Irises

There comes a point in your life when you realize:

Who matters,

Who never did,

Who won't anymore...

And

who always will...

So, don't worry about people from your past,

there's a reason why they didn't make it to your future..

*Thanks, Dwight


Posted on a MAC

Ramblings of a Retired Mind

I was thinking about how a status symbol of today is those cell phones that everyone has clipped onto their belt or purse. I can't afford one. So, I'm wearing my garage door opener. I also made a cover for my hearing aid and now I have what they call blue teeth, I think.


You know, I spent a fortune on deodorant before I realized that people didn't like me anyway.


I was thinking that women should put pictures of missing husbands on beer cans!

I was thinking about old age and decided that old age is 'when you still have something on the ball, but you are just too tired to bounce it.'

I thought about making a fitness movie, for folks my age, and call it 'Pumping Rust.'

I have gotten that dreaded furniture disease. That's when your chest is falling into your drawers!

I know, when people see a cat's litter box, they always say, 'Oh, have you got a cat?' Just once I want to say, 'No, it's for company!'

Employment application blanks always ask who is to be notified in case of an emergency.' I think you should write, 'A Good Doctor!'

I was thinking about how people seem to read the Bible a whole lot more as they get older. Then, it dawned on me, they were cramming for their finals.


As for me, I'm just hoping God grades on the curve.



' Enjoy Your Days & Love Your Life.'

Because: 'Life is a journey to be savored.'

*Thanks, Dad


Posted on a MAC

A Child's Eyes

*Thanks, Dwight

Posted on a MAC

The Gay Betsy Ross

The rainbow flag has become the easily-recognized colors of pride for the gay community. The multicultural symbolism of the rainbow is nothing new -- Jesse Jackson's Rainbow Coalition also embraces the rainbow as a symbol of that political movement. The rainbow also plays a part in many myths and stories related to gender and sexuality issues in Greek, Native American, African, and other cultures.

Use of the rainbow flag by the gay community began in 1978 when it first appeared in the San Francisco Gay and Lesbian Freedom Day Parade. Borrowing symbolism from the hippie movement and black civil rights groups, San Francisco artist Gilbert Baker designed the rainbow flag in response to a need for a symbol that could be used year after year. Baker and thirty volunteers hand-stitched and hand-dyed two huge prototype flags for the parade. The flags had eight stripes, each color representing a component of the community: hot pink for sex, red for life, orange for healing, yellow for sun, green for nature, turquoise for art, indigo for harmony, and violet for spirit.

The next year Baker approached San Francisco Paramount Flag Company to mass-produce rainbow flags for the 1979 parade. Due to production constraints -- such as the fact that hot pink was not a commercially-available color -- pink and turquoise were removed from the design, and royal blue replaced indigo. This six-color version spread from San Francisco to other cities, and soon became the widely-known symbol of gay pride and diversity it is today. It is even officially recognized by the International Congress of Flag Makers. In 1994, a huge 30-foot-wide by one-mile-long rainbow flag was carried by 10,000 people in New York's Stonewall 25 Parade.

The rainbow flag has inspired a wide variety of related symbols, such as freedom rings and other accessories. There are plenty of variations of the flag, including versions with a blue field of stars reminiscent of the American Stars and Stripes and versions with superimposed lambdas, pink triangles, or other symbols.

Jay Leno's 11:35pm Reign Ends Tonight. Who's Gonna Miss His Gay Jokes?

Just because tonight is the last time he'll host The Tonight Show after a 17-year-run doesn't mean Jay Leno is going anywhere. He'll be popping up five nights a week at 10pm on NBC this fall! So there's no real loss of Leno, just a time change. But will a new time slot change Leno's lowest common denominator punchlines? Probably not. But will it make Leno more gay-friendly?

That's a more difficult question.

Leno has a not-so-great history with the gays. Like any comedian, Leno steps into controversial territory now and then for the sake of a laugh. This is the nature of the humor business, and sometimes it can go over well. Other times, not.

Sure, you'll rarely find a white comedian who broaches racial jokes, but sometimes they do, and sometimes they're funny! And it's not like straight comedians can't make gay jokes. They can.

Craig Kilborn did it: "Governor Schwarzenegger has come out against gay marriage and then he went back to slathering body oil all over his muscles in front of other guys."

Craig Ferguson, too: "Republicans say they plan to press for a constitution amendment to ban gay marriage. Because the founding fathers intended gay sex to be very casual. They didn't want it to be married." And: "Maine legalized gay marriage today. Maine became comfortable with the idea after years of touching Canada."

But how come whenever Leno approaches Gaytown, we cringe?

The late night host's most recent gay joke scandal involved Ryan Phillippe, who Leno asked the Stop-Loss star to make his best gay face for the camera. "Can you give me your gayest look? Say that camera is Billy Bob… Billy Bob has just ridden in shirtless from Wyoming." (Smartly, Phillippe refused to play along.)

Leno ended up apologizing for the incident, but only after folks like Avenue Q writer Jeff Whitty (seen in the interview clip above) publicly complained about the incident.

Of course, this isn't Leno's first time making gays the butt of a joke. He's turned to Brokeback Mountain ("Both Crash and Brokeback Mountain had similar themes: Whether you're a driver in L.A. or a cowboy in Montana, keep checking your rearview mirror … you don't know who's coming up behind you.") and all but painted Hillary Clinton as a bull dyke during the presidential campaign. (Conan O'Brien has entered this territory, too.)

The problem with Leno, then, isn't that he makes gay jokes. It's that he does so at the expense of gay people. His comedy doesn't make us feel included, but hijacked. Maybe this has something to do with Leno's target audience (middle-aged Middle America or something), so you know he's kowtowing to a demographic that might have a gay friend, but finds ruthless gay humor HYS-TER-I-CAL. But how come other late night comedians manage to include our kind in their punchlines in a way that even we start laughing?

What will differ with Leno's move to 10pm isn't quite clear, but we expect the more risque humor will be toned down for the earlier hour. Whether that includes his terribly unfunny attempt at gay humor is anyone's guess.

*Queerty

posted on ubuntu Linux

Smoke Monster From 'Lost' Given Own Primetime Spin-Off Series

BURBANK, CA—Executives at ABC announced Monday that the network will premier a new Lost spin-off series this fall based around that show's popular smoke monster character.

The new series, a half-hour family-oriented comedy called Where There's Smoke, is touted by ABC as the new anchor of its Thursday-night lineup.

"Somewhere between the smoke monster's first appearance on Lost— when it was depicted as a strange unseen force uprooting trees—and that episode in season three where it grabbed Mr. Eko and smashed him against the ground until he was dead, this character became the breakout star of the show," said Stephen McPherson, president of ABC Entertainment. "And that's exactly why we're so excited about Where There's Smoke. We get to see the monster's light comedic side in a show about life, love, and good friends having good times."

"Because after all, Where There's Smoke, there's laughter," McPherson added.

ABC sources reported that the series will transplant the evil black cloud from the island of Lost to the suburbs of Chicago, where it works as a sports radio host, surrounded by "a whole new group of crazy characters." Actress Lea Thompson has signed on to play the monster's long-suffering wife, who must put up with her husband's screwball antics while raising the couple's two rambunctious children, Tanner and Smoky, Jr.

Veteran TV producer Chuck Lorre, of Dharma & Greg and The Big Bang Theory fame, will helm the show, which he said will focus mainly on the deadly creature's adjustments to suburbia and fatherhood, and its comically contentious relationship with its boss, a fussy radio station manager played by Richard Kind.

--more--

posted on ubuntu Linux

Iraq cleric: Eradicate homosexuality

By 365gay Newscenter Staff
(Baghdad) A radical Shiite cleric has called for the “depravity” of homosexuality to be eradicated but his spokesperson later said that that the remark should not be taken as a fatwa to kill gays.

Moqtada Sadr made the call on Thursday during a seminar of clerics, police and tribal leaders.

There has been growing anti-gay violence in Iraq. Last month another Shiite cleric, Sattar al-Battat, repeatedly condemned homosexuality during Friday prayers, saying Islam prohibits homosexuality. Homosexual acts are punishable by up to seven years in prison in Iraq.

The following week, the bodies of two gay men were found in Baghdad’s Shiite slum of Sadr City. Several days later, a third man was found dead on the outskirts of Sadr City. By the end of the month, another three bodies were found and police said four other men were found tortured but alive.

Amnesty International said that in addition to the violence in Sadr City, 25 suspected gays had been killed in recent months in Baghdad.

A group calling itself “Brigades of the Righteous” has posted signs around Sadr City listing the names of alleged homosexuals and threatening to kill them.

Moqtada Sadr’s spokesperson on Friday said that the cleric’s call for the eradication of homosexuality was not an endorsement of the violence.

“Al-Sadr rejects this type of violence,” said Sheikh Wadea al-Atabi. “And anyone who commits violence [against gays] will not be considered as being one of us,” Al-Atabi said.

“The only remedy to stop [homosexuality] is through preaching and guidance. There is no other way to put an end to it,” he said.

In addition to Al-Sadr’s remarks Thursday, another Shiite leader at the meeting said that homosexuality “is a disaster that has come to the community,” and a tribal leader from Sadr City, said: “Everybody has to work to preserve the morals of young people from the corrupt phenomena of the West.”

posted on ubuntu Linux

GUN CONTROL IS BEING ABLE TO HIT YOUR TARGET - A Scary Look

The following are evident of "real attitudes" of opponents of Gun Control - which is scary...










"And Ye Harm None, Do What Thou Will."

*Thanks, Darcene


posted on ubuntu Linux

Gay Erotic Art

Click above to go to Steve Walker's Art page - now only on facebook there are great pictures all thumbnailed for you to peruse. While the picture above isn't Steve Walker's art as far as I know - it did remind me of the artist's fantastic work

Needing Approval More Than Advice

No matter what Gary did, it was never enough to please his father. When he got seven A’s and three B’s, his dad asked about the B’s. When he described the wonderful girl he’d fallen in love with, he got a lecture cautioning that she may be different than he thought.

Gary’s dad was stunned and hurt when Gary took a job in another town. He tried to talk him out of it, explaining the advantages of being close to the family and the pitfalls of moving. Finally, Gary exploded, “Dad, I’m moving to get away from you! I love you, but I can’t stand the way you tear down everything I do.”

He braced himself for a counterattack, but for the first time in his life he saw his dad’s mask of confidence dissolve into vulnerability. With tears in his eyes, his dad stammered, “All I ever wanted was to make you better and help you reach your potential and avoid risks. It’s what I do. It’s why my business is so successful. Do you want me to ignore my experience and just be a cheerleader?”

“Dad, our relationship isn’t about productivity,” Gary explained. “You’re my dad. Sometimes I need praise more than a push, and approval more than advice. Constantly trying to make me better just makes me feel worse. It’s not enough that you love me. I need you to appreciate me.”

That’s an important lesson. In personal relationships, there may be benefits to the relentless pursuit of better, but the cost may be too high.

This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.

*CharacterCounts

Disney Trivia

What's up with the number A-113 seen cleverly posted or referred to in just about every Pixar movie?

According to Pixar archivist Christine Freeman, A-113 is a classroom at CalArts that was used by animation students. CalArts alumni have placed A-113 in every Pixar feature film as a tribute, including the conference room number in "The Incredibles," the number of an airport terminal in "Toy Story 2," the identity tag of former lab rat Git in "Ratatouille," and Mater's license plate number in "Cars."

Mater's License Plate from the movie "Cars".

More on this item from Wikipedia

LIFE

*Thanks, Wanda