tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32405302010-01-13T18:15:28.939-08:00This discussion site was designed to provide a forum for a variety of contributors to share their thoughts, ideas, plaudits and complaints with anyone wishing to read them. Items discussed cover the spectrum from politics and philosophy to sexuality, books, movies, web sites, print articles, deep thoughts ... whatever. But now its all about Basile. And since no one else is posting, about whatever moves him to post...Pint Kinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01931155890712805366noreply@blogger.comBlogger516125This is an XML content feed. It is intended to be viewed in a newsreader or syndicated to another site.tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3240530.post-59934891189698532092009-12-25T07:10:00.015-08:002010-01-10T21:08:39.502-08:00

All,This is a tough one.My dearest friends, Jack & Vicki Newton suffered a devastating house fire on Christmas morning. Their home was destroyed & they lost everything, but they and their two kids Emmett & Aly (and dogs Fenway & Scout) are safe.They are all physically OK, but their life has been turned upside down once again. Jack, Veek, Emmett & Aly are going to need a lot of help in a lot of

bazehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03407885423447779474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3240530.post-53254823943199399232009-04-14T13:21:00.009-07:002009-04-14T13:39:04.090-07:00

Amazon explanations for this weekend's de-ranking of GLBT-themed and authored books, so far, in reported order of issuance:It's our policy to exclude adult material from ranking, searches & listings; It's a "glitch" and we are working on it; A hacker managed to script repeated "flag as inappropriate" actions targeted exclusively to GLBT-themed books, causing Amazon to assume that suddenly, an

bazehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03407885423447779474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3240530.post-69788243616763114222009-03-22T23:55:00.005-07:002009-03-23T10:02:31.508-07:00

It's been a whirl of a week, replete with wind. The annual onslaught of South by South West film fanatics, interactive geeks and skinny pants music types has come and gone, and though i am exhausted, it was, as usual, a pretty excellent week. Very good music at our little venue (a curious luck of the draw) drew record crowds of mostly pleasant people who mostly tipped pleasantly as well; it's

bazehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03407885423447779474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3240530.post-9928292626399466482009-01-29T17:52:00.004-08:002009-01-29T18:06:42.651-08:00

There is a rampant Facebook "poke" going on at present, in which you write down 25 random things about yourself, and then "tag" in FB parlance, 25 friends that you either mention, or whom you would like to read your missive, or share one of their own.I like the "25 Things" idea, but hate the "chain letter" aspect of it. (i.e. "If you do not make 5 copies of this letter and mail them to 5 friends,

bazehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03407885423447779474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3240530.post-16159980642996795002009-01-15T19:11:00.006-08:002009-01-15T20:23:05.932-08:00

I used to work with this pretty cool woman, a capable, tough as nails sales person, who single-handedly wrangled countless Federal agencies into becoming customers for the software we were hawking. She put our Federal sales on the map and had a great time doing so.Over the years I met her husband a few times, and her kids once, but work was work; over time, we moved to new companies, new

bazehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03407885423447779474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3240530.post-16375784120710208762008-11-04T10:32:00.004-08:002008-11-04T10:53:04.750-08:00

Flashback.6 years ago, I visited Washington DC with my sister & brother-in-law and their three boys, then aged 8, 12 and 14. We hit the museums along the Mall, and in the American History Museum, one exhibit caught the eye of my godson, 8-year-old Brendan. It was a pair of water fountains, adjacent to a lunch counter. The water fountains had been taken from a train station in a southern city,

bazehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03407885423447779474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3240530.post-50843638044618948762008-09-02T11:40:00.003-07:002008-09-02T11:48:09.320-07:00

If this election represents a hard choice, you might not be paying attention. McCain's VP pick might have cemented it for a few people still on the fence. Judgment is suspect here. Worst. Vetting. Ever. Least qualified VP candidate that I can recall, a fact made even more ridiculous by the lemming-like surrogates who try to defend her "experience" running a moose fart of a town in Alaska as

bazehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03407885423447779474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3240530.post-4422470722297349122008-06-26T20:11:00.005-07:002008-06-26T21:15:32.003-07:00

I manage a bar. One Saturday night, I was charged with a class C misdemeanor and issued a citation as I sat in my office on a moderately busy evening. My crime: the band on our stage (at the front of the bar, adjacent to 6th Street) exceeded a sound pressure reading of 85 decibels as measured by an APD officer at our property line, in accordance with the statute.In case you were curious, Class

bazehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03407885423447779474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3240530.post-84797385186079921842008-06-11T12:56:00.004-07:002008-06-11T13:13:50.882-07:00

For all the mainstream media coverage of Senator John McCain's background, there are some important things you won't learn about him from the TV networks. His carefully crafted positive image relies on people not knowing this stuff—and you might be surprised by some of it.Please check out the list below, and then forward it to your friends, family, and coworkers. We can't rely on the media to

bazehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03407885423447779474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3240530.post-29349825620135610822008-03-27T19:48:00.001-07:002008-03-27T19:50:59.207-07:00

I lived in Albany, NY for 25 years, then in New Britain, CT (near W. Hartford), Wickford, RI (near Newport), Fall River, MA (near Portugal), Roslyn, Long Island (Nassau County, 20 miles East of Manhattan) and Manhattan, all in the course of 9 years, moving around like some sort of high tech witness protection program. I moved here as outside as an outsider can be: Yankee, New Yorker, Deadhead,

bazehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03407885423447779474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3240530.post-10992600137562119382008-03-04T10:29:00.003-08:002008-03-04T11:01:36.340-08:00

[This was part of a thread on Yelp.com, entitled "Where Would You Travel To Eat?" This was my response]When I was 20 and a dirt poor student, I was lucky enough to be in a study abroad program in London. At the Christmas break, friend Jim and I arrived in Paris on a rail pass one fine morning, and immediately went to the Left Bank of the Seine, near Notre Dame.A bakery worker was pushing a hand

bazehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03407885423447779474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3240530.post-2541134257182531242007-09-07T10:43:00.000-07:002007-09-07T10:44:30.779-07:00

Lest you believe the headlines, try this short video:

bazehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03407885423447779474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3240530.post-44758229460275287472007-04-05T18:13:00.000-07:002007-04-05T18:28:49.128-07:00

It's Day 2, post nose surgery, (MOHS Surgery, to be exact (see below)) post-eradication of years of hanging out in the sun without sunscreen. I went in for a bandage change today, and to have the doc look at his handiwork. He seemed quite pleased with the healing, the vascularity (blood circulation) in the edges of the incisions and the prognosis. He's happy with the likely outcome, and thinks

bazehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03407885423447779474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3240530.post-90826179432933883962007-04-05T18:04:00.000-07:002007-04-05T18:13:14.985-07:00

Those words were all I needed to hear after 2 sessions of MOHS micrographic surgery Wednesday morning on the squamous/basal cell carcinoma that used to be on my nose. "Clear" as in "we got it all." It took two “slices” but the second patch was the trick—all the roots and edges of the removed tissue were clear.I was feeling pretty good till Doctor Ramsdell gave me a mirror. I was looking at my

bazehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03407885423447779474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3240530.post-1171605651105988912007-02-15T21:50:00.000-08:002007-02-15T23:06:05.546-08:00

That playoffs would be better than the BCS.That the Catholic church in particular, and most Christian churches in general don't get that whole "judge not, lest ye be judged" thing, nor the "love one another as I have loved you" thing when it comes to gay and lesbian people.That the current Bush administration lies more than usualThat OJ did it.That sending more troops into a civil war in Iraq is

bazehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03407885423447779474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3240530.post-1161150725726958962006-10-17T22:31:00.000-07:002006-10-23T17:21:37.993-07:00

If you know me, you know I see a lot of concerts for a guy who's more than 20 years this side of 21. I have been seeing concerts since I was in 8th grade, when I went to the Saratoga Performing Arts Center with my cousin Patty and my sisters to see Bobby Sherman. I guess that should have been a big clue I was gay, now that I look back at it. But it was a concert--an event, and I never looked

bazehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03407885423447779474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3240530.post-1159129321475658652006-09-24T13:22:00.000-07:002006-09-24T13:50:59.356-07:00

From the most excellent blog, Unclaimed Territory - by Glenn Greenwald:This report alone ought to dictate the outcome of the electionExcerpt from the report on the National Intelligence Estimate detailed in the NY Times (registration required, feel free to use login/password amadjihad):A stark assessment of terrorism trends by American intelligence agencies has found that the American invasion

bazehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03407885423447779474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3240530.post-1158268371536848992006-09-14T13:49:00.000-07:002006-09-14T14:12:51.570-07:00

I've just returned from an extended jaunt through Europe with my friend Steve and another friend, also named Steve. The All-Steve Tour of Europe. This time I got to visit three cities I have never been in, and a couple I have. The trip included a flight to Berlin via a half-day stop in Amsterdam, a Massive Attack/DJ shadow concert in Berlin, then on to Prague for a few days, then Vienna, where

bazehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03407885423447779474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3240530.post-1158265083457024662006-09-14T13:06:00.000-07:002006-09-14T13:20:21.706-07:00

She was the first thing that made me glad I moved to Texas. After living in NYC, and hearing all my friends tell me I was out of my MIND for moving out of a veritable gay Mecca to some godforsaken place combining all the backward of the South and all the nasty of the West, I heard Ann Richards in a press conference.She was about to veto some omnibus education or spending bill that had about a

bazehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03407885423447779474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3240530.post-1151536095587826992006-06-28T15:45:00.000-07:002006-06-28T16:31:32.483-07:00

WASHINGTON (AP) "The narrow defeat of a proposal to ban flag desecration marks the second time in a month Senate Republicans have lost bids to amend the Constitution in ways designed to inspire social conservatives to vote in the midterm elections. The 66-34 tally on the flag amendment Tuesday was one less than the two-thirds, or 67 votes, required to send it to the states for ratification. The

bazehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03407885423447779474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3240530.post-1145150353368214722006-04-15T17:55:00.000-07:002006-04-17T10:58:26.730-07:00

It's been far too long since I've posted, so I think I'll try taking a page from McSweeney's, who during the years leading up to the last presidential election posted a "Daily Reason to Dispatch Bush."For me, I'll try to post one or two things that piss me off about the current band of idiots in DC. I saw Bill Maher perform in Austin last night, and he reminded me how lame Dubya's appointments

bazehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03407885423447779474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3240530.post-1135110195081774182005-12-20T12:23:00.000-08:002005-12-20T13:09:00.253-08:00

The Dover PA fundamentalist school board, ousted last election in a stinging rebuke to fundies trying to subvert Biology education have apparently been dealt another major blow, according to this AP Report.The judge was pretty harsh:"The students, parents, and teachers of the Dover Area School District deserved better than to be dragged into this legal maelstrom, with its resulting utter waste of

bazehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03407885423447779474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3240530.post-1134594123908541622005-12-14T12:03:00.000-08:002005-12-14T13:10:48.796-08:00

I was treated to a special screening of a film last night. A lush romantic ode to star-crossed love, lovers doomed by circumstance to remain apart, separated by convention, family and the vast landscape that comes between them physically.I was reminded at times of Romeo and Juliet, and of parts of A River Runs Through It, but more than either I was struck by the originality of the story, despite

bazehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03407885423447779474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3240530.post-1132732798595870972005-11-22T23:43:00.000-08:002005-11-22T23:59:58.610-08:00

These are the images and stories the five-deferment gang and the rest of the chickenhawks in Washington would prefer we don't see. This is the story of those who must break the worst news a family can hear. The Rocky Mountain News presents a compelling and moving story and truly amazing, tragic images in slideshows. When military families catch sight of uniformed Marines on their doorstep, life

bazehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03407885423447779474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3240530.post-1132623430090677932005-11-21T16:52:00.000-08:002005-11-21T21:29:09.360-08:00

Watching Sir Elton John's appearance on one of my favorite TV shows "Inside The Actor's Studio," it occurs to me that I have loved this guy and his music since I was 12. I first heard "Your Song" on the radio, WQBK probably, or maybe WPTR back in Albany around 1971 and instantly identified with the song and the singer. I don't know on what subsconscious level we connected, but I wanted to sing

bazehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03407885423447779474noreply@blogger.com0