Writing the FCC

Just read this on CNN.

I've been mulling over a related idea for a few weeks now. I think we liberals should co-opt this strategy that conservatives have been using of late. That is, every time we hear anti-gay comments/ads/topics on radio and television, we should write a letter to the FCC, forcing them to investigate. (At least I think that's how it works.) Every time we hear 'fag' on television, which, granted, isn't often, but the word is used occasionally, (how's that for overusage of commas?!?!) we should write a letter indicating that we heard an indecent word over the US-regulated airwaves. And it is hatefully indecent.

Granted, I tend to just change the channel when I don't like what's on. What others want to see isn't really my business, but this idea could send a message that conservatives aren't the only ones offended by what's on television/radio. We liberals are simply offended for different reasons.

Clarification: I'm using the word 'offended' above in a very liberal sense. I'm rarely offended by anything on television/radio. The point of my proposed letter-writing campaign would be to send a message to the conservative FCC that liberals too can use the government to "push an agenda" so to speak. Oooh, does this mean my idea should be added to The Homosexual Agenda? If so, please let me know whom I should contact to have it included.

A Week in Las Vegas

I just arrived in Sin City for a week's worth of conference. A week is way too long in Vegas. The good news is that my hotel room is crazy nice. Take a look at the pics of it in the Gallery. The view sucks, but Las Vegas hotel rooms weren't designed for their views.

I was here for the same conference this time last year, but Kevin was able to join me then. He couldn't come out with me this year, so the city just doesn't have the same appeal when I'm here by myself. I'm definitely going to visit some of the museums here in the hotel. And after going to the fantastic Chihuly exhibit at the Atlanta Botanical Garden last summer, I have to revisit his ceiling installation at the Bellagio. So I'll get out a bit, but not like I would with Kevin here. It's just easier to stay in the hotel, which is a city unto itself, by the way.

The conference looks interesting enough. I'm going to have some nail-biting moments, however, because I'm taking the first part of the three part certification exam. I want some letters after my name! LOL!! Anyway, that isn't until Thursday afternoon, so I have plenty of time to obsess study.

I'll post more photos of the city later in the week, so stay tuned.

iWonder

Andrew Sullivan has a great commentary in The Sunday Times about society's increasing isolationism using iPods, blogs, and other types of narrowcasting (now that's a word from the 90's, my children).

Using Manhattan as the locale of his observations, he notes the huge numbers of people listening to their iPods. I personally don't do that in New York, simply because just being there is stimulation enough for me. But were I to live there, I can understand how I might want to drown out as much as possible in order to gain some semblance of "alone time."

Overall, I believe his analysis is correct. But I'm interested in the why? of the phenomenon. Why are we isolating ourselves inside our own cocoons? Is it the consequence of information overload? Are we as a society becoming more hardened towards others? Or are we simply taking advantage of technology not previously available to us? (Although we have had Walkmans [Walkmen???] for years, as Sullivan points out.)

What does it all mean, if anything?

Life is Beautiful

Friday evening we saw a local production of Cabaret. It was good enough, but the subject matter got to me more than I had suspected. I had never seen this show or the movie. I didn't really know the subject matter. I knew it took place in 1930s Berlin, but that's about it.

Shows with this and similar settings strike me deep, as I relate the social circumstances to our current day. Once I realized what was happening in the show, I couldn't stop making parallels between Germany and today's US. While we (the US) haven't gotten as far (yet, anyway) as Germany got, it could happen, and seems closer to happening now than ever before in my lifetime.

The circumstances of the show made for a pretty good discussion between several of us after the show. When does one know when to leave a country that's on the cusp of war, of holocaust? A fine sliver of time exists between just in time and too late.

Relating back to my frame of mind, what has to happen here in the US that says "Now is the time to leave," to us gay people? Kevin says that when Congress grants extraordinary powers to the president, we need to be on guard. Something similar happened in Germany. I haven't researched yet to know exactly what it was. The Patriot Act was a step in that direction, but it isn't anywhere near what happened in Germany, according to Kevin.

My gut instinct tells me my paranoia is working overtime, that Americans won't allow these horrible things to happen. But who knows? Let's keep those passports up to date, just in case.

A English Lesson

I just got back from my company's cafeteria, where I saw a bulletin board display titled When to use 'a' and 'an'.

I kid you not.

Aside from the fact that 'and' should be 'or', isn't this something we learned in, what, 2nd grade? Now, if it listed when to use 'who' or 'whom' or maybe 'lie' or 'lay' or even 'sit' or 'set' I would be more forgiving, because those distinctions can be tricky for some.

But I fear that the need for this "instruction" indicates the level of many employees here. Based on some of the things I have personally witnessed, we aren't the brightest bunch, collectively. It's a wonder this company makes money at all.

Avoidance

As many of you may have noticed, I like to watch television. Note, however, the list of programs on my TiVo lists. They're generally the "good" shows. Not a lot of trash. Well, except for the Real Sex documentaries on HBO. But those are usually interesting, kinda like a train wreck is interesting.

One not-so-incredibly-trashy reality show that Kevin and I have been watching since its premier is Wife Swap. But last week's episode pairs a lesbian family with a conservative Repugnican family from Texas. This episode has been on the TiVo for almost a week, and I cannot bring myself to watch it. I just get so fucking tired of gay people and gay families being attacked by those deplorable holier-than-thou types that I don't want to wade through the shit to get to any of the good parts, if any exist at all, of the episode.

In the previews, the conservative woman is shown arguing with the lesbian who stays behind. The thing that really sticks in my craw is that the conservative family is interracial -- a family you'd think (especially being from Texas!) would be understanding of "different" families. After all, it wasn't so long ago that interracial marriages were illegal. What gives??? I know I shouldn't stereotype like that, but really. Then again, there are vermin-of-hell people like Roy Cohn, J. Edgar Hoover, Jeff Gannon, et al. who aimed their wrath at, among others, People Like Them.

Anyway, I'll eventually bite the bullet and watch the episode, but I'm building up my emotional callouses in the meantime.

Work Stuff

I work in Data Warehousing/Business Intelligence. I don't believe I have mentioned that here.

Anyway, I'm going to a conference in Las Vegas later this month and was wondering if any of you bloggers are going to be there as well. It's the TDWI Winter 2005 conference at The Venetian. Nice digs, huh?

I'm going to be traveling a bit more than usual in the coming months, it seems. The great part is its mostly for pleasure! I'll post the cities we're visiting later once plans are finalized.

Health Update

It's been a week since I hurt my back, and things are mostly back to normal. I still feel some stiffness after being still for a couple of hours, but the pain has subsided. Today is the first day I haven't taken Advil too, so the pain's disappearance is real.

I'm going to work out tonight for the first time since The Injury. JT (my trainer) and I have been in touch several times this week, and I've done the stretching exercises he recommended. It'll be good to get the muscles going again. Besides, spring is just around the corner, and I can't waste time being idle!

In other news, I've changed (yet again) the What's on my TiVo? link to separate the contents of each TiVo. Now if I could just get the To Do list on the web, things would be in a place where I could stop tinkering for a while.

Great News for Atlanta!

This, my friends, is the design of the new Atlanta Symphony Center! Scheduled for a 2011 opening, the building will be on 14th Street near Peachtree Street. This is a mere 2 blocks from where we live! The accompanying Symphony Tower is already under construction, and we will soon have a view of its apex from our balcony once its height clears the Campanile Building.

Reminding me ever so slightly of Sydney's Opera House, the hall's acoustics have been in development for almost 3 years. This will truly be a magnificent hall for the fabulous Atlanta Symphony Orchestra!

It's Official

I'm old. As if my practically nonexistent libido and the ever-multiplying gray hairs weren't clues enough, today I hurt my back. I was doing squats and was nearing the final rep when I just lost it. My back went weak, and my trainer immediately lifted the bar off my shoulders.

We subsequently did some stretches and I was feeling better. The drive home wasn't too good, but I made it. I'm now jacked up on 4 Advil and lying on a heating pad. This weekend is not going to be fun. If I could score a 'scrip of Percocet the weekend would be much, much better.

I think I'll make some phone calls... Better living through chemistry, I always say!

Home Entertainment

Our building was recently wired to receive the same cable service (Comcast) that the rest of the city gets. Comcast is currently offering a $400 credit for satellite customers to change services. We couldn't pass that up, so we have switched.

We've had DISH for a couple of years, and it's been just OK. Picture quality was fabulous, but several key channels (Sundance, Bravo, BBC) were frequently unavailable because DISH technicians had tweaked the dish. (Oh, I should explain... Our building's DISH service is such that a central dish is mounted on top of the building. No unsightly dish on the balcony!) Anyway, all this tweaking led to unreceivable channels. It was frustrating because TiVo would change channels to these bad channels and get stuck there.

Missed TiVo recordings + an eager-to-watch-TV Todd = BAD NEWS

The installation took 2 days -- the first tech didn't have 2 boxes, so a second tech had to be scheduled for yesterday morning. Kind of frustrating, but I worked from home, so the wait time wasn't totally unproductive.

Comcast analog channels aren't as crisp as DISH's and our OnDEMAND (TM) feature still isn't working, so I'll have to work that out with the customer service people. But we now get Oxygen and those crazy public access channels, so it's balancing out, I suppose.

You'd think that Comcast service in Midtown Atlanta would offer a gay porn channel. No such luck. At least not yet.