Absolutly

I am a brown man. Well, OK, I am half a brown man. Lately, I have been reading Hispanic literature; in English. See, i grew up int he white suburbs of Los Angeles, but i am inf act Mexican. I do not speak espanol. Maybe un poquito. Lately, I think because of all the attention immigrants, and more specifically Hispanics have been getting in the media, I have been reading books by Hispanic authors about the Hispanic experience in America.

side note: is it not odd that we segregate books in book stores and libraries by ethnicity, but say only through education can we rid our society of such evils?

I started with HISPANIC. It's a good book besides the fact it's written by Geraldo, who I think can sound like a quack at times. It is interesting because it addresses what I have been saying about news commentators, and those who oppose immigration. That lately, its seems ok to be blatantly racist towards Hispanics. However, if one was to say the things that some have been saying on both CNN and FOXnews about blacks, or Jews, you'd get the Anti-defamation league, the NAACP, and Al Sharpton on your ass. For some reason though, its OK to say anything about Hispanics no matter how overtly racist it is. Please see many of my other blogs on this subject.

Recently, it has come to light about this ad from Absolut vodka:

ABSOLUT WORLD(thanks to Ramona). this is map of north America. it is what North America may have looked like post 1848 had the Mexican American war not been fought.



Now, I thought it was hilarious. Of course I would. I have seen many of the absolut ads over the years, and I think they've got friggin geniuses working for them. On a more serious note, it proves what i also have been saying for some time: My people never crossed any fucking border. the border in fact, did cross us. It why San Fransisco is San Fransisco and not Suttertown, which following the gold rush, would surely have been. Understand that the ad only ran in Mexico. as you can see, it is all in Spanish. Any map made in Mexico would be in Spanish plain and simple. Same as how school maps here in the US are all in English. However, there are many detractors that say it is promoting illegal immigration and what some people have called Reconquista. I think it was a funny ad that played to its audience, just as many Absolut ads have done before. The fact that many people get pissed off about it is what pisses me off.
Maybe because you see an ounce of truth that in fact, US expansion in the late 19th cetury went a bit too far with your Manifest destiny. Invading sovereign lands and taking what was good, and forcing indigenous people from their homelands and then claiming you were there the whole time? It wasn't like the plains Indians started int he plains right? Illegal immigration of anglos is how that map got screwed up in the first place, all your Tuberculosis and small pox moving west to dry climates.

or maybe its just a fucking ad.

for more funny and controversial Absolut ads go here: Absolut Ad Gallery.

In he immortal words of so many who have come before me:

Fuck em if they can't take a joke.

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A soundtrack for your life.

It's been awhile since my last post. Yes, I apologize, 3 months is too long. However, tonight, is the second appearance by Harriet the Spy.

I'm simply sharing one of my (many) quirks with you. Thanks to my tax refund check, I treated myself to a new Ipod and put my old nano to rest. I now have the luxery of having a musical device that not only fits all of my eclectic collection of music but also has a battery lifespan longer than a half hour! This new device has once again, made my morning commute a little more than bearable.

Which brings me to my point. I discovered that the music I listen to definitely dictates the mood that I'll be in. There are times when I'm laying my head against the metro window with a wistful look in my eye or when I'm simply grinning like a fool. Chances are--the music in my head may have something to do with the heart that I wear so obviously on my sleave.

Have you ever put a soundtrack to your life? Have you ever thought about what songs would be playing at some pivotal point in your life? Or what songs would be playing throughout the humdrum every-day non-stop rhythm that we call our jobs (for example, Everybody's Working for the Weekend comes to mind)?

Or, here's another one of my favorite games to play. Have you ever placed yourself in music videos? Yes, I'm that lame. I'll be the first to admit. I've pictured myself as Carrie Underwood beating the heck out of a guy's car--definitely a power-girl move--an expression of anger and emotion that I could only dream of showing (mostly to fellow colleagues who have assumed the role as my smarter and wiser older brothers--none of which, they actually are!).

So, I'm going to share with you some of my exquisite taste in music and what emotions they may bring out in me or that I can relate to from the music video. Enjoy--and I encourage you to think about the soundtrack that would play to your life while giving you a little insight to mine.

I Don't Feel Like Dancin' by Scissor Sisters-- despite the title--this is one of those feel-so-good-I-want-to-dance-the-whole-walk-to-work songs. This song has put me in such a good mood that I've caught people giving me a "WTF is she so happy about at this early in the morning look!" on the metro while on my way to work. And it's that look that makes me grin even bigger!

If You Leave-- Nada Surf did an excellent cover to this song that really makes you feel the pain of saying good-bye to someone close. This is an empathy song for me. For those of you who ever watched the OC (the first season--the only good season)--there was an episode where Seth had to say good-bye to one of his very good friends. This song played in the background--and I defeinitely felt Seth's pain. And I found this song to embody all the emotions that I experienced when saying good-bye to some of my dearest friends when I graduated college.

Summer Nights--Greese Soundtrack, Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta--who hasn't sung along with this classic and envisioned themself as either Sandy or Danny? Really. 'Nough said.

Feel good summer classic.

Sweet Child of Mine--Guns and Roses. If you've played this song on Guitar Hero--everytime you hear this song YOU are now and ever will be the one playing the awesome lead melody to this rock classic.

Any song of Jack Johnson's-- summer time. beer. BBQ. poolside. good ole' r&r.

Anything by Snow Patrol-- Any female Grey's Anatomy fan has become Meredith Grey upon hearing Snow Partol's artwork.

In the Mood, Sing Sing, etc--Big Band Swing-- this easily brings me back to my freshmen and sophomore years in college jazz band when we played these dance classics of the 40's.

Island in the Sun--Weezer. Tubing down a river in the summer.

Thnks Fr Th Mmrs--Fall Out Boy. Air guitar favorite of mine. Yeah, that makes for some awkward metro moments... be careful with this one in public!

Aha's Take On Me is another empathy one. If you've seen the music video, you know what I'm talking about. The part where the lead singer is trying to get out of the drawing he managed to jump into and back into the same universe as his love is heart-wrenching! You definitely need to have seen this video to know what in the world I'm talking about!

any song of Journey's--fun times at a bar with your favorite friends. Don't stop believin'!

Evil Ways--Santana. Yes. I am a band geek. I was in marching band all throughout junior high and high school. This song will always be dear to me. I was the only junior high student to play in our high school band and this was one of the first songs I ever played and one that I attribute to developing the skill needed to play the sax.

Crazy Game of Poker--OAR. Believe it or not, this song was a favorite of mine long before I ever met Harold and his fellow OAR lovers. To me, in my life's soundtrack, this song was playing during one of the few times my brother and I hung out. We were driving to my grandparents' for a family wedding and my brother played this song and sung along this song--letting down his guard and letting me see a sillier side of him that I had never seen before. It was times like this that make me very excited to hang out with him this upcoming May.

Under Pressure--Queen and David Bowie. I don't know why, but I always just feel very cool and very chill whenever I hear this song. Usually a slight head bob acompanies.

Aerosmith's Dream On--I envision myself winning a gold medal every time I hear this song. Thank you Miracle.

Any country song-- simply reminds me of the true hick that I am.

Alternative/Emo music--high school emo phase. Doesn't everyone go through one of these?

Wide Open Spaces--Dixie Chics. This song will always remind me of how short and precious life is. This song was played at the funeral of one of my high school classmate's sisters who committed suicide when she was only in 5th grade, 10 years ago this year. I still remember everything about that day and I still pray for her.

Man! I Feel Like a Woman--Shania Twain. One of my favorite primping songs. Need I say more?

Flower by Moby and 8 Mile by Eminem--these songs make me feel gangsta! Word.

Fall into Me--Emerson Drive. Anything by this group puts a smile on my face. I saw them in high school and bumped into the lead singer Brad Mates in the hallway after they had opened for Trick Pony. I wouldn't mind marrying him one day. Someday. sigh....

Kiss the Girl--Little Mermaid Soundtrack. No explanation needed.

Anything by Kenny Chesney. He was the first country concert I went to.

Johnny Cash's music. Simply bad-ass.

Don't Matter--Akon. Caye Caulker, Belize, senior year spring break 2007. Best time ever.

Sugar High--Coyote Shivers, Empire Records. Yeah, I've envisioned myself as Rene' Zellwegger singing on a rooftop. You haven't?

You've Lost the Lovin' Feelin'--The Righteous Brothers. What girl doesn't want to be seranaded to with this song by a bunch of guys? Really.

Everything else by OAR--carrides with Harold, Raggedy Ann, Superfudge, and Ramona

Brad Paisley's Online-- band geek--while this does not, I repeat--DOES NOT--represent me. I love the marching band references to this song. I can always be caught laughing to this song because we all know someone who this song can refer to!

Home--both Daughtry's and Michael Buble's versons can make me so homesick. If I were in this video, it would have me running off the plane only to see beautiful fields of corn in my beloved Iowa.

Same Mistake--James Blunt. I really can't explain what this song makes me feel, but it does make me FEEL.

Does that make sense?

Rockin' the Suburbs'--Ben Folds. I know. I can hear you saying "Really? Really?" But yes. This is my FAVORITE angry, Harriet's pissed off song. When I'm that angry--this is the best way to drop an F bomp. At least do it to music.

Ok. If you stuck around and read all of this, major props to you. I mean, wow. I owe the lot of you an apology. This was supposed to be a taste into the insight of my musical life, if you will. I got carried away(obviously, another quirk of mine. Diarrea of the mouth--in this case, keys). Anywho. I hope you enjoyed reading at least some of this post and can appreciate my favorite songs (althought this is a very limited selection, there is more) and maybe--if you know me somewhat, or even well, you can see the connections and understand how or why I relate to them. Maybe some even make sense or explain some of my personality. Maybe. That's a big maybe. Anywho. Until next time, Buona Note.

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Beer

I hate Bud Lite but very much enjoy Budweiser and Bud Select. Miller Lite is the best of the big brewery Americans, champagne is delicious however I’m not a big fan of MGD. Coors Lite is a solid dude, but his older brother Coors is gross, the banquet beer not so much. Sam Adams regular is ok, though the Sam Adams summer brew is one of the very best beers around. Don’t much care for their other products and Sam Adams Light is one of the very worst experiences I have ever had.

I like what Pabst has done in buying out a lot of the local, cultural breweries. While you may just look like a redneck pounding Old Milwaukee’s or Milwaukee’s Best down, you feel like you have your own little culturally/historically significant brew when downing a Natty Boh or Rainier, even though the quality is the same. Of course their flagship is the blue ribbon winner and they just don’t give those away to anybody. Superfudge can write an ode to that one day perhaps.

Landshark is the best new beer on the market. Great for warm summer days at the beach. Its made by Jimmy Buffett so how can you go wrong?

Never have cared for the heavies. Strange though that I dislike Guinness and Bass independent of one another but together they are delicious in a Black & Tan. The majority of the other European beers I can’t get on board with. The Amazing Hobgoblin? Gross. Duvel? Not my thing. Heineken and Heineken Light however are excellent and especially good with steak.

Dig the Japanese beers. Dry beer is one of my niche likes. Asahi, Sapporo, Orion all great. Not a huge fan of the Chinese beers like Tsing Tao and Harbin, not really sure what they are going for with those.

Molson and Labatt’s are allright. Nothing really fantastic to say about them. Good winter brews.

The Mexican beers are almost all great with a few exceptions (Carta Blanca). Tecate, Corona, Pacifico, and Dos Equis are the best of the bunch. All however come with the special caveat that they are really best suited for drinking in the warmer months. Drinking a Corona in the middle of February just doesn’t do it for me. One notable exception to this is the Dos Equis brown bottle which is acceptable year round.

Don’t care for Red Stripe, but like the commercials. Pyramid is a great beer, especially the Heifeweizen, and its brewed in Seattle. Red Hook is also brewed in Seattle but I just don’t like it. Peroni is neither a rare and interesting Italian beer nor is it very good. Stop giving me bottle caps of it. Anchor Steam is highly overrated as is Blue Moon. Some of the Fat Tire brands are decent enough but not all. Cave Creek Chili Beer is a favorite among Fudge and Fudge alone, the Fudge stands alone. Fosters by itself is not that good, in the oil cans its great however I have received a hangover after every night drinking them so I have backed off.

My god, its Friday thank the lord.

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Talking Points

Here are soem talking points... ripped from the headlines... discuss:


1. Killer third graders. Holy shit. Kids who totally organised an uprising, assigned specific jobs to eachother, and got supplies together. Yes, it was done by third graders and it was n old busted steak knife. However, imagine what would have happened had the teacher struck one of these kids in self-defense. we'd probably be talking bout the evil teacher striking an innocent child. further, there have been several comments about whether the kids intended to do harm. Bullshit, hell yeah they did. I f the teacher had been hurt seriously we'd be asking why we ignored the signs. These are the fucked up little kids that aren't afraid of getting disciplined anymore. kids just don't care because society says they are victims. Bullshit, kids are assholes. remember when you're mom told you school wont kill you? not so anymore

2. Hillary Clinton makes "Rocky" metaphor. Is it just me? Was I the only one who watched all the movies? well, OK, i didn't watch the last one. but it does seem to me, that the story didn't end at the top of the steps in Philly. I'm pretty sure the saga went a bit further than the steps. Mickey told him to back down from Clubber Lang. The Doctor's told him to back down after the doctors told him he was all jacked up after the Drago fight. Adrienne told him not to fight Tommy"the machine" Gunn. but he never backed down. The public told Stallone, please don't screw up the franchise and make the garbage of a movie that Rocky Balboa was sure to be. And in the end, it has been widely regarded that Rocky should have quit looong before he did. So i find it Hillaryous that she just wont quit, despite what people all around are telling her. She should probably take lesson from her own metaphor, and just sit down, before she becomes some washed up punchy old wrinkled person... oh my, too late.

3. Washington Nationals are winning. completely amazing. However, i did say we would do well because of the smaller field. Especially now we have power hitters actually sitting the bench in Dmitri Young, means we have talent to go around which is good. however, I hope i wasnt the only one who noticed that a pitcher blew a 5 run lead from the 1st inning by WALKING IN A RUN! to the PHILLIES!!! the most losingest ballclub in baseball! BULLSHIT! However, dont let the one guy take all the heat. Whatthe hell are we doign losing 5-6 when we score 5 int he first inning? you telling me we could score 5 in one inning, but not ONE MORE TIME in 5 more innings??? them cats better wake the heck up, and stop resting on their laurels of the first two games. This shit better stop right the hell now, we got 100+ games to go damnit.

4. Chris Henry, is it really ALL THAT HARD to be good? youre a fricking millionare?!?!? dont throw beer bottles at kids. dont get arrested. it aint that hard, poeple do it everyday. you seem to not be able to handle the two months of vacation in between workouts and the superbowl! what a waste of talent man. you disgust me sir. complete disgust.

anyhow, i didnt have too much to talk about, but just some things i had been mulling over the next few days.

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Serious Graph

see more funny graphs

Hmm, very true. Why isn't this on CNN?

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Gender

Thomas Beatie, click photo for article in The Advocate

I have always been very liberal with regards to gender and sexuality. No surprises to the Pardy I'm sure. I know that sexuality is a spectrum and we all fall somewhere on it. This sexuality is often innate, hardwired, or biological and can also be influenced by the environment. Gender roles are antiquated and old-fashioned for me. Sure girls can play with Barbies but they can also have have Tonka trucks. Sure boys can play sports at an early age but they can also play house or dress up. And I strongly believe that just because your DNA births you as a female, your brain can be truly male--or vice versa. Gender reassignment is completely fine with me. Why shouldn't your body match your self and social perception? Whether you take advantage of modern medicine have have the surgery to remove the offending parts is a personal decision. I say, go ahead. It would be weird to be a female but have a penis hanging between the legs.

HOWEVER.

How do I feel about a truly combined gender? Thomas, for all intents and purposes, has chosen to live his life as a man. He had chest reconstruction, testosterone therapy, married a woman, and lives as a man in his community. However, since gender status does not require sterilization he opted to keep his reproductive organs. His wife recently had a medical set-back that required a hysterectomy. The couple dearly wanted children and for some reason decided against adoption and decided that Thomas should carry the baby to term.

A male. Pregnant.

Why my mind rejoices at the thought of a truly genderless society, I can't help but be a tad angry. I immediately begin to think "men can't have babies, that's the thing we women can hold above them" or "you made your choice, I accepted it, now stick to it".

Will this couple be good, supportive, and nurturing parents? Probably. Will the child be confused about gender, sexuality, and what it means to be "female*"? Probably no more then every other child growing up in an increasingly open society.

What does this say about gender, gender roles, and sexuality? Could my visceral reaction be compared to the feelings of the homophobic people I so openly and frequent shun? I'd like to think 'no' because there is every evidence in the world that homosexuality is biologically based and has been present since the beginning of (wo)man and is seen throughout the animal world. Or is it just the idea that someday in the future XY males will be able to have children, then what would be left to set us apart? Should the genders be set apart?

As you can see I am grappling with a lot of questions (moral, ethical, liberal, legal, etc.). I would love to hear your feedback.



*A baby girl is expected July 3, 2008. Lets hope the proximity to Independence Day does not interfere in the naming process, lest she have a name like Freedom, or something ridiculous.

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