Well, it is officially Labor Day weekend for me. If I haven't done it in a while, I try to clean the refrigerator. I got that done and it wasn't too bad. I did screw up and forget that I had left 3 cans of frozen orange juice in the downstairs freezer after I had turned the power off. (I don't tend to use it for anything other than that.)

I also figured that the dogs could also use a bath. Heracles was unbelievably compliant. I think he just liked spending time being the focus of attention. Hecate was also pretty good and their fur is so soft and shiny now.

I had an Obama steering committee at 9 AM and had been up way to late. I set my alarm for 7 AM, but fell back asleep. I ended up waking up at 8:55 and panicked. I just threw on some clothes and dashed out the door. Fortunately, the meeting was relatively close by. so I wasn't noticeably too late. It went well. I had been out the previous night doing voter registration.

There was also a truck that afternoon and they needed folks to stand in front of the photo of McCain hugging Bush while the mayor and city council president spoke.

I also did some more voter registration in the evening.

My friend Jaeme, whom I first met about 18 years ago, was finally able to get the hip replacement surgery that she needed. She had been fairly incapacitated for a few years now.

What I like about Jaeme is that she has such a sunny outlook on life. She was just glad that she was "on the other side."

She was also noting that when she looked at adding the numbers on the date of the diagnosis, the date of the operation, her room numbers at the hospital and etc, they all added up to 9. Someone then pointed out there was a total of 9 people in the room. We were part of different traditions (Wiccan, Druid, etc) but we were all Pagan. I asked if that made us Valkyrie or Muses or something. TJ said that definitely voted for Valkyrie.

We chatted for a bit, and I left feeling grateful to be part of a community that was so supportive and friendly. Several of us observed that we don't tend to be economically advantaged as a rule, but we generally seem to be quite happy!

Wow! I was out at a meeting last night and got back to catch most of Obama's acceptance speech. Totally captivating, substantial and thrilling. I felt that he was strong and genuinely got where our country needs to go for the future.

Heading out soon to do some voter registration. Very much primed for this!

Ouch, I guess this probably isn't good news for McCain. It does look good when a family member won't vote for you.

Hmm, McCain apparently referred to his wife with as a rather nasty term some years ago.

Cindy McCain's Half Sister: "I'm Voting for Barack Obama"
Thursday August 28, 2008

DON EMMERT/AFP/Getty Images; Ted Robbins/NPR

Buzz up!

Cindy McCain's half sister is planning on voting for Barack Obama, she tells Usmagazine.com.

"I'm not voting for McCain," Kathleen Hensley Portalski tells Us. "I have a different political standpoint.

"I'm voting for Obama," the Phoenix resident says. "I think his proposals to improve the country are more positive and I'm not a big war believer."

Portalski, 65, and the potential first lady, 54, have the same father: Jim Hensley, the founder of the beer distributor Hensley and Co. that Cindy McCain now chairs.

In an interview with NPR News' All Things Considered last week, Portalski said she felt "like a non-person" after Cindy McCain described herself as an "only child."

Portalski's mother is Hensley's first wife; Cindy McCain's mother, Marguerite Hensley, also had another daughter from her first marriage.

"She's kinda cool, standoffish," Portalski tells Us of her half sister.

Portalski also doesn't expect Cindy McCain to make an effort to reconcile their relationship.

"She never has, and I doubt that she ever will," she tells Us.

Portalski's son Nathan, a 45-year-old aerospace machinist, is also backing Obama.

"I wouldn't vote for John McCain if he was a Democrat," he tells Us. "I would not vote at all before I'd vote for him.

"I question whether Cindy is someone I'd want to see in the White House as first lady," he adds.

Usmagazine.com | News - EXCLUSIVE: Cindy McCain's Half Sister: "I'm Voting for Barack Obama"

Well, I guess for a candidate who thinks that the lower limit for being rich (as opposed to middle class) is $5 million, and who is unsure about how many homes he has, this sort of thinking would make sense.

John Goodman, McSame's advisor, is arguing that since folks can't be turned away from an emergency room, that no one is uninsured. See? Who cares that emergency room health care is ridiculously expensive and probably means that whatever the health issue is, it has already gotten pretty bad. The government just will spend more money, but at least those insurance industry lobbyists will get what they want.

What a completely out of touch idiot!

"The next president of the United States should sign an executive order requiring the Census Bureau to cease and desist from describing any American -- even illegal aliens -- as uninsured... So, there you have it. Voila! Problem solved."
-- John Goodman, a health care adviser to Sen. John McCain, quoted by the Dallas Morning News.

Bonus Quote of the Day
Thu, 28 Aug 2008 16:40:44 GMT

I wandered into the gay.com chat room tonight when there was discussion going on about the presidential election.  There was one individual who is pushing for McCain - Romney.  Let me state that although some are okay, I just don't get gay Republicans.  At first, he was trying to say that the two parties did make a difference.  I pointed out that the two candidates had did very different positions on gay rights issues.  When that was played out, he ended up saying that he didn't care or vote about issues related to sexuality.  (Yup.  the gay man in the chat room at gay.com was completely disinterested in his sexuality.  Yes, I am doing a major eye rolling right now.)

I then pointed out that I also vote based on number of issues.  I have always been opposed to the war in Iraq, I am concerned about a deficit that is spiraling out of control, and quite a few other issues.  We spent a fair amount of time going on about Iraq.

Of course, at the end he still talked about that he voted on other issues, not just his sexuality.  The fact that we just spent a good 10 to 15 minutes talking about nothing but the war apparently didn't count for anything.

Truth to tell, whenever I hear a gay Republican saying that that if they vote about more than just their sexuality, it usually seems to mean " I can not possibly make a convincing argument that I am opposing my own interests as a gay person, so will we will just blip over that.  I will discount any other issues that you bring up,"

This is so bittersweet. It is very sad that this wonderful woman has passed on. It is sad that her partner of 55 years has lost her beloved, but they did get the chance to FINALLY be legally married.

Del led a wonderful and rich life and gave so much back to the world. Kudos to a truly great woman!

National Gay and Lesbian Task Force mourns death of pioneering community hero Del Martin
WASHINGTON, Aug. 27 — The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force mourns the death of Del Martin, 87, who died today in San Francisco, Calif. Martin married Phyllis Lyon, her partner of 55 years, on June 16, 2008. In 1955, the couple joined six other lesbians in founding the Daughters of Bilitis in San Francisco, the first lesbian rights organization in the nation. In 1997 and 2004, the Task Force honored Martin and Lyon for their decades of community service.
Statement by Rea Carey, Executive DirectorNational Gay and Lesbian Task Force
“The lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community has suffered a devastating loss today with the passing of Del Martin, who was one of our movement’s most courageous and extraordinary figures. We extend our deepest sympathies to Del’s family and, especially, to her life partner and, most recently, legally wedded spouse, Phyllis Lyon. “Del Martin, with Phyllis Lyon always at her side in a remarkable relationship that spanned more than five decades, dreamed a world in which sexual orientation and gender identity and expression would be accorded full dignity and respect. They spoke the unspeakable, wrote the unthinkable, and lived their lives as few before them ever had: open and proud lesbians in 1950s America.“Del and Phyllis were inspiration in action, living openly and proudly as a loving couple long before many others felt safe to stand with them. Their love for each other gave them strength and sustained them; that same love, courage and grace have left an indelible mark on our movement, and in each of our hearts.“Del and Phyllis have personally been an inspiration to me since I came out when I was 16 years old. In my office, a picture of the two of them looks over me as I work to carry on their work and their vision for living our lives in truth. The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force will honor Del’s life by using our uncompromising voice and fighting for justice and equality — a voice made louder and stronger by her 87 years of life. Thank you, Del, for showing so many of us the way.”
More about Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon
Founding the Daughters of Bilitis in 1955, Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon launched the world’s first organization dedicated to improving the lives of lesbians. When they published The Ladder in 1956, the first magazine by, for and about lesbians, the couple created the means for lesbians to know themselves and each other and to break out of the stultifying isolation that marked many lesbian lives, inviting thousands of women to join a nascent but growing lesbian community. Throughout their decades of activism, Martin and Lyon made the vital connections among communities and movements, engaging in social justice advocacy projects that included anti-war, civil rights, anti-poverty, HIV/AIDS, and women's health and empowerment. In 1964, they participated in the Council on Religion and the Homosexual, the first organizing in this country to forge a wider space and a welcoming place for LGBT people in faith communities. In 1972, the couple published their groundbreaking book, Lesbian/Woman, named by Publisher’s Weekly in 1992 as one of the 20 most influential women’s books of the past 20 years. Lesbian/Woman spoke to a new and hungry generation of women, eager to answer their clarion call to sexual liberation and freedom. Martin was an early leader in the battered women’s movement, again breaking new ground with the publication of Battered Wives in 1976, a book that inspired grassroots organizing to end domestic violence and the establishment of shelters for battered women. Lyon-Martin Health Services, founded in 1979 in San Francisco and named in honor of Martin and Lyon, is the only free-standing community clinic in California with a specific emphasis on lesbian/bisexual women and transgender health care, delivering quality health care services regardless of ability to pay. In 1995, they were appointed to the White House Conference on Aging; they continued to advocate on behalf of older lesbians through Old Lesbians Organizing for Change. The valuable lives and good works of Martin and Lyon are the subject of the 2003 award-winning documentary, No Secrets Anymore: The Times of Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon, by filmmaker Joan E. Biren. Martin and Lyon made history again, becoming the first same-sex couple to be married in the state of California on June 16, 2008. In 1997, at the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force’s 10th annual Creating Change Conference in San Diego, Calif., Martin and Lyon received the Community Service Award for their organizing work and political involvement. At the 2004 conference in St. Louis, Mo., they were honored with the Creating Change Award, which read, “You spoke the unspeakable, you wrote the unthinkable. You lived openly and proudly as a loving couple long before a movement would stand with you.”

A Lesbian Pioneer Passes
End Bigotry in Venango County (noreply@blogger.com)
Wed, 27 Aug 2008 22:49:00 GMT

We had a very good turn out for folding the September 2008 issue of Erie Gay News tonight. Someone had asked about folding at their home, so we tried that. He got a few co-workers and even had snacks on hand. We powered through getting stuff done. Every month, I am just amazed and grateful for the support and help of so many terrific folks.

Sigh. Another group had arranged some meeting locations, as we seemed to be scrambling to get stuff done. I had said that we had kind of a tight deadline to get stuff done for the newsletter. (I also think that it only enhances a group's reputation to have stuff nailed down ahead of time.) I found out that one of the meeting locations that we talked about last week won't be available on the day that we wanted. Of course, this was after the newsletter was printed. Sigh. I am going to try to push folks to get stuff scheduled a bit farther out.

I went to a meeting at Craze Night Club tonight for GLBT folks for Obama. It went fairly well. My friend Chris Young was the organizer. I have known him about 17 years.

One young guy had formerly been a Hillary supporter and happened to wander in. He was reluctant at first, but he was passing out voter registration forms by the end of the night. I also chatted with a staff person there.

Fairly tired, although looking forward to some late night frolicking soon. ;)

My mom had me over yesterday for a slightly belated birthday dinner, which was very nice. My brother, Steve, and his girlfriend, Karen. were also, and I brought my 2 dogs, so we had my 2 dogs and Mom's 2 dogs. They were actually fairly calm.

After dinner, my mom showed us the batch of chicks that were about 4-6 weeks old. Cute! Some of the chickens were a breed that tends to have feathers on their feet, so it looked like they were wearing glitzy pants from a Las Vegas lounge act or something.

I also helped Mom reset her voice mail box on her cell phone.

All in all, it was a very nice day! (Apologies for the poor photo quality. I was using the camera phone for basically the first time.)

I had been having a problem with a display issue for the Erie Gay News site under Firefox 3 where the central content column was sliding down below the 2 side bars. I have been meaning to do a site layout redesign at some point, but I feel like I need to mull some stuff over. However, I found that the problem seemed to be just to do a missing colon in a CSS style sheet. Yay! All better now.

I got a few other minor geek things done, including printing the envelopes for the newsletter. I was having a problem with Word crashing when I did a merge from Outlook. I panicked that there was a compatibility issue with Word 2003 and Vista Home Premium, but it turned out to be a damaged NORMAL.DOT, so that is now okay.

Hmm, I am finishing up prepping the envelopes and mailing stuff for Erie Gay News. I happened to glance in the chat room at GAY.COM and saw someone's bio line which talked about the importance of getting to know someone first and not passing judgment or giving in to preconceived notions.

This was then followed by NO PIC=NO CHAT.

{Giggle!} I guess someone didn't have their irony detector turned on.

Okay, it is not cool to alter public property, but I totally LOVE the phrase "grammar vigilantes." (Hmm, I wonder if they are a gay couple.)

I checked out their site. I thought "teal" was a reference to the color. It is actually an acronym for Typo Eradication Advancement League. Hmm, it is an EXTREMELY minimalist site.

"Grammar vigilantes" get one year probation for vandalism (w/photo)

08/22/2008 08:52 AM
Alexis Huicochea

Two self-described “grammar vigilantes” were sentenced to one year of probation and have been banned from all National Parks after they were caught “correcting” a a historical sign at the Desert View Watchtower on the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park.

Jeff Michael Deck, 28, of Massachusetts and Benjamin Douglas Herson, 28, of Virginia, pled guilty to conspiracy to vandalize government property.

The men were on a tour of the United States from March to May 2008 with a purpose to stamp out typos in public signage and other venues, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Arizona.

A rare hand painted sign hangs in the Watchtower and is considered irreplaceable, the release said.

The pair came across the sign and found “a few errors,” they wrote on a Web site, which is how authorities learned about the vandalism.

They waited for a ranger to leave the area and then used a permanent marker and white out to correct the sign.

“Those marks really didn’t blend in well at all,” the Web site said. “I was reluctant to disfigure the sign any further …”

In addition to not being able to visit national parks during their probation periods, the men are prohibited from making any modifications to any public signs and must place a statement on their Web site educating others about the historical and archeological impact of vandalizing signs in national parks.

They will also pay restitution in the amount of $3,035, which will be used to attempt to repair the sign.

On Friday, the Web site http://www.jeffdeck.com/teal/ posted the following message: “Statement on the signage of our National Parks and public lands to come”

Here is a photo of Deck at the Grand Canyon from the Web site, courtesy of the U.S. Attorney’s Office:

www.azstarnet.com ® | Police Beat

Um, so who is the elitist? Remind me again? When many Americans are having problems making payments on their homes, or losing them, McCain can't recall how many he owns!

McCain unsure how many houses he owns

By JONATHAN MARTIN & MIKE ALLEN | 8/21/08 6:34 AM EST

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said in an interview Wednesday that he was uncertain how many houses he and his wife, Cindy, own.
"I think — I'll have my staff get to you," McCain told Politico in Las Cruces, N.M. "It's condominiums where — I'll have them get to you."
The correct answer is at least four, located in Arizona, California and Virginia, according to his staff. Newsweek estimated this summer that the couple owns at least seven properties.
In recent weeks, Democrats have stepped up their effort to caricature McCain as living an outlandishly rich lifestyle — a bit of payback to the GOP for portraying Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) as an elitist, and for turning the spotlight in 2004 on the five homes owned by Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) and his wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry.
Pro-Obama labor groups have sent out mailers highlighting McCain’s wealth, and prominent Democrats have included references to it in comments to reporters.

McCain unsure how many houses he owns - Jonathan Martin and Mike Allen - Politico.com

Hee hee! Hat tip to the ever-delightful Eden on this. (Check out the Habanera at her post.)

I went looking and found the clip below of Danny Boy with Swedish Chef, Beaker and Animal. Too funny!

And just for good measure, Beethoven's Ode to Joy. With Beaker.

A friend of mine who is a graphic artist came up with a logo for the Erie Bloggers. I think it is pretty cool.

You can click on the photo to see it full sized.

He also came up with a flyer for our September get together.

 

To do this yourself:

Type your answer to the questions into a flickr search

Using only the first page, pick an image

Copy and paste each of the urls in the Mosaic Maker

1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What high school did you go to?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. What is your favorite drink?
7. What is your dream vacation?
8. What is your favorite dessert?
9. What do you want to do when you grow up?
10. Who/ what do you love most in life?
11. Choose one word that describes you?
12. What is your Flickr name?

From David
Wed, 20 Aug 2008 05:04:25 GMT

This was a nice one! My friend Justin posted this here, and I commented on his entry. So, here is the meme:

If you read this, if your eyes are passing over this right now, even if we don't speak often, please post a comment with a memory of you and me. It can be anything you want -- good or bad. When you're finished, post this little paragraph on your blog and be surprised (or mortified) about what people remember about you.

So, maybe leave a comment with a memory!

Justin took this. I think I saw it on a few other blogs that I know. Again, not sure if this has any validity, but it was interesting.

Your result for The Perception Personality Image Test...

HFPS - The Humanitarian

Humanity, Foreground, Big Picture, and Shape

You perceive the world with particular attention to humanity. You focus on what's in front of you (the foreground) and how that fits into the larger picture. You are also particularly drawn towards the shapes around you. Because of the value you place on humanity, you tend to seek out other people and get energized by being around others. You like to deal directly with whatever comes your way without dealing with speculating possibilities or outcomes you can't control. You are in tune with all that is around you and understand your life as part of a larger whole. You prefer a structured environment within which to live and you like things to be predictable.

The Perception Personality Types:

Take The Perception Personality Image Test at HelloQuizzy

I pretty much took the day off to rebuild the PC. There are some minor things left to be done, but I am basically back up and running. Sigh. The Palm can't sync via USB under 64 bit Vista, but it can sync via wireless, so that's okay. There were a few other compatibility issues, but nothing earth shattering.

Deb came over to work on newsletter stuff, and I took the opportunity to do some domestic chores. (Truth to tell, I pretty much needed to step away from the keyboard.)

I also got a call from my friend Aelis, who was encountering some annoyance with a situation rather similar to what I had been going through a while ago. We commiserated, and generally caught up. Aelis and I have known each other for almost 20 years now.

Sigh. I was fairly well caught up on stuff and my PC started acting up. I can't connect online, and I have been getting Blue Screen of Death occasionally. I got a new PC.

I took a break from geek stuff to go to the birthday party for a friend at the Casablanca Grill. The food was great, and I chatted with some good friends.

Back to still working on rebuilding the new PC. I had been resisting jumping to Vista, but I really didn't have a choice. We moved the newsletter to InDesign from PageMaker about a year ago in anticipation that we might have to switch, since PageMaker doesn't run under Vista.

Oh yeah, NOT fun that computer crash happened just as we were starting to get ready for newsletter stuff, although later in the week would have been much worse.

Since I have started tracking it with my PDA, I have been pretty good about getting the oil changed in my car. I was due today and went to the usual place. I was greeted by a rather cute guy I have known from the bar for years.

While they were working on it, he chatted me up and it was very nice. He mentioned having been there for a month and a half or so and was out. Everyone there was cool and he was glad to be in Erie. He asked whether I was going out tonight, so I said that I thought I was.

What I have been thinking lately is about the importance of being out in a sort of terraced sort of way. I know some folks/groups that alternate between either hiding who they are or only going to a predominantly gay venue/focus. I think that something like marching with everyone else in the 4th of July parade or just being casually out at work is intensely powerful.

Some straight folks might think that gay people can't focus on any other part of their identity. So, it is important that they encounter folks who show a variety of interests and involvements. This is not to say that there is some preset level of involvement or important for any aspect of identity that is optimal for all people and all situations. It just needs to flow from who we are. Hopefully, it doesn't feel like the awkward elephant in the room that has to be kept silent nor is it something that only can be expressed when that is the only focus.

My friend Jeremy had this meme. A fair number of things I couldn't identify, so I didn't do anything with them. Alcohol and smoking/tobacco stuff are all out for me, of course. In some ways, I am rather dull and unadventurous.

The Food tasting meme

1. Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2. Bold all the items you've eaten.
3. Cross out any items that you would never consider eating (or eating again)
4. Optional extra: Post a comment http://www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.

To make the filling out of this form and generating the HTML for it a bit easier, reddywhp has played around with some PHP. Go to http://reddywhip.org/lj/foods/ and fill it out there. After filling it out, you will be given the code to copy and paste into your blog.

Livejournal users, remember to use your LJ-Cuts!

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat's milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth $120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald's Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S'mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frog's Legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

Wow. Talk about a tragic lack of self-awareness! Hello? An unprovoked invasion of another sovereign nation? That's not just Russia going into Georgia, it's the US going into Iraq!

"Bullying and intimidation are not acceptable ways to conduct foreign policy in the 21st century."
-- President Bush, quoted by the Associated Press.

Quote of the Day
Sat, 16 Aug 2008 17:39:00 GMT

I saw this site linked from a thread on the ever-delightful Datalounge. Caution! The graphics are a tad.... busy. Can I just say that a vertically scrolling rainbow stripe background is possibly not the best graphic choice? Jesus might very well want you to accept him as your personal savior, but it would be nice to not induce seizures in epileptics at the same time. Someone from the Datalounge quipped that apparently the Master Control Program from Tron has found Jesus.

And what's with the backwards leaping cat in the lower left portion of the screen? Is it running from the way too over-stimulating background as well.

They also have a Cyber Church on Second Life. Hmm, if you are born again and also on Second Life are you born again again or is it automatically Third Life?

Okay, not my brand of spirituality, but that's okay. (I actually had a very nice online chat tonight with a Christian gay guy.) For what it's worth, they seem like nice enough folks. They just are maybe a tad overboard with the web layout.

Very cool! Erie Blogs is teaming up with Community Blood Bank for the second annual blood bank. On top of doing something good for our community, you can also win an iPhone 3G. Kudos to both organizations for doing so much good!

You can read the article here or what was pasted in below:

One of the easiest things you can do to help others is to donate blood. Each week, the Community Blood Bank needs 800 donors to keep up with demand from local hospitals. Did you know 1 unit of blood can be used to help save 3 different peoples' lives? That's where we come in.

Erieblogs.com is teaming up with the Community Blood Bank to present Erie Blogs Week II at the Community Blood Bank from August 17 through August 23. We hope readers of not only ErieBlogs.com but all the amazing blogs by people in the Erie area will come out and give blood that week and help this great organization.

This year, we're stepping up and giving you a pretty awesome incentive to come to the Community Blood Bank during Erie Blogs Week. One random donor during the week will win a new Apple iPhone 3G. How awesome is that? Surf the web, watch YouTube videos, try out all the new applications that are available, use the built-in GPS and so much more.

Blood donation is safe, easy and usually takes less about a half an hour from start to finish. The Community Blood Bank of NW PA is the EXCLUSIVE supplier of blood to all the hospitals in Erie, Warren, McKean and Elk counties and provides over 98% of all the blood used in Chautauqua, Cattaraugus and Allegany Counties in Western New York.

When you arrive at the Community Blood Bank, there will be a special sign-up sheet where you can sign in to donate as well as record what local blog you'd like your donation to be counted towards. One random donor as well as the blog that gets the most referrals will win a great prize basket with items donated by local businesses and organizations. Did we mention the yummy treats you get after you donate? For some, that's the best part. It's a win-win for everyone!

The Community Blood Bank is located at 2646 Peach Street in Erie and is open Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.. On Tuesdays, the blood bank is open from 9:00 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. and Saturdays from 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Please help us support the Community Blood Bank as well as people of the Erie area.

If your business or group would like to contribute to the prize pool, please contact Mike Richwalsky via email.

Hmm, I got this from Eden. I don't think this is accurate for a fair portion of the analysis. I tend to think of myself as more over-organized, at least in terms of info stuff. Physical organization I do admit to being bad at. A big yup to overcommit, but I am fairly good about follow through. (I HATE it when folks don't follow through on what they talk about. I would far rather underpromise.)

Your Brain Usage Profile:

Auditory : 52%
Visual : 47%
Left : 42%
Right : 57%

Michael, you are moderately right-hemisphere dominant and have even preferences between auditory and visual processing, traits that might make people perceive you as "slightly off balance."

You are most likely to be slightly disorganized, a "dreamer" and a person who focuses more on the end result than the immediate task at hand. You are creative and spontaneous if somewhat lacking in direction and focus. You are a learner who is generally patient and a person for whom time is an ally, not an enemy.

You are more passionate than most people with regard to life and learning and recognize your own intuitive abilities. You have sufficient goal-direction to satisfy yourself and guarantee success without being or feeling driven. You are willing to be reflective about yourself and others without getting lost in rumination.

The balance of your sensory modes allows for both learning and expressive capabilities achieved by few. You are active and "seeing" while retaining an equally strong propensity for being reflective which slows you down a little but allows for a more comprehensive perception and analysis of situations and problems. You do not spend excessive time analyzing since you mostly trust your perceptions.

In all likelihood, you have a tendency to overcommit and cannot understand why others get upset since you operate on a different "time table" than they do. Your organizational abilities are frequently overwhelmed by the stimulation seeking and active nature of your mind as well as by the tendency to create new categories and gloss over details, making categorization and classification almost impossible at times.

To the extent that your career path allows for creativity and abstraction as well as a bit of disorganization, you should find yourself equipped to handle any learning that is required. Your own personal adjustment to your style should come naturally although you are likely to feel frustrated by your own limited discipline and often wonder "Why?"

I think one would have to (man) hunt really hard for a more literal representation  of politics and strange bedfellows. I have never been on Man Hunt and this definitely makes me glad.

So McCain gets money from Paris Hilton's parents and then slams her in an ad. He has a lousy record on GLBT rights, but he takes money from a gay sex hookup site.

Wow.

Manhunt Founder Donates Max To McCain

Hot on the heels of last week's evisceration of Manhunt in Out Magazine's article Is Manhunt Destroying Gay Culture?, comes the revelation at Towleroad that Manhunt cofounder Jonathan Crutchley has donated the personal maximum of $2300 to John McCain's presidential campaign.
Via Towleroad comes this exchange between Crutchley and a commenter on Online Personal Watch:Andy Towle: "It appears John McCain has accepted the maximum individual campaign donation from the owner of America's largest gay sex hook-up website."
Log in, get off, get betrayed.

Joe. My. God.: Manhunt Founder Donates Max To McCain

After work, I went to a reception for Dan Onorato, who is the current County Executive for Allegheny County and who seems to be planning on running for governor in 2010. There was a very large turnout by the Erie County Democratic Party, and I said Hi to quite a few people that I know. He was a very good speaker. I was way to the back, so I didn't catch everything, but what I heard sounded quite good. I chatted for a bit with a member of his campaign staff and we traded contact info.

I had another event/meeting after that which was social. It was okay. I talked with a few friends.

I am sorry, but not good enough to win the GLBT vote on this one. Yes, I know that the members of ABBA were 2 straight couples, but they have a very strong gay sensibility.

And THIS dancing queen for one is NOT willing to take a chance on him.

John McCain: ABBA fan???

In all the commotion over Hillary Clinton's long goodbye to the Democratic nomination fight, an odd moment in the Republican race got surprisingly little attention.

Presumptive nominee John McCain called a Phoenix radio station last Friday and confessed to a secret passion for ABBA!

McCain dropped the ABBA bombshell on the popular Johnjay and Rich Show on Phoenix's KZZP-FM.  McCain told the deejays that before big speeches he pumps himself up by listening to the Swedish quartet's 1977 hit "Take a Chance on Me."

Political Radar: John McCain: ABBA fan???

Cool beans! My baby brother had lived with my mom and stepfather for years. He has never really lived on his own, apart from a brief stint when he was in the Army around 1990 or so.

He is now in his new apartment and sounds like he is doing well. I am so happy for him and proud of him for moving forward.

It has been a fairly quiet weekend, but I got a lot done. I had the films that I was supposed to review for the GLBT block at the Great Lakes Film Fest in late September. The reviews were due by Monday, and working with the newsletter I tend to be cognizant of deadlines. I was feeling guilty for not jumping on it, but late Saturday I just dove into it.

There were paper forms to record results, but being a computer geek, I scanned it in and made a PDF form to fill out (which also totaled up the scores for the various criteria.) I celebrated completing the task by going out to the Zone after dropping off the films at Theatre 145. There were a couple of fairly good films, and only a few that I didn't care for so much.

I had been having a problem for almost 2 weeks with cron jobs not executing for the Erie Gay News site. It was rather frustrating, and I was fairly sure that it wasn't anything that I was doing wrong. Among other things, this meant that the email list stuff wasn't regularly checking. However, the web host finally escalated the ticket and it is now resolved. Yay! A side benefit was that I added some code to track when the jobs run and fixed some things that had been not quite right before.

Just in the past couple days, we have gotten an influx of requests for free sample issues of Erie Gay News. There is a form on the web site. They were coming from all over, which I found puzzling. It turns out that we were listed on a site for free offers, so that explains that.

My sister Su and brother-in-law Tom were traveling through from Toledo OH to Jamestown NY to visit his sister. My brother-in-law does Santa Claus stuff as a sideline. (check out http://www.toledosanta.com) While we were at the restaurant, another Santa guy (who just happened to be in the area) stopped by the table to say howdy. My sister says that happens all the time. We had a very nice lunch and it was great seeing them!

I was coming home from checking on the newsletters, when I saw a car that was just stopped with its lights on at 16th and Raspberry in the middle of the 2 tracks. I wasn't sure what to do. I normally worry that calling 911 frivolously is bad, but this seemed to demand for it. I am not sure if someone was suicidal, but it represented a danger to whatever train/trains might be coming through.

So, I went home and called. The person answering the phone said that the police had already been notified, which was good. I just wanted to be sure that things wouldn't have a tragic ending through my failure to act and call someone.

I hope that it works out okay.

I am trying to make sure that I have all my photos cataloged and tagged appropriately. There are rather a lot. I realized that I needed to catch up on the ones for the past 2 years of Drenched Fur and Pagan Pride Day, after getting the Pride stuff done.

So, I think I am now caught up. I try to tag things not only by event, but also by people and locations. It's a fair amount of work, but if I keep up on it, then finding stuff is MUCH easier.

I was at a board meeting tonight of the United NeoPagan Council of Lake Erie (UNCLE) since we are gearing for for the 4th Annual Erie's Pagan Pride Day on Saturday, September 13.

Things went fairly well. We meet at Rich's house. Since it was warm, he was just wearing a sarong tied at his waist. This would be hunky straight powerlifter Rich.

At one point TJ noticed that Rich's sarong had shifted and since he was sitting down, he was rather exposed. I happened to be sitting opposite Rich. Goodness! He laughed and covered up and I smiled. The nice thing about Pagan guys is that they tend to be fairly relaxed about sexuality/nudity issues, so we were cool. He wasn't leading me on, and I wasn't being rude and intrusive. (I was flashed but I looked away.)

Afterwards, I drove Ruth home (she usually gets a ride from me) and we talked about media/publicity stuff and other topics.

I should go walk the dogs now. Whee!

Florida has not been treating John McCain's campaign vessel, the Straight Talk Express, very well in the past two days. First, someone photographs that an Obama '08 bumper sticker had been affixed. Then it was in a collision with a minivan. Oh yeah, the minivan was blue. McCain wasn't on the bus at the time of the collision, but Sen. Joe Lieberman was. Someone pointed out that this is simply DRENCHED in metaphors.

Given that McCain now looks like Paris Hilton one upped him, it just hasn't been a good week for him.

read more | digg story

I felt like going to ritual tonight, so I went to the open circle that the Covenant of Brighidshaven had for Lughnassadh/Lammas. It was a pretty good. I also had a nice time visiting.

Amusingly enough, we have a board meeting of the United NeoPagan Council of Lake Erie, so I will be seeing some of the same people tomorrow. And I also saw 4 of them on Monday at belly dance practice. I guess that this is a very Pagan week.

Deb was over cleaning up and preparing photos to be posted for the 16th Annual Erie Pride Picnic and also the March/Rally. I have the photo sets on Flickr and also posted to the Erie Gay News site.

Hee Hee! Pretty funny! I am very much amused that Paris has a sense of humor about herself and played along in this video lampooning McCain's (aka the "wrinkly-faced white hair dude") campaign ad attacking Obama. I think that this just reinforces how desperate the McCain campaign is.

Tonight was the last of the free classes for belly dance for guys. We start up again the 2nd Monday in September. I hope to keep in practice.

After the class, I had to stop off to pick up the GLBT entries for the Great Lakes Film Fest, which is happening the end of September. I need to review them and send back critiques within the next week or so. Hoping to make time for that.

After being by myself most of the day, I felt like I needed to go out for a bit. I stopped at the Zone and then Craze. While I was back at the martini lounge at the latter, I noticed that they had Stargate SG-1 playing on the TV. The closed captioning looked like it wasn't even English. At first, I wondered whether it wasn't something like Welsh or something similar to English, but it became apparent that it was just LOTS of letters missing. Some other guys there and I joked that they were complying with the Act for Disabled Americans, but grumbling and being passive aggressive about it. Or maybe they had gotten someone with some pretty severe motor skill issues to transcribe and they just couldn't type.

Weird.

Woof! I was up late last night and got up late this morning, but I had a rather productive day. I got most of the weekly housecleaning stuff done. I even mowed the lawn and washed the car.

I am still working on rebuilding the photo galleries on my PDA. It has been a great opportunity to makes sure that the various catalogs are in sync. (I have catalogs on the Erie Gay News site and for Menspace get togethers.) I found that I had forgotten to upload the photos from the Pizza and Porn Party in Jamestown from last February, so that is now online. I emailed the folks who were there with a link.

Of course, since my PDA also syncs to my work computer, the next time I sync at work it should be a doozy with so many photos to upload.

Deb also had me print some flyers for the Lake Erie Alliance for Democracy. She thought that they were running low when she came back, so she asked me to print some more, which I did and then dropped off.

And now for something lighter...

As a lifelong teetotaler, I find this amusing. Apparently, the little guys don't get inebriated. (Drunk critters would probably make a tasty snack for a predator.)

Boozing Mammal Drinks "Beer" Every Night, Study Finds

Brian Handwerk
for National Geographic News

July 29, 2008

A taste for naturally fermented palm "beer" has turned a tiny Malaysian mammal into a chronic boozer, a new study shows.

The pen-tailed tree shrew is the first non-human mammal known to display alcoholic behavior.

 

What's more, the rat-size animal never gets drunk during its nonstop jungle jamborees.

(Read: "Elephants Drunk in the Wild? Scientists Put the Myth to Rest" [December 19, 2005].)

Because the species is considered similar to the ancient ancestors of all primates, its 55-million-year bender suggests that our own taste for alcohol might predate the known advent of brewing some 9,000 years ago.

"The circumstances in which these tree shrews consume alcohol could be similar to past scenarios of human evolution in pre-primate or early primate stages [and] could somehow be a link to human alcohol consumption," said study lead author Frank Wiens, a biologist at the University of Bayreuth, Germany.

Wiens and colleagues' findings were published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Boozing Mammal Drinks "Beer" Every Night, Study Finds

Wow, in addition to going negative (because he probably realizes that his chances aren't good), John McCain is slamming the daughter of the Hilton's, who have contributed to McCain's campaign! Her grandfather also donated.

Paris Hilton's Parents Are McCain Donors

@ 5:06 pm by Andy Barr

The John McCain campaign may want to rethink its strategy of attacking Barack Obama by comparing him Paris Hilton, her family has kicked a lot of money to his campaign.

Paris's parents have donated a combined $6,900 to the McCain campaign. The celebutaunt's father Rick gave McCain $4,600 in March, and her mother Kathleen spent her own $2,300 in April.

The family patriarch William Barron Hilton, the co-chairman of the Hilton hotel chain and celebrity's grandfather, has made five seperate donations to McCain, totaling $15,100. The elder Hilton is a highly active GOP donor for several campaigns and committees, having donated to Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani as well as the National Republican Senatorial Committee to the tune of $15,000.

Paris has not donated to a candidate.

Unlike the Hilton's, the McCain camp doesn't have to worry about offending the family of Britney Spears. Neither the pop star nor her family have made any campaign contributions.

The Hill's Blog Briefing Room » Paris Hilton's Parents Are McCain Donors

Oh yeah, and the ad also contains factual errors as well.

This is from Daily KOS:

Obama and Reality Team Up to Fight McCain Lies

by BarbinMD

Thu Jul 31, 2008 at 05:20:08 PM PDT

In looking at John McCain's latest attack ad against Barack Obama that childishly tries to equate him with Britney Spears and Paris Hilton, let's ignore both that and the questionable judgment used in calling attention to Barack Obama's popularity at home and abroad, and instead focus on the ad's claim that Obama will raise taxes on electricity. According to factcheck.org:

McCain's new ad claims that Obama "says he'll raise taxes on electricity." That's false. Obama says no such thing.

Well, that was easy, wasn't it? Just put it down to, another day and another lie from the McCain campaign. Par for the course. But there are two positive things happening here. First, more and more the media is calling McCain out for his decision to take the low road...via Americablog

The Straight Talk Express has taken a nasty turn into the gutter. Sen. John McCain has resorted to lies and distortions in what sounds like an increasingly desperate attempt to slow down Sen. Barack Obama by raising questions about his patriotism. Instead of taking the Democrat down a few notches, these baseless attacks are raising more questions about the Republican's campaign and his ability to control his temper. [...]

Virtually all candidates, including Obama, distort their opponent's record. But McCain has gone beyond reasonable bounds. The self-described "happy warrior'' in the 2000 presidential campaign has turned sour in 2008, and the candor and straight talk that once made him such an attractive candidate are rapidly disappearing.