I Dreamed A Dream "In Green"

By Carly Sackolove

Some People---- Are All People

I suppose:

by Carly Sakolove

A Kerry Christmas Tree

The new wonderful roomate Catie surprised me yesterday.

Kerry and I never really decorated the apartment in Chicago.  We alway saved our efforts for the homestead in Sanibel, which, when finished, would be visible from space.  With Kerry's passing I have had even less desire to commit to holiday decorations up here.

Well, Catie noted the dried roses from the his wake that I kept in vases in the kitchen.  From this she was inspired to do a special Christmas tree, dedicated to Kerry, with rose lights.

It gives off the most beautiful and cozy warm glow.

Dear Blank Please Blank

funny spot:

http://www.dearblankpleaseblank.com/

Doggone Driving

This had me on the floor laughing:

Wednesday Weill with Lotta Lenya

Alabama

Defying Gravity

I did not know why Kerry loved this song until "Glee":

and a few other things...

Warning to Ms. Kitty

Be Afraid!  Be very Afraid!
Photo gratuitously stolen from AmericaBlog

Observations of Northern Florida

Is it me or is there a church and a strip club and/or porno store on every main street corner.  And not a gay bar or book store for miles.  Next stop the rest stop?

Is there something lacing the holy water down here?

How does Crist deal with that?

MSNBC's Phil Griffin; Idiot, Right-Wing Sop & Ass-Kisser

As president of MSNBC, he has obviously lost his mind by suspending Keith Olbermann.  Meanwhile, useful right-wing tool Joe Scarborough the Obnoxious, and the ever Racist and Homophobic Bigot Pat Buchanan keep their jobs.

What a fuck-up for MSNBC.  Hope CNN scoops up KO, so I can continue to maintain my own sanity, elsewhere.

Finishing the Hat

For Richard;
paraphrased slightly:

...
And how you're always turning back too late
From the grass or the stick
Or the dog or the light,
...
Studying a face,
Stepping back to look at a face
Leaves a little space in the way like a window,
But to see...
It's the only way to see
...
And when the one man that you wanted goes
You can say to yourself,
"Well I give what I give"
But the one man who won't wait for you knows
That, however you live

There's a part of you
Always standing by
Mapping out the sky,
Finishing a hat,
Starting on a hat,
Finishing a hat,
Look, I made a hat,
Where there never was a hat!

Here's a youngster named Trevor McQueen Eaton (who I just discovered on YouTube) doing a most credible version:

Sunday

Let's have a little "Sunday":
A blank page;
Empty Cavass
"Order; Design; Balance; Composition; Harmony

Company - Original Broadway Cast Album circa 1970

Ah!, Elaine, Dean, Barbara, Donna, Beth, Charles, et al...

And a toast to that invincible bunch, the dinosaurs surviving the crunch, all of you who forwent the brunch, and went to see this show with me last Sunday,

And I'm Not Getting Married!

Laird Petersen - God Speed

My friend Laird Petersen passed away Wednesday night.

I will always treasure the memories of the Christmas tree decorating parties, and seeing him at Pride parades with his mother, and family.
There is a very nice write-up about him at Windy City Times.

Unfortunately, he left town before I went digital so I am pressed to find a picture of my own to post, so we will have to settle for the one at the WCT site.

He was a tireless activist, friend and inspiration to all of us who knew him.

My deepest condolences to his life partner, Joe

Gunga Dean Loves the Shawny Haiti Leather Mask

A gift from the infamously tireless Shawny, K's li'l sister:

And Some Should F%&k Themselves With ...

a splintered baseball bat such that they bleed out and die: Case 1 Senator Demintia, SC Repug of Inanity

When he answers to his higher power, he'll go "what the 'eh?"

When we go to our beyond and point out who was the biggest piece of shit.

The semisentient Sen. Demint, Piece of Sh!t, Tea bagging gasbag extraordinaire, wins of late... but he is only one of many...

Can I hear an "Amen"?

Dan Savage sounds off to a bible thumper "light":

I'm sorry your feelings were hurt by my comments.

No, wait. I'm not. Gay kids are dying. So let's try to keep things in perspective: fuck your feelings.
...
Being told that they're sinful and that their love offends God, and being told that their relationships are unworthy of the civil right that is marriage (not the religious rite that some people use to solemnize their civil marriages), can eat away at the souls of gay kids.
...
And many of your straight children—having listened to mom and dad talk about how gay marriage is a threat to the family and how gay sex makes their magic sky friend Jesus cry himself to sleep—feel justified in physically attacking the gay and lesbian children they encounter in their schools.

Amen to that!!!

Teenage suicides by gay youth really piss me off and I, too, blame the churchgoers who allow hate speech from their preachers, as they sit on their hands, and worse.

Fuck them and their feelings.

Finishing the Hat

Since I am taking almost everybody I know to "Sunday" on Sunday let's have a little "Finishing the Hat".

This is probably the most sublime song from the show...
By Neil Patrick Harris, who continues to impress me.

Best Bordello Ever, Anywhere, Anytime

I just finished reading "Sin In The Second City; Madams, Ministers, Playboys and the Battle for America's Soul". What a great book on Chicago's most famous Madam's, the Everleigh Sisters, Minna and Ada, by Karen Abbott.

What a really fun book of history of Chicago's best, most elegant decadence, circa 1905. This is the best read on what the classiest whorehouse ever was all about. I feel a field trip coming on to the old Levee district even if nothing much still stands there of that era.

What a couple of sweet, caring, lovable madams during a very vicious period in a very nasty line of work.

Anyway, Go read it!

The Madison Chautauqua 2010 Greenman

Had a blast at the Madison Chautauqua Festival of Art 2010 with Kerry's friends and family down on the shimmering Ohio River in beautiful old Madison, Indiana. The weather was as good as it gets; the people as friendly as ever (as they always are down in those southern river towns).

I picked up this very unique Green Man. I had a nice chat with the pottery artist's husband, Rich Robertson. (The artist Liz was off on break.) He explained that his wife developed the multi-piece impression technique while pregnant and unable to deal with a pottery wheel. I've never seen anything quite like it, and am trying to determine where to hang it. Anyway, here's a shout-out to Cricket Hill Pottery.

The Anti-Masturbation Candidate Wins!

In Delaware, no less, Tea Baggin' flake Christine O'Donnell - In honor of Real 'Merkins everywhere, Some Cyndi:



At what point can we honestly admit we are embarassed? More importantly, when do Repugs admit they are embarassed?

Every sperm is sacred...

Weill & Brecht- Alabama Song

With Nina Hagen & Meret Becker

BTW I saw Nina Hagen @ 30 years ago at Park West with Aidas, who I miss immensely

there is always something

there to remind me...

Sometimes

Ms. Kitty...

Looks at me with a most peculiar gaze...

Clouds - Joni Mitchell

As a child, I would grab the radio in bed and wait for this song to play, whether it be Joni M or Judy C, but when it played it always spoke to me. I am old(er) than most: It speaks to me 40 years later, still:

Ten Thoughts to Ponder

Recieved via Arove

Number 10 Life is sexually transmitted.

Number 9 Good health is merely the slowest possible rate at which one can die.

Number 8 Men have two emotions : Hungry and Horny. If you see him without an erection, make him a sandwich .

Number 7 Give a person a fish and you feed them for a day. Teach a person to use the Internet and they won't bother you for weeks.

Number 6 Some people are like a Slinky... not really good for anything, but you still can't help but smile when you shove them down the stairs.

Number 5 Health nuts are going to feel stupid someday, lying in hospitals, dying of nothing.

Number 4 All of us could take a lesson from the weather. It pays no attention to criticism.

Number 3 Why does a slight tax increase cost you $800.00, and a substantial tax cut saves you
$30.00?

Number 2 In the 60's, people took acid to make the world weird. Now the world is weird and people take Prozac to make it normal.

And The Number 1 Thought Life is like a jar of Jalapeno peppers--what you do today, might burn your ass tomorrow.

- - - and as someone recently said to me : "Don't worry about old age, it doesn't last long."

Michael Ball

I'm not a big fan of musicals, or of the singers who sing in them. Give me a good opera any day.

But there is something about Michael Ball that I have always liked. He has a cheeky grin, and seems to have a very cheerful nature. I first saw him on a TV quiz show about the world of entertainment, and his giggles were really endearing. He was also quite easy on the eye.

What's more, he can sing (though he overdoes the vibrato sometimes).



He is one of those guys (a bit like the lovely Vincent) who seems to have problems maintaining his weight, and I'm sure we'll hear more about that soon, as he is about to star in his own TV chat show.

But if these pictures, put together by a critic of course, are anything to go by, again like Vincent he is more appealing when there is a bit more of him.

Stupid People

I was reading the news and came across two stories that back my claim that stupidity should be the test for procreating.

A woman was pulled from the lake in the early morning hours by fishermen when the group she was partying with on a boat decided to ALL jump off the boat at 1:30 am to go for a swim. Apparently the boat floated away and it looks like 2 of the four drowned. First of all, drinking and boating REALLY don't mix any more then drinking and driving. Second of all, I thought it was basic common boating sense to either a) anchor the boat before ALL jumping off or b) leaving one idiot behind to rescue the others or at least call for help.

A man, fleeing the scene of an accident, blew a stop sign and crashed into.........wait for it..........a police car. The cop has his police lights activated at the time. The man was charged with aggravated DUI, reckless driving, etc. It doesn't say what time the accident happened, but it is my guess, it was after 10:00 pm. Which reminds me of another story.

A young high school student was killed by a drunk driver as he pedaled home from a convenience store. The student was a good kid, well liked and apparently doing well in school. He was struck and killed around 1:30 am.

Every single time I read the papers about someone getting robbed, shot, mugged, etc., the first thing I do is note the time of the crime. Almost EVERY SINGLE TIME the incident occurs after 10:00 pm (more like after midnight) and before 6:00 am. What is it with stupid people and being out after dark? Does the darkness beget stupidity or merely attract it?

All of these incidents are tragic, but tragically, they were all avoidable. Who the hell goes out boating on a lake at 11:30 pm? REALLY?

INS Gets Results

This email fabrication & teapartier wet dream (checked snopes.com) tickled me mainly because the unfortunate brown people's litterin'-disrespectin'-dope smokin'-drug traffickin'-felonious-job stealin'-lazy good for nothin'-non English speakin'-illegal alien-scoundrels' white overlords Christ-like small business owners, exercising their God given right to chisel distribute their beneficent largesse upon the most desperate and vulnerable economically viable labor, whilst blissfully confoundedly unaware of their workers questionable residency status, got miffed, pissed, and flummoxed at the absentee worker results of this little neighborhood prank.

h/t Arove:

I have a friend who is president of his homeowners association in the Dallas , Texas suburbs. They were having a terrible problem with litter near some of his association's homes. The reason according to my friend is that six very large, luxurious new houses are being built right next to their community.

The trash was coming from the Mexican laborers working at the construction sites and included bags from McDonald's, Burger King and 7-11, plus coffee cups, napkins, cigarette butts, coke cans, empty bottles, etc. He went to see the site supervisor and even the general contractor, politely urging them to get their workers not to litter the neighborhood, to no avail. He called the city, county, and police and got no help there either.

So here's what his community did. They organized about twenty folks, named themselves The "Inner Neighborhood Services" group, and arranged to go out at lunch time and "police" the trash themselves. It is what they did while picking up the trash that is so hilarious.

They bought navy blue baseball caps and had the initials "INS" embroidered in gold on the caps.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand what they hoped people might mistakenly think the letters really stand for..

After the Inner Neighborhood Services group's first lunch time pickup detail, with all of them wearing their caps and some carrying cameras, 46 out of the total of 68 construction workers did not show up for work the next morning -- and haven't come back yet.

It has been ten days now.

The General Contractor, I'm told, is madder than hell, but can't say anything publicly because he could be busted for hiring illegal aliens. My friend and his bunch can't be accused of impersonating federal personnel, because they have the official name of the group recorded in their homeowner association minutes along with a notation about the vote to approve formation of the new subcommittee -- and besides, they informed the INS in advance of their plans, and according to my friend, the INS said basically, "Have at it!"

SO, FOLKS... (Gunga's editing notes: The original writer goes on blathering for days with the usual "Proud to be a Privileged White Teabagging God Fearing-Taxpaying-poor-put upon-American" claptrap)

Jesu!, but Gunga prefer's:

"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

-------Emma Lazuras, "The New Colossus", 1883

Little Edie Biehl on Judy's Cream of Wheat

from Punchy Players:

Miss Me Yet II

Some time ago we mentioned about some Republican wasting his Daddy's dollars on a billboard:

And how enamored we were with a liberal radio station's response:

But nothing beats honest-to-god graffiti (and lovin' the pornstache)!

Can This Orchid Be Saved?

This is my 1st orchid. I am determined to save it.

Provided that Miss Kitty does not eat it!

Are Todays GOP Lying Morons? Case A: Michael Steele

I'm not saying all Republicans are Lying Morons. But we can pick up some evidence from their leaders.

GOP Gasbag Chairman Michael Steele on Afghanistan (You know, the country that harbored those who actually attacked us, and the war that was started and grossly mishandled under W Bush for seven years):

"Keep in mind again, federal candidates, this was a war of Obama's choosing. This is not something the United States had actively prosecuted or wanted to engage in."...

"It was the president who was trying to be cute by half by flipping a script demonizing Iraq, while saying the battle really should be in Afghanistan.

Liar? Yes
Moron? Yes

H/T, nod and a wink to Boston Betty who called my attention to the latest gas emission from this idiot

Just for the sake of a little blasphemy!

Good News and Bad News

The good news is...

The shelling and beachcombing will be fantastic on the Florida beaches this year.

The bad news is...

The shelling and beachcombing will be fantastic on the Florida beaches this year.

Just Because It's June - More From Ms. Garland

'Cos it's June with my 39th (12th anniversary thereof) birthday on the 6th, on which day we saw Judy's fabu daughter, the Magnificent Liza Minnelli; the 10th was Ms. Garland's 88th birthday, the 22th is the dark 41st anniversary of our Ms. G's death, the 24th is my Kerry's 2nd anniversary of his passing, which hovers deeply embedded in my soul. And ferchrissakes its Gay Pride Month!

So! Let's let the Judy sing a loud and fast and furious one: "Come Rain or Come Shine"! This is as close to her Carnegie Hall concert that we will ever get on film! And it is truly one of her best (watch as she she grabs and pinches herself to maintain control as she recognizes how well she is presenting this):

Judy Garland, Triptych

Judy Triptychs

Who Dresses This Woman?

Liza is now safe. Aretha wins!

Scotland Via Nigeria

Just got back from the strangest trip; Scotland via Nigeria via a New York IP address.

Not really but how very, very annoying to have your email hijacked! So, if you want to send me money send it via check to my home address in Chicago ;-)

LIZA! Liberty Weekend! Diva!

We kid her, however has anyone, including Mama (And we worship Mama), ever put over a song as fabulously as this:

Liza Does "The Man That Got Away"

No visuals but OMG, She nails it!

Not a Day Goes By

I used to think this was a bitter song --- It is actually bittersweet:

Liza Misses Halston

and appears blissfully unaware that Bob Mackie is still available.

And if Bob Mackie is responsible for this, somebody warn Cher!

Jarvis Cocker - Running the World

Via Balloon-Juice comes this ditty. So appropriate now that the banksters are getting away with bankrupting the world and British Petroleum continues to lie as they destroy the gulf coast:

Please, oh Please, dear nephew, please, learn this one:

Favorite line:
"That the cream cannot help
But alway rise up to the top.
Well I say:
Shit floats."

Irises 2010

I love irises. This was the show going on last week down the block from me. I say best in show.

Law & Order

1st they came and took away our Vincent D'Onofrio. Now they've come and taken away Law & Order - Prime. Where is the justice in the world?

Lena Horne, Stormy Weather & If You Believe

Sublime and and stunning:

Lena Horne, 1917 - 2010, Moon River

Her definitive "Moon River". Thank you, Lena, for a life well lived!

LongHorse, Los Cerrillos, NM

We all were a bit startled to see this in Los Cerrillos, New Mexico a couple of days ago:

Alas we drove a bit further and all was revealed:

Miss Me Yet?

Someone put up a sign in Wyoming, Minnisotta with the query "Miss Me Yet?"
Someone ingeniously finally responded with same sign and annotated thusly!
Asked! Answered!!!

Our Next Prime Minister?

This is the man who wants us all to take part in our own government, to get involved locally, run our own schools, police forces and hospitals. I mean, people can already be on committees that govern those things, but most choose not to. They don't even vote. What planet is this man on?

And does he sound a bit whiny and moany to anyone else, or is it just my antipathy?

TG for Sarah Palin & Tina Fey

Happy Birthday, SnarkAngel from V D'Onofrio

Best to you, My friend!!!

Onward Christian Soldiers!

Wolverines!!!

Because nothing better expresses Christ's love than a well armed militia!

Bombs Away!

Judy's Cream of Wheat

Found this PunchyPlayers skit via Towleroad. Dead on accurate voices and sooo funny!

A LITTLE BIT LIZA ... A LITTLE BIT VINCENT ...

A creation of my dear friend, Jazzy... Gunga Dean should appreciate this ...

BIG NOISE

1980 or something
Divine Madness!

Breaking News

Via Arove Nebur:

A public school teacher was arrested today at John F. Kennedy International Airport as he attempted to board a flight while in possession of a ruler, a protractor, a compass, a slide-rule and a calculator.. At a morning press conference, the Attorney General Holder said he believes the man is a member of the notorious Al-Gebra movement. He did not identify the man, who has been charged by the FBI with carrying weapons of math instruction.

'Al-Gebra is a problem for us', the Attorney General said. 'They derive solutions by means and extremes, and sometimes go off on tangents in search of absolute values.' They use secret code names like 'X' and 'Y' and refer to themselves as 'unknowns', but we have determined that they belong to a common denominator of the axis of medieval with coordinates in every country.

As the Greek philanderer Isosceles used to say, 'There are 3 sides to every triangle'.

When asked to comment on the arrest, President Obama said, 'If God had wanted us to have better weapons of math instruction, he would have given us more fingers and toes.' White House aides told reporters they could not recall a more intelligent or profound statement by a President. It is believed that the Nobel Prize for Physics will follow----

Enuf Said!

Spotted at Palin's rally for Rick Perry in Houston TX: UnF'nbelievable

Via C&L & HoustonPress (PHOTOS BY BRYAN FOTOGRAPHER.)

Raging Grannies stick to the hypocrites at CBS

Priest

Its too good at least

green finch

Lotte Lenya - September Song

Love me my Gaga!

Pomp and circus

Having spent the weekend in Narnia, I went with my mother to mass in Joliet. The bishop for the Joliet diocese said a special mass at 2pm for the Right to Life group, and don't even get me started on those whack jobs! They say no to sex, birth control, and abortion. They won't even explain sex when they preach abstinence, if they bother to teach the kids about that. Just say no, how is that workin for ya?? I say you have to pick your poison...but I digress.

Back to the circus. The bishop was escorted by at least a dozen other priests and by the Knights of Columbus in full regalia. I am talking tux, cape, sword and weird hat with feathers. The priests were in their usual colorful cloaks and the bishop was sporting one of those cone shaped hats.

The entire time, all I could think was, "What in the hell is it with men in silly costumes and funny hats?" REALLY?? My mother is going to Rome to meet the pope. I told her to look for the dude with the biggest hat.

So Long, Farwell

"Be Italian" From Broadway

Fergie works for me

She is jaw droppingly good!

Nine & Still Kerry

and it elevates and hurts and won't go away, and I guess this is good

the whole wild world

will be destroyed under my nonsmokin thumb

15 Daze NicoDream - End of the World Party

Last nights Nico-Dream was an end of the world party downtown Chicago.

When the end of the world didn't happen, the celebrants started rioting violently 'cos they had all blown all of their savings thinking they would not need it anymore.