Really? On Michael Phelps.

I've been waiting for someone to say this with some indignation. Thanks Seth!

pushing your buttons

We have a replacement for the rim shot button.

Press here.

the rich

and hateful.

Think of the millions and billions spent annually solely to degrade the lives of gays and lesbians. How on earth is this a Christian thing to do?

winvitations

My life is nothing if not interesting. Among the invitations I received this week are (a) a benefit for the Georgetown University Library Association at the Olympic Club and (b) a benefit for B.A.D.- The Bay Area Roller Derby Girls, in which they and other Bay Area teams will be competing in mud wrestling.

On the list of things to do:

[] Celebrate diversity.

Check.

come blow your horn

Saturday was Mark Casey's tenth annual Post Holiday Blues Party, and there were plenty of Little Boy Blues. Well, actually there were very few "little" boys. This year had a loosely-suggested Arabian Nights theme, which lent itself to shirtless costumes rather easily. A natural tendency for most of this crowd, and they look good doing it.

This is a costume-required party, and after ten years, you'd better bring it.



Wilson, our host Mark, and RMJ
I however, was not Arab-esque (so to speak). I am, as are the host and his BFF Bill George, a HUGE fan of The Venture Bros. Bill does an impression of one of the henchmen that makes me pee my pants.

So for Mark and Bill, I spent several weeks and too much money crafting a Blue Monarch costume. (The Monarch is the arch villain in The Venture Bros.)

Here's what the Monarch (behind the henchmen) usually looks like.


I interpreted it in blue, complete with battery-powered neon light breastplate. And my GOD did the wings take forever to craft.

I also fashioned wrist shooters like the monarch that shot suction-cup darts. Fun.

I was sorely disappointed that I could not get my glittered giant eyebrows/antennae to adhere to my face. Handfulls of spirit gum could not hold it, and we almost resorted to hot glue.

I had asked Jorge to help me make some hip boots then dismissed that project as no one ever gets to looking below the chest as it is so crowded during the party. I can only think there was some unconscious remembrance of my Monarch costume request as Jorge and his crowd--who were planning to be out of town and only changed their plans to attend at the last minute--all wore blue monarch costumes with child-costume blue butterfly wings and crowns and went as monarchs. As much as I would have loved to have saved all the time and effort of crafting my wings, mine did look awesome (and superior :).



Jorge



Ron and Sean Ray
Bryan Michaels is one of my favorite people in the world, but we do not hang out all that much together outside of Sundance. He may be my new best costume buddy (not that Kevin has gotten all partnered and never comes out to play anymore). I went over to Bryan's beforehand to help him get ready, which meant spraying his head with blue dye and hairspray and covering it in glitter.

The resulting look was pretty awesome.

Bryan went as GayMan, recruiter of youngsters! Complete with note cards to hand out with different lists/reasons to convert to being gay.

It's not everyone who can pull off a lycra body suit.

It was a fun and crazy night, but the mixture of boozes and jello shots made for a painful Superbowl Sunday morning. Shilpa called to tell me how awesome the photos looked. "I haven't posted them yet." "They're all over Facebook."

And they are. Most people put their photos on Facebook. I have a set on Flickr, as does BJ.



Winnie Baygo and Me
There's not too much more to say. The photos pretty much speak for themselves. Although I wish I had taken more photos of the candy boys. There was some tasty blue at this party I'll tell you.



And props to Anthony, a personal trainer with a superhero build who never goes shirtless as he finds it tacky, who brought it with the clever as the Turban Cowboy.


And I loved that Aretha's hat made an appearance too!

Oh yeah, you can flick through the photos on Flickr and Facebook, but for a certain set of regular readers/revelers, I have to share that Robert the handsome bartender from Christmas tended bar at the Blue party as well.


And thankfully dressed appropriately for both occasions.

branching out

Surrounded by stories
Surreal and sublime,
I fell in love in the library
Once upon a time.

Last Wednesday, Bevan Dufty, City Supervisor whose district includes the Castro, hosted a fundraiser for the Harvey Milk/Eureka Valley branch of the SF Public Library. The city's bond program is paying for the brinks and mortar renovation of some of the City's branch libraries, but everything inside--carrels, chairs, computers etc.-- have to be paid for by donations and the Friends of the Library.

I have loved the Eureka Valley branch and have been eagerly awaiting its reopening. Bevan is a friend of mine, as is the library, and I was happy to pop over to his new home for the event. Not to mention it would be an interesting and hopefully literary crowd with free wine and food.

It was a really good turnout--over 400 people responded yes to the invitation, and I believe they raised a LOT of money for the Friends of the Library. I hope to get my act together to host my own fundrasier for the branch. It shouldn't be too hard to do and it is such a good cause. (Granted, as a librarian I am very pro-library.)

Local authors were there to stump, or chair rather, for the Castro branch. Including standard luminary Armistead Maupin (even if Bevan did mispronounce his name :)

Highlights of the night:

• The hosts facilitated mingling, networking, and all-around literary camaraderie by cleverly requiring name tags and printing on "[ ] I wrote:" and "[ ] I am reading:" boxes, immediately giving strangers something to talk about. I met some engaging new people and learned about some books I might not have otherwise come across. I love that Bevan, with young daughter in tow, is reading Street Gang, the history of Sesame Street.

There were also posers there for the socializing who haven't read anything longer than an US Weekly and put things like East of Eden on their name tag, but couldn't tell me what it was about.

• A Davidson College Phi Gam fraternity brother(several years my junior) also recognized me at the party and introduced himself. I was a bit taken aback that he recognized me by face. I have to wonder what my reputation is at the house.

• Learning that Jewelle Gomez is the President of the San Francisco Public Library Commission. I have met Jewelle several times socially and we have friends in common. She is always such fun to be around and a brilliant conversationalist (and author). It was great to see her so active on behalf of the City's library system.



• Lime generously catered the event, and gave me ample opportunity to make jokes centered around "food on sticks."



They also used only compostable materials, including "plastic" cups made from corn. Even better, they had compost collection bins around the house.

• Among my favorite people there were Suzan Revah and Donna Sachet.


As far as I'm concerned, Suzan has coined Donna's new title: The First Lady of the Castro. Although I am willing to extend that to the First Lady of San Francisco.

• Children's services are an important function of every library, adn children were also welcome at this event. For the most part, they were all piled into the uber-pink playroom that is Bevan's daughter's quarters. And seriously with the pink. It made Amy Day's cube look like an Ansel Adams' landscape. With all of the rampant children in there, they were calling it "the child orgy room." I just hope some moronic right winger doesn't use that out of context.

Being a big kid myself, I fit right in.

• This entire event was organized via Facebook. Bevan has an intern he's now calling his Social Networker. I was impressed that without a single flier being designed, invitation printed, or stamp used for mailing, a simple Facebook event posting could include over 2,300 people and garner over 400 affirmative replies.

And raise a lot of money for a good cause. I bought a brick.

You can too, and I hope to invite y'all to my own library fundraiser in the near future.

• Last but certainly not least, I made a new friend in the Jimm with Two Ms. Library parties do tend to bring out a non-random sample of people I find interesting and engaging, and Jimm's company and conversation made my night.


And just so you know, it's the first M that's silent.

the ad you didn't see

Rumor has it these ads were banned from the Superbowl national spots, but aired in Texas.

Anyone else heard of this? The online dating service for the unhappily married.





This comes to me from Alert Reader Sinclair Kelly at Nfocus magazine. It suggests they may have a new gossip sidebar: Nfidelity.

will it replace coffee?

I already know a population who prefer Diet Coke first thing in the morning over coffee. From Alert Reader Shilpa Patel, presumably for Alert Reader Paul Day, the new breakfast of clearly-not-champions.

politcal news

and commentary.

insecurity blanket

I know someone who ordered one of these and loves it. I can't wait to send him this video.

postcard from the edge, Nob Hill edition

Sometimes I just get a text (or e-mail) message that I have to share:

Epi Spa is a new Green Spa opening this past year in Union Square .. kind-a high profile/launch .. sponsors of the Ballet Gala this week.

Is it sort of the same thing to see my $150 aesthetician from Epi getting a mani next to me for 8 bucks with a favorite Tranny on Polkstrasse?!?!? instead of supporting industry in/around Maiden Lane. Wow. the things you are able to see at 2pm in the afternoon ;)

I won't even mention a rather high profile gay couple, and that I stumbled upon one of them enjoying a secret Friday 3pm rendezvous at the gym .. WOW... thankfully monogamy was SOOO 1990s ... and who really cares anyway. I just asked if there was a slut, I mean, slot, for a 3rd?

Crazy Friday beginnings!
Hope to see all in a few!

it looks nothing like Kim Cattrall

I've had the devil of a time making the harness for my Blue Monarch costume for the Post Holiday Blues Party tomorrow. I have been wishing for a dressmaker's dummy.

On the way to lunch today, outside my house Shilpa spotted a headless/armless mannequin discarded on the sidewalk. And we thought "Hey! Free dummy!"

If you ever fall off the Sears Tower, just go real limp, because maybe you'll look like a dummy and people will try to catch you because, hey, free dummy.

putting the barb

in Barbie.

From Alert Reader Sinclair Kelly, what she calls "Quite possibly the scariest toy ever."

Click to be disturbed.

how many mimosas at brunch are too many?

What if you skip them and go directly to the mandarin and sodas?

Coco, Jimbo, and I have had a lovely tradition of Sunday brunch at Harvey's. Over the past year, we have brought Shilpa into this Sunday foursome. Also over the past year, and I'm not saying there's any correlation here, these brunches have extended to an all-day, drunken affair.

So much so that this weekend Shilpa proposed that we forego any pretense that it won't (a) consume our entire Sunday and (b) we won't consume our body-weight in bloody marys and cocktails.

She did this by calling it "brunk."

Fun times.



Coco brings the BRUNK!



What Brunk is all about.
All of us are also addicted to Facebook. Not quite so much as Yarbrough, who is going to need an intervention sometime soon, but still. All of us except for Jimbo. We tried to get some good candid shots that he can upload to his profile. Coco had to create his profile for him in the first place.


In fact, there was a lot of drinking photo taking.

.



.
And it got the point that Yarbrough wanted to be in every shot, whether he was framed it in or not:

We also noted that too-white teeth is the new too-dark fake tan in photos. Yarbrough's been using the white strips and may have gone too far. In his photos, all you see are his teeth.

Shilpa does the Yarbrough:

Coco does the Yarbrough:

Yarbrough does the Shilpa:

Sitting in the corner window, there was also a fair amount of cruising. Shilpa spent about five minutes watching Jimbo's eyes dart from body to body out the window before calling him out on it. Yarbrough was less subtle, getting Coco to yell out the window so he could take photos of hot guys waiting at the crosswalk.


We're classy.

Of course, I too hollered out the window once or twice. (Shouts, literally, to Wil Fabrick.)

When Shilpa excused herself to the little alcoholics room, she was cornered and accosted by the old queen sitting behind us who complained that we were too loud and ruining their lunch. First off, it's a bar. Get over it. Second, I'm paraphrasing what he said when he in fact was quite abrasive and insulting. And cornering and berating a woman you don't know and throwing out insults and slurs is not acceptable-- and much less than acceptable than being a loud table at the bar. Desperate just to pee, Shilpa took the abuse, offered some conciliatory "we'll try to keep it down"s and only escaped after five or more minutes of this rant.

She reported back to us, with the intent of maybe bringing our decibel level down about, but I was so incensed at the guy's behavior (We may have been unintentionally bothering him, but his actively choose to berate Shilpa and insult Coco. If he had any balls, he would have just leaned over and asked us to keep it down instead of cornering Shilpa in the bathroom area.) and Coco was so incensed at his douchebaggery that the table's volume level almost doubled. (In all honesty, when I had to visit the potty later, I could hear Coco's voice clear as bell from the opposite end of the bar and in the bathroom with the door closed.)

It was the older guy on the right that pissed us off so.


And we made it a point to outdrink and outlast them in the bar.

other patrons did take note of us. We were quite rambunctious-- loud and constantly breaking into peals of laughter. Although the other half of the room was distracted by the young couple who could not keep their tongues out of each others mouths for the afternoon. Ultimately, they were cheered. I tried to get a subtle shot but Stephen's jacket got in the way.


I've made out in bars before, sure. But generally it's late, it's dark, and there's some sort of leather whiskey involved...

I'm just sayin'.

My favorite fit of breathless laughter came while we were trying to get this photo:



The exchange went something like this:

Yarbrough: "Are you there?"
Shilpa: "Are you there, God."
Me: "It's me, Margaret."
Coco: "I just got my period."

Which is why we look like this:


When I retell the story it goes more like this:

"Are you there?"
"Are you there, God."
"It's me, Margaret."
"I'm bleeding from my vagina."



Here's to brunk!

Hershey's to close Scharffen Berger and Joseph Schmidt

The SFist put it best:

Bad news this morning from across the Bay, as big conglomerate Hershey's announced that they're closing the Scharffenberger plant in West Berkeley. This comes, of course, after Hershey made nice with the locals, promising to keep the plant here blah blah blah.

It was bullshit, naturally. Get your tours in fast, people, and stock up. Here's a buck that says in one year Hershey's will release a new "Scharffenberger" line with "improved" ingredients that "cost less" and "taste like feet."

See also the SF Gate.

authors of their own demise

Imagine pouring a cup of coffee and turning on your home computer to read today's paper! It's not as far-fetched as you might think!



From 1981.
(And Laughing Squid)

"Nine naked men, walking down the road,

would cause a heap of trouble for everyone involved."

First Ernest, now PeeDee

Way back when, Ernest went to camp. (Starring childhood friend and modern star of stage and screen Richard Speight, Jr.)

I think this will make Alert Reader Paul Day a happy camper: Bacon Camp!

If he has to brown bag his lunch, he can always pack a slice of Bacon Explosion. OMFG.

Ad/Venture

Last night while flipping through the channel guide on ReplayTV, the listing for Nova caught my eye:

The secret world of the monarch butterfly.

I was so disappointed. That wasn't at all what I was thinking.

I was thinking more along the lines of...

having your Cake and listening to it too

My cousin Barry and her family have an iMac, which they love. And they love iTunes for playing their music. But when they travel, they would just as soon have all of their music on the MacBook too, but for RIAA/DRM reasons, Apple prevents machines from syncing or transfering music easily from one to another.

I think her wanting to have copies of her music both on her desktop and her laptop is entirely reasonable. Both computers are even authorized to the same iTunes accounts so they can play the same materials purchased from the iTunes Music Store. She just wants to copy all of her ripped CDs from one computer to another, and she certainly doesn't want to have to rerip every CD, or reenter any metadata she's already put into the desktop.

One solution is SuperSync, a software program that was designed specifically for people who want to sync their iTunes libraries among more than one machine. Very useful and highly recommended.

But Barry e-mailed me today for a quick-and-dirty solution to get her library from the iMac to the MacBook before they pull out of the driveway later. I have gotten this same question many times over the years, so I thought I would share it here. There are several ways to skin this particular cat, but this is what I recommend as it is relatively quick and as simple as I can make it. (I also have hints on how to share music files among different profiles on a single machine for those low on drive space.)

How to transfer music from one of your iTunes libraries to another.

• Open iTunes.
• Create a playlist of the music you would like to transfer elsewhere.
• Click "Burn Disc" (lower right).
• A "Burn Settings" dialog box should appear. Select Data CD or DVD.
• Burn the playlist (you'll be prompted to insert a blank disc.).

While viewing the playlist, the bottom of the window should indicate the number of items, the play time they represent, and the memory they take up (if not, click on the information there and it will toggle).

Keep in mind that blank CDs can hold about 700 MB, DVD-Rs hold about 4.7 GB, and DVD+R DLs (Dual Layer) hold about 8.5 GB. Choose accordingly, or break up the list over several discs. TiTunes may offer to split the list over several discs for you (I don't recall.).

Now take those disks to the machine where you would like to copy your music.

• Check your Preferences (Command-comma), and look under the Advanced tab.
• Make sure you have "Copy files to iTunes Music folder when adding to Library" turned ON You can turn this off later if you like. I keep mine off so when I am sampling new sounds or playing a downloaded podcast they are not automatically added to the library.)


• Insert the disc you have just made, and it should appear as a source in the left pane of iTunes. • Select the playlist or click within the playlist and select all (Command-A or Edit > Select All)
• Drag the selection to "Music" under the Library.

This should start the process of adding the files to your library. iTunes may or may not alert you to duplicates and ask if you would like to skip them. If you do add duplicates, that's okay. When viewing the Music library, you can select File > Show Duplicates to see what you may have more than one of after you have finished transfering everything.

You can repeat this process for additional discs as needed.