ELECTION 2008: Les Misbarack

From Jere Keys... Sorry, I found myself emailing it to people. I had to post it :-).

PERSONAL / DAYTON GAY SCENE: Out and About at Club Masque

Hot men, light-shows, cold mist, music videos, and dancing to the Thumpa-Thumpa... What could be better, dare I ask?
So yeah, I finally went to Masque for the first time last night and I quite enjoyed it! One of my hags and I drove up there as our moving-away-celebration. I thought it had a great atmosphere and the DJs are just fabulous! Never did dance though... We were both feelin slightly under-the-weather (damn buffalo chicken strips from Culver's are goooood, but HOT...). I can't wait to go back with more people!
Holy shit! Blogger.com and my memory-card started loving each other, instead of being caddy little bitches... So there's ME!!! -----^ The photo really does some up my life quite well: in my bedroom all the time using electronic devises, listening to Metro Station (yes, I think Mason Musso is gorgeous...) and surfing the 'net for car- and boat-racing stuff...

OMG I cleaned my room and started packing to move out today... Holy shit... I have two more days of having this house as my permanent home, and then it will all change for the rest of eternity. Clifton, here I come! And get ready Northside, you probably won't notice me when I come! haha

On a side note: Gotta give a shout-out to Danrambles (on the blogroll) for his new text blog and YouTube vlog. Never has a rambling gay mixologist sounded so entertaining! Check it!

-Cody, always Seeking...
www.youtube.com/saabdude67
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=650725329

CINCY GAY SCENE: On the side of my building

... hrm. I think I was meant to live here. This is on the side of my building. LOL. Hello Ms. Delph. 

BTW ---> Don't forget to sponsor me in the WALK TO STOP AIDS.

BLOGGING: Back online and changing browsers!!

I became a Google Chrome user when my internet got hooked up today (which was a five hour process, btw... the poor guy setting up my internet -- "Apparently, the previous resident was stealing cable. This building has never been hooked up before."

I like Google Chrome, so far. It's simple, clear, and pretty easy to use. Like the google website. None of the BS that comes with IE, Netscape, or Firefox. It's... clean. 

And now I'm all set up!!! I'm... back!!!!

GENERAL STUFF: September 11th

It seems to have hit big today, probably due to the number of new monuments opening today. It is sad to see that we're barely on our way to a New York monument... that will take years and years more ... but the Pentagon memorial, and the Boston memorial, are beautiful.


At the Pentagon


in Boston

I don't think the designer of the Vietnam War Memorial quite knew that she was forever altering the way we honored our fallen.

Where was I?

It's funny, because I remembered this clearly this morning as I walked into class aroudn 8:30am. I was at Miami University and I remember seeing clusters of people in classrooms watching TV. I didn't think about it -- I had a presentation in my World Politics class on, get this, the effects of globalization on the developing world.

The TV was on in the classroom. I arrived right around 827am. The first plane had hit and it was only moments until the second hit. We just sat there and watch.

The professor was a few moments late. She walked in, obviously fresh from a copy machine or something... she had a lot of papers in her hand. She started: "All right, are you guys..." Stopped, looked at the screen, and said, "What the hell is going on?"

A few minutes later, we saw the plane hit. Then she walked over to me and my partner -- he was freshman, I remember that, he never forgave me for the A- we got on that project -- and said "in light of all this, would you guys like to delay your presentation for a week or so?"

I got really high that day and sat on my front porch and smoked a lot of cigarettes.

When Bush finally spoke, I remember saying: "I am glad he's our president right now."

Strange world.

What do you remember?

OHIO/CINNKY: Cincinnati's Annual Manual

I got an email from CityBeat about a week... week and a half ago asking me to review their Annual Manual on my blog. You know me, I like a little exposure, as do they, and I like to shoot off my mouth about things I know very little about so the situation was perfect for both parties involved.

The CityBeat rep was nice enough to actually drop it off at school -- it was a strange day, getting a lot of deliveries, and the lady at the front desk looked at me when she handed over and said "jeez, you are somebody important."

Duh.

I wasn't quite sure what to expect, but I'll say this: I'm mildly disappointed. I mean, they did not misrepresent at all what the manual was going to be. However, I opened it and was left with a feeling of "blah.... one of these." Another list of things in town, and another thing to go into the pile of items I do nothing with.

It's billed as Local's guide to living in Cincinnati. I seriously doubt that. It seems more like the guide you get when you first move to the city, pick up a few things out of it, and then go from there. Unlike, say, QCCA's "pink pages" (my dad's term, not mine), I don't have much value in using a booklet that simply lists things that have been featured in CityBeat over the past year. I expect, this weekend, the Goober and I will pick through it, maybe pick out a new place to eat, and then that will be the extent of its use in my life.

Later note: the reason I use the "pink pages" is because I like to support gay and gay-supportive businesses. This annual manual, meanwhile, is the epitome of hipster dining and entertainment and its always a shocker when new and hip places to eat/entertain are open for more than a year.

Additionally, if you don't already follow CityBeat, I don't think this will necessarily be the most ideal way in getting involved with their reviews and suggested dining/entertainment/etc. from the last year. Newbies to the news magazine will far more likely find a CityBeat somewhere, and the timeliness of the weekly will inspire in them more interest than a one-stop shopping spot for a whole year. The idea of unification -- especially in paper form -- can be a tad anachronistic, as the joy in most of these places is the journey in finding and discovering them. Not, "oh we saw that in that Annual Manual thing." Part of the joy of searching the city is just that ... searching it out. This presents a dialogue of "start and finish."

Here are some locations, now go. Fly, my monkeys, fly.

However, the booklet is beautifully organized. If you wanted to go out and discover without the hassle of walking around these amazingly walkable areas, then this is perfect for you. It lists off some great neighborhoods and some great places in town -- including neighborhoods I had never thought to explore. I'm pretty familiar with Northside, OTR, Downtown, Newport, Covington, Clifton Gaslight, Hyde Park; but I don't think I ever considered Mariemont, Cheviot, Milford, Pleasant Ridge, Montgomery, or even something as close as O'Bryonville. I will grant them that. I am looking forward, now, to heading out those directions and seeing what they have to offer.

Perhaps a more interesting, and maybe more functional idea, is to focus more on the neighborhoods rather than specific locations. Include more of them, in other words. My mother, every time she comes to the city, is always impressed by the neighborhood focus of Cincinnati, and the wonderful things you can discover in these places. Rather than spending over half of your space just listing off restaurants/etc... limit that and spend more time talking about the neighborhoods, the characters, and some of the features you can find at those places.

I think that's what makes Cincinnati so interesting.

In fact, that would make a great monthly piece in the paper itself, with the Annual Manual, itself, a reprint of those articles along with Readers' Picks (which I was very glad to see as part of this publication... I missed that issue). But then that would not need to be this kind of publication but an add on to one of the regular issues. A pull-out section.

And it would need more pictures. A lot more. I don't think I could recognize these separate downtown areas from the scant pictures they gave for each one. Hyde Park Square, for example, is so well laid out and lovely, but we only get pieces-parts shots of it. I don't want to see a fountain, necessarily, I want to see what I'm looking for/at. In fact, places like Milford and Montgomery -- areas that I would like to see more of, now -- have almost no pictures of the area in question.

Let's bring this all together.

I'm a pragmatist. Functionally, this serves almost no purpose except as a giant advertisement for the city, which is neat in theory, but I think it needs to be teased out a little more if it is to be a definitive local's guide. That byline on the cover is nothing more than an advertising ploy for out-of-towners to make them feel special that they found some sort of "local's gold mine" of information. (Even if that were true, there is absolutely no way for them to easily pick out "a quick place to eat" as there are so many.) I think this could be effective and useful... but, in its current incarnation, it needs a little work. And it does get kind of hard to read, as the line between private advertising and civic yahoo-ing are definitely blurred. How does it make Ambar India, for example, that Esquire gets a huge 1/6 page picture and an advert on the same page and they just got the advert they paid for? It's hard to really focus on what I'm supposed to be reading and when I'm just being sold to.

Congrats to the front cover designer... though baby-shit green is rarely an attractive colour, it works here. The whole feel and design is very mod, very 60s. Love it. Though it is ruined by the pages and pages of white in the back.

Wow, I really am a bitch sometimes. And CityBeat liked me up to now.

Update: A question: how far does the concept of "Cincinnati" go? In which case, they miss things like downtown Hamilton...

POP CULTURE: Next Musical Movie???

Since we now hear that the Rocky Horror Picture Show is due for a rebirth, and a musical Hairspray 2 is on its way, my question to all of you: What musical would you like to see rebirthed as a musical movie... and what else is in the works that you know about???

My count over the last 10-12 years is:
Evita
Hairspray
Dreamgirls
Chicago
Sweeny Todd
Madame Butterfly
Phantom of the Opera
The Producers
Rent
Mamma Mia!

Am I missing any?

Oh, and I was totally thinking that they shoudl remake the Legally Blonde movie in the musical form -- but how post-modern would it be if there was a movie made into a musical made into a movie musical? Weird.

GAY STUFF: God Adores You

Picture from the Havens Corners Church website

So I missed, briefly, the news item last week that said a church in Ohio -- Havens Corners Church -- put on their sign "I Kissed a Girl Then I Went to Hell." Now, I'm a big fan of church signs. They are usually the cleverest things out there when it comes to tricky word play. This one is actually pretty funny. :-)

Well, apparently, the sign has now been defaced by gay activists in this manner:


I'm sorry to the person who wrote the article, but I think it's funny and clever. I do think we can do a little juvenile prankster-isms. It's fun, it's crazy, and I'll bet you that is the one and only acknowledgement of the presence of homosexuals the town of Blacklick has ever seen.

We may need maturity and acumen most of the time, Mr. Withers, but every now and again we need to shake up people's reality with a little bit of just being "out there."

You know, being ourselves.

Maybe I do need to join the Radical Homosexual Agenda (my post about it), after all.

PS Before this blog is posted, if you searched for "Havens Corners Church" in Google Images, you get few pictures of the church itself, but you get a lot of gay pictures -- including Out.com logos. And, the QitC logo appears on page 4.

GENERAL STUFF: Planet Gobbling and other fascinating science stuff

This is ranked number one in my "cool shit" category of life...

After 14 years of preparation, a new scientific wonder of the world opened for business Wednesday with the official startup of Europe's Large Hadron Collider.

The $10 billion particle accelerator is the biggest, most expensive science machine on earth, designed to probe mysteries ranging from dark matter and missing antimatter to the existence of extra, unseen dimensions in space.

Scientists, journalists and dignitaries watched from the control room at Europe's CERN particle-physics center on the French-Swiss border, near Geneva, as beams of protons were sent all the way around the collider's 17-mile (27-kilometer) underground ring of supercooled pipes for the first time.

It's called the Big Bang Machine. That alone should be enough to get you excited.

Put into context here (though I recommend reading all of these articles and you only start to kind of get the picture of what's happening):

"Human history has been shaped by the progressive unraveling of gravity,
electricity and magnetism, and the nuclear force," Kaku said. "Now we are at the
brink of the granddaddy of all such unifications ... the unification of all
forces into a super force. We think the super force is superstring theory, a
super force that drove the big bang, that created the heavens and the earth,
that drives the sun, that makes all the wondrous technologies of the earth
possible."

I get the impression that there are a lot of nerds out there saying "OMG, this is freaking awesome" and there's a lot of people who know exactly what they are looking for with this and what it could possibly do, and just not telling us... yet.

But they didn't tell us about the Manhattan Project and it was, arguably, the most important scientific discovery of the last 100 years.

Oh, but I also kinda feel like there's a duty to the world to say "we're going to create a black hole on this day so that we can all prepare for the worse. Oh yes, children, we now literally have a machine that, at least in theory, can destroy the world in less than 30 seconds.

I think that's kinda cool :-).

GENERAL STUFF: Russian Sumo Wrestlers

I'm not quite sure how this made such a big news splash, but I thought it was particularly funny...

Two Russian sumo wrestlers have tested positive for marijuana use, two weeks after another Russian was banned for life after being arrested on suspicion of possessing the drug.

Roho and Hakurozan, who are brothers, tested positive after urine tests carried out on a total of 69 wrestlers. Shohei Onishi, an official on the Japan Sumo Association's anti-doping panel, announced the results Tuesday.

The tests were carried out after Russian wrestler Wakanoho was banned for life by the association and arrested by police for marijuana possession. Wakanoho's dismissal — the first expulsion of an active wrestler — was quickly announced after an emergency meeting of the JSA executive board.

Really: is marijuana a drug? At least, a drug that matters? And one that needs any sort of "emergency meeting" LOL.

BLOGGING: New Cincinnati Queer Bloggers!!!!

YEA! Two new queer bloggers in town. First of all, I am so excited to annoucne the addition of QueerCincinnati's newest blogger: CODY!!!! Check out his intro email here (or just scroll down, folks!). I'm really excited to have him aboard, and to try this whole new thing of inviting new people to the show. Cody's been reading for a couple of months now, and was the very first person to respond to my call for new writers! I think he brings an enthusiasm to this blog that I lack, and we will be cross-posting his vlogs, so get ready to meet him face to face!

I have three or four more people I'm giving privileges to, mainly other bloggers (yes, the offer was open to y'all as well :-)) and people who will be contributing intermittently. This will be an exciting few months for this site!

Also, let's welcome to the blogging seen... Danrambles! Dan is an old friend of mine from the bar scene, and one who has been involved in more insanities with me than I like to mention. He contacted me the other day via Myspace about starting another queer local blog, I gave him (what little) I know, and now he's aboard. He promises that it may be a little raunchier. At the moment, though, he's just fabulous! From his blog (which is being added to the blog roll):

I’ve always loved writing… and I’ve equally always loved bitching and making fun of the world around me. This blog is nothing but my point of view on daily events… sometimes offensive, sometimes out there, and sometimes in the form of a poem (okay the last one probably won’t happen). Bartender and alcohol-abuser by night, youtube and internet star wannabe by day… welcome to the ramblings of dan… aka DanRambles

By the title of the page, I’m sure one can deduce…but it will be dan rambling! Which I do a lot of. Rambling about the events of the day/night.. rambling about one night stands and drunken events… about guys I meet (and often find a way to ditch)… about the gay scene in Cincinnati and the other cities I go to (I try to travel as often as possible).. and about anything else that pops up. i love the idea of living by ‘no regrets, no apologies’… and typically live that way at night. The problem I have is the morning afters, when I’m filled with regrets and have a list of people to call to apologize to.

So, welcome to you both!!!!

GENERAL STUFF: How to undermine pharmaceutical reps' jobs

"Hey, you guys are pharmacy people?"


"Well, yea, pharmaceutical company."


"Do you have, like, any free stuff?"


"Ummm... yea."


"Can I have some?"


"We have some pens." (Reaches into pouch, grabs some pens, hands them over.)


"Great! I don't know what I'd do without all the free stuff you guys give. I'm constantly in need of new pens." (Walks out of elevator and away.)

BLOGGING/PERSONAL: At Last! Introducing the Newbie!

Greetings Queer Cincinnati readers! My name is Cody Globig and I'm the new addition to the site that Barry alluded to. I'll start with a bit of an intro to me:

I'm 18 years old and currently live in Hamilton (it's not "Hamiltucky" anymore... it's "Hamilmexitucky" now... haha! Hola to the latino readers!!!) which is about an hour north of downtown Cinci. I'm in the Freshman Engineering Program at UC this year, and I move down to Clifton a week from today (on the 16th). So, yeah, the nerves are starting to get to me!

According to my friends, people can tell I'm gay by my stance and the way I walk, but I so didn't know I was that obvious! A few years ago, before I came out, no one had any idea that I could have been gay... My hobbies are decidedly masculine, even if my mannerisms aren't. I restore old cars (I've owned a blue 1967 SAAB 96 2-stroke since I was 14. I'm on my 2nd actually...) I also ADORE old buses (yeah, that one's just plain wierd, I know...) to the point that I am the youngest member of the Cincinnati Transit Historical Association by 9 years.

I also have my own photography label (Chimaera-Dreamliner Photography) and I enjoy playing billiards a lot. Perhaps the most masculine trait of mine is my hobby of archery and bow-hunting white-tailed deer up here in rural Butler County. I've also got 4 Ohio state archery tounrament titles (internationally recognized by the world federation) and a few regional rankings. I havn't shot competitively for a couple years though...

After saying that, I'd like to be blunt with you folks... PETA can fuck me. I don't enjoy lectures on "why hunting is soooooo wrong" and frankly, unless you're an alien who doesn't eat you have no place telling someone else that killing another being for food is wrong, since everything we eat is a dead organism...

As for what I look like, I'll post a photo of myself once my SD card feels like cooperating... In any case, I'm 5'4" and 160lbs. which, acording to Myspace, is defined as "more to love!"

SO! I plan on bringing a fresh perspective to Queer Cincinnati --> I'm 18 and graduated from a catholic high school, so I can finally enter in to the scene. I'll chart my progress coming from a conservative environment and blooming out into the wide-world-of-gaydom!!! And no, I havn't been to a gay bar or club yet... My official intro to the scene will happen this FRIDAY night at Club Masque in Dayton. I'm going up with a couple friends to celebrate our imminent moves to college. Maybe ya'll could come out and meet me there to have a grand ole' time! (yes, there is a bit of hick-Hamilton-boy in me... lol)

Well, that's me! And sorry that was so long, but I'm a complex person... Like, seriously... haha!

Peace out sweeties!!!

-Cody

PS I'm on Facebook, Myspace, VampireFreaks, DeviantArt, AND YouTube!!!

www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=650725329

www.myspace.com/samuraisaab96f1

http://www.thesaabkid.deviantart.com/

http://vampirefreaks.com/theSAABkid

www.youtube.com/user/saabdude67

My YouTube vlog will be up and running soon as well! Check it out, and I'll keep you updated on it's progress!

CINCY GAY SCENCE: Congratulations!!!

Congratulations to Miss Priscilla Deville, elected Empress XVIII of the ISQCCBE!!!!!



May you live long and with lots of glitter in your hair!
(That's her on the right, btw.)

For those who were unaware, there were no male candidates who qualified to run for Emperor this go-round, so we have appointed Regent Emperor Jay Rickles, formerly Emperor XII. God, I became involved with the court when he was Emperor. I'm now "old hat."

Oh, and I got Distinguished Order of the Buckeye Empire of the Year... blah blah blah. :-) Thanks, guys, I love you all. I came looking to help people and found more friends than I know what to do with. I love you all. I love you, Brooklyn, Poison, Bobbie, Dixie, Priscilla, Poison, Maxie, Bobby, Sylvia, Truly, Penny, Krystal, Demanda... oh! And so so so many more. I love you all.

BLOGGING: For a response from bloggers...

To all my blogger friends in Cincy and beyond...

I'm actually really curious as to why all of y'all got into blogging in the first place.

Leave me a comment and a quick note telling me what got you started on YOUR blog... and I'll leave you mine after a few days.

BLOGGING: New Addition

We have a new blogger/vlogger joining us here at QueerCincinnati.com...

Aren't you all just juicy for information on who it is?

And yes, site traffic has gone way down... from an all time high around 600 one day in early August to an all-time low around 98 on Aug 31... I don't know quite what happened... apparently, fewer people like pictures of Speedo's. *SHRUG* It's also, now, officially, the summer blah's. The election is boring (now that the conventions are over), the Olympics are done, most of the state legislatures are out of business, it's just hot outside. It's the end of summer blah's. Reading back, my posting hasn't been nearly as exciting, I think. I think I got too "deep" with all that Metro and Streetcar stuff, and there were so many nasty responses -- looks significantly over at UncleRando (yea you heard me) but I still love you dearly; after all, we're facebook friends, how much closer could we be :-)-- I'm done with thoughtful stuff. After all, if people haven't figured out that 99% of stuff I say is just to prick at people and raise a little hell every now and then, then maybe I haven't said enough yet. Let's go back to lighthearted and fun, shall we?

PS In response to the Streetcars. I'm actually not that opposed. Rather, I'm glad we're getting something. I just think we could go like a bajillion times further, and I think the plan as it stands now stinks. And, I'm sure you guessed, my major problem is access, as the people who could benefit from using it every single day for everything they do... not just for entertainment purposes or "economic development"... are not served enough. End of story.

ELECTION 2008: RNC

My one (and only) comment directly about the Republican National Convention.

What is John McCain standing in front of?

Anyone? Anyone? Anyone?

Ponder for a moment...



Walter Reed Middle School.

Not Walter Reed Medical Center.



Thanks you to our Republican overlords for factchecking.


Thanks to Bilerico..

GENERAL STUFF: This is a big ol' oops

The best part of this story is that "the agency has not received any complaints."

People calling a federal phone number to order duck stamps are instead greeted by a phone-sex line, due to a printing error the government says would be too expensive to correct.

The carrier card for the duck stamp transposes two numbers, so instead of listing 1-800-782-6724, it lists 1-800-872-6724. The first number spells out 1-800-STAMP24, while the second number spells out 1-800-TRAMP24.

People calling that second number are welcomed by "Intimate Connections" and enticed by a husky female voice to "talk only to the girls that turn you on," for $1.99 a minute.

Quack, quack, baby.

BLOGGING: Rainbow Cincinnati post

A new one!!! Your taste:

I read somewhere that relationships go through times of testing at 30 days, 90 days, 6 months, 1 year, etc.

With every relationship I am in, meanwhile, I stop at that first test in what I have deemed the "thirty day curse;" in short, that's when my relationships end. I'm not quite sure, though, whether it is something I am doing to myself or it is more telling about me as a person (and potential boyfriend). After six years, you'd think I would have figured it out by now.

It started in 2003-ish, when I had my first "grown up" relationship. I got bored around 30 days, dumped him, and moved on. Lather, rinse, repeat -- seven times over. I dumped seven boys in a row at or around 30 days simply because I had grown tired with the whole relationship thing. It tied me down too much.

The seventh, meanwhile, turned out to be a doozy of a dump.

(click here for the rest)

Check out the rest of my blog over here, and don't forget to check out the rest of the wonderful site by clicking on the img below.

GAY STUFF: Candidates' Position

Follow up to previous blog. This is stuff found on the candidates' websites regarding LGBT/queer issues:

----
Barack Obama:

• LGBT Fact Sheet
• Obama Pride Page
• Response to the HRC Questionnaire
• Open Letter to LGBT Community

Highlights from the above:
-Supports full civil unions, and anti-Constitutional DOMA
-Repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell
-Talks about HIV/AIDS prevention in greater detail
-Mentions the passing of Del Martin
-Supports the passage of the Uniting American Families Act

----
John McCain:
If you search for "gay" or "LGBT" or "GLBT" on John McCain's page you get one link, here, which states the following:

CHANGE #15: Barack Obama Is Against The California Ballot Measure Banning Gay Marriage Despite His Assertion That Marriage Is Between A Man And A Woman Barack Obama Came Out Against A California Ballot Measure That Would Ban Same-Sex Marriage. "Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, who previously said the issue of gay marriage should be left up to each state, has announced his opposition to a California ballot measure that would ban same-sex marriages. In a letter to the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club read Sunday at the group's annual Pride Breakfast in San Francisco, the Illinois senator said he supports extending 'fully equal rights and benefits to same-sex couples under both state and federal law.'" (Aurelio Rojas, "Obama Rejects Proposed California Gay Marriage Ban," Sacramento Bee, 7/1/08)"

Obama Had Previously Said He Opposes Same-Sex Marriage But That Each State Should Make Its Own Decision." (Aurelio Rojas, "Obama Rejects Proposed California Gay Marriage Ban," Sacramento Bee, 7/1/08)

That's right, McCain uses gay marriage as a way of making people disinterested in Barack Obama. Politics of division, what? Meanwhile, there is no section for LGBT Americans in his "Coalitions" section. Also, you get this nasty bit if you search for "marriage" on the site:

As president, John McCain would nominate judges who understand that the role of the Court is not to subvert the rights of the people by legislating from the bench. Critical to Constitutional balance is ensuring that, where state and local governments do act to preserve the traditional family, the Courts must not overstep their authority and thwart the Constitutional right of the people to decide this question.

The family represents the foundation of Western Civilization and civil society and John McCain believes the institution of marriage is a union between one man and one woman. It is only this definition that sufficiently recognizes the vital and unique role played by mothers and fathers in the raising of children, and the role of the family in shaping, stabilizing, and strengthening communities and our nation.As with most issues vital to the preservation and health of civil society, the basic responsibility for preserving and strengthening the family should reside at the level of government closest to the people.

In their wisdom, the Founding Fathers reserved for the States the authority and responsibility to protect and strengthen the vital institutions of our civil society. They did so to ensure that the voices of America's families could not be ignored by an indifferent national government or suffocated through filibusters and clever legislative maneuvering in Congress.

Thanks, McCain.