I got this from a blog by a writer of the weekly supplement for our local newspaper. Clear? - OlderMusicGeek
Extras in your life movie by Brianne Sanchez
June 20th, 2008 9:49 am
Do you ever feel like there are people around town who star as “extras” in your life, if it was a movie? After being here a year, there are certain people who I see ALL THE TIME, but have no idea who they are. Sometimes, I will see the same guy wearing the same plaid shorts five times in one day, and then — still wearing the shorts — again the next. There are other people who I recognize, but can’t quite place. So, I do the socially awkward thing and stare at them for awhile.
I wish I knew their names and stories, but for now I’ll just credit them as “guy with plastic bag,” “Old lady with gray cornrows who rides her bike with a giant basket all over the place and is always wearing spandex shorts.”
Makes it feel like Stars Hollow.
One Response to “Extras in your life movie”
On June 20th, 2008 at 3:20 pm OlderMusicGeek said:
I know exactly what you’re talking about. I always called the no-name people, just because I didn’t know their names. But I’d give names like the side characters on "The Simpsons" have. So instead “squeaky voiced teen”, there’s “guy with the big bag”, “our dustbin digger”, “square dancing neighbor” who became “old lady next door” or when my daughter or I are mad at her, “rude old lady next door”. And there was “neighbor who calls me by my first name”. I go by my middle name and he got some mail with my first name on it, and I never bothered to correct him. - Yeah, I don’t know my neighbors name, it’s sad.
And when I didn’t have a car, there was of course the bus regulars, “lady always in a skirt” - even in the freezing cold, “lady who always complaining about something”, “kid playing his ipod too loud”, “sharp-dressed business man”, “substitute bus lady” - she drove the route one day a week and when our regular driver was gone for who knows what.
Maybe you should do a column or something and see what kind of extras other people have!
A link to the original piece
A link to Brianne Sanchez's blog
A link to the weekly newspaper supplement
Monday, June 30, 2008
HUMOR: A Girls' Night Out
This is an old email sent to me by The Sassy Witch.
WARNING: Contains adult material. - OlderMusicGeek
Two women friends had gone for a girl's night out. Both were very faithful and loving wives. However, they had gotten over-enthusiastic on the Bacardi Breezers. Incredibly drunk and walking home, they needed to pee. So they stopped in the cemetery.
One of them had nothing to wipe with, so she thought she would take off her panties and use them. Her friend, however, was wearing a rather expensive pair of panties and did not want to ruin them. She was lucky enough to squat down next to a grave that had a wreath with a ribbon on it. So she proceeded to wipe with that.
After the girls did their business, they proceeded to go home. The next day, one of the women's husbands was concerned that his normally sweet and innocent wife was still in bed hung over,. So he phoned the other husband and said, "These girl nights have got to stop! I'm starting to suspect the worst. My wife came home with no panties!!"
"That's nothing" said the other husband, "Mine came back with a card stuck to her butt that said.....
''From all of us at the Fire Station. We'll never forget you."
WARNING: Contains adult material. - OlderMusicGeek
Two women friends had gone for a girl's night out. Both were very faithful and loving wives. However, they had gotten over-enthusiastic on the Bacardi Breezers. Incredibly drunk and walking home, they needed to pee. So they stopped in the cemetery.
One of them had nothing to wipe with, so she thought she would take off her panties and use them. Her friend, however, was wearing a rather expensive pair of panties and did not want to ruin them. She was lucky enough to squat down next to a grave that had a wreath with a ribbon on it. So she proceeded to wipe with that.
After the girls did their business, they proceeded to go home. The next day, one of the women's husbands was concerned that his normally sweet and innocent wife was still in bed hung over,. So he phoned the other husband and said, "These girl nights have got to stop! I'm starting to suspect the worst. My wife came home with no panties!!"
"That's nothing" said the other husband, "Mine came back with a card stuck to her butt that said.....
''From all of us at the Fire Station. We'll never forget you."
Monday, June 23, 2008
ENTERTAINMENT: George Carlin Died
This is from me, NOT some reprinted from somewhere else. - OlderMusicGeek
Some people have said George Carlin has passed on or that we lost him. Well, neither are true. He's dead, maybe even screaming up at us.
I have to admit I haven't listen or watched George Carlin much in the last 20 years.
And that's unfortunate, because from what I have seen and read, he was still putting out some very good and funny material.
I guess in some ways, I had felt I had outgrown George Carlin. George said, "I think it's the duty of the comedian to find out where the line is drawn and cross it deliberately." And that was great in my teens and 20's.
But as you get older, you find rebelling for it's own sake doesn't seem that fun. I remember an interview with Jon Waters, a director who did many gross films in his youth. The interviewer asked him about how his movies weren't the same now that he is older. I don't remember his exact words, but he said something along the lines of making wild films that are gross in your 20's is fun - doing it in your 40's is pathetic.
That's kind the way I felt about listening to George Carlin. I thought I'm willing to stand up for what I believe in and take the heat, but I'm not interested in just shocking people.
And that's what my friends and I used George for, shocking people. "Hey, listen to this." "Listen to this comedian rattle off these cuss words." George Carlin and Cheech and Chong were our mild, white, midwestern way of rebelling! We loved it because we knew our parents and teachers didn't!
Well, when I didn't need to shock anybody anymore, I thought there was no need for George. Unfortunately, what I didn't realize - was that George wasn't shocking people just for shock's sake either. George was also standing up for what he believed in and taking whatever heat came with it.
So then after a few interviews and a couple of HBO specials, I finally realized that. But I still never watched him much. "Ehh, I catch it later. I don't have the time now." Unfortunately, now that there will be no new material, I might be able to catch up on his stuff.
George Carlin didn't believe in an afterlife. Hopefully, he's wrong, because he deserves a good place in it.
George Carlin’s Secret News from ‘When Will Jesus Bring The Pork Chops’
Announcer: Good Evening ladies and gentlemen, it’s time for the secret news.
Ssshhh.
Here’s the secret news:
All people are afraid.
No one knows what they’re doing.
Everything is getting worse.
Some people deserve to die.
Your money is worthless.
No one is properly dressed.
At least one of your children will disappoint you.
The system is rigged.
Your house will never be completely clean.
All teachers are incompetent.
There are people who really dislike you.
Nothing is as good as it seems.
Things don’t last.
No one is paying attention.
The country is dying.
God doesn’t care.
Ssshhh.
A link to George Carlin's home page
An interview with George Carlin from NPR's Fresh Air
Some people have said George Carlin has passed on or that we lost him. Well, neither are true. He's dead, maybe even screaming up at us.
I have to admit I haven't listen or watched George Carlin much in the last 20 years.
And that's unfortunate, because from what I have seen and read, he was still putting out some very good and funny material.
I guess in some ways, I had felt I had outgrown George Carlin. George said, "I think it's the duty of the comedian to find out where the line is drawn and cross it deliberately." And that was great in my teens and 20's.
But as you get older, you find rebelling for it's own sake doesn't seem that fun. I remember an interview with Jon Waters, a director who did many gross films in his youth. The interviewer asked him about how his movies weren't the same now that he is older. I don't remember his exact words, but he said something along the lines of making wild films that are gross in your 20's is fun - doing it in your 40's is pathetic.
That's kind the way I felt about listening to George Carlin. I thought I'm willing to stand up for what I believe in and take the heat, but I'm not interested in just shocking people.
And that's what my friends and I used George for, shocking people. "Hey, listen to this." "Listen to this comedian rattle off these cuss words." George Carlin and Cheech and Chong were our mild, white, midwestern way of rebelling! We loved it because we knew our parents and teachers didn't!
Well, when I didn't need to shock anybody anymore, I thought there was no need for George. Unfortunately, what I didn't realize - was that George wasn't shocking people just for shock's sake either. George was also standing up for what he believed in and taking whatever heat came with it.So then after a few interviews and a couple of HBO specials, I finally realized that. But I still never watched him much. "Ehh, I catch it later. I don't have the time now." Unfortunately, now that there will be no new material, I might be able to catch up on his stuff.
George Carlin didn't believe in an afterlife. Hopefully, he's wrong, because he deserves a good place in it.
Announcer: Good Evening ladies and gentlemen, it’s time for the secret news.
Ssshhh.
Here’s the secret news:
All people are afraid.
No one knows what they’re doing.
Everything is getting worse.
Some people deserve to die.
Your money is worthless.
No one is properly dressed.
At least one of your children will disappoint you.
The system is rigged.
Your house will never be completely clean.
All teachers are incompetent.
There are people who really dislike you.
Nothing is as good as it seems.
Things don’t last.
No one is paying attention.
The country is dying.
God doesn’t care.
Ssshhh.
A link to George Carlin's home page
An interview with George Carlin from NPR's Fresh Air
Sunday, June 22, 2008
CULTURE/SOCIETY: A Parental Story
This is me, NOT some reprinted piece. But if you've kept up on my "tweets" from my Twitter account, you've heard the main details. - OlderMusicGeek
My daughter couldn't find her glasses one morning. We looked high and low. Sometimes, she falls asleep with them on watching tv, so we shook out the blankets, lifted her mattress, and looked under the bed. No signs of her glasses anywhere. I won't disgust you, though, with what things we did find!
But while looking for the glasses a second time without her, I did find the chip bag she had been eating from - after bed time I might add! And it was left open - as always. So I reached down in annoyance to close it - and saw something in there!
Sure enough, it was her glasses!
When I asked my daughter how the glasses ended up in a chip bag, she said she must have knocked the glasses from the night stand to the chip bag on the floor. Which makes sense, since she always knocking glasses and other stuff - like glasses of water - off her night stand with her tossing and turning.
Later though, my daughter and I began to wonder if we had a gremlin in the house. For we found a sharpie in a water bottle and my spare car key showed up in my shoe. So either my daughter is stranger than I thought and our house is haunted!
My daughter couldn't find her glasses one morning. We looked high and low. Sometimes, she falls asleep with them on watching tv, so we shook out the blankets, lifted her mattress, and looked under the bed. No signs of her glasses anywhere. I won't disgust you, though, with what things we did find!
But while looking for the glasses a second time without her, I did find the chip bag she had been eating from - after bed time I might add! And it was left open - as always. So I reached down in annoyance to close it - and saw something in there!
Sure enough, it was her glasses!
When I asked my daughter how the glasses ended up in a chip bag, she said she must have knocked the glasses from the night stand to the chip bag on the floor. Which makes sense, since she always knocking glasses and other stuff - like glasses of water - off her night stand with her tossing and turning.
Later though, my daughter and I began to wonder if we had a gremlin in the house. For we found a sharpie in a water bottle and my spare car key showed up in my shoe. So either my daughter is stranger than I thought and our house is haunted!
POLITICS and ENTERTAINMENT: General Zod For President
I've seen some interesting sites for people running for president - or people who want someone to run.
But this site is the best by far! - OlderMusicGeek
When I first came to your planet and demanded your homes, property and very lives, I didn't know you were already doing so, willingly, with your own government. I can win no tribute from a bankrupted nation populated by feeble flag-waving plebians. In 2008 I shall restore your dignity and make you servants worthy of my rule. This new government shall become a tool of my oppression. Instead of hidden agendas and waffling policies, I offer you direct candor and brutal certainty. I only ask for your tribute, your lives, and your vote.
-- General Zod
Your Future President and Eternal Ruler
Kneel before Zod!
RAPID CITY (AP) -- The ideological and spiritual source of the "Kneel Before Zod" campaign is General Zod, outstanding leader of the national liberation movement of the United States. Reflected in the idea are the love of might and absolute trust in the ruler. General Zod embarked upon the road of revolution with the idea as valuable ideological and spiritual pabulum and mixed himself with the people to find a new road of the revolution. While in the Phantom Zone in 1979, he came to have the idea that one can win a victory only when one is responsible for the revolution in one's country and carries it out in reliance on the strength of one's people.
I do not take orders. I give them. Congress shall no longer have the ability to impeach me or override my decisions, and the Supreme Court shall not meddle in government affairs.
Your freedom will be expanded. You will be even more free to give your money and lives to me, and to be my eternal subjects.
Eliminate the Iraq War. The Iraq War has shifted $187 billion to the defense industry. How is this "defense industry" to kneel before me? Are my praises to be sung as footnotes in their paperwork? You will stop giving these corporations your wealth. I suggest you put the money into your own schools and health care, so that I may have intelligent, healthy servants. I will indulge your wishes if you all want a Westernized, unpopular regime in Iraq, and I too shall gloat in its troubles, but it will not be done at my expense.
Universal health care. Even a criminal like myself is shocked that millions are not able to get health insurance and cannot pay for basic surgery. Who are these power brokers that allow the pigpen to become wormy and filthy? I demand your very lives, but I am not such an imbecile as to institutionalize suffering and poverty. You have my assurance that this shall change swiftly.
Corporate reform. You people have become disgusting minions to these things you call "corporations". These things take your money and your land, put you into debt, send your jobs overseas, provide you with unsafe foods, and sue you when you say anything bad about them. Yet you people fatten them up at the ballot box. You give them free land, name your stadiums after them, allow them to telemarket you, and even sacrifice your own bankruptcy protections. Quite frankly it astonishes me. I will break this sickly codependency. It is I who shall be your ruler. I shall empower you with wealth to give me as tribute. A corporation cannot bow to me or give me tribute that comes from the heart.
You will buy U.S. made items. Why do you buy Chinese-made items when you know that it sells out the jobs of your family and friends? How will you buy those cheap things when you have no job? You are sending my wealth and tribute to foreign lands. I will not tolerate this.
A link to the General Zod for president home page
But this site is the best by far! - OlderMusicGeek
When I first came to your planet and demanded your homes, property and very lives, I didn't know you were already doing so, willingly, with your own government. I can win no tribute from a bankrupted nation populated by feeble flag-waving plebians. In 2008 I shall restore your dignity and make you servants worthy of my rule. This new government shall become a tool of my oppression. Instead of hidden agendas and waffling policies, I offer you direct candor and brutal certainty. I only ask for your tribute, your lives, and your vote.-- General Zod
Your Future President and Eternal Ruler
Kneel before Zod!RAPID CITY (AP) -- The ideological and spiritual source of the "Kneel Before Zod" campaign is General Zod, outstanding leader of the national liberation movement of the United States. Reflected in the idea are the love of might and absolute trust in the ruler. General Zod embarked upon the road of revolution with the idea as valuable ideological and spiritual pabulum and mixed himself with the people to find a new road of the revolution. While in the Phantom Zone in 1979, he came to have the idea that one can win a victory only when one is responsible for the revolution in one's country and carries it out in reliance on the strength of one's people.
I do not take orders. I give them. Congress shall no longer have the ability to impeach me or override my decisions, and the Supreme Court shall not meddle in government affairs.
Your freedom will be expanded. You will be even more free to give your money and lives to me, and to be my eternal subjects.
Eliminate the Iraq War. The Iraq War has shifted $187 billion to the defense industry. How is this "defense industry" to kneel before me? Are my praises to be sung as footnotes in their paperwork? You will stop giving these corporations your wealth. I suggest you put the money into your own schools and health care, so that I may have intelligent, healthy servants. I will indulge your wishes if you all want a Westernized, unpopular regime in Iraq, and I too shall gloat in its troubles, but it will not be done at my expense.
Universal health care. Even a criminal like myself is shocked that millions are not able to get health insurance and cannot pay for basic surgery. Who are these power brokers that allow the pigpen to become wormy and filthy? I demand your very lives, but I am not such an imbecile as to institutionalize suffering and poverty. You have my assurance that this shall change swiftly.
Corporate reform. You people have become disgusting minions to these things you call "corporations". These things take your money and your land, put you into debt, send your jobs overseas, provide you with unsafe foods, and sue you when you say anything bad about them. Yet you people fatten them up at the ballot box. You give them free land, name your stadiums after them, allow them to telemarket you, and even sacrifice your own bankruptcy protections. Quite frankly it astonishes me. I will break this sickly codependency. It is I who shall be your ruler. I shall empower you with wealth to give me as tribute. A corporation cannot bow to me or give me tribute that comes from the heart.
You will buy U.S. made items. Why do you buy Chinese-made items when you know that it sells out the jobs of your family and friends? How will you buy those cheap things when you have no job? You are sending my wealth and tribute to foreign lands. I will not tolerate this.
A link to the General Zod for president home page
CULTURE/SOCIETY: Why Nice Guys Finish Last
I found this when I was checking my mail on yahoo. Can't say I agree 100%, but I think this lady hits it pretty much on the mark. Wish I could send this to back 25, 30 years and give it to myself! But at least I know better now! - OlderMusicGeek
Dating Secret Exposed: Why Nice Guys Finish Last
By April Masini
Special to Yahoo! Personals
Updated: Jun 20, 2008
Are you a nice guy who has always wondered why the cocky guy -- the one who barely appears interested in the girl -- is usually the one who gets the girl?
Have you suffered from hearing the words, "You're a really nice guy, but I only like you as a friend," from a woman who you would do (or may, in fact, have already done) just about anything and everything for -- only to turn around and watch her date (or even chase) a guy who treats her like she's nothing special? And are you stumped wondering why she would date a guy who treats her like that when she could have you who would treat her like a princess and give her everything she wants?
First, "nice" equates with boring and predictable. Look up "nice" in the dictionary and you find: pleasant; agreeable; satisfactory. In other words, average -- not exceptional, not exciting, and not sexy. I'll bet you've never heard a woman say she didn't want to date a guy because he was too confident, too passionate, or too exciting -- have you? But, I'll bet you have heard women say things like, "He's such a nice guy. He's so sweet and he's always there for me, but I only like him as a friend." Or, "He's such a good guy -- kind, thoughtful, generous, honest, loyal -- but there's no chemistry. He just doesn't turn me on." The fact is, Mr. Nice Guy, you cannot bore a woman into feeling attracted to you or into wanting to date you. And as obvious as that sounds, if you are one of those guys I described that is exactly what you are trying to do. And it won't work.
Please understand that I am not suggesting that you mistreat women or disrespect them in any way.
To illustrate what I mean: The answer to the question, "Why does the guy who doesn't appear to care as much about the girl get the girl?" is simple: The nice guy cares too much, too soon. He has made the woman too important and too valuable and it shows in everything he says and does. He is too available, too eager to please, too accommodating, and he gives too much -- all without getting anything in return. By doing so, he has made himself appear desperate, insecure, needy of this woman's attention, affection, and approval -- and he has stripped himself of any value in her eyes. After all, if he's already doing and giving everything, without her doing or giving anything - why would she value him? She won't. She is not going to value him any more than he values himself. What she is going to do is look for someone else, someone who she perceives as being more worthy, more confident, and more valuable.
It works like this: Once you need something, or you want it too badly, you forfeit your strength and lose all power of negotiation. You are in a position of weakness and you are perceived as weak. Someone (or something) else is in control of you, the situation, and it's outcome. Men in this situation appear to be anything but confident, strong, and exciting. More, they are perceived as being unworthy and as lacking value.
Translation: Things that are easily acquired, obtained, or maintained, without any effort or sacrifice, lack value... it's human nature.
The secret to why the cocky guy wins with women, over the nice guy, is that he is perceived as being a stronger, more confident guy with more value. How? He never invests everything -- his entire being, ego, and self-worth in what one woman's response or reaction to him is. He doesn't gush with compliments; he isn't always available; he doesn't give too much; and he knows he isn't going to die if a woman says "no" to him. More, his attitude is, yeah, I'd like to go out with you, but if I can't, that's OK -- I'm a busy guy, with exciting things going on, and lots of other options.
A link to the original site
Dating Secret Exposed: Why Nice Guys Finish Last
By April Masini
Special to Yahoo! Personals
Updated: Jun 20, 2008
Are you a nice guy who has always wondered why the cocky guy -- the one who barely appears interested in the girl -- is usually the one who gets the girl?
Have you suffered from hearing the words, "You're a really nice guy, but I only like you as a friend," from a woman who you would do (or may, in fact, have already done) just about anything and everything for -- only to turn around and watch her date (or even chase) a guy who treats her like she's nothing special? And are you stumped wondering why she would date a guy who treats her like that when she could have you who would treat her like a princess and give her everything she wants?
First, "nice" equates with boring and predictable. Look up "nice" in the dictionary and you find: pleasant; agreeable; satisfactory. In other words, average -- not exceptional, not exciting, and not sexy. I'll bet you've never heard a woman say she didn't want to date a guy because he was too confident, too passionate, or too exciting -- have you? But, I'll bet you have heard women say things like, "He's such a nice guy. He's so sweet and he's always there for me, but I only like him as a friend." Or, "He's such a good guy -- kind, thoughtful, generous, honest, loyal -- but there's no chemistry. He just doesn't turn me on." The fact is, Mr. Nice Guy, you cannot bore a woman into feeling attracted to you or into wanting to date you. And as obvious as that sounds, if you are one of those guys I described that is exactly what you are trying to do. And it won't work.
Please understand that I am not suggesting that you mistreat women or disrespect them in any way.
To illustrate what I mean: The answer to the question, "Why does the guy who doesn't appear to care as much about the girl get the girl?" is simple: The nice guy cares too much, too soon. He has made the woman too important and too valuable and it shows in everything he says and does. He is too available, too eager to please, too accommodating, and he gives too much -- all without getting anything in return. By doing so, he has made himself appear desperate, insecure, needy of this woman's attention, affection, and approval -- and he has stripped himself of any value in her eyes. After all, if he's already doing and giving everything, without her doing or giving anything - why would she value him? She won't. She is not going to value him any more than he values himself. What she is going to do is look for someone else, someone who she perceives as being more worthy, more confident, and more valuable.
It works like this: Once you need something, or you want it too badly, you forfeit your strength and lose all power of negotiation. You are in a position of weakness and you are perceived as weak. Someone (or something) else is in control of you, the situation, and it's outcome. Men in this situation appear to be anything but confident, strong, and exciting. More, they are perceived as being unworthy and as lacking value.
Translation: Things that are easily acquired, obtained, or maintained, without any effort or sacrifice, lack value... it's human nature.
The secret to why the cocky guy wins with women, over the nice guy, is that he is perceived as being a stronger, more confident guy with more value. How? He never invests everything -- his entire being, ego, and self-worth in what one woman's response or reaction to him is. He doesn't gush with compliments; he isn't always available; he doesn't give too much; and he knows he isn't going to die if a woman says "no" to him. More, his attitude is, yeah, I'd like to go out with you, but if I can't, that's OK -- I'm a busy guy, with exciting things going on, and lots of other options.
A link to the original site
Saturday, June 14, 2008
CULTURE/SOCIETY: My Father's Day Blog
I don't really have anything deep and personal to say for Dad's Day, so here's a link to all the posts I've done about my daughter.
A link to all the posts I've written about my daughter
A link to all the posts I've written about my daughter
CULTURE/SOCIETY: A Touching Tribute To An Imperfect Father
Heard this in the morning when I was working. I suggest you give a listen. - OlderMusicGeek
Remembrances: A Saturday Morning with Ernie Simon
Weekend Edition, Saturday, June 14, 2008 · NPR's Scott Simon received an unexpected gift recently: a 1962 recording of his father's show on WJJD radio in Chicago. It was at a low point in Ernie Simon's life. But his son has fond memories of going to the station with his father on show mornings.
A link to the original webpage
Remembrances: A Saturday Morning with Ernie Simon
Weekend Edition, Saturday, June 14, 2008 · NPR's Scott Simon received an unexpected gift recently: a 1962 recording of his father's show on WJJD radio in Chicago. It was at a low point in Ernie Simon's life. But his son has fond memories of going to the station with his father on show mornings.
A link to the original webpage
Thursday, June 12, 2008
CULTURE/SOCIETY: Loving Day
Having been married to a black woman for 11 years, having a child with her, and even with a divorce, still raising a multiracial child with her, this holiday does strike a place with me.
I edited this three pieces down from the original to keep this post from getting too long. - OlderMusicGeek
Editorial: Loving Day
When race matters less
It's Loving Day today.
Loving Day is so called because on June 12, 1967, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Loving v. Virginia, struck down all state laws against interracial marriage.
In 1958, Mildred Jeter (black) and Richard Loving (white) got married in the District of Columbia, where interracial marriage was legal, then went to Virginia, where it wasn't. At 2 a.m., deputies arrested them.
It seems incredible now, but it's true: For more than 300 years, laws existed, first in the colonies, then throughout the States, that barred people from marrying if judged to be of different races. This horrible holdover from slavery days is, thank goodness, obsolete.
Interracial marriages continue to grow: According to U.S. Census figures, their number increased fivefold between 1970 and 2000.
More than three million children live in interracial households. The U.S. Census Population Estimate says that as of last July, nearly five million people in the United States were of two or more races, a 3 percent jump from 2006.
This country is changing faster, leaving old ideas behind and not asking permission. Loving Day is a day to celebrate any change in society that makes it easier for us to love one another.
A link to the original site of this piece
Loving Day: It's Not a Hallmark Holiday
Posted June 8, 2007 04:36 PM (EST)
Virginia, Washington, Brooklyn, United States, New York , Breaking Living News
Most people forget about their master's thesis as soon as they've got their degree. Not 29-year- old Brooklyn resident Ken Tanabe -- he used his thesis to create Loving Day, a national holiday that celebrates the right to marry interracially.
Named for the 1967 Supreme Court decision Loving vs. Virginia, which legalized interracial marriage in the United States, Loving Day is currently in its fourth year of fighting prejudice through education and community-building. Tanabe's father is Japanese and his mother is Belgian, so Tanabe takes the decision personally -- without it, he might not have been born.
This unifying stance on interracial marriage might seem like a given, but Tanabe points out the disturbing FBI hate crime statistic: in 2005, 54 percent of all hate crimes were motivated by racial bias.
Also this year, Loving Day, in partnership with the Association of MultiEthnic Americans (AMEA), has organized the Loving Decision Conference, which will be held in Chicago from June 21-24. The international academic conference will address everything from transracial adoption issues to classification, identity and racial/ethnic formation. Attendees will come from as close as Canada and as far as South Africa. "All the national Loving Day events lead up to the conference, which will be like a big hurrah."
"As a kid, I didn't have many coherent thoughts about being multiracial," he recalls. Though some kids teased him with mock-Asian accents and slanted eye comments: "Kids are mean. They'll make fun of you for whatever they can." It wasn't until college that he consciously considered his heritage. "I was sitting in seminars, surrounded by people who could be multiracial, and I was shocked, thinking, 'There's such a thing as multiracial identity? How did I miss this?'"
In 2001, Tanabe was doing an unrelated web search when he came across something that stunned him. It was a quote from Judge Leon Bazile's 1956 ruling that sentenced Richard Loving and Mildred Jeter Loving to one year in jail for breaking the ban on interracial marriages: "Almighty God created the races, white, black, yellow, Malay, and red and placed them on separate continents... The fact that he separated the races shows that he did not intend the races to mix."
Tanabe was speechless. "Racism was not a new idea, but to hear it from the mouth of an official, so recently... it blew me away," he recalls. He discovered another surprise: the Loving v. Virginia Supreme Court decision. In 1958, the Lovings traveled to Washington, D.C., to get married because interracial marriage was illegal in Virginia. When they returned home, police arrested them at night. Nine years passed before the Supreme Court overturned their convictions, declaring all anti-miscegenation laws unconstitutional.
When it came time to create his thesis, Tanabe remembered the case. Then he struck on the holiday Juneteenth, which commemorates the announcement of the abolition of slavery in Texas. "It's not a Hallmark holiday, it's not a federally endorsed celebration, but the spirit is so powerful. I thought, 'This is it.'"
It took a full year to create the website, which began as a solo project, but as soon as he submitted his thesis in May 2004, he threw together the first Loving Day party with one month's notice. One hundred and fifty people showed up and had a fantastic time. "Even if you have nothing else in common, there's a shared experience if you're married interracially. You're kindred spirits," he says.
Those kindred spirits continue to flock to the parties, from 300 people in the second year, to 500 people in 2006. Up to 1000 people are expected at this year's party in Manhattan. Tanabe's eyes widen when he says, "The biggest surprise is that it's working."
"It's scary to be at the helm of this organically growing entity and trying to manage it," Tanabe admits with a laugh. But, he also says, "It's rare to have an opportunity to identify something that society needs, that it doesn't have, and to fill that need."
For more information about Loving Day, visit http://www.lovingday.org. For more information about the Loving Decision Conference, visit http://www.lovingconference.com.
A link to the original site of this piece
LOVING DAY: How Will You Celebrate?
By Camille Jackson | Staff Writer, Tolerance.org
Ken Tanabe, the child of an interracial couple, was a good student, got all A's and even attended graduate school — all without learning anything about the 1967 Supreme Court decision that allowed his parents to legally marry and conceive him.
Tanabe, 27, accidentally stumbled upon information about Loving v. Virginia while doing a Google search.
He learned that, before the court decision, states were able to separate and punish interracial couples. Many of the so-called miscegenation laws included Asian people and Native Americans.
"I was shocked because I didn't know about it even though I am a product of an interracial couple," Tanabe said. "It dawned on me that there's a generation gap; younger people who didn't live with that law don't know anything about it."
With that in mind, and inspiration from his Belgian mother and Japanese father, Tanabe built a website dedicated to Loving v. Virginia. Lovingday.org encourages visitors to host Loving Day parties on June 12 to commemorate the groundbreaking decision.
Tanabe encourages visitors to celebrate the June 12 anniversary by having backyard gatherings, dinner parties or "spending time with someone you love." This year, he knows of parties planned in several states.
Tanabe compares the impact of Loving v. Virginia to Brown v. the Board of Education (1954). Learning about the Brown decision helps people understand civil rights, just as the Loving decision teaches about the unfairness of miscegenation laws.
"At the time [the miscegenation laws] were common knowledge, but once the laws were changed it stopped making headlines," Tanabe said.
Tanabe says he wants to create a day that "people feel is close to their heart" and can grow into a time when everyone knows the history of Loving.
A link to the original site of this piece
(There is ONE thing missing from all the pieces on Loving Day. There is no talk about people are fighting for their right to married and STILL are not allowed to married. Can none of these writers or Tanabe see the similiarities between the queer society and interracial couples of the past? - OlderMusicGeek)
A link to the main Loving Day website
A link to Wikipedia's entry on Loving Day
An NPR piece on Loving Day
I edited this three pieces down from the original to keep this post from getting too long. - OlderMusicGeek
Editorial: Loving DayWhen race matters less
It's Loving Day today.
Loving Day is so called because on June 12, 1967, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Loving v. Virginia, struck down all state laws against interracial marriage.
In 1958, Mildred Jeter (black) and Richard Loving (white) got married in the District of Columbia, where interracial marriage was legal, then went to Virginia, where it wasn't. At 2 a.m., deputies arrested them.
It seems incredible now, but it's true: For more than 300 years, laws existed, first in the colonies, then throughout the States, that barred people from marrying if judged to be of different races. This horrible holdover from slavery days is, thank goodness, obsolete.
Interracial marriages continue to grow: According to U.S. Census figures, their number increased fivefold between 1970 and 2000.
More than three million children live in interracial households. The U.S. Census Population Estimate says that as of last July, nearly five million people in the United States were of two or more races, a 3 percent jump from 2006.
This country is changing faster, leaving old ideas behind and not asking permission. Loving Day is a day to celebrate any change in society that makes it easier for us to love one another.
A link to the original site of this piece
Loving Day: It's Not a Hallmark Holiday
Posted June 8, 2007 04:36 PM (EST)
Virginia, Washington, Brooklyn, United States, New York , Breaking Living News
Most people forget about their master's thesis as soon as they've got their degree. Not 29-year- old Brooklyn resident Ken Tanabe -- he used his thesis to create Loving Day, a national holiday that celebrates the right to marry interracially.Named for the 1967 Supreme Court decision Loving vs. Virginia, which legalized interracial marriage in the United States, Loving Day is currently in its fourth year of fighting prejudice through education and community-building. Tanabe's father is Japanese and his mother is Belgian, so Tanabe takes the decision personally -- without it, he might not have been born.
This unifying stance on interracial marriage might seem like a given, but Tanabe points out the disturbing FBI hate crime statistic: in 2005, 54 percent of all hate crimes were motivated by racial bias.
Also this year, Loving Day, in partnership with the Association of MultiEthnic Americans (AMEA), has organized the Loving Decision Conference, which will be held in Chicago from June 21-24. The international academic conference will address everything from transracial adoption issues to classification, identity and racial/ethnic formation. Attendees will come from as close as Canada and as far as South Africa. "All the national Loving Day events lead up to the conference, which will be like a big hurrah."
"As a kid, I didn't have many coherent thoughts about being multiracial," he recalls. Though some kids teased him with mock-Asian accents and slanted eye comments: "Kids are mean. They'll make fun of you for whatever they can." It wasn't until college that he consciously considered his heritage. "I was sitting in seminars, surrounded by people who could be multiracial, and I was shocked, thinking, 'There's such a thing as multiracial identity? How did I miss this?'"
In 2001, Tanabe was doing an unrelated web search when he came across something that stunned him. It was a quote from Judge Leon Bazile's 1956 ruling that sentenced Richard Loving and Mildred Jeter Loving to one year in jail for breaking the ban on interracial marriages: "Almighty God created the races, white, black, yellow, Malay, and red and placed them on separate continents... The fact that he separated the races shows that he did not intend the races to mix."
Tanabe was speechless. "Racism was not a new idea, but to hear it from the mouth of an official, so recently... it blew me away," he recalls. He discovered another surprise: the Loving v. Virginia Supreme Court decision. In 1958, the Lovings traveled to Washington, D.C., to get married because interracial marriage was illegal in Virginia. When they returned home, police arrested them at night. Nine years passed before the Supreme Court overturned their convictions, declaring all anti-miscegenation laws unconstitutional.
When it came time to create his thesis, Tanabe remembered the case. Then he struck on the holiday Juneteenth, which commemorates the announcement of the abolition of slavery in Texas. "It's not a Hallmark holiday, it's not a federally endorsed celebration, but the spirit is so powerful. I thought, 'This is it.'"
It took a full year to create the website, which began as a solo project, but as soon as he submitted his thesis in May 2004, he threw together the first Loving Day party with one month's notice. One hundred and fifty people showed up and had a fantastic time. "Even if you have nothing else in common, there's a shared experience if you're married interracially. You're kindred spirits," he says.
Those kindred spirits continue to flock to the parties, from 300 people in the second year, to 500 people in 2006. Up to 1000 people are expected at this year's party in Manhattan. Tanabe's eyes widen when he says, "The biggest surprise is that it's working."
"It's scary to be at the helm of this organically growing entity and trying to manage it," Tanabe admits with a laugh. But, he also says, "It's rare to have an opportunity to identify something that society needs, that it doesn't have, and to fill that need."
For more information about Loving Day, visit http://www.lovingday.org. For more information about the Loving Decision Conference, visit http://www.lovingconference.com.
A link to the original site of this piece
LOVING DAY: How Will You Celebrate?
By Camille Jackson | Staff Writer, Tolerance.org
Ken Tanabe, the child of an interracial couple, was a good student, got all A's and even attended graduate school — all without learning anything about the 1967 Supreme Court decision that allowed his parents to legally marry and conceive him.Tanabe, 27, accidentally stumbled upon information about Loving v. Virginia while doing a Google search.
He learned that, before the court decision, states were able to separate and punish interracial couples. Many of the so-called miscegenation laws included Asian people and Native Americans.
"I was shocked because I didn't know about it even though I am a product of an interracial couple," Tanabe said. "It dawned on me that there's a generation gap; younger people who didn't live with that law don't know anything about it."
With that in mind, and inspiration from his Belgian mother and Japanese father, Tanabe built a website dedicated to Loving v. Virginia. Lovingday.org encourages visitors to host Loving Day parties on June 12 to commemorate the groundbreaking decision.
Tanabe encourages visitors to celebrate the June 12 anniversary by having backyard gatherings, dinner parties or "spending time with someone you love." This year, he knows of parties planned in several states.
Tanabe compares the impact of Loving v. Virginia to Brown v. the Board of Education (1954). Learning about the Brown decision helps people understand civil rights, just as the Loving decision teaches about the unfairness of miscegenation laws.
"At the time [the miscegenation laws] were common knowledge, but once the laws were changed it stopped making headlines," Tanabe said.
Tanabe says he wants to create a day that "people feel is close to their heart" and can grow into a time when everyone knows the history of Loving.
A link to the original site of this piece
(There is ONE thing missing from all the pieces on Loving Day. There is no talk about people are fighting for their right to married and STILL are not allowed to married. Can none of these writers or Tanabe see the similiarities between the queer society and interracial couples of the past? - OlderMusicGeek)
A link to the main Loving Day website
A link to Wikipedia's entry on Loving Day
An NPR piece on Loving Day
POLITICS: What To Do With Our Rebate Checks
Well, I already put the text up 3 months ago, but Ernest T Spoon sent me some cartoons that go well with it, so I posting it again with the cartoons! Plus, I figured I better put them up while they're still topical! - OlderMusicGeek
How to use the rebate
As you may have heard the Bush Administration said each and every one of us would now get a nice rebate.
If we spend that money at Wal-Mart, all the money will go to China.
If we spend it on gasoline, it will all go to the Middle East.
If we purchase a computer, it will all go to India.
If we purchase fruit and vegetables, it will all go to Mexico, Honduras, and Guatemala.
If we purchase a good car, it will all go to Japan.
If we purchase useless crap, it will all go to Taiwan and none of it will help the American economy.
We need to keep that money here in America, so the only way to keep that money here at home is to buy prostitutes and beer, since those are the only businesses still in the U.S.
CULTURE/SOCIETY: A List of Blogs From Peace Corps Volunteers In The Country Where I Was
Just in case you're interested, an old Peace Corps buddy sent me a link to this page that has links to blogs from Peace Corps volunteers who are now serving in the African country where I lived for a few years. - OlderMusicGeek
Another link to the same page
Another link to the same page
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
CULTURE/SOCIETY: Which Is Taller? The Flood Waters Or The Tales?
This is from me, not reprinted from somewhere else.
What?! A new blog from me?! Sorry folks, I'm busy. Don't expect too many blogs from me for a while. - OlderMusicGeek
Well, it looks like it's flood times here in my home town.
My first clue was when my daughter woke me up one in the morning, cus someone was pounding on our apartment door. When I got to the door, I felt a wet squish under my feet.
And when I opened the door, there was a neighbor in shorts and a t-shirt, telling we're flooding.
I look around and there's two inches of water in an apartment hallway!
My daughter and I grabbed all the towels we can find and lay them by our apartment door to try to keep more water from leaking in. We run around like maniacs taking everything off the floor, including our computer and all the plugs and wires to it!
Then I check to see if anyone called the management company that owns our building. The maintenance man is there fairly quickly, but the wet vac he has ain't doing much good. Fortunately, a pump is brought over quickly.
Other people in the basement are talking about their bathtubs backing up. I go look and sure enough, brown water is coming up and water is leaking from the bottom of my toilet!
Eventually, the storm passes our town and I sleep. Well, cus of the overflow, some of the sewer pipes were closed. Soon as they're opened, we start flooding again.
And I had put all our wet towel in the bathtub - which has backed up again, covering them with brownish water!
Fortunately, our maintenance man has things under control this time.
And they bring a wet vac later to help dry the carpet. And in a couple of days, it dries out.
But then a bit later, I wake up from a nap to a storm. I quickly get and look out the door!
Yep, two inches of water in the hallway. I call the management company. Then put on my rain poncho and head to our maintenance man's apartment. He meets me on the way, driving with the stuff in his truck.
And today, they are sandbagging downtown, cus they are releasing a bunch of water from our dammed lake.
This makes rumours run wild!
Fifteen years ago, floods overran our water treatment center and the city didn't have water for two weeks! (A link to an article in my home town paper about the flood.)
So anyway, this the downtown river cresting, bridges being sandbagged, downtown worker being sent home, people began to panic.
My cubicle row at work spent the last hour talking about how the heard from someone who heard from someone that the water was being turned off for 24 hours. There was, of course, nothing on the news on the radio. So I continued doing my overtime.
At 4:40 pm, I got an email saying the water was being turned off - in capital letters - "NOW". Four and a half hours later, the city's water is still running!
I have to admit that I probably take these things easier than others in my hometown, because when they were going 2 weeks without water and a while without electricity, I was living in a 2-room building made of sandstone bricks with a tin roof that had no electricity or indoor plumbing, and did so for 2 years. - I was teaching in Africa. - And part of this was during a drought when water was low.
So no water or electricity is a nuisance to me, but not something to panic about!
You know, I used to feel upset about missing an important part of history in my home town and my home state. But if this is the way people were acting 15 years ago, I'm kinda glad I was in Africa.
I can assure you, they weren't going this crazy about the drought. They just did what they had to do, and that was that. Maybe we need to send some southern Africans over here to help out!
What?! A new blog from me?! Sorry folks, I'm busy. Don't expect too many blogs from me for a while. - OlderMusicGeek
Well, it looks like it's flood times here in my home town.
My first clue was when my daughter woke me up one in the morning, cus someone was pounding on our apartment door. When I got to the door, I felt a wet squish under my feet.
And when I opened the door, there was a neighbor in shorts and a t-shirt, telling we're flooding.
I look around and there's two inches of water in an apartment hallway!
My daughter and I grabbed all the towels we can find and lay them by our apartment door to try to keep more water from leaking in. We run around like maniacs taking everything off the floor, including our computer and all the plugs and wires to it!
Then I check to see if anyone called the management company that owns our building. The maintenance man is there fairly quickly, but the wet vac he has ain't doing much good. Fortunately, a pump is brought over quickly.
Other people in the basement are talking about their bathtubs backing up. I go look and sure enough, brown water is coming up and water is leaking from the bottom of my toilet!
Eventually, the storm passes our town and I sleep. Well, cus of the overflow, some of the sewer pipes were closed. Soon as they're opened, we start flooding again.
And I had put all our wet towel in the bathtub - which has backed up again, covering them with brownish water!
Fortunately, our maintenance man has things under control this time.
And they bring a wet vac later to help dry the carpet. And in a couple of days, it dries out.
But then a bit later, I wake up from a nap to a storm. I quickly get and look out the door!
Yep, two inches of water in the hallway. I call the management company. Then put on my rain poncho and head to our maintenance man's apartment. He meets me on the way, driving with the stuff in his truck.
And today, they are sandbagging downtown, cus they are releasing a bunch of water from our dammed lake.
This makes rumours run wild!
Fifteen years ago, floods overran our water treatment center and the city didn't have water for two weeks! (A link to an article in my home town paper about the flood.)
So anyway, this the downtown river cresting, bridges being sandbagged, downtown worker being sent home, people began to panic.
My cubicle row at work spent the last hour talking about how the heard from someone who heard from someone that the water was being turned off for 24 hours. There was, of course, nothing on the news on the radio. So I continued doing my overtime.
At 4:40 pm, I got an email saying the water was being turned off - in capital letters - "NOW". Four and a half hours later, the city's water is still running!
I have to admit that I probably take these things easier than others in my hometown, because when they were going 2 weeks without water and a while without electricity, I was living in a 2-room building made of sandstone bricks with a tin roof that had no electricity or indoor plumbing, and did so for 2 years. - I was teaching in Africa. - And part of this was during a drought when water was low.
So no water or electricity is a nuisance to me, but not something to panic about!
You know, I used to feel upset about missing an important part of history in my home town and my home state. But if this is the way people were acting 15 years ago, I'm kinda glad I was in Africa.
I can assure you, they weren't going this crazy about the drought. They just did what they had to do, and that was that. Maybe we need to send some southern Africans over here to help out!