Let me think about it.

By Ida Corr vs Fedde LeGrand. I have heard this beat in the clubs and have always liked it.

Thanks Harvey Milk!

I saw Milk the movie, a biographical story about Harvey Milk. He was the first elected openly gay man to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors during the 70s. Before watching this movie, I had a vague idea of how it was for the gay and lesbian folks back then. But now I am clear that gay rights was almost non-existence. Gay people had no rights to be protected from discrimination in housing and work. Or if they did have it at one point, it was state by state taken away from them thanks to the work of that bigot religious bitch Anita Bryant. She wants to do the same in California via Proposition 6. But Harvey Milk, along with other political activists, worked hard to combat that in California. They had passion and purpose to protect the basic human rights of gay people. They gave the young gay men and lesbians back then hope for a future that we see today. They gave the gay men and lesbians all over American a place to flee from the pursecution and discrimination they faced at home. Truly one of the pioneers for gay rights. These basic rights against discrimination I enjoy today, I ought it partly to their hard work. The priviledges I have to go to gay venues and events today, I ought it partly to their hard work. And for that, I want to say Thank you Harvey and friends. Your sacrifices were not in vain. More work is needed but at least I have some rights already in place. Hopefully someday, we can trully live up to what the Constitution said that "All men are created EQUAL"!

Milk (my official review)

Milk is a biographical story of Harvey Milk. The first openly gay elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in the 70s. He fought hard for gay rights that I enjoy today. The movie moved me very much because I am a gay man and I know how it is to be discriminated. In fact any minority group who knows how it is to be discriminated can relate to the story. Sean Penn played Milk and he was absolutely brilliant. He totally connected to me as a politician with passion and purpose. The rest of the supporting cast were also very convincing and did have an uncanny resemblance to the real people they played. Some of the film footage were actual footages of marches, gatherings and events that took place then. The part of the film that was filmed now was very 70s looking and authentic down to the costume, hair do, shades and obligatory 70s mustache. The story just flowed and got me riveted until it ended resulting to tears in my gay eyes.

(pics from canada.com, nj.com and yahoo)

Proposition 8

As some of us may have known, Proposition 8 in California was passed by voters this past election. Proposition 8 changed the state Constitution to restrict the definition of marriage to a union between a man and a woman and eliminated the right of same-sex couples to marry.

The other night as we were coming out of Century 12 in Evanston after watching Twilight, there was a protest in front. They were protesting against the CEO of Cinemark (owner of Century 12) Alan Stock for personally donating $9,999.00 to pass Proposition 8. Well, it was kind of upsetting cause we already patronized the institution that indirectly donated that money to curtail my rights as a gay man. Needless to say I will avoid that theater if I can in the future. One more thing that is upsetting, Milk is being played in that theater. Milk is this biographic movie about an openly gay San Francisco elected city supervisor Harvey Milk in the 70s that fought for gay rights. Milk will be obviously watched by a lot of the gay and lesbian community. So in effect, gay dollar will be putting food in front of that bigot Alan Stock! So he just wants our money but he does not want us to have what he can have. What an ass.

I am Thankful for...

Have a happy and good Thanksgiving everybody! I personally hardly celebrate this holiday. I was born and raised abroad so Thanksgiving was not something I grew up celebrating. Nonetheless, there are things I want to be thankful for. Here are the things I am thankful for.

- My stable financial situation despite the bad market condition lately.
- The recent good health of my friends (Caitlin St. James and Lady Jazmin) after bouts of serious illness.
- My good health despite some minor problems once in a while.
- My family ,namely mom and some cousins, who have been supportive and understanding of me as a gay man.
- My good job. It is not the greatest but things are well enough.
- My mental health which allows me to write this blog.
- My mom's relative good health for being 69 years old.

Sense of entitlement

Some people have a sense of entitlement and this applies to driving situations. Even if they do not have the right of way, they feel that the other driving should yeild to them. Below are two examples of what I am saying

In the above illustration, I was vehicle A and vehicle B was coming off of a gas station trying to merge in my lane. In ordinary circumstances, I would have let him merge in front of me out of courtesy but not because he has the right of way. But I was in a hurry so I did not. As I passed by him, he honked his horn in protest that I did not let him merge. What an ass! He felt entitled to merge that by not getting what he wants angered him.

In the illustration above, I was vehicle A and vehicle B was trying to get out of his parking space. Again, if I was in a good mood, I would have let me merge in front of me out of courtesy and not because he has the right of way. But I was not in a good mood because of bad traffic and I was not about to let another vehicle cut in front of me. As I pass by him, he yelled a sarcastic "thanks" to protest that he did not get to cut in front. Another ass! Who does he think he is that he is entitled to cut in front when he does not have the right of way.

Yes, I was probably being an ass as well by not letting them cut but that is not my point. My point is they do not have the RIGHT of way and they should not be upset if the other driver does feel like letting them cut in front. It is like a beggar cussing at you because you will not give them money. It's their delusional sense of entitlement that makes them a bigger ass.

For more information on Illinois' driving rules on Right of Way, click HERE.

La Cabane

Came across this blog in french by these two guys Pedj and Kelly. I don't understand what Pedj is lip synching here but it sounds good and he is cute.

What do I believe?

What do I believe? That was the question my friend's bf asked me at dinner once. This made me think what are the things I believe in? Here is a partial list.

- fairness and equality
- revenge and punishing the malicious wrongdoer
- everybody has a price
- earning your keeps
- traveling is educational
- recycling
- love
- practicality and pragmatism
- science and evidence based logic

Say what you want already!

I was out sight seeing with a friend once and we were boarding a relatively empty bus. I asked her where she wants to sit and she replied "anywhere". So I instinctively went for the front seats so we can have a better view. She protested why I have to pick the front and why can't we sit in the middle. So we end up sitting in the middle which I did not mind.

This made me think... What the fuck was that all about? Was I suppose to read her mind that she does not want to sit in the front when she said "anywhere"? Why did she not just say anywhere but the front? Say what you want already cause that is just annoying!

Overkill - smoke 15 feet away from any door

It is almost a year now since Chicago adapted a no smoking policy for all public places. I say it is a good thing. Smoking is bad for your health. But what I think is overkill in the ordinance of Chicago is the fact that smoking should be at least 15 feet away from any door of a public place. So even the clubs or bars with outdoor decks or patio, smoking is not allowed since it is not 15 feet away from the door. That is just overkill. I can understand why outdoor restaurant, open stadium or public parks are non-smoking. But I don't understand why bars can't have a smoking outdoor deck.

Blogging and me (part 4)

Since my blog is an extension of my thoughts and being, it is a great source of information about me. I have this delusion that someday when I am long gone, somebody will make a movie about me and they will use my blog to build an accurate replica of my true self and character. Well, it is indeed a delusion cause I am a nobody, I have done nothing noteworthy that would warrant a movie about me. Well perhaps I am not yet a somebody. There is still time. lol

Is Morality black or white or a shade of gray?

I bought a "gold" fantail goldfish from Petsmart this past Monday. Today I noticed the other "gray" fantail goldfish I bought from Persmart 1 month ago was acting weird and could possibly die. I was mentioning this to a friend over the phone and I told him that if this "gray" fantail dies on me within this 2 weeks, I could exchange it at Petsmart for another fantail using the 14 day guarantee I have on the "gold" fantail. Petsmart would not know that it is not the recently bought fantail that died. My friend was very clear in telling me that I will be cheating Petsmart and it is morally wrong. This made me think about the small things we do on a day to day basis that is morally wrong but we don't worry about it cause it is insignificant. It is when we do something heinous that we get to think about it as morally wrong. For example, has anybody called in sick to work when they are actually not sick? That is morally wrong cause we are lying to our employer. Granted that we have earned these sick days but it is suppose to be used when we are actually sick and not when we just want a paid day off. Has anybody taken an envelop or stamp from work for a personal mail? This too is morally wrong cause it is stealing but is it so small that we don't fret about it. Has anybody inflated their charitable donation dollar amount for income tax purpose to have more return from the government? This too is lying and cheating the government but we don't worry about it cause the government is so big that taking a few dollars from it is nothing. Has anybody used a bought clothing item once and return it a few days later? This too is cheating the store but we see it all the time happening. I can go on and on with examples but my point is very clear, morality in those examples are not black and white but gray. A little white lie is OK. Taking something insignificant from a big rich entity is OK. Are they really OK or are we just convincing ourselves that it is OK? When do we draw the line about what is morally wrong and right? Is it possible that we are just desensitizing ourselves to do a big morally wrong thing by doing small morally wrong things so often?

Now going back to my goldfish. Since I have bought fish from Petsmart before that died within the 14 days guarantee but I did not bother to exchange them for a new fish, is it still morally wrong to exchange my "gray" fantail using the guarantee from the "gold" fantail?

Tiger versus Lion

I have always been fascinated by big cats. (Although I hate domesticated house cats. I am in fact allergic to them.) Big cats specially the Lion and Tiger are beautiful animals and almost comparable in size and fierceness. So if they do fight, who do you think will prevail? In the wild they hardly meet cause Lions are mostly in Africa (except for a fewer smaller Asiatic Lions in India) and Tigers are found in Asia. Here are two videos of them fighting and mock fighting. If you like this video, don't forget to check out my post of the Lion/Tiger hybrid called Liger/Tigon.





(pic above from www.icebin.net/upload/lion_tiger.jpg)

Carbon footprint

Carbon footprint is defined by wikipedia as a "measure of the impact that human activities have on the environment in terms of the amount of greenhouse gases produced, measured in units of carbon dioxide". These gases are produced by the burning of fossil fuels for our everyday living. I calculated my carbon footprint and is around 15 tonnes/year. The US average is 27 tonnes/year. The worldwide average is 5.5 tonnes/year. And the target of environmental agencies is 2.0 tonnes/year. I am happy to know I am below the US average but I know I still have plenty of work to lower it to 2.0 tonnes/year. The concept of carbon footprint is something that most americans should be more cognizant of considering most industrial nations are the biggest contributors for global warming. If you want to know your carbon footprint, click HERE.

yes I voted!

Yes indeed. I voted for the 3rd time since I became US citizen. I take my right of suffrage very seriously. I am not about to sit idly while some religious zealot tries to tell our government how I am suppose to pursue happiness. I am not about to sit back and let them deny me of my basic human rights that any other law abiding tax paying citizen can enjoy. I have a voice and I exercise that voice.

I have a coworker who complained that Obama is not a good candidate for the Democrats. And when I asked if she voted in the primaries for Clinton, she said no. So fuck her opinion. If she is so concern about this, she should have voted for Clinton when she had the opportunity. All I can say to her, shut your mouth and put up with it. I personally voted for Clinton but since she did not make it, I can proudly say I did vote for Obama.

I do hope, you all went out and voted. Whoever you choose, it is your right and duty to voice that.

halloween video

I video I took of this guy dressed as Richard Simons. He was so funny and he was in character too. Jesus also made a cameo.

Halloween pictures

Sam, Richard and I went to watch the annual Halloween parade along Halsted Street. I swear to God, it seems the parade is getting bigger and bigger every year. And the weather was specially nice and warm so everybody went out to watch it. We did not have front view so I was not able to take good pictures but I managed to shoot some decent one in the parade and in the sideline.