Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Brown Bag Lunch. You know you live in Massachusetts when this email comes across the State House wire:
We would like to invite you to the next informal gathering/brown bag lunch for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) members and staff in the Statehouse. The group get-together will be on Friday, March 10th.
We now have a permanent meeting spot. XX University has kindly offered us the use of one of their conference rooms. We will meet the 2nd Friday of each month from 12 - 1 o'clock, in ...
Good grief. This, in my humble opinion, is how minority groups loose validity -- that is when they feel compelled to congregate in support-group-like events....
We would like to invite you to the next informal gathering/brown bag lunch for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) members and staff in the Statehouse. The group get-together will be on Friday, March 10th.
We now have a permanent meeting spot. XX University has kindly offered us the use of one of their conference rooms. We will meet the 2nd Friday of each month from 12 - 1 o'clock, in ...
Good grief. This, in my humble opinion, is how minority groups loose validity -- that is when they feel compelled to congregate in support-group-like events....
Monday, February 27, 2006
The Rep's website is coming along. We've gotten great press lately in the papers. We've gained new friends in our communities by doing nice things for them. And finally, when you begin to piss off the rest of your own local delegation, you know you're doing your job. "Well why didn't we know about that event," someone in the delegation will snivel. "Maybe you wouldn't mind calling our scheduler to let us know too..." Mind you no one has EVER called us from their office to let us know about anything. In fact we're usually shafted. The unspoken rule is that we're supposed to stick to our one snobby community and ignore the other two that overlap with the other Reps. Those Reps have got their own little boys club going from which our Rep is excluded. Not Irish... Well neither am I but I've worked with enough to know how to proverbially smack them upside their stubborn, misplaced-proud, misplaced-loyal heads. In fact I will admit that I love playin' these guys. Wait till I launch our PR campaign for the Rep's website....
Thursday, February 23, 2006
Foray into new Wine. As mentioned previously, I took a swig of Chardonnay recently and found myself upchucking a 'buttery' swill of narcissistic California: 'We've-done-a-damn-good-job-of-marketing-CA-Chardonnay swill, haven't we?' But on the other hand, my devil advocate friend likes to point out that perhaps my sudden dislike of Chardonnay is but a natural progression towards my barely suppressed alcoholism....oh thank you devil-advocate friend... "Well there's always Brandy," she says. Thanks again.... That said, kudos to lots of other wines other than California Chardonnays i.e. I THINK YOU'VE LOST YOU'RE EDGE GUYS! I highly recommend Austrian wines these days: they are not terribly expensive (especially if you get 20% off on a case) and extremely high quality. Ja wohl....
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Now THAT'S a happy story.... Anyone who has read 'Fast Food Nation' knows that working in a meat packing plant is one of the most dangerous, horrible jobs one can imagine. So if someone was to win $365 million dollars, the largest Powerball jackpot in U.S. history, then hurrah that it goes to the eight meat packers who participated in a company pool -- $5 in. $365M divided by eight. Not bad. Hope they have good lawyers...
Sunday, February 19, 2006
Oh, oh Mitt..... Our Massachusetts governor in name only, Mitt Romney, has been making preliminary rounds to test the presidential waters. Does he have a chance? I doubt it, due to what I call the M&M factor: not only does he have to overcome the stigma of being from the 'M' state, he also has to be willing to talk about the fact that he comes in as a Mormon... Bet his PR folks aren't too happy to hear about HBO's next big series about a Mormon dad who juggles life with his three wives...
In Sunday's NY Times Real Estate section is an article that touts affordable properties if one is willing to try some out-of-the-way places. Quote: "I think the biggie in Eastern Europe is Bulgaria...." adding that it has magnificent beaches as well as mountains for skiing that "you can live like a king on $10,000 a year." Yes and there is a reason for its cheapness -- it's Bulgaria -- a backward country that is the backwash of the old communist regimes....
Toggling Tastebuds. For decades I have been an ardent fan of Chardonnay. But a few weeks ago I came home to my chilled glass of Clos du Bois (or whatever the reasonably priced Chardonnay of the evening was) and choked. There is something too heavy about it now for my taste. I want a wine less narcissistic. One that after every sip doesn't scream "Here I am!" An aftertaste of buttery, oaky, whatever. Perhaps it was our week-long jaunt in Styria last September that changed my tastes. The Austrian wines are now exemplary (particularly their Gruener Veltliner and Sauvignon Blancs) -- they have all the dryness I like but with but just a quick spank of taste that doesn't compete with my conversation, or what I'm eating, or reading, or doing at the time. At the moment we are drinking a Spanish wine I discovered at our local grocery store that costs all of $6 a bottle (Osborne Solaz 2004 -- Blanco Viura). From a taste perspective this wine is in fact a bit dangerous. It's dry and light as water...
In Sunday's NY Times Real Estate section is an article that touts affordable properties if one is willing to try some out-of-the-way places. Quote: "I think the biggie in Eastern Europe is Bulgaria...." adding that it has magnificent beaches as well as mountains for skiing that "you can live like a king on $10,000 a year." Yes and there is a reason for its cheapness -- it's Bulgaria -- a backward country that is the backwash of the old communist regimes....
Toggling Tastebuds. For decades I have been an ardent fan of Chardonnay. But a few weeks ago I came home to my chilled glass of Clos du Bois (or whatever the reasonably priced Chardonnay of the evening was) and choked. There is something too heavy about it now for my taste. I want a wine less narcissistic. One that after every sip doesn't scream "Here I am!" An aftertaste of buttery, oaky, whatever. Perhaps it was our week-long jaunt in Styria last September that changed my tastes. The Austrian wines are now exemplary (particularly their Gruener Veltliner and Sauvignon Blancs) -- they have all the dryness I like but with but just a quick spank of taste that doesn't compete with my conversation, or what I'm eating, or reading, or doing at the time. At the moment we are drinking a Spanish wine I discovered at our local grocery store that costs all of $6 a bottle (Osborne Solaz 2004 -- Blanco Viura). From a taste perspective this wine is in fact a bit dangerous. It's dry and light as water...
Thursday, February 16, 2006
OK, which is it? The last time I dragged myself to a long overdue visit to the gynecologist she told me that it was imperative I start taking calcium supplements to prevent bone loss. She also suggested I go for another mamogram. Didn't do the later but did pick up a bottle of calcium pills from Trader Joe's. But what's this I hear today? Calcium pills don't do all that much good? I swear... Just how many times do scientific studies have to flip-flop before we realize that everything in moderation is just fine, thank you very much. What's so great about being a healthy corpse anyway?
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
It could have been Detroit I suppose. Meaning getting stuck for two days in Chicago could have been worse i.e. it could have been Detroit. Or Newark. But it was still pretty bad. One day you are in a thriving, beautiful metropolis called London -- full of good restaurants, clean and efficient public transportation systems, and a majority population that exudes civility (rugby matches excluded). You see and feel everywhere a vested interest in finding an aesthetic harmony between function and form. To then get re-routed to Chicago (because the airports in the North East are all closed due to snow) is just a sad and depressing ending to an otherwise delightful trip.
On the one hand Chicago can lay claim to some of the best and finest architecture in the United States (a lot of which dates to the 20's). But sadly this beautiful architecture serves merely as a backdrop to a city plagued with what most cities across the U.S. suffer: no money... no money to invest in roads, bridges, levees, or any other kinds of refurbishments. One can't help but think what these cities could be again if instead of spending hundreds of billions of dollars in an ill-begot war, we could invest instead in forward-thinking, sustainable infrastructures. I was certainly thinking such thoughts on the metro ride back from our afternoon excursion to downtown Chicago (because who wants to sit in a Hilton hotel all day while you hope for a flight back to Boston). The train was delayed an hour and by the static conversations I could hear over the walkie-talkies, no one had the slightest clue what to do. Finally it was discovered that a train ahead had a disabled car. Nobody seemed able to move it off the track. They finally brought in a crew that cut the car into four pieces and dragged the wreckage off the track....Well we seem to be good at cleaning up after disasters hit but wouldn't it be nice to have a more proactive approach that might ensure the disaster never becomes one?
On the one hand Chicago can lay claim to some of the best and finest architecture in the United States (a lot of which dates to the 20's). But sadly this beautiful architecture serves merely as a backdrop to a city plagued with what most cities across the U.S. suffer: no money... no money to invest in roads, bridges, levees, or any other kinds of refurbishments. One can't help but think what these cities could be again if instead of spending hundreds of billions of dollars in an ill-begot war, we could invest instead in forward-thinking, sustainable infrastructures. I was certainly thinking such thoughts on the metro ride back from our afternoon excursion to downtown Chicago (because who wants to sit in a Hilton hotel all day while you hope for a flight back to Boston). The train was delayed an hour and by the static conversations I could hear over the walkie-talkies, no one had the slightest clue what to do. Finally it was discovered that a train ahead had a disabled car. Nobody seemed able to move it off the track. They finally brought in a crew that cut the car into four pieces and dragged the wreckage off the track....Well we seem to be good at cleaning up after disasters hit but wouldn't it be nice to have a more proactive approach that might ensure the disaster never becomes one?
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
At the risk of sounding like Ann Coulter... WHAT IS UP WITH THESE FANATICAL ISLAMISTS??? Fanaticism at its worst. Innocent civilians are beheaded and the Muslim world says squat. But let a cartoon be print in a Danish newspaper (boy I bet those never-get-in-trouble Danes are reeling...) and they all go wild-savage beszerk. Following SKY News in London, I went out and bought some ham -- a specially selected cut of Danish pork leg....
London is a terrifically fun and vibrant city -- one in which you can people watch all day. And with the advent of dental hygiene in the U.K., the Brits are markedly better looking these days. One also sees new signs of a quickly changing world: steel enforced barriers around buildings, beefed up security at subway stations, security checks to get on the London eye, and of course cameras on every corner.
Movie Recommendation: Matchpoint. One of Woody Allen's best films yet. That said you would hardly know it was a Woody film given that he finally leaves the confines of NYC. Surely part of the attraction to the movie was that a good chunk of the movie was filmed within a stone's throw of the apartment here in London. That aside, Woody Allen's exploration of lust, love, and life is brilliant.
London is a terrifically fun and vibrant city -- one in which you can people watch all day. And with the advent of dental hygiene in the U.K., the Brits are markedly better looking these days. One also sees new signs of a quickly changing world: steel enforced barriers around buildings, beefed up security at subway stations, security checks to get on the London eye, and of course cameras on every corner.
Movie Recommendation: Matchpoint. One of Woody Allen's best films yet. That said you would hardly know it was a Woody film given that he finally leaves the confines of NYC. Surely part of the attraction to the movie was that a good chunk of the movie was filmed within a stone's throw of the apartment here in London. That aside, Woody Allen's exploration of lust, love, and life is brilliant.
Thursday, February 02, 2006
Bye dog. Bye plants. To London Anna Bloviations goes. She leaves for a reprieve. She leaves a state that today in the House of Representatives passed the toughest mercury reduction bill in the U.S. Now if we can just keep Sylvania and Phillips away from the good Senators long enough for them to keep the bill as strong as it is now...
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
So what IS it about working for the U.S. postal system that makes people go 'postal'? Anybody know?
Merriam-Webster's word of the day today is 'abulia' -- the abnormal lack of ability to act or make a decision. We hope the son does not suffer this when he graduates in May. Now armed with an EU passport, he thankfully has few excuses to not find a job. 'Try Malta', I'll say...
Just couldn't bring myself to watch the President's State of the Union speech even so I hear it was simulcast in English.
Merriam-Webster's word of the day today is 'abulia' -- the abnormal lack of ability to act or make a decision. We hope the son does not suffer this when he graduates in May. Now armed with an EU passport, he thankfully has few excuses to not find a job. 'Try Malta', I'll say...
Just couldn't bring myself to watch the President's State of the Union speech even so I hear it was simulcast in English.
