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Tuesday, August 31, 2004
Apple does it again ... introducing the new iMac G5. | private feedback | (0) public comments The Outing of a Congressman Finally Michael Rogers, the guy running around D.C. outing politicians and political operatives, aims a little higher and hits a target I can support. Just in time for the republicon National Convention, BlogActive (Roger's site) reveals that Virginia Congressman Ed Schrock while making derogatory comments about gays, supporting the repeal of 'Don't Ask Don't Tell' in favor of mandatory questioning about sexuality, and supporting the Federal Marriage Amendment, was cruising for sex on a gay sex phone line. In response, Mr. Schrock has withdrawn from his re-election race. And a note from Mr. Rogers, "The time has come for these gay homophobes to step up or be outed...Schrock is the first...more will follow." Hypocrites beware. [365Gay.com: GOP Rep. Is Outed & Quits House Race] | private feedback | (0) public comments Monday, August 30, 2004 Quote of the Day "You don't strike me as a food eating contest kinda guy." Said to me as I was explaining why I was flipping through the Ithaca Journal this morning looking for embarassing pictures of me after participating in an ice cream eating contest doubling as an Ithaca Montessori School fundraiser yesterday afternoon. A photographer had made sure to get the correct spelling of my name... FYI, our ice cream eating team came in second to last. | private feedback | (0) public comments Friday, August 27, 2004 Rumors, conjecture and speculation If you're looking for a web site with its pulse on the Ithaca lesbian community, look no further. There will be a new lesbian bar opening downtown, in the west end. You read it here first. ;-) Why do I think so? Rumors have been flying for weeks. (There is such a demand for a lesbian bar, and especially a gay or lesbian bar alternative in downtown Ithaca... that the buzz is traveling fast.) I've heard it from multiple sources... the bar will be located where Enuwan, the Oyster/Martini Bar on Sate Street (near Gimme!), had a very brief run... and will be operated by a few women. I have also heard that it won't be marketed solely as a lesbian or even women's bar... but I think we're not facing reality if we don't agree to the logical conclusion here. OK, so I have a little bit more than rumor on my side. On my walk in that neighborhood today there was a group of women milling around the building pointing at things and checking the place out... and a larger-than-usual number of vehicles parked on the street out front with rainbow stickers on them. On my second pass, about a half hour later, one of the women was taping a sign in the window of the door that said, 'Felicia's Atomic Lounge' on a blue background with a martini glass on it. 'Feliciasatomiclounge.com', while not active, has been registered to a woman in Trumansburg. OK, so to recap... there will be a new bar on State street in the west end... it will be called Felicia's Atomic Lounge... and we'll have to wait to see if it becomes the new lesbian hangout in Ithaca. But all signs point to YES. It's about time. | private feedback | (0) public comments Disturbing Local News [Cornell Daily Sun: Landlord Plants Camera in Tenants' Bathroom] | private feedback | (0) public comments House of Drag About an hour into the drag show on campus last night there was not one mention of RuPaul. Anita Mann, our local drag performer and self-proclaimed benefit queen (for her willingness to host just about any fundraiser you could come up with), introduced a line-up of queens who were going to perform on a huge stage in Barton Hall. But they didn't include RuPaul. And so as much as I was enjoying the show... I kept thinking... 'OK, wait. Was this whole RuPaul thing just a big hoax?' Not that I don't love Bianca (who I've known for years) and Mabalene (who I don't know as well but used to work with his mom). They are both amazing performers and will be missed when they leave Central New York for sunny Florida. This show felt different than all of the shows that I've seen in little bars and clubs. It was less intimate (there were tons of people there, all standing), the stage was huge, and the lighting was intense. But the music was loud which increased the energy level a notch and really allowed the performers to feel the music and let loose. I kept thinking, "This must be what a USO show is like." (You know, where Bob Hope or whatever pin-up model was popular at the time would perform for the troops in exotic locations on big barren makeshift stages. The genesis of this thought was prompted by one of the queens performing 'Bugle Boy From Company B' as her first number. Although I guess Barton Hall is also the ROTC headquarters on campus, so it was a fitting tribute.) What would have been a half-assed attempt at a drag show at the Common Ground was a pretty decent drag show in Barton Hall. And then, Anita Mann walked out on stage and announces that Ms. RuPaul would be arriving in 15 minutes... the place erupted in screams and applause. I couldn't believe I was actually going to see her live. Even more than seeing her perform such classics as 'Supermodel' and 'House Of Love', what I got the biggest kick out of was hearing RuPaul laugh in person. If you're familiar at all with RuPaul's recordings, she often laughs during tracks... it's like a trademark of hers. And to hear it in person just sent tingles up my spine. RuPaul declared herself the Dean of Cornell's Fierceness Department, delivered a little banter about the importance of voting, sang a bunch of songs from her new album (coming out next month), a few classics, and a weird cover of random rap songs including a Vanilla Ice hit. It was a less impressive (and shorter) show than I would have liked... but it was late... and a Thursday night... and I had only paid $3. So who am I to complain? I got to see RuPaul live! | private feedback | (0) public comments Thursday, August 26, 2004 RuPaul at Cornell  Tonight, two friends are performing in what will be their 'Farewell to Central New York' drag show before departing for Florida. Bianca and Mabalean will be performing at Cornell's Barton Hall alongside RuPaul. (Yes, really.)
[Cornell Events Calendar: DRAG SHOW! Featuring RuPaul!] [RuPaul's Web Log] | private feedback | (0) public comments Fun pics Last night, the Wednesday night social group convened to celebrate the birthdays of two of our most dear members... Jack & Leo. (Jack's birthday is Friday and Leo's birthday was Monday.) I took a lot of photos, most of which didn't really come out. But here are my two favorites... the birthday boys... and my friend Janee and I.   We all have our reasons... ... to want Bush gone. Some of us want more access to health care. Some of us believe in marriage equality. Some of us are embarassed by the smug bastard. (Some of us are all of the above.) And then there are some who just want to protect our porn. | private feedback | (0) public comments Wednesday, August 25, 2004 Just imagine... ... the hay the republicons would make if it was found out that one of John Kerry's election lawyers was consulting with MoveOn.org. They'd tear him apart over it. For the second time in days, a Bush-Cheney campaign official was linked to the Swift Boat Veterans for "Truth", an organization that by law should have absolutely no connection with the presidential campaign and has been running some pretty nasty anti-Kerry television ads. So why aren't we all standing up and screaming about this!? Come on, Dems, get a spine already! [SFGate.com: Lawyer advising veterans group running anti-Kerry ads resigns from Bush campaign] | private feedback | (0) public comments Gay Parenting An Ithaca youth was quoted in a story about gay parenting, discussing his experience growing up with two moms. No matter how liberal or conservative an area is, kids sometimes find it hard to keep the secret [about having gay parents]. When friends came to visit, "it would have been hard to miss in our house," says 17-year-old Rob DeVoogd of Ithaca, N.Y. "Even if I wanted to keep it a secret, there was a magnet on the fridge saying, 'Sorry I missed church. I was busy practicing witchcraft and becoming a lesbian.'" [gfn.com: Meeting the Gay Parents] | private feedback | (0) public comments Bird shit  The Ithaca Downtown Partnership really ought to hang signs near the grouping of trees halfway down the Commons... and those signs should read 'Caution: Birds Overhead'. Not only do the birds make horrendous amounts of noise, but more than one friend has complained about getting shit on while walking under these trees at night. Apparently these trees are the preferred overnight roosting place for just about every bird in Ithaca. I should have considered myself warned, right?
Well, last night was my turn. I had just gotten off the phone with my mother and was walking towards the east end of the Commons. I was just wandering around... going nowhere in particular, when I felt a 'plop' on the top of my head. Of course, I knew instantaneously what it had to be, but more out of reflex than anything else I still reached up to see if it had just been a piece of bark or something. Nope, definitely bird shit... so now I had bird shit in my hair and all over my right hand. I picked up my pace hoping to duck into a cafe and clean up. No dice, the cafe was jam-packed and having some special event. My office was only a few blocks away if I could navigate the busy streets of Ithaca to get there. To get to my office, I have to walk by one of the busier restaurants with outdoor seating. As I approach, I see a bunch of people sitting around a table that I know and so I make a point to not make eye contact. In my mind I'm thinking, 'I'll just breeze past them as though I don't see them and I'm deep in thought.' (Which, in fact, is not a lie. I am deeply focused on getting my ass to my office so I can wash the bird shit out of my hair.) I get past them and think, 'Home free!' when I hear one of them shout, "Shane!" Damn! So I turn around with the most polite smile I can muster and it turns out there are people that I don't know in the group who I get introduced to. Under normal circumstances I would extend a hand... but under this circumstance, my right hand is covered in bird shit and being held behind my back in an 'i'm-trying-to-hide-something' sort of way. I stand stock still. The conversation felt like it lasted an hour. I don't remember the names of the people I met or what we talked about. All I remember is that I didn't want to tell them why I was in such a hurry (I would then forever be 'the guy who had bird shit on his head' when they referred to me later) and that there were really long awkward pauses in between every question and answer. As I departed I almost sprinted into the safety of my office building... a locked bathroom... and a faucet and paper towels. Beware the grove of trees on the Commons at night. | private feedback | (0) public comments Quote of the Day "Freedom means freedom for everyone." Dick Cheney responding to a question about gay marriage yesterday. Maybe there's a heart in that shriveled up shell of a man after all. Or maybe it is because his daughter was in the audience. He went on to say... "Lynne and I have a gay daughter, so it's an issue our family is very familiar with. With the respect to the question of relationships, my general view is freedom means freedom for everyone. ... People ought to be free to enter into any kind of relationship they want to. "The question that comes up with the issue of marriage is what kind of official sanction or approval is going to be granted by government? Historically, that's been a relationship that has been handled by the states. The states have made that fundamental decision of what constitutes a marriage." The response was swift. The President of the conservative Family Research Council, Tony Perkins responded: "I find it hard to believe the vice president would stray from the administration's position on defense policy or tax policy. For many pro-family voters, protecting traditional marriage ranks ahead of the economy and job creation as a campaign issue." How sad is that? For many voters, denying gay and lesbian couples the rights of marriage ranks above having a healthy economy and creating more jobs. Unbelievable. [CNN.com: Cheney says same-sex marriage is state issue] [SFGate.com: Cheney breaks rank on same-sex marriage, refers to daughter as lesbian publicly for 1st time] | private feedback | (0) public comments Tuesday, August 24, 2004 Rock the Vote, Ithaca! MTV's "Rock The Vote" bus tour stops in Ithaca on Saturday, Aug. 28. The bus rolls to its first stop on the Ithaca Commons from noon to 4 p.m. Next, it will park on East Avenue on the Cornell University campus, near Goldwin Smith Hall, from 4:30 to 7 p.m. The last stop of the day will be at the Alice Cook House, the new residence hall on West Campus, from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. [MTV Rock The Vote Bus Tour] | private feedback | (0) public comments The Students Return Sometimes I feel like I exist in the reality of a low-budget college movie. The students are returning to Ithaca with a vengeance... as evidenced by lawns littered with plastic cups and beer cans, the non-stop traffic of packed-to-the-roof cars bringing students back to dorms and apartments, the Labatt Blue flag that now hangs proudly on a neighboring porch, and the sign below... installed by my witty and obviously all-American, red-blooded, horny college guy neighbors. Thanks to this sign and the newly installed fluorescent green kiddie pool in the front yard, I am guessing I live next door to the new party house. (Note the asterix above female. *No gay guys need apply.)  Monday, August 23, 2004 Out For Business Business Week Online features an article about gay-friendliness at various business schools. The Johnson School of Business at Cornell had been ranked a 'D' recently for that particular trait... and so they were featured as a school that is making strides towards being more LGBT-inclusive. One of the things happening there is the emergence of a more prominent and vocal LGBT student club called Out For Business, headed by my friend Blake. Out For Business has begun hosting more events and mixers. I've attended a number of these great events and I'm grateful that they've been welcoming of LGBT business professionals in the community. I'm a huge booster of their club. From the article: B-schools can receive a lousy grade in gay-friendliness ratings and be prodded into action. Cornell's Johnson Graduate School of Management in Ithaca, N.Y., was hit with a D in a semiregular rating on gay-friendliness by Aplomb Consulting, which conducted its most recent survey on U.S. B-schools in 2003. Since then, the school has adopted policies such as adding gay and lesbian students to its Women and Minorities office and profiling gay students in marketing materials. Cornell's equal opportunity clause will also add a line on gay and lesbian students. GLBT students are pleased with the efforts, saying the B-school had lacked "visible codes [that] it's O.K. to be out and gay," says first-year Blake Howard, president of the school's newly-formed Out for Business club. [Business Week Online: B-Schools Gain a Lavender Tinge] | private feedback | (0) public comments Cornell.edu My alma mater finally launched their new web site today. It is a vast improvement over the site that looked like a third-grader might have put together as a class project. I would cringe everytime that site came up. Needless to say, it was not appropriate for an ivy-league school.  The most obvious omission in the launch, however, is that there is no new logo included. Anyone who is involved with Cornell is waiting with baited breath to see what the new logo will be. The current logo, the red square with 'Cornell' in the middle of it, was reminiscent of just about every lame-ass unimaginative square logo from JCPenney's, H&R Block, the Gap, ad nauseum. When the new president arrived on campus, he re-branding the university (and replacing the horrid box logo) a top priority. What it will be replaced with is still a mystery, although most guesses are a shield insignia of some type. (Some earlier drafts of the Cornell.edu redesign show something in that vein.)
One of the coolest asides from this project has been how the design team used blog technology to disseminate news, deadline changes, and design concepts/screenshots for feedback. I've been following the redesign progress for the last few weeks on the Cornell.edu Redesign Blog, which is definitely worth a read for the background alone. Yay for blogs! | private feedback | (0) public comments Friday, August 20, 2004 Angry-making One day, many years ago, I came to the office a little under the weather. I remarked about how I didn't feel well and my co-worker asked, "Do you want to go to the doctor? Do you know you're OK? I mean... have you been tested for... you know?" I knew immediately what she meant. She was curious if because I had a sore throat if I thought I could have contracted HIV. I thought this was terribly degrading and offensive that she would even ask me this. She would never insinuate that a straight person's sore throat might be due to HIV. Anyhow, I let her know how offensive it was... and to this day I get upset about things like that. So my rage was reawakened today when I read an article about the openly gay candidate for congress in Florida. He is apparently suspending his campaign for a few weeks while getting medical attention. And buried further down the article was this sentence: A campaign aide said Stork was suffering from fatigue and emphasized that he was HIV negative. Yeah, don't you remember when Dick Cheney, John Kerry, Rudy Giuliani and other politicans have needed to seek medical attention and their aides had to insist it wasn't HIV? Gimme a break. [365Gay.com: Gay Candidate Puts Campaign On Hold Over Health Concerns] | private feedback | (0) public comments Quote of the Day, The Sequel How could I have forgotten this gem from earlier today? "You'll know she's dead because the other fish will have eaten her eyeballs." Helpful guidance from Cheri, whose critters I'm watching for the weekend. She was preparing me for the chance that I may have to scoop out one of her cichlids while in charge of their wellbeing. Apparently the fish, named Big Mama, has been sick and lying on her side for weeks. Good thing she told me that, I would have just kept poking Big Mama with the net in the absence of such a clear sign of death. | private feedback | (0) public comments Quote of the Day  "Weren't those great days? When the only thing we aspired to be was Dairy Princess? I remember those days." ...punctuated by a deep sigh.
Me, this afternoon, to Lori and a woman (with her daughter) that I met no more than two minutes before. Lori had mentioned the only disappointment Keelinn had about changing schools this fall was that she couldn't compete for the title of Dairy Princess at the new school. Was that too gay a thing to say? | private feedback | (0) public comments When blogs cause drama I have often hesitated posting about friends, family, and acquaintances... sometimes to the point of frustration... because I never know just who reads this site. And then sometimes I've posted things hoping that someone would find it. I guess you could attribute that to the hidden passive-aggressive in me. I am constantly surprised when someone stops me on the Commons who only recognizes me from my blog, or throws an 'Oh by the way, I read your online journal' into our conversation. It is kinda cool and kinda weird all at the same time. Ithaca is a small town and when your l'il ol' web site comes up near the top in Google searches for 'gay ithaca,' you'd better be prepared for situations just like that. OK, I've probably said all that before and that wasn't even the point of my post... It was only meant to be an introduction for... We've all probably heard the blog nightmare stories/myths. The guy who lost his job cause he posted nasty stuff about this boss. The guy whose girlfriend left him because he was posting explicit stuff on his web journal. I came across an article today about a teacher at a catholic school in California who maintained a blog. He was openly gay (not so much at school) and fears that the school didn't renew his contract because they were concerned about his blog, where he had posted pictures of his gay wedding in lovely San Francisco. (And there's also an Ithaca connection to the story... the teacher in question studied religion at Ithaca College.) Read for yourself... [SFGate.com: Gay teacher questions dismissal] | private feedback | (0) public comments Thursday, August 19, 2004 Starbucks to land in Ithaca? Outside the Barnes & Noble cafe (which most everyone says 'doesn't count') there are no Starbucks in Ithaca. But might this change? I was talking to a friend who works at a Starbucks in CA. He found himself in a conversation with a higher-up. When my friend talked about his time in Ithaca, the higher-up said, "Oh, we're getting ready to put four stores there... and a second one in Syracuse." There were no more details. FOUR!? I can't even think where they'd go. A while back I had heard a rumor that Starbucks would go into the ground floor of whatever new building goes up on that busy corner in Collegetown. I'm sure Starbucks would consider that an ideal spot. But that's only one store... Four does seem a little far-fetched for our mini-city. And I haven't been able to find anything on the web that would corroborate that kind of development here. But the 'higher-up' with the info must have had SOME knowledge of our area if he also knew that Syracuse was close by and that they already had one Starbucks near the campus. Stay tuned... | private feedback | (1) public comments Wednesday, August 18, 2004 Proud To Be In S.F. Who cares if 4,000 gay marriages went down in CA Supreme Court flames? The gauntlet has been thrown A great editorial by Mark Morford @ SFGate.com | private feedback | (0) public comments My brother... ... may officially have the worst luck. About two months ago he gets a call from his school that they've misplaced his student aid paperwork, meaning that he won't get any student aid for the last semester... a check he was depending on. Then, his girlfriend totals their car... it apparently hydroplaned during some torrential downpour. Then, their only other vehicle, his truck, stopped running and they couldn't afford to get it fixed until Mom wired him money. That was a few weeks ago. Last night, mom called to tell me his apartment burned. I'm glad to report that he, his girlfriend, and the two babies are OK. But they lost everything. The Red Cross is apparently involved, they have renter's insurance, and he assures us that there is nothing we could do by coming down to PA. No matter what kind of funk or depression you're in... life could always be worse. | private feedback | (0) public comments Tuesday, August 17, 2004 Quote of the Day The State Republican Party of Illinois is obviously nothing more than a joke if the only candidate they could find to run for Senate there (Alan Keyes) campaigns comparing women who have abortions to terrorists... and making statements like this... What a looney toon! "Now, you think it's a coincidence that on Sept. 11th, 2001, we were struck by terrorists an evil that has at its heart the disregard of innocent human life? We who have for several decades killed not thousands but scores of millions of our own children, in disregard of the principle of innocent human life -- I don't think that's a coincidence, I think that's a warning. I don't think that's a coincidence, I think that's a shot across the bow. I think that's a way of Providence telling us, "I love you all; I'd like to give you a chance. Wake up! Would you please wake up?" [Chicago Sun-Times: Keyes likens abortion to terrorism] | private feedback | (0) public comments OLIVIA The transformation of Coyote Loco into the new OLIVIA (brought to you by the same people that own and operate Stella's in Collegetown) is phenomenal. I wasn't able to make the preview party last Friday, but didn't want to miss the first official night open for business. Neil (the ex) and I went there for dinner. I was just blown away by the atmosphere. Everything is so open... the main dining room is a comforting white with beautiful furniture. The bar (on the landing where Coyote's bar used to be but on the opposite wall) has tons of space and is in a room painted a reddish color... And they've retained the deck with much more contemporary furniture which makes the outside dining experience classy. Luminaries were on every table... and the atmosphere on the deck improved as it got later and later. I just kept thinking that deck seating on a summer evening would be a perfect date place. The food was decent, a teensy bit pricey. I would say it is comparable to Stella's menu... Upscale American cuisine. I guess the concept is that you get an entree to share and some sides... almost family style. Even though we didn't figure this out until we each ordered an entree and they came with no sides... just an awful lot of meat. To their defense, the waitress did say something in her opening spiel about encouraging sharing and portions being for 2 to 3 people... I guess we missed that. The dessert menu wasn't available yet, but they brought every table complementary chocolate-covered strawberries. We had some coffee to accompany them. We probably lingered over the food and conversation for a good two hours or more. It was a great experience... OLIVIA is definitely a welcome addition to the Ithaca dining scene. [Stella's and OLIVIA Web site] | private feedback | (0) public comments Monday, August 16, 2004 Bumper Stickers Today on lunch, I actually saw a car with a bumper sticker that said 'Boycott France.' And right next to it was a Bush-Cheney '04 sticker. Simple minds, simple solutions. | private feedback | (0) public comments Quote of the Day "It sucks to be single or poor in Ithaca. God help you if you're both." Me, commiserating with a friend who was lamenting recent singlehood and job changes. | private feedback | (0) public comments A Wedding & A Funeral I got a surprise phone call Friday afternoon from Harlie, my best friend from College. She lives in Chicago now, but she and her husband (Steve) were on their way to Ithaca for a wedding at Cornell's Sage Chapel. They landed shortly after four, we got drinks, caught up and reminisced over dinner at Ralph's Ribs (Harlie used to work with him in a Cornell Dining Hall), and then shopped for a wedding present at Target where the bride and groom were registered. They had registered for such mundane things as cookie sheets, plain bed pillows, a cordless drill, and a Playstation video game (!?)... so after stalking the aisles, Harlie finally selected items off the registry list. (She also bought a 'foot spa' kit which we used after we got back to my apartment. mmmmmmmmm) Harlie and Steve ended up staying until Sunday morning, unfortunately I didn't see much of them after Friday evening because they were in the midst of wedding festivities... I loved having them in my space and getting to see them again. I got a surprise phone call last night from my ex, Neil. He now lives in California, and has just come home (not Ithaca--about an hour and a half away from Ithaca) for his grandmother's funeral. The last time he was in town we didn't get to see eachother... although he says we were in the same place at the same time. We talked until his phone died last night, but we were able to make plans to meet tonight for dinner after I get out of work. Should be interesting... And don't things happen in three's? What other surprise phone call might be in store? | private feedback | (0) public comments Friday, August 13, 2004 Start your engines! Wednesday was NASCAR Race Day on the Ithaca Commons. Among the attractions... the Ithaca Police Tactical Squad scaled the Fleet Bank building... plastic go-karts that pooped out before Stephen got a chance to ride them... and the National Guard's race car you could have your picture taken with. Me, Cheri (holding Newman), Roberta, and Stephen (holding his ice cream) at Race Day. Can you tell I'm lovin' it? ;-)  Thursday, August 12, 2004 Welcome... Join me in welcoming Life in Ithaca to the blog and Ithaca scene. Looks like we are in for some great photographs!! | private feedback | (0) public comments Quote of the Day "At a point in every person's life, one has to look deeply into the mirror of one's soul and decide one's unique truth in the world, not as we may want to see it or hope to see it, but as it is. And so, my truth is that I am a gay American." New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey announcing his resignation Thursday after revealing that he is gay and that he had an affair with a man. The man involved in the affair, a former government employee, demanded "an exorbitant sum of money to make it go away." [CNN.com: New Jersey governor quits, comes out as gay] [SFGate.com: New Jersey governor announces his resignation] | private feedback | (0) public comments Sorry, your marriage license is null and void That's what the California Supreme court said to 3,955 same-sex couples today when it ruled unanimously that San Francisco's Mayor Gavin Newsom overstepped his authority when he ordered the issuance of marriage licenses to same-sex couples. By a 5-2 vote, the court ruled that none of the couples who flocked to City Hall was ever legally married or entitled to the rights of spouses. The court said their $82 license fees should be refunded. [SFGate.com: State high court invalidates SF's same-sex marriages] | private feedback | (0) public comments Wednesday, August 11, 2004 Look, Ma! I'm a stamp! Stamps.com has a new service where you can actually have stamps printed with any photo you want... well, ok... almost any photo, no nudity! Or else my preview below could have been much more fun. ;-)  Yikes! The barbs are flying in Illinois. Republican Alan Keyes, only two days into his run for an open U.S. Senate seat (and, by the way, not even a resident of the state yet) is already attacking Democrat Barack Obama in harsh, race-baiting terms. (Obama is the guy in the race who got his nomination the old fashioned way... by living in the state and presenting himself to voters in a hotly contested primary). But I digress... Here is the quote of the day, by Alan Keyes: "I would still be picking cotton if the country's moral principles had not been shaped by the Declaration of Independence." [Obama] "has broken and rejected those principles he has taken the slaveholder's position." | private feedback | (0) public comments Development In my post Monday, I made a wistful comment (buried in a long, meandering entry about Saratoga Springs)... that the Commons might do well to strive to be a more 'healthy' mix of storefronts. In recent travels I have seen some downtowns that accomplish this without sacrificing their unique personalities. In Berkeley, there's a Barnes & Noble (or a Borders, I can't remember which) basically across the street from a locally owned new & used bookstore. In Saratoga Springs, there's a Banana Republic across from an independent children's toy store and a bunch of non-chain restaurants. I hear that Burlington has a very successful 'downtown commons' area with a more diverse mix of shops that does include some chains. This all has me thinking about Ithaca and the right mix of development on the Commons... So, in response to my post, I got a question emailed to me... Can you explain why you think a Gap on the Commons is a good idea and why a mix of chain and indie stores is "healthy"? Thanks. Gladly. My definition of a healthy downtown is one that serves the needs of all the people who live and visit there and is actually used to its fullest potential... meaning lots of people shopping, going to cafes... buying things... oh yeah, and no empty storefronts. There are very few stores on the Commons that are much use to me on a regular basis besides the restaurants and cafes. If I had a large disposable income and wanted to buy t-Shirts, bongs, beads, and hand-painted (or paint my own) pottery I wouldn't have anything to complain about. Responsible development has always been my philosophy. A GAP on the Commons? A Banana Republic? An Abercrombie & Fitch? Maybe not all of the above, but one or two... absolutely. Those stores would pull college students and shoppers downtown, and in turn increase patronage at restaurants and cafes. Then, the entire city can benefit from the sales tax revenue that doesn't go to Lansing via Pyramid Mall. I'm kinda sick of seeing college students come downtown only to buy bongs and posters. Every year there are events aimed at getting students to the Commons... like Cornell-Ithaca Day. Someone, somehwere, obviously made the decision that encouraging their presence was important enough to proclaim a 'day.' If this is really a goal... then how about giving students a reason to come everyday by putting stores on the Commons that they would actually shop at? Cayuga Green Phase II will potentially include a movie theater near the commons. The anti-development folks have already instigated a letter-to-the-editor campaign voicing their disgust at such an idea. I say, bring it on! I probably won't spend much time at a movie theater that shows big-budget, predictable, and transparent hollywood movies. But, I also don't think it will kill our independent theater. They don't show the same kind of movies... and they're not meant to. The thing I love about Ithaca is not that we go see independent movie because there's nothing else to see... it's that we go see independent movies because we genuinely WANT to. And I'm excited to think about all the dinner/movie dates that will now happen at Madeline's, Simeon's, and Lost Dog as compared to Chili's, Kyushu, and Friendly's out by the Mall. I'm not a radical pro-development-at-any-cost guy. There are a ton of questions you have to ask before you build something new... Is this the right location for this type of development? What are the real repurcussions? How will this add/detract from the tax base? Does the design fit into general community guidelines for signage and facades? Is there a genuine need for development like this? Is the building and the construction environmentally sound? In my opinion, it is even ok to ask if the standards by which the company operates fit into the values held by the community. After all, this is going to be a new 'corporate citizen' in the Ithaca Community. (On that basis alone, I would probably halt a Wal-Mart from coming.) Given the same facts, all of us will come to our own conclusions asking the same questions. I don't want to see a Starbucks on every corner. I love Home Depot, but would rather they had found another place to build that orange monstrosity than at the base of a scenic state park. I want to preserve green space. I also think we need as much tax-generating property as necessary (within city limits) to pay for public works, social programs, and public transportation so that we don't have to levy huge taxes on homeowners. (Do you think the cash to build bike lanes is just gonna fall out of the sky?) I understand that development is always a trade-off between public good and public damage... I definitely don't want Ithaca to look like every other city in America... ...but freezing the city in time is not an option, either. | private feedback | (0) public comments Tuesday, August 10, 2004 Quote of the Day "the really rich people figure out how to dodge taxes anyway." Dubbya at a campaign stop, explaining why rolling back the tax cuts on the rich will be a failed strategy. [dailypress.com: Bush campaign holds rally in Va.; Dems sense weakness] | private feedback | (0) public comments Monday, August 09, 2004 My Sunday: Saratoga Springs/Horse Races/Maroon 5/John Mayer: Yesterday, I learned that Saratoga Springs and the Performing Arts Center there is a three-hour drive away from Ithaca (if you drive like Cheri). On the car ride, I also learned that in OK (Cheri used to live there)... you must look out for turtles and tarantula's in the road. And when startled, tarantulas actually jump straight up... and have been known to clear cars that otherwise would have driven over them. Even though we didn't get to stop, Saratoga Springs has a beautiful little downtown with a healthy mix of chain stores and independent restaurants. (They have a Banana Republic right downtown!) This is more the direction I'd prefer to see the Ithaca Commons take. Get a GAP on the Commons... the college kids will come and they'll spend cash. But I digress... We also stopped at the race track. I had never seen a horse race before. In the 20 minutes that we were there... Cheri walks in, stares at this lighted board with a bunch of numbers on it, talks a bunch of gibberish to a clerk to place a $36 bet, we watch a race which lasts all of 2 minutes, and then she walks away with $133. Impressive! I wish she had told me to place the same bet. We arrive at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center right at 7. We miss a little bit of the sad DJ who is warming up the crowd. We're surrounded by high school kids in the lawn seating, hoping they chill out a little when the real music starts. Then out comes Maroon 5... I was so excited to see them perform and they put on a great show. Of course they only have the one album to sing from, so they did mostly the biggies from that album including my favorite song, Sunday Morning, and one new one. (They didn't sing my other 'B-side' favorite, Must Get Out.) I was struck by the lead singer's stage presence. He was so twitchy... almost like he was high... (which I am not ruling out). They held the stage for about an hour, then a short intermission and then John Mayer appeared. Now, I had really gone to see Maroon 5. And Cheri was definitely there for John Mayer. I'm not terribly familiar with any of his music besides the few songs I've heard on the radio. (I do love, however, that song, I think its called No Such Thing.) The one thing I learned about John Mayer is that he is mad talented... he can play the guitar! As for the singing... he sort of mumbles through it. So if you don't already know the lyrics, don't come to his concerts expecting to understand more than a few words here and there. And since he saved his big chart-toppers until the end, the first hour and fifteen minutes of the concert was basically lost on me except the guitar playing. Cheri had me listen to some of his music on the way up and back... so I'll definitely be aquiring John Mayer albums soon. I got into the office late this morning... because I didn't get to bed until after 2 AM. But it was worth it, it was a great show! | private feedback | (0) public comments Saturday, August 07, 2004 How much 'chatter' is the right amount of 'chatter'? This terror warning stuff is really starting to drive me nuts. (Starting?) Every now and again I see, "Increase in 'chatter' worries anti-terror officials." And then today, this article on CNN.com... Slowdown in 'chatter' worries officials. So we're worried when there's too much chatter... we're worried when there's too little... we're apparently, just plain worried. Welcome to the culture of fear. | private feedback | (0) public comments Friday, August 06, 2004 LEZ play scrabble! In the final round of the National Scrabble Championship, eventual champion Trey Wright played the word "lez." Normally, no word is off-limits, but because the games were being taped for broadcast on ESPN, certain terms had been deemed inappropriate, including the three-letter slang for lesbian. [SFGate.com: Three-letter word sparks Scrabble scramble] | private feedback | (0) public comments Quote of the Day "Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we." Dubbya... delivering a speech at the signing ceremony for a $417 billion defense spending bill. It's funny cause it's true. This is one of the few Dubbya quotes I don't question. [CNN.com: Bush misspeaks during signing ceremony] | private feedback | (0) public comments Cats  Last night I saw the Hangar Theatre's production of Cats. I never saw Cats on Broadway so I have no frame of reference to compare. But I figured, it HAD to be a good play if it had such a long run, right?
I was terribly disappointed. At some points I remember thinking, this is what Cats would look like if a bunch of six and seven-year-olds were staging it during a sleepover one night in a bedroom. They'd wear tinsel and bad wigs and slap some face make-up on and jump around the room half-heartedly trying to be feline. I think the play suffered from a fatal flaw that many regional/local theatres that hire outside talent for a few roles and then finish casting with locals... must constantly deal with. There are one or two good singers and one or two good dancers... and everyone else looks amatuerish by comparison... and this rift drags the play down. The difference between the actors imported from New York City and the local cast was tremendous. And the story... what is the story, exactly? As far as I can tell, it was a string of numbers about different cats, held together (poorly) by a sub-story that always seemed misplaced. The songs were amusing, don't get me wrong, but there was absolutely no flow. And I don't think it was this theatre's production that made it so, I think they didn't have much to work with. Which brings me to the one caveat I'll add before noone who reads this buys a ticket. There were some major technical difficulties going on the entire first half of the play. Sounds weren't syncronized, microphones weren't working (we could barely hear many of the singers), the actors were obviously still getting used to the set (one ran into the scaffolding and knocked his wig off, ouch!), the orchestration was entirely too loud. The second half was a smidge more enjoyable thanks to them adjusting sound levels and making sure we could hear them sing. (I also sat next to someone who smelled like he must have bathed in vodka before the show... I'm sure you've had the pleasure of smelling someone that alcohol literally emanated from every pore of their body. So that was a mild distraction. I joked to Cheri that sitting next to this guy made the evening feel like every date I ever had with my last ex. *big cute grin*) Anyway, this play did not make me a fan of Cats... in fact, it was a terrible way to end the Summer season. | private feedback | (0) public comments Thursday, August 05, 2004 All-Star Dinner Parties and Amazon.com Dating Over lunch with a friend today, we discussed how he and his partner want to entertain more. But, as is often the case, the mix of people who are invited to dinner parties will largely determine success. And, as my friend said, 'We just don't know which of our friends will get along, and which won't.' I, in my infinite logical wisdom and recent interest in sporting events, suggested a series of qualifying dinners where a small number of friends would be invited... testing the waters to see how they interacted. And from each qualifying dinner, one or two would get invited to participate in regular season dinner parties... and this, of course, leaves the option open of hosting a sort of All-Star Dinner Party for the very best of the best dinner party guests. This conversation quickly turned into dinner parties needing 'a reason' to exist. I said, "You need to be meeting some younger single friends and then invite us all to dinner... as a mixer. Think of it as doing a good deed." My friend laughed and said, "Yeah, we don't know any of those." I said, "Well that doesn't help me. What about that guy that was hitting on you at the bar a few weeks ago?" He said, "Him? I don't think it's transferrable." I said, "Why not? It'll be like Amazon.com dating... 'if you have a crush on so-and-so, may we recommend so-and-so?' or 'if you enjoyed your date with so-and-so, you may also be interested in a date with so-and-so.' Or, how about, 'we're happy to inform you that so-and-so is back on the market.' My particular favorite will be the 'pre-orders' on dates with individuals who are either off the market or not out of the closet yet... Hmmmmm, I think we're on to something. Watch out, Friendster! | private feedback | (0) public comments Wednesday, August 04, 2004 Everybody's Doin' It in '04! VoterVirgin.com | private feedback | (0) public comments Amazing Race I missed last week's episode because I was out celebrating a friend's birthday... but apparently the too-cute-for-words internet dating couple was eliminated. :-( They were sorely missed... and now we're down to seven teams. This week, besides being in some of the most beautiful locales (St. Petersburg and Cairo!), I don't remember that much except the rivalry between the twins and the bowling moms. Oh yeah, and the tragic outfit that my favorite little person was wearing... a hideous, unfortunate black and red number that made her look like a gumdrop. (And was it just me or did that guy say 'Oompa Loompa' when he lifted her up onto that horse? OK, maybe it was just 'Oooomph' said in a wierd way, but... How rude.) And why would the couple who was so far in the lead use the fast forward? I have only been watching this game for the last three seasons... but even I know that eventually some task that they have to do is going to equalize the field once again and that fast forward will be as good as wasted. (Cheri and I both agreed on this tactical error... which is nice considering she's who I would have been on the Race with... had we ever actually applied to be on it.) And of course, you have to listen to the wording of the clues very carefully. When the final clue was read out loud, I remember thinking, "Hey, that sounds different." It was 'the last team to reach the pitstop may be eliminated from the race' instead of 'will be eiliminated.' So now we know what the final twist in the game is. If you finish last on one of the legs that doesn't eliminate you, they take all your money away and you get NO money at the start of the next leg. The bowling moms were the first victims of this twist. | private feedback | (0) public comments Tuesday, August 03, 2004 Sucky Ithaca Reality Despite all the great things that Ithaca has going for it, it has one big rotten reality... The thing that I've had the hardest time coming to terms with is that as you get to know people in Ithaca, you're also preparing for them to leave. This is especially true if you're in your mid-20's and the people that you're meeting are in their mid-20's. Overwhelmingly, those people are graduate students at Cornell or Ithaca College who will be here for a few years before they move on. I'm sure this is a common experience for anyone that has chosen to settle in a college town. And I've heard it's the same for the straight community as well. It is very difficult to have a healthy social life in this town for the mid-to-late twenties set. People of that age tend to want to migrate towards cities... to "bigger and better experiences," outside of rural Central New York. As someone that makes friends relatively slowly... by the time I get to know someone well enough to consider them a good friend, they're pulling up stakes. I think part of the funk I'm in right now is dealing with this. It happens at the same time every year... when leases are up in August. I had a friend that moved to NYC last week... and another one threatening to, pending the outcome of a job interview. He could be gone in as little as two weeks. One acquaintance is moving to D.C., and last week I met a guy who seems really nice and thought, "Gee, he would be a cool guy to make friends with..." only to find out that he was leaving Ithaca in a few days, having just finished a grad program at Cornell. It's just something you just have to accept if you're going to call Ithaca 'home'. | private feedback | (0) public comments Quote of the Day "Between the two of us -- John Edwards and I -- we decided that Ben Affleck had about four hours more TV than we did." John Kerry, joking about Ben's coverage the week of the Democratic National Convention. Rumors are flying that Ben Affleck is eyeing the Senate seat John Kerry would vacate if he wins the White House. Gay marriage AND Senator Ben Affleck? Massachusetts, here I come! | private feedback | (0) public comments The wait is over... ... Mayor Carolyn Peterson is expected to announce today that she has chosen Lauren Signer as the next leader of the Ithaca Police Department. Signer has been with the IPD since 1999 and served as acting chief for more than a year. [Ithaca Journal: Signer will be new IPD chief] | private feedback | (0) public comments Monday, August 02, 2004 A reading fiend... In between New Yorker magazines and New York Observer newspapers, both of which come once a week... I have managed to find time to read some great books in the last few months. I'm always in the middle of at least three or four... but here are the ones I highly recommend (because I actually finished them): Running With Scissors by Augusten Burroughs Hilarious childhood memoirs... just imagine being raised by the family of your mother's therapist, coming to terms with your sexuality, and yearning to run a hair care products business empire. Dry by Augusten Burroughs Adulthood memoirs... surprisingly funny considering that most of the book takes place in rehab. Cooking With Grease by Donna Brazile The autobiography of the first black woman to run a national campaign... Al Gore's 2000 run for the white house. An inspiring story about a little girl whose only dream is to grow up and run a presidential campaign, and then how she made it happen. It Can't Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis Recommended by Jase. Written in the 1930's, is the story of the rise of a dictatorship in America. The parallels to our current administration are chilling. On par with Orwell's 1984. Maybe the Moon by Armistead Maupin An easy read... and the last book by Maupin I still needed to read. I picked up an autographed copy on my San Francisco trip. I've loved everything else he's written including Tales of the City and The Night Listener. Maybe the Moon has an endearing main character and a compelling story about finding work and love in Hollywood as a little person. | private feedback | (0) public comments America Coming Together Will Ferrell takes on Dubbya in this funny video to promote America Coming Together For Victory | private feedback | (0) public comments Quote of the Day "It was a very lame excuse." Teri Hayt, Managing Editor of the Arizona Daily Star. A Bush/Cheney campaign event organizer had asked a photographer's race before they would allow her access to the Vice President. The Daily Star refused to provide the information, and the quote above was in response to the organizer telling Hayt that Mamta Popat's race was a necessary piece of information to allow the Secret Service to distinguish her from someone else who might have the same name. [Arizona Daily Star: Bush camp solicits race of Star staffer] | private feedback | (0) public comments |
Hey! I'm Shane... a proud gay progressive Democrat who has recently relocated to New York City from Ithaca, NY. As I am no longer in Ithaca, I haven't quite decided the fate of this blog. Drop me a line!
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