Arresting images from the Assasination of Benezi Bhutto

from the new york times.

Doctor Who - Voyage of the Damned

Beware the flying killer angels and thank god for Cyborg Dwarves. If you haven't caught the Doctor Who Christmas Special 2007, you REALLY need to. It's filled with fantastical story telling that only Russel Davies can provide. If you're not in the UK, take a look on new torrents and see if you can't download it. The version I got had almost 100 seeds. Here's a link.

Oh, and Kylie Minogue is SIMPLY BRILLIANT. Russell YOU MUST BRING HER BACK!!!!

Use Of 'N-Word' May End Porn Star's Career

Use Of 'N-Word' May End Porn Star's Career

The suckers

There are two types of people in the world: those that add to the creativity and life in the universe; and those that suck the creativity and life out of the universe. The sukers destroy your creative ideas. They tell you what you've done is and can never be good enough. And never add to the creative content of the worlds knowledge.

I work with so many suckers. I see them walking the halls despondant for some fulfillment that will never come. It breaks my heart. And then makes me angry when they try to pull me down into their holes.

if you were gay.....

Boycott

I need a new belt to take on vacation. The Big & Tall store that has the clothes that I like has 2 locations... Largo and Brandon... two areas of the city that are known for anti-gay politics. Brandon as the home of Rhonda Storms, who specifically courted the "Conservative Christian" vote in her bid for state senate by removing all recognition of Gay Pride from any agency funded by the county... and Largo, who recently fired a 16 year city administrator after discovering that he was a transitioning M2F transsexual.

So what do you do? Do you support the business in Largo or Brandon? Are business, because they did nothing, complicit in the firing of Susan Stanton?

During the last century, pastors of predominantly white churches stood by and did nothing as black church were blown up for making a stand on civil rights. Are they complicit in the bigotry? You bet your King James Version they were.

Do you go to Cracker Barrel and have the country breakfast with chicken because the deep friend chicken with gravy and biskits are simply HEEEEEEAAAAAAAAVEN even though their company policies call for firing of GLBTQ employees, which don't get me wrong... is very, very bad. But I think I need more fried chicken before I can decide how bad it really is.... Which circles back to my need for another belt.

Damn. now i'm hungry.

A few years back the Southern Baptist Convention began a boycott of Disney World because of their sponsorship of "Gay Days". Thing was, Disney's never "supported" gay days. I have a bunch of friends that attend non-fundy (that's short for fundamentalist in Baptist-speak) Baptist churches and I tried to explain to them Gay Days is a bunch of GLBTQ patrons all buying tickets on the same day and attending the park. Disney doesn't do anything for them that they wouldn't do for any other group that does the same.... There's a Twins day where identical twins all buy tickets. They have family reunions, Bahmitzvas and destination weddings. Some of which are support by Disney staff, but many of which are people simply choosing to attend the park on the same day. The host hotel for Gay Days, to the best of my knowledge has never been "On Property" at Disney and Gay Days has never really been a "disney sponsored" event. But the fundies never got this.

During their boycott Disney stock and profits actually went UP. Long story short, Boycotts don't work and they're usually aimed at the wrong entity.

So if I go to get a belt at my favorite big-and-tall store in Largo, am I indirectly sending a message that there is no price to pay for firing susan stanton?

So in the oh-so-true words of Cheryl Crow, "it's hard to make a stand."

2/365 - all my iPhones

2/365 - all my iPhones, originally uploaded by stovak.

second verse

same song second verse. I called apple today about the replacement iPhone. I told them the loaner they sent me works grea, however the replcement they sent had a defective home button. When the home button is pressed it sometimes sticks underneath the iPhone chasis. They apologized and said they would send me yet another loaner and i'd have to send back the first loaner ad send the replacement phone in and they'd repair or rplace the replacement. ...sigh... The joys of first generation products.

Sticky Keys

So Apple replaced the iPhone but the new iPhone has a sticky home key. I'm really pissed.

BEARFORCE1

the day the iPhone died

The iPhone broke. Yea, I know its a $500 phone. Its not supposed to break. But it did. There's a dead spot on the touch screen. And it's in the area where most of the dialogs appear. ok, in the phone's defense, it was a shitty day. Electronics for some reason are especially subject to the whims of the universal flux... when you're having a bad day, your electronics know and have a tendency to malfunction more often.

I talked to a friend on the way to work, threw the phone in my pocket and somehow my voicemail password either changed or got screwed up in the phone's memory because it asked me for my voicemail password and the "ok" and "cancel" buttons were right in the dead spot... so I could enter the password, but couldn't hit "ok" or "cancel." Very frustrating. So I called apple and their sending me a loaner and going to repair my phone, but it's just irritating I have to go through this with a $500 cell phone.

Oh, well.... Boddingtons Ale makes life livable and I took the Sim card out and put it back in my old samsung which gladly accepted the opportunity to be useful again.

Hillary Clinton: America's fag hag

so after watching the HRC's candidate forum tonight on logo I have to say, there's a reason Hillary and barak obama are the frontrunners. Its because they are clearly the most electable of all of the democratic candidates. I think either one if them would do well to be president. I just hope the democratic leadership doesn't bump them out or they don't self-destruct like Howard Dean.

So I guess i'm over my mini-meltdown after the death of my dog. Or maybe it wasn't that mini... But whatever. My life is back to its normal work-a-holic baseline and my days again are filled with endless projects at work I can never hope to finish and the prospect of a vacation coming up labor day weekend.

The politics at work are a constant distraction. It's such a shame that people feel like they have to connive and scheme to get what they want. There really isn't any more to say about that.

After hearing a boatload of horror stories about portland, OR i'm kind of wary of taking a trip down there while we're in Seattle. Oh, well... Its only a few days. Looking forward to getting out of town.

I don't really blog specifically about apple that often bexause there are so many other blogs who do a much better job than i at covering apple news, but i gotta tell ya it feels like chistnas morning every monday i go to bed and kniw there's an apple event the next morning. I can't wait to see what they introduce.

Carson

I had to put my dog down. It was, without a doubt the most difficult thing I've ever done.

He'd been deteorating for a while. The vet didn't give me a definative diagnosis. She semed to hide behind "we need to do more tests." Part of me will always resent her for not just giving me the bad news that It was cancer. Edward and I got home from a day trip to Orlando on satirday and he was much much worse. I took him to the emergency room.

The vet was so kind. He didn't sugar coat it he just gave it to me straight.

There were choices to be made. Do I want to be in the room? What do i want to do with his remains? All the time I've had him I've projected my own fear of dying alone into him and there was no way I could not be there when he went. They put a cathedor in his leg. The he came in with several injections. I held him and told him how wonderful he was and how much he meant to me... Carson, not the vet... I was bawling as was Edward. The vet gave un the shots one by one and his heart stopped. The vet listened with the stethescope and told me he was gone.

Today, I went back to work and it was so very odd coming home to a house without him. Words can' describe how much I will miss him.

Goodbye

They say the things that make you the most angry are the things you see in other people that you hate about yourself. I get angry when people don't have the balls to give you bad news. I had to put my dog, carson down. Thing is, I knew it was cancer. My **EX** vet who I don't recommend anyone use for anything other than yearly shots, she did all kinds of tests 6 months ago and I think she knew then it was cancer but was like... we need to do this test and we need to do that test and $500 later.... still no diagnosis.

I went to the 24 hour clinic on 22nd north. The vet took one look at Carson and said, I could do a bunch of tests to confirm it, but that dog has cancer and it's only going to get worse. You need to euthanize him before it gets any worse.

I hate it when I can't give people bad news.

I never want to do that to anyone.

Goodbye carson. I love you. God, please care for carson, he's my baby doggy and I love him.

Belated birthday

In Orlando today to wish my mom a belated birthday. I bought lunch at
a restaurant in epcot called The Coral Reef. Great food , but the re-
themed the restaurant around the movie Finding Nemo and it just looks
"whored out."

Carson, my do continues to worsen. Poor puppy. I'm going to try a new
vet first of the week.

_____________________
Sent from my iPhone

Carson

about 13 years ago my friends rick and Myra and I went to joleton, which is a small rural suburb of Nashville to look at a litter of beagle puppies. The runt of the litter was he only one that wasn't spoke for and I claimed him. He's lying beside me in the same bed I had when I cradle him through his first night away from his mom. He's ill and most likely won't make it through this year. He has a couple different infections and most likely cancer. He has been an almost constant companion for the last 13 years of my life and i can't cry for him.

I don't know why.

I love him more than life itself. I can't understand this lack of emotion. It's not fear. And its not loss, because he's still here. He's the same old Carson I've always known, albeit a little worse for wear.

I can't feel for him. It's like I'm numb.

I am woman hear me roar

so my friend jo just got back from the middle east. She's been working as an advertising exec for a small new media company in Abu Dabbi which is one of the United Arab Emerates. You always hear about how sexist the middle east is, but to hear stories of just blatent sexual harrassment andhow it propegated by every facet of both culture and government really boggles the mind. When I think about the issues that I'm having with my female coworkers and how catty and just absolutely evil they can be to each other, I sometimes wonder if an all-male workplace would actually be a good thing.

go west

so the roomate has a new boyfriend. He lives in Seattle. Really nice guy. For his birthday I promised the roomate a trip west. I've always wanted to see San Franciso and maybe the northwest. With the advent of the new boyfriend we now have a base of operations in Seattle. So Seattle Tom as I now call him to differentiate between him and avery other Tom in my life, Seattle Tom, goes every year to this gay summer camp outside Portland Oregon.
Now I'm a geek. A big one. And a queen. "roughing it" to me is lack of wi-fi. So I'm kinda reticent about the whole "camp" thing. Seattle Tom has encouraged me to go and, of course the roomate is going. So I'm thinking I might give it a try. Apparetly they have "dormatory-type" cabins which are heated by not air conditioned. ...sigh... Who knows I might have fun.

i'm scum

I forgot my mom's birthday. I feel horrible. On top of that I had a really bad day at work today. Not that that in any way compares with your own son forgetting your birthday. She's always there for me and I just completely blow her off like that. Good god, I'm horrible. So what do you get your mom after you've forgotton her birthday 2 years in a row? A new son. That's what you get her.
hangin around
nothin to do but frown
rainy days and Mondays always get me down.

Currently

• Current phone: apple iphone
• Currently watching:
  
  • TV:the 4400, Jekyll, Wire in the Blood season 5, Rick & Steve: the happiest gay couple on earth
  • Movies: Transformers, harry potter and the order of the pheonix
• Currently planning: trip to seattle
• Currently reading: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (I should get it from amazon this week)
• Currently musical obsesion: Robin Thicke
• Currently eating: pizz-ookie at BJ's on park blvd.
• Currently drinking: blue moon
• Currently learning: ruby on rails
• Currently launching: Textmate, Coda
• Currently booting: macbook black
• Currently bagging: Manhattan Portege Messenger Bag medium from ebags
• Currently loving: Jeffrey Donovan from Burn Notice (pictured at right)
• Currently disgusted by: anything Hilton, Paris or perez.

Anno iphonus - in the year of our iPhone

So I'm one week into my anno iphonus, my year of using an iPhone

I have to say that I love it every bit as much as I thought I would.
I'm blogging from the movie theatre waiting for harry potter to start.
As promised, I'm getting used to the keyboard. But I do wish mail and
SMS worked in landscape mode. More to come .

_____________________
Sent from my iPhone

The summer of iPhone

So I've been playing with my iPhone for a few days now and I have to
say that I'm impressed with the the amount of thought and care that
has gone into both the software and the hardware. What it does, it
does very well. I have to believe that what it cannot do well it does
not attempt. I have very high expectations for this platform over the
next few years and have every reason to believe they will be met.

Sent from my iPhone

Dramatic Prarie Dog

I have no idea why, but this clip amuses me to no end.

do gays have an obligation to be 'out'?

I saw this on Logo and it got me thinking.... do gays have an obligation to be out?

State Secrets

So I get a call at my office. I pick up and it's one of our company's support personnel.

"Good Morning Kevin, what's up?"

"Mornin Tom. Listen, i'm going to need you to stop telling people about Firefox."

"um, excuse me?"

"Yea, we've had several calls about getting Firefox installed on people's machines and we can't just install it for everyone. I need you to stop telling people it's better."

Of all the stupid phone calls and requests I've received this has to be a new low in stupidity.

First of all... I've never told anyone "use firefox". I've demo'd sites and used firefox. People have asked what i use and I told them. Anyone i've told specifically to look at a page in fireox, i've installed it on their machine personally and told them not to call support about any questions they might have.

As an support professional, you should WANT to install firefox because there's a much better chance that browsing *WON'T* infect the computers for which you are responsible.

I understand the concept of corporate standards and "herding the chickens" and all, but rather than try to gag another person, why not say something like "that's not something my manager will allow me to spend time on, but you're more than welcome to install it yourself.

Welcome to corporate America.

best line from the sopranos finale

Meadow: "{I became a lawyer because] the state crushes the individual."
Tony: "New Jersey?"

Kathy Griffin season 3

So the world depresses me. Especially lately. The constant loss of life of our troops and the insipid pop culture that passes for news. And then there's someone who reminds us just how superficial and one-dimensional the world really is and laugh at it. Thank you Cathy Griffin for making me laugh and, what's more, laugh at myself. I can't tell you how good it feels. You are my Goddess.

cured

They wish to cure us, but I say we are the cure.
-Magneto in X-Men 3

my new lover

Ruby, you are so sexy.

booty cake

Today's my roommate, Edward's birthday. On the way to work I called and ordered a chocolate chip cookie (his favorite) from publix with balloons on it and a nice "happy birthday" message written in green and white icing. I pick it up on the way home, and when I walk in the door, nobody's home. But there's a strong smell of sugar throughout the house. I put the cookie on the dining room table and went into the kitchen and there was this clearly hand-made cake with candles and everything. I thought, oh, nice, his mother stopped by and made him a cake. He's prolly out to dinner with her.

Several hours later he gets home and I'm like... can I have some cake.... did your mom make it? He blushes.

"A trick made it."

I'm like ... what?

Apparently a trick from 3 years ago brought him the cake hoping to get/give a little sumptin' sumptin' this morning after I had left for work. "He called earlier this week and we talked and I let it slip today way my b-day."

..."so you had a good morning?"

"er... no. Nice guy, but he's like a clingy little puppy. For some reason he keeps calling, but I'm trying to be polite."

"So you let the puppy hump your leg then put him outside when he piddles on the floor.... you don't turn him away when he brings you baked goods."

Slicing the cake and eating a piece... i'm like... "Poor guy... gives you a cake and you don't even put out. And it's pretty good cake too..." I sigh... "Desperation is yummy."

My roommate was having none of it and was embarrassed it was in the house.

I wish he would have put out.... Then maybe next year, we'd get ice cream too. I do love cake and ice cream.

creator/destroyer

Gimme that old time religion
That old time religion
Gimme that old time religion; it's good enough for me

It was good for my grandma
It was good for my grandpa
It was good for my mom and it's good enough for me

The Hindu god Shiva is known as the creator/destroyer. He is the Hindu version of the Egyptian Pheonix. He destroys and creates from that which is destroyed. Christianity has the story of Noah and the arc... how God destroyed the world with a flood and then brought species back from extinction from two of every unclean and 7 of every clean animal stored in Noah's arc... I believe Cathy Lee Gifford was headlining that particular cruise with a show of Broadway favorites which may have acutally BROUGHT ABOUT the apocalypse. I could be mistaken.

Shiva smears the ashes of his destruction over his body and from his phallus springs the seed of a new creation. Noah's arc, beached on the side of Mt. Ararat opens the doors to a world to start over. The Phoenix rises from the ashes to fly the skies and bring healing to the earth.

I'm tired of destruction. I'm weary of our soldiers being killed; I'm over hearing every day how hundreds of people are killed in a market somewhere in western Asia. Though some people would lay this problem at the feat of our President, I do not. I don't believe he initiated destruction. Only that he created a crucible for the forces behind the conflict to engage. I lay this conflict at the feet of a confrontation that has continued throughout history. The conflict between that which is new and that which is old.

As I write, secular forces of the Lebonese security force battle with Al Queda/Hezbollah forces for the soul of Lebanon. Christian fascists, yes I said it, fascists in this country believe that they and only they are the arbiters of the Christian religion and will this week picket the Funeral of another of their faith because he wasn't "Christian Enough."

When will this blood war in Iraq be over? How many people have to die in Lebanon before they can conduct their goverment without interference from fascist militant Muslims? When will the destruction of what currently constitutes the Christian church be complete so that the rest of us can go back to focusing on worshiping God? I hear the song "That Old Time Religion" and I wonder how many people are slaves to their religion and miss out on a relationship with God...??? I wonder how many more horrible movies will Lindsay Lohan be in before she's banished to Celebrity Fit Club 12?

When I look around me, It's difficult to believe that a Phoenix will rise from this destruction. It's hard to believe that the God who destroys will create again, be he christian, muslim or hindu. It's easier to believe, with Tony Kushner, that God has somehow left us to deal with an imperfect creation on our own and that everything is somehow "cycling down" into oblivion.

But I do believe in a God who is actively creating the future of this universe. I believe in beauty and new creation in this world. It is an act of faith, but I do believe.

Apple and Sun need each other....

I've read several articles of late that talk about how cozy the relationship is between Sun Microsystems and Apple. Considering the fact that apple's making money hand over fist, it would be a natural assumption that apple is in the market to BUY Sun. There are a a lot of reasons why this makes sense.

First, Solaris. Apple and Sun's OS are like Quarter pounder and Big Mac... Very similar and with common ancestry, that being Berkley BSD Unix. They could easily ( I say easily because I don't have to do it :-) ) be "merged" into a single product hosting Sun's Server software and recristened the new Mac OS X Server. I would double Mac OS X's share of the server market overnight... maybe triple. I work for a company with Sun web servers and I gotta tell you... all of the utilities in the Solaris OS are several releases behind linux and OS X. It would be the best thing to happen to solaris since the x86 recompile.

Second, Java. Apple loves java. Java loves Apple. Two-ish years ago, Apple integrated java into xCode and you can create pure java right in apple's development environment. Java can access all the cocoa methods that you have at your disposal with Objective C. The apple core programming team has taken great pains to make the experience of java on the mac first rate, and in my estimation, succeeded.

Third, Sun is dying. Yea, I said it. This star has flared and is now a red dwarf. There are just too many competing technologies. Their flagship product, Solaris, is getting very long in the tooth. Java never caught on like they hoped it would and javaFX ain't gonna get you there. Every effort they make seems mired in a tangle of programmer's jargon standing opposed to the clean consistant message of a resurgant apple. In marketing speak, there's no consistant message. They're a company that markets producuts aimed at professionals and most professionals think of them as the "java guys who also make REALLY expensive servers." They need Apple's gravitas. They need apple's marketing saavy. They need apple's sales base. They need Steve's reality distorion field encompasing their product line. And apple needs partners in their war against The Dark Lord.

Steve, if you're listening, which most likely you are not, Go have a chai latte and a vegan cranberry scone at Barnes and Noble with Scott McNealey and work this out. You'll get some really kewl professional products and Apple will become a playa in the pro web development market and nothing would make me giddier... like a school girl on christmas morning.

There but for the grace of God.....

My heart and praryers go out to the people of Greensburg, KS. Photo Credit: Jaime Oppenheimer/The Wichita Eagle

Vagina Power

Falwell Challenges God on Gay Marriage Issue

Simply Hysterical. You must read. Happy Easter.....

great cover of one of my 80's fav's

So how long before we hear this at georgies?...

words fail me... she's brilliant

Nadine Smith on the Stanton Firing

Hate and Irony in Polk County

The body of the 25-year-old Winter Haven man was found on a rural road in Wahneta early Wednesday morning, said Polk County Sheriff's spokeswoman Donna Wood. He had been stabbed about 20 times, she said.
A witness came forward and said Skipper was killed because he made an advance toward Brown, Wood said.
Authorities are treating the killing as a hate crime, according to a sheriff's office statement.
Skipper was driving around Wahneta on Tuesday and offered Bearden a ride around midnight, the statement said. The two went back to Skipper's house, where they smoked marijuana and discussed using Skipper's computer to copy checks, the report said.
The two left Skipper's house and went to another home where they met Brown and they all left in Skipper's car, officials said. Once at the remote location, Brown and Bearden allegedly attacked Skipper in his own vehicle, stabbing him and leaving him along the roadside, Wood said.
The suspects allegedly attempted to clean the bloody vehicle and later drove Skipper's car around and bragged to friends, Wood said.
Skipper's car was later found abandoned on a dock near Lake Pansy in Winter Haven

from the St. Petersburg Times Story Is it just me or is this story simultaneously sad and ironic? You commit a hate crime and then leave the car by Lake Pansy?

300

Just saw 300 at the IMAX theatre at Channelside. i recommend that you see this movie in IMAX. Great visuals. Good story. I find it fascinating that Iranians are outraged by it as they believe it was produced by the government as a justification for going to war with Iran.

My esteemed Islamic colleagues in Iran, First let me make 2 points. The current situation in Iraq makes it clear that this government needs no reason, justification or public support to go to war with any country. Second, this movie, in the states is targeted at 15 year old boys who, unfortunately, do not associate the word "persian" with Iran ( the word "IRAN" doesn't appear in the movie) and, in point of fact, most people under the age of 30 in this country do not watch the news and unless they have a friend from that area of the world, most believe that you're arabs. Believe me, if we go to war with Iran, it won't be because of a movie.

Tim Gill is doing the Lord's work

long week

it's been a long week and I really have nothing to say or report. Steve Stanton is still fired and Rhonda Storms and the Largo Commission Cunts still have jobs. We still can't adopt or marry. Both Battlestar Galactica and Lost continue to suck wind. And I'm going to lose an hour of sleep tonight because of the Daylight Savings change.

I have to admit to bit of world-weariness.

I'm headed to my mom's wedding this weekend. It will be an awkward affair and I can't wait for it to be over. I can't wait for wedding season to be over. I love my mom and wish her well, but I'm so freekin over weddings.

Encouraging Survey

In the wake of the firing of Largo City Manager Steve Stanton, A Survey by the St. Petersburg Times shows encouraging changing attitudes toward GLBTQ Minorities. Now if we can just impress on the five members of the Largo County Commission the injustice they dealt the City Manager Stanton when they began proceedings to fire him tuesday night. Politicans have to realize that their bigotry has a ripple effect across the community.

ignorance rules in Largo

Peggy Schaefer was one of about 60 members of the First Baptist Church of Indian Rocks who turned out for the meeting.
“I don’t want that man in office,” she said. “I don’t think we should be paying him $150,000 a year when he’s not been truthful. We have to speak up. Of course, we don’t believe in sex changes or lesbianism. They have their rights, but we do, too.”

... from the sptimes article

Mr.s Schaefer, is one of those rights a right to bigotry?

rumble in largo

[photo: James Garnett Jr]

So i'm watching Gilmore Girls and I open the laptop and on the front page of the St. Pete times, there's Nadine Smith getting arrested in Largo.

So I flip over to bay news 9 and I find that this poor Transsexual man that's a city manager for Largo is being lynched before the Largo City council. And as i'm watching, a new face has appeared on the horizon of Pinellas county... Largo's Mayor Pat Gerard. She defended the city manager with common sense and intelligence.

Mayor Gerard and City Manager Stanton, you are my heroes. Support Equality Florida. Nadine, if I was a Lesbian, we'd be picking out china at Dillards. I love ya.

update: 9:40: FORMER city manager stanton. They just fired him. Commissioner Black and Vice Mayor Whatever your name is, you are evil personified.

weekend in the keys

My friends dan & natalie are getting married in Key West. They told us this and we got the invitation like a year ago. They lived together for 3+ years, bought a house and were talking about having a baby and the parents staged a marital intervention and said, we're going to have a wedding for you and you need to be there. So the wedding becomes this HUGE event with 9 bridesmaids, 500+ guests in Our Lady of the Seas in Key West. All our friends are going to be there...blah, blah, blah... ok, fine. I'll book a weekend in Key West for your wedding.

So in august, my roommate Edward starts bugging me about reserving the room. We finallly decide on this B&B called L'Habitation on Eaton street near Duval. We decide we don't want to drive so we book tickets on the Key West Ferry Friday before the wedding on sat. We plan to leave work and drive to Ft. Myers Beach, then roll out of bed the next morning and get on the boat.

I've never been to Key West before... lived in florida most of my life; never been there.



Thusday night, we drop the dogs with the Brandon Bears ... there's these two bear friends/coworkers of mine in brandon who have graciously agreed to watch our two doggies... God, do I owe them big!!!... and then we head down 75 with my friend Paul in tow.

We stay at this place called "The Lighthouse Resort" on Ft. Myers beach and I literally never see the staff. I reserved online. I call on the way down and explain it's going to be after midnight when we get there. She tells me it's room X, the room's unlocked and the key will be on the table. We get up in the morning and leave, there's nobody in the office so I call. Lady picks up and says, just leave the key on the table, I've got your credit card, i'll just charge the room to it. So I did the whole thing over the internet and never saw the staff... great new world we live in, hun?

So we get on the boat and it's a new boat, everything nice... p.s. It's the ONLY way to get to key west. Driving for me is no longer an option. The traffic is just too horrible to be believed. Three hours tour goes like this: Bloody Mary, Up to third floor observation, get too cold, back downstairs to the bar for another bloody mary, snack bar for some munchies, back observation deck, sit and watch satellite TV for a bit, Bloody Mary... well, you get the point. Little boring, but a great RELAXING ride as opposed to a 10 hour car drive in start/stop traffic... FABU... I highly recommend.



We dock, walk a few blocks to our B&B and by then, we're hungry again, so we have late lunch at the Grande Cafe which is right around the corner from our B&B. Great food and even greater Mojitos.

The B&B has this WIDE martha stewart-esque front porch in the style of the key west victorian with wicker furniture and as I walk up the steps...I feel it... this is home. This is the style house I want to live in. Whether it's key west or St. Pete, where ever, this is MY style. This is what I like. The weather is a perfect 72 degrees. The island breeze is blowing through the palms. It is a zen moment.



We walk to front street on duval, shop, eat, shop, walk, walk, shop. By 5PM we're exhausted. We go back to the B&B and all three of us CRASH. We have a wedding event at 9PM back at the grande cafe.

Duval Street is MOBBED. It's like New Orleans at Marti Gras, except without that "you could get stabbed at any moment" thing.



The wedding thing is nice, if crowded. Dan and Nat are totally a class act and all the events leading up to and including this have been done first-rate. Andreus does his best interpretation of an uncut penis. Brian passes out on one of the benches. Andraes wife Beka is very amused. The bride and groom look fabulous. Everyone is witty and urbane. Natalie, the bride, tells us that she's 3 months pregnant. I'm like, your kid gonna be a six month baby.... ahhhhhhhh..... she's like... i'm hormonal.... I will CUT you. I back off. Mental note: Binge eating partner for the next six months. Check.



It's midnight-ish when we get done with the str8 people so we hit the gay clubs on the south end of duval and it was just OK... nuthin special. I prefer Georgies, but when in Rome...

So the next morning I'm trolling for Breakfast because the B&B just has a continental breakfast and that's just not going to cut it. I find this FANTASTIC creparie at 512 duval. The smell coming out of the windows is wonderful. IF YOU EVER GO TO KEY WEST, YOU SIMPLY MUST HAVE SOME OF THESE CREPES. She makes them fresh with fresh fruit and they melt in your mouth. Anywho... Edward and paul aren't up yet, so I thought I'd just get this blog entry done then hit the shoppes we missed yesterday before the wedding at 3. More soon.

a convenient truth

when is the world going to wake up and understand the genius that is Sara Silverman?

my roomba... hard at work.

my roomba... hard at work., originally uploaded by stovak.

So I got a roomba for christmas. I love the idea of having a machine do a task I find Tedious. I want the BathRoomba that cleans the bathroom and the KitchenBa that takes the dishes and puts them in the dishwasher.

Penelope Cruz is This Year's Marissa Tomai

So the oscar nominations are out and once again, we've been Mira Sorvino'd and her name is Penelope Cruz. It's not bad enough we have to be constantly bombarded with tabloid stories of the latest himbo she's dating to promote some useless film she's in... Tom Cruise/Vanilla Sky, Matthew McConaughey/Sahara... but the fact that she's been a working actress in the US for almost 10 years and her accent is still so thick I have yet to understand a single sentence she utters. All I have to say is thank God for Helen Mirren's performance in Queen because it's going to save us from a fate worse than "Oscar Nominated Penelope Cruz" and that's (shudder) "Oscar Winner, Penelope Cruz". Helen, it's all you baby and I couldn't be happier.

... from my email box...

Camp Homeless, originally uploaded by stovak.

On Jan 20, 2007, at 1:43 AM, Samm Simpson wrote:

Fox News Story: "The Meanest City in the Nation?"

http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail?contentId=2115501&version=8&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=1.1.1

I urge you to watch this news story from Friday, January 17th. It describes how the St. Petersburg Police - under the authority of Mayor Rick Baker - used box cutters to destroy the tents of the homeless. This is an outrage.

St. Petersburg leaders should be leading the nation by developing partnerships between developers, hospitals, mental health agencies, private benefactors, religious institutions, universities, corporations, small businesses and neighborhood associations to coordinate create and maintain transitional housing for a population that is sure to be growing. Especially with the coming housing crisis.

Anyone who has tried to access services in this country surely understands that most facilities are full with long waiting lists, and many others have such rigid criteria that it can be nearly impossible to get help.

Has our society become so accustomed to weapons, war and torture that we've forgotten how to help the widow, the orphan, the downtrodden and the hurting? Are we so full of our self satiated selves that we see nothing of the pain of others? Millions of Americans are an illness away, a layoff away, an accident away from homelessness.

You can help with cash contributions and other support by contacting Bruce Wright of Refuge Ministries. 727 278 1547. And Let Mayor Baker know of your distaste for these tactics. 727 893 7171

Ms. Samm Simpson
Dunedin, Florida

Truth is our Weapon. Change is our Choice.
http://www.sammsimpsonforcongress.com

Samm:

ok, i'm going to be the mean heartless guy here... as someone who lives only few blocks from the 3 different illegal camps they have set up over the last 6 weeks, i'm going to say, this is actually a good thing.

They had set up their tents INCHES yes INCHES from one of the busiest streets in St. Pete and had faced them towards oncoming traffic... when they got out of the tents they actually STEPPED INTO TRAFFIC.

They had been told multiple times that if they set up their tents again in violation of code that the tents would be removed. And they were. you can't just squat on public land have the expectation that you'll be able to live there indefinitely. They were warned days in advance and were given multiple opportunities to pack up.

They've been offered quite a bit of money in assistance and to get into an apartment and to get a job... they don't want to live in indoors and go to work, they want to live on the street. As long as america is a free state, there will be people who choose to live "off the grid."

Good luck to them. Don't block traffic and don't squat on public land or your property may be confiscated. Thanks mayor baker for doing the job no one else wanted to do.

If that opinion makes me evil and heartless, so be it. I go to work every morning since I turned 18 and pay taxes for the privilege to be evil and heartless.

-tom stovall
st. petersburg, fl

meeting my mother in lakeland...

I'm driving home from meeting my mom in lakeland. We had both been trying to get together for a few weeks because "she had something to tell me."

Earlier, when I got close to the restaurant, I text'd her that I was around the corner. She text'd me back that THEY were next door and would meet me at Sonny's BBQ in 5 min.

I got there first and got a table and she and her new boyfriend came around the corner a few minutes later. It was awkward and I didn't know what to say. She was trying to make conversation and it was a little lame. I was trying for her. During the course of dinner she told me she was getting married to "Bob" in March. I told her that I loved her and I wanted what's best for her and if that's what she thought was best then congratulations.

How do I feel? I have no idea. I don't have strong feelings about her getting married. it's her life and I don't feel the need to tell her how to live it.

I do however, have strong feelings about the wedding... She's like... we're going to have it in our apartment and just make some sandwiches for the reception. i'm like.... uhhhh...... no. I gotta get out my fairy dust and work some magic.

Film Noir

I'm a huge fan of film noir. Above is a still from "Dark Passage" which, in my estimation, is the best bogie/bacall flick and one of the best movies ever made.

I just saw this movie "Brick". I downloaded it from bittorrent and watched simply because to the best of my knowledge it never played in this area. It was a stunning achievement in a relatively new category of Neo Teen Noir entertainment. I'm a big fan of Veronica Mars and this movie is somewhat in the same vein. It got me thinking back to my favorite noir movies, so I've complied a list of Noir movies that, if you're a fan of Noir, you simply must see... If i've missed somthing, please feel free to drop me a line.

Pre 1970

• The Asphalt Jungle (1950)
• Citizen Cane (1941)
  
• Murder My Sweet (1944)
• Double Indemnity (1944)
• White Heat (1949)
• Key Largo (1948)
• In A Lonely Place (1950)
• Touch of Evil (1958)
• Odds Against Tomorrow 
• Casablanca (1942)
• Dark Passage (1947)
• The Glass Key (1942)
• The Live By Night (1948)
• The Naked City (1948)

Post 1970

• Chinatown (1974)
• The Long Goodbye (1973)
• Taxi Driver (1976)
• The Man who wasn't there (2001)
• Blood Simple (1984)
  
• Brick (2006)
• Road To Perdition (2002)

urbanism

01132007.jpg, originally uploaded by stovak.

One by one they're disappearing. Not that i'll miss them, it's just the end of an era. Senior Citizen trailer parks have been a pinellas county institution since my family moved here in the 70's. Row after row of immaculately maintained lawns on which sit trailers, mostly single wide, owned by widows and widowers who lived up north and mostly worked at blue-collar jobs and retired to Florida on a pension and a six-pack of domestic beer in an aluminum can. They're leaving us almost as quickly as they appeared. In the last 10 years the price of land in pinellas has skyrocketed and made it feasible to bulldoze them and build town-homes and other multi-family permanent structures. Through the 80's and 90's they deteriorated and became urban slums for the indigent elderly. Many of them rest on real estate on which it would unthinkable to put a trailer park today. On the banks of lake seminole... where a high-rise condo rents for $1500/month... Dolphin bay facing the bayside bridge... how long can you hold out? Developers will write you checks for obscene amounts of money to sell your trailer park. Multi-use high rises are,objectively, better uses for land, but part of me... that scared little boy on the bus to school in 90 degree heat.. mourns the loss of yet another pinellas icon... the 65+ trailer park.

iPhone

What can I say about the iPhone that hasn't already been said ad nauseam. It's expensive, it won't be available until June, it's larger than my current phone, and it's expensive... ...and I so fucking want one. The interface alone is worth the price of admission. did I mention that it's expensive? My roommate bought a Treo when they first came out and it was $500. The RAZR's were $400 when they first came out and they don't even do email. But alas, i'm rationalizing. I just want one. DAMN YOU STEVE JOBS.

Apple, Stop adding features to your ipods before they come back in time and hunt john conner. -Stephen Colbert

Cold medicines suck now

Cold medicines suck now that they took the crystal meth out of them. I had to show 3 forms of id just to get some Actifed and it doesn't work ANYWHERE near as good as it did. America's war on drugs is completely misguided. I mean seriously... who cares if some hillbilly blows up his trailer because he's making crystal meth, MY HEAD HURTS AND MY NOSE IS STUFFY. Fuck the war on drugs, I have a cold and I want to feel better.

... and it's possible my cold may be making me grumpy.

the new 24

I'm watching the first four hours of Season 6. This show is consistently one of the best shows on television with the exception of that stupid president last season. This season, if the first four episodes are any indication, the show is back with a vengeance. This year's story line is compelling and believable. It premiers tomorrow night on Fox (Monday, Jan 7, 2007).

too much bible

I'm sitting in my manager's office and he's reviewing candidates for programming positions and he tells me about a candidate resume. The candidate has has multiple employment references with the word "bible" in the title. It's clear from the resume that the candidate is a conservative christian. He mentioned that the candidate had gone to a particular high school... MY HIGH SCHOOL.

My boss decided not to interview him making the assumption that because he was a conservative christian that he would have a problem working with the Gay, Lesbian, Seek, Muslim, Rasta and multi-national programmer staff. In this case, working in a sheltered environment of the christian culture worked against this candidate in getting a job in corporate america.

I don't know how I feel about this decision. The largest part of my feelings say that he's RIGHT... coming from that culture I know how intolerant some christians can be. But I also know how loving and accepting others can be.... you know... the closeted homos who smoke meth with a rent boy on sat night then sing in the choir on sat AM.

The McDonalds Drive-Thru

We've all been there... a drive-thru line that's just not moving... here's how to hold someone responsible for their service...

So it's saturday afternoon during our January Floridian heat wave and I decide I'm hungry for a Quarter-Pounder. So I drive to the St. Pete McDonalds on 34th Street North, and if you've ever been to this McDonalds, you know that anything other breakfast and you get HORRIBLE service.... it's extremely slow in the drive-thru and almost as slow inside. I place my order at the intercom and the line is not moving so I sit there a while and finally get to the pay window. The chick at the pay window takes my money and thanks me and she's not rude. So anyway i'm waiting so long, my car's thermostat goes up, so I shut off the engine. As i'm still sitting by the pay window I can see inside that the cashier is talking on the phone with her back to the window. At this point there's like 15 people in the line wrapped around the restaurant. So i'm a little irritated that she's talking on the phone when she could be doing SOMETHING productive to get some of these people taken care of. So I pull out my camera phone and take a picture. She's immediately realizes that i've taken her picture. She opens the window and asks me if I've taken her picture. I of course tell her yes I have. She asks me why, I say so when I tell McDonald's corporate about the consistently horrible drive-thru times I can have something else to show them. She's like, it's not my fault you're food's taking so long. I'm like, i'm just sayin... with 15 people in the drive-thru... should those waiting customers really see you on the phone? She tells me, "I hope you got a good one." I assure her I did. She closes the window. She disappears into the restaurant. She reappears a few seconds later with my food and says... "there you go Mr. Food Police."

So I think I'm going to start a blog about poor service and take camera phone pics, because this seems to be the way to get better service.

And I may just call it Mr. Food Police.

all is quiet... on new year's day.

So I want to my friend Shawn's house last night in Tampa Heights for a new year's eve party. Shawn and his partner put out a great spread and there were a kewl mix of south Tampa gays and hip str8 couples. I drank more than should be allowed by law and was driven home by my more-sober roommate. Now I'm nursing a hang-over on the couch wit the rain pattering on the roof and my two dogs asleep on the floor. One of my new year's resolutions is to get back into blogging, so here goes.

A world in white gets underway
I want to be with you, be with you night and day
Nothing changes on New Year's Day

The job I started as a contractor about 8 months ago, continues to be challenging. I was added to perm staff shortly before Christmas and and i'm working on two full sites and a small ajax-based web application. I've been working extensively with the Yahoo JavaScript Library and object-based JavaScript. I've also found the Script.aculo.us/Prototype Library fascinating. More on that in the coming days.

Under a blood red sky
A crowd has gathered in black and white
Arms entwined, the chosen few
The newspapers says, says
Say it's true it's true...
And we can break through
Though torn in two
We can be one

So yesterday I downloaded from BitTorrent a movie called "Brick". It is what amounts to a Raymond Chandler mystery set in a high school in southern California. It's an interesting movie that only a few will ever see. It's a murder mystery and the dialog is VERY specific and in some places unintelligible. It's very well-written and a very fresh story. It's part of a new neo-noir movement in independent films.

So we're told, this is the golden age
And gold is the reason for the wars we wage
I want to be with you, be with you night and day
Nothing changes on new year's day
-from "new year's day" by u2