument that lawyers in the Prop 8 case made in asking the Court to strike that law down. Now, SCOTUS declined to take a position on Prop 8, invoking standing issues, and it did not directly address the question of whether states could or couldn’t continue to refuse to marry gay and lesbian couples, and it did not declare a constitutional right to marriage.

But the DOMA decision made an expansive case against discrimination based on sexual orientation, and more specifically, the citation of Loving v. Virginia which could be an encouraging signal.

Let’s keep our fingers crossed.

So, the other day I’m watching TV and one of those wacky commercials came on, this time for something called the Air Curler. It’s an attachment to a blow dryer that looks like it has a plastic pitcher on the end of it. You, um, insert your hair into the pitcher, turn on the blow dryer, and your hair is magically spun into delightful curls.

Stupid? Of course. But then I saw something else when they removed the Air Curler from the blow dryer.

To put it bluntly, it looks like one of those Cock Sleeves that some men—and I ain’t naming names—slip over their penis and then proceed to, um, jack off pleasure themselves, until they cum into the patented Cum pitcher.

Sorry for the mental image, but it had to be said.

But … speaking of that device, Carlos and I have started watching Hannibal, having DVR’d the season.

It’s quite gruesome, so far—but I expected no less—and really interesting.

It doesn’t hurt that it stars the Pia Z’adorbale Hugh Dancy. Oh, he’s not Hannibal—that would be –he’s the FBI investigator who begins working with Dr. Lecter.

But he’s a delightfully cute man.

In Light of the deaths of DOMA and Prop H8, here's a little refresher course on what to say, and not say, to The Straights.

I got caught up in the Jodi Arias movie on Lifetime the other day.

Back story: I had the shingle on my face about three years ago. Shingles affects the nerves and, in some cases, the sufferer endures constant nerve pain for the rest of their lives. I do not; I do, however, get very bad, very bad, headaches located in the same spot where I had the shingles. I used to get them about once a month, and then less often and less often, to the point where I’d forgotten about them, Until Monday night when one struck, turning me into a light-sensitive vampire, who sits in a dark dark room until the pain subsides, generally 24 hours later.

Which was why I was channel surfing and came upon the Jodi Arias Lifetime movie.

All I gots to say about that is: Bitch was cray. Way cray.

So cray I am surprised that her attorneys didn’t use the insanity defense.

Cray.

Gee, ain't it funny? 

Just when you think things have changed .... The more things change, the more they stay the same, eh?

Paula Deen. Her restaurants are packed, her books are flying off the shelves, but she’s losing some big deals, y’all. And I kinda wish I had a Way Back Machine, so I could travel back in time and apply for a job as one of Paula Deen’s minions and tell her, as nicely as I could, to STFU before she opened her yap.

The Food Network said Pack her knives and go … literally … and now Smithfield, whose products Paula used to hawk, have canned her ham … see what I did there? … and rumor has it that QVC will quickly follow suit.

There is also talk that Deen’s publisher, Random House, may close the book on her, and diabetes drug makers Novo Nordisk and Sears Holdings are said to be “monitoring the situation.” Then, let’s toss in Harrah’s Hotels and Casinos, which have Paula Deen Restaurants in their casinos, who have decided to rebrand her restaurants as something other than Paula. Even WalMart … Wal-freaking-Mart … has decided to take Paul’s dishware and cookware off their shelves.

Now, you can say that this is all a lot of Who shot John? over words Paula Deen may have used decades back, but it’s also about a history of Paula Deen and her treatment of African America employees at her businesses.

I recently caught sight of a video from 2012—last year—and taped by the New York Times, where Paula was asked about her ancestors who were slave owners and the story of her great-grandfather who killed himself when his slaves were set free: “Between the death of his son and losing all the workers, he went out into his barn and shot himself because he couldn’t deal with those kind of changes…Back then, black folk were such an integral part of our lives. They were like our family, and for that reason we didn’t see ourselves as prejudiced.”

Trouble is, after that bit, she then tells the interviewer and the audience that she has black people in her employ who are just like family. One, and I think she said his name was Hollis Johnson, was a particularly dark-skinned man, or, as Paula put it, pointing to a black wall behind her, “He’s as black as that.”

Yes. She did. And then she dug herself in deeper. When asked if Hollis was there with her that day, Paula looks around and asks, “Hollie? Hollie? Where are you? Oh, get away from that black wall, we can’t see you.”

Yes. She did. I was all about giving Deen the benefit of the doubt for her use of the n-word, thinking about when she said it, where she lived and how she was raised, and that she said it, apparently, so long ago. But, while she may not toss about the n-word as handily as those old days, the way she speaks of African Americans—even the ones she considers “like family’”—and the way she treats her African American employees, makes me hope that everyone cuts ties with Deen. And fast.

Like I said, though, I would have liked to have access to a Way back Machine and given Paula, and anyone else who thinks and speaks like she does, a heads up about their future. Maybe then they’d think twice, and speak less.

This'n'That

Was that the longest weekend or what?

I feel like it's been ages since I've been at work--not that I'm complaining--and am relishing the idea of a shortened work week ahead. Hoo--followedquickyby--Ray!

I had a lovely talk with my sister this weekend. She underwent her first round of chemo last week, without that nausea, though with a bit of fatigue. But, I will say this, she has an undeniable spirit, though she knows what lies ahead, and an extreme amount of positive energy coming at her from all directions. So, whatever the future holds for her, at this minute, it all seems very bright and very positive and that’s all any of us can do, is to live now and not later and not before.

Carlos and I went to see the new Star Trek Into Darkness this weekend. What a great rollercoaster ride. Sure, there were a lot of special effects, but there was also story, and some real laughs. I grew up with these characters so the reboot I especially like because they aren’t drastically changing everything.

One thing I would change? Bring a muzzle next time to put on Carlos. Seriously, I love the previews almost as much as I love the movie, and while the previews were playing--after about thirty or forty ads asking folks to be quiet and silence their cell phones--Carlos muttered, well, nearly shouted, 'How many commercials before we see the movie?'

I almost sent him into a time-out.

Jody Arias.

End the trial already. Put her in prison for life without parole ad stop wasting taxpayer money with the empanelling of a new jury and more dollars and more time wasted.

She did it. She said she did it. She was found guilty. Lock her up, throw away the key, and then also cancel her Twitter account. I'd prefer never to see or hear, or hear of her, again.

You all know that I loves me some gossip, and I loves to make fun of those so-called celebrities. But, I have had some questions and requests about why I don't talk about Amanda Bynes anymore. Here's the deal:

I think she has mental issues, and that's not funny.

I think she has problems with drugs and that’s not funny.

So, though I have gossiped about her before, when it became clear, after her move to New York and subsequent antics, that she is not all right, I won't be gossiping about her.

But, you say, Bob, you have no problem going on and on, and some say on, about Lohan. Well, here's that deal:

Lindsay is a criminal.

She kidnapped a woman.

She stole a necklace.

She has taken clothes from fashion shoots and TV shows and continues to do so.

She has rehabbed seven times and fallen off the wagon six times.

Plus, unlike Bynes, Lindsay seems to be all there, and takes absolutely no responsibility for anything she does. There is always an excuse and always a side-step. So, I will continue featuring Lohan because Lohan will continue to be a screw-up.

The weekend was lovely in Smallville, with Monday being the hottest day, and it was just 85-degrees. So, of course, there was yard work, with leaves being raked, and raked, and raked again, onto the front lawn and then mulched up by the new riding mower. I filled six 75-gallon bags of mulched leaves, and will probably do another six, or more, this next weekend.

While I was on lawn and leaf patrol, Carlos was on gutter duty. We bought some of those sponge-thingies that you line the gutters with and they really keep the leaves and twigs and pine needles out of the gutters, while still allowing rain water to be captured.

Still, the gutter need to be brushed off every so often, but it's still a lot less dirty and time-consuming than cleaning those %@&$ing things out!

To reward ourselves, we grilled out both Sunday and Monday, with chicken, grilled veggies and black-bean-and-pasts salad both nights, and a gorgeous, g-o-r-g-e-o-u-s bottle of El Gran Pensado Albarinho from Spain. I will be keeping that label because I need to buy that wine by the truckload. It's a perfect crisp, but peachy wine, just fine for a summer day's sipping.

And here's a little something my Dad sent my way:

Psychology 101

If you start with a cage containing 5 monkeys and inside the cage, hang a banana on a string from the top and place a set of stairs under the banana, before long a monkey will go to the stairs and climb toward the banana.

As soon as he touches the stairs, you spray all the other monkeys with cold water.

After a while another monkey makes an attempt with same result ... all the other monkeys are sprayed with cold water. Pretty soon when another monkey tries to climb the stairs, the other monkeys will try to prevent it.

Now, put the cold water away. Remove one monkey from the cage and replace it with a new one.

The new monkey sees the banana and attempts to climb the stairs. To his shock, all of the other monkeys beat the crap out of him. After another attempt and attack, he knows that if he tries to climb the stairs he will be assaulted.

Next, remove another of the original five monkeys, replacing it with a new one.

The newcomer goes to the stairs and is attacked. The previous newcomer takes part in the punishment...... with enthusiasm, because he is now part of the "team".

Then, replace a third original monkey with a new one, followed by the fourth, then the fifth. Every time the newest monkey takes to the stairs, he is attacked.

Now, the monkeys that are beating him up have no idea why they were not permitted to climb the stairs. Neither do they know why they are participating in the beating of the newest monkey.

Finally, having replaced all of the original monkeys, none of the remaining monkeys will have ever been sprayed with cold water. Nevertheless, not one of the monkeys will try to climb the stairway for the banana.

Why, you ask? Because in their minds...that is the way it has always been! This, my friends, is how Congress operates... and this is why, from time to time:

ALL of the monkeys need to be REPLACED AT THE SAME TIME.

Now, how was your weekend?

Random Musings

On The Big C front:

First, the Showtime series ended this week with Cathy, played by the amazing Laura Linney, dying of melanoma.

I cried, because she died in her home, like my mother, after seeing her family and knowing they would be all right.

On the big C homefront:

My sister--that's who you're cheering for over there, AnneMarie--had her first three rounds of chemo this week and came through remarkably well. She's feeling good, sounding good, and doing good.

It's still a journey, but she's taken that first step and we'll just see where it takes her, and us.

Jody Arias.

Found guilty of shooting her ex-boyfriend in the head and then stabbing him 25 times, her first interview after the verdict she asked to be put to death because then she'd be 'free'.

In court this week, she begged for mercy and said she could do great things in prison, like:

• Start a recycling program
• Teach Spanish
• Start a Book Club
• Sell her designer T-shirts emblazoined with the words 'Survivor" on them.

Howsabout this: lock Jody Arias up and never let her be seen or heard from again. Even on the day she dies in prison, let there be no mention of her.

Ever again.

So, guns, gun control.

In a post from earlier this week [More Children Killing Children] I received this comment from ISBL reader, Helen Lashbrook, from ‘across the pond,’ as they say, in the UK. She gave me a little insight into what the UK does in terms of gun control:

“We have a gun in our house (sadly as far as I am concerned). By law it has to be kept in a gun cabinet, accessible ONLY by the gun owner and holder of a gun licence.My husband was inspected by the police before the licence was issued and is checked every few years to ensure that he is still a suitable person to hold the licence.Although we are far from perfect the United Kingdom has not fallen into chaos because we have strict gun control (contrary to what the NRA preaches); quite the opposite. We have very few deaths from gunshot wounds.We lose a lot fewer policemen too.”

How come we can’t be that enlightened here? No one is talking guns away, they are simply demanding responsibility.

I am a bit of a news junkie, but even I was overwhelmed with the coverage of the tornadoes this week in Oklahoma. I kept thinking about people losing their homes, having no places to stay, and then watching every single news channels sending dozens upon dozens of reporters and camera crews into the area, clogging the streets, taking up valuable hotel and motel rooms that might have better been used for those left homeless after the disaster.

I mean, seriously, is the idea of Matt Lauer talking about two-by-fours turning into spears in tornado winds really relevant. And did ABC really need to seen Sam Champion and David Muir and others down there?

Sometimes I want the news; the sensationalism, however, needs to be stopped.

Oh that wacky GOP. Try as they might—and they have been trying and trying [my patience] these past five years—to prove Barack Obama is everything from un-American to a Socialist to a Communist to, well, you get my meaning.

Now, the GOP tries to create scandals out of every issue that comes along and yet the president’s approval ratings are the same, or higher. But, you know whose ratings are going way down? The GOP.

In a newly released CNN poll, 59% of Americans view the GOP unfavorably, while that minority that still approves of them is at a low low 35%.

Maybe it’s the 37^th attempt to repeal Obamacare, or the GOP’s failure on jobs, the economy, the environment. Maybe the GOP needs to get voted out of office because they have yet to accomplish one thing. They couldn’t even keep Obama to a one-term presidency, and that was Goal One three years ago.

So, this week at the Billboard Music Awards Little Justine Bieber was given the Milestone Award.

I thought it was because he reached the Milestone of Puberty.

The Milestone of Being Five Feet Tall.

The Milestone of Having Discernible Talent.

Then he took to the stage and admonished his critics for not understanding his ‘art’ and his ‘craft’ and the idea that in five years we’ll be, “Justin who?”

What’s that you say Virginia?

It seems that a clear majority of Virginia voters now support legal same-sex marriage, a sharp reversal from 2006 when they voted to amend the state constitution to define marriage as one man and one woman. Even the people’s attitudes on guns and immigration are different than those of their elected officials, which should mean one thing: Vote ‘em out.

What’s that you say Michigan?

It seems Virginia isn’t the only state seeing a shift in views on marriage equality. A majority of Michiganians, er, Michiganders, er, Meshuganas, now support same-sex marriage and equal rights for LGBT Americans.  Support for same-sex marriage has increased to 56.8%, up over twelve-points from last year.

What’s that you say Tennessee?

It seems that nearly half of all Tennesseans support legal recognition of same-sex couples—either civil unions, at 17%, or full marriage equality at 32%--as shown in a poll conducted for Vanderbilt University.

Meanwhile, 62% of Tennesseans say health insurance and other employee benefits should be extended to the domestic partners or spouses of gays and lesbians.

Say.What?

The march goes on, people.

So, Carlos snores. And snores loud. And I have learned that when the snoring begins, if I slap him in the face the mattress a couple of times, he’ll stop snoring and turn over. Oh, he doesn’t wake up, mind you, but he stops the snores and turns over.

Which can mean only one thing: he is subconsciously trying to ruin my sleep.

Only, this past week, the bitch mattress slapping hasn’t been working, and now I need to punch him in the gut tap him gently and ask him to turn over.

It’s a hard knock life.

So, the Mama Grizzly Bore™--never one to shut her illiterate piehole—gave us all her opinion on climate change in a little blurb on her Facebook page:

 “Global Warming my gluteus maximus.”

Loosely translated as “My ass is as big as the Earth. 

Prince Carl of Sweden. isn't he just delicious? I've had his picture up here before, but I found a whole series over at Buzzfeed and they, well, tickled my nether regions.

Upside? He's royally hot.

Downside: he's third in line for the throne so he'll never be King, meaning I'll never be Queen. :::sigh:::