Haji Lane

Haji Lane
Originally uploaded by nuke_ad

Haji Lane in Singapore feels like Williamsburg, Brooklyn

If Williamsburg has had old shop houses to work with.

Miraculous what can happen in a short period of time.

Proper blog entry tomorrow... I promise

Dinner on the roof

geishas
Originally uploaded by thomask

So last night we had dinner on the roof of a newly cool bar - soaking in the skyline and the chilled Miami like atmosphere.

I like it here. Perhaps a little less than I remember liking it here. It's not quite as shiny. Not quite as easy. Not quite as glam. But the cool spots are cool and people are paying attention to design.

No "strip mall chic-free zones", no nasty lighting. Just sumptuous, gorgeous, beautiful spaces that act as shrines to care.

And that I like

Gym-nasty

P1090749.JPG
Originally uploaded by stevenjude

Why are there so many grunters in the gym?

I know that it's a place that attracts the vain and that many there crave nothing more than the spotlight, but really? Do you really want to be noticed for your 'Monica Seles being beaten by the secret police' impression.

And besides we're not thinking - 'no wonder he's such a fine specimen, what with all that hard work' - we're thinking 'God I hope he doesn't sound like that in bed' and concluding, with a sad shake of the head that you probably do.

Mind my fat mania is out of control. I noticed bruises on my sides today and couldn't work out what they were. Until I instinctive reached down to check on the 'love handles' and realized that the bruises exactly match the position of my fingers.

Obsessed? You betcha.

Ten years and cooler

Screening Room at Ann Siang Hill
Originally uploaded by Steel Wool

It's been 10 years since I first moved to Singapore.
10 years this week to be precise.

And man has it got cooler.

Spunk Alley (the only place for a same sex bunk up) is now less sticky underfoot as gay bars have opened

Flights to Thailand are less full as weekend parties take place on the beach

Young people no longer flaunt pocket protectors - instead looking like slightly chunkier versions of the Japanese

And the whole place just feels a little less uptight... hurrah for Singapore

Blagging a blogging

I'm in Tokyo... at the rather swank NW lounge
Blagged my way in so that I could let friends know that I'm delayed by an hour here
Hope they get the message as my phones baint working
Anyway short and sweet.... just like the staff here

Ice Cream and Ham, Patzcuaro

Ice Cream and Ham, Patzcuaro
Originally uploaded by zocalo2010

It's 2am

I'm in the lobby of a brown conference only hotel

I've had 4 glasses of wine
2 pomegranite martinis
2 ibuprofen (vitamin I)
and a couple of Talisker

An obese Mexican is spiing Choons from his I-Pod
A fattish girl with great tits is 'flashing the merchandise'
A very gay man is kinda hitting on me
Two people from GE finance are hitting on a woman from GE finance

And at one lonely table a couple is earnestly ignorning the 'bitch on the pole' lyrics of that are coming from old school mexican i-pod

I may be fatter but I'm happier
And I got to conduct an orchestra today

Man am I ready for life (again)
Bring it on...

Chickenzilla vs Elmo

Chickenzilla vs Elmo!
Originally uploaded by Mr Jaded

I've been a naughty Elmo. This course has broiught the worst out of me - and the martinis have been Robin to the Batman of my own self-destructive impulses.

Last night I found myself on a bus making up nicknames for all of the people around me. Some were willing participants; others merely got to overhear my inventive venom.

This morning the awfulness I feel has nothing to do with lack of sleep. And nothing to do with alcohol. It's a fear that I may have hurt nice people in a bid to amuse the less nice here.

When did I revert to highschool, huh?

Oh shit

Fat Arnold
Originally uploaded by socpunk

two days of conference food - and three to go

I can feel myself getting softer by the minute --- despite upping the gym and joining the group of people who run around the grounds in the evening.

This conference really is the last thing I needed before a week's vacation... no more alcohol, no more starters and, alas, no more mirrors, for me

A simple statement

Wedding Ring Heart
Originally uploaded by Troy B Thompson

This blog opened (years ago) with a statement of unconditional love for my wife.

I just wanted to say that it still holds

All over the place

[40/365] feeling grey
Originally uploaded by envious photography [sea]

The course that I'm on is one of those 'be emotionally free' things.

And it's doing me no good at all.

I reacted yesterday to the news that somebody had beaten us to an apartment on our floor by half a day with an hour of sobbing, a horrible over reaction and all of the melodrama of a Greek heroine on bad medication.

Today I'm calm. I slept 4 hrs. I'm on a computer at 6am. I've already done an hour in the gym. I've read my case studies, folded my clothes, arranged my travel and (no doubt) worried and upset a wife who already has more than enough on her plate... but I'm calm.

So to those I owe an apology, I'm sorry. To the rest - drama queenery very nearly over

Oh dear

Caution Speed Bumps
Originally uploaded by Neubie

The hotel that I'm learning to make friends for profit at is 70 miles from any airport - or $220 in taxi terms.

it's also about 3 miles from the nearest road.

And built in a donut shape that makes it hard to navigate but impossible to get lost in.

The staff are weary - knowing that conventioneers always start quiet on Sunday and end, on Friday, bed hopping BFFs who grow drunker and more demanding by the day.

The patrons - all here on courses - expense everything and spend what they've saved on shiny suiuts and helmet hair lacquer.

If I had a soul it would be crumbling

If you only see one movie this year

Make it this one

Slumdog Millionaire

More from the evil empire

profile
Originally uploaded by stevenjude

I'm off on full week course aimed at teaching me how to manipulate friendships for profit. I intend to take the lessons onboard and frankly forget them in terms of work. I did something similar with negotiation - which has proved very useful with realtors and car salesmen but hasn't been used anywhere else.

It's a full week but I'm taking gym stuff and will avoid the bowls of candy that will doubtless litter the place.

Back Friday - leave Saturday. Giving me just enough time to look at #510 in our building. Yup a unit up for rent and less than 50 yards from our front door. If it's available for short term lease I'll take it, move over a weekend and be done with the uncertainty of 'what now?'

Jude's back from Portland and heading towards Montreal. Singapore from there. Hurrah!

No cancer yet

So once again the Doctor repeated his "you're boring" refrain and I have to say that it's one that I quite like.

It seems the coughing, the swollen glands, the exhaustion and all of the other maladies really are just colds, allergies and too much time online when I ought to be in bed. Who'd have thought?

I'm not sure why I entered into this one with such a sense of 'something is wrong' when the others I've viewed as inconvenient and expensive but unlikely to throw anything up. It's odd that I can read the motivation of other people so easily (when I can be bothered to look for it) but that I remain a mystery to myself.

Best theory is that this has been the first time since treatment that we've been making long term plans. Michigan was only ever a two year gig. Before that we were planning for a move here. Now Jude's looking at a move that could be permanent and I'm thinking how nice it would be to be in one place, for a long time. Of course the idea of long term is threatened by the ever present specter of early death - and the very real possibility that I might need specialist treatment in the next few years. So scans represent a threat to a future that I'm wanting to plan. Sound plausible? Good.

Anyway have to dash - the dog is back from daycare and I want to spend some time with her

In reception

Hotel Roger Smith
Originally uploaded by tgtsfkncld

I'm standing in the reception of the Roger Smith hotel after a farcical scan (everything got blocked, leaked, broke down) and a nice dinner with an old friend.

Jude is stuck in Chicago. Stranded by bad weather and about to be 5 hrs late for job interviews tomorrow. She's coping better than I am. She's better at the Doris Day attitude than I am.

Results in the morning - rather worried by the whispered 'good luck' from the radiologist today. But then I'm pretty freaked generally. Time for bed I think.

The things that shape our perception

Nightmares
Originally uploaded by timsamoff

Tomorrow I have my first CT scan in 6 months. And it's doing scary things to me. The cough that I have is no longer allergies, it's cancer. The tiredness that I feel at the end of the day is no longer a long day - it's exhaustion. The glands that I feel swollen are no longer just fighting off a cold - they're the first sign of cancer.

It's weird. I knew that 3 month scans would show up cancer before I had a chance to feel its effects. 6 month scans I'm not so sure about. But it's not that uncertainty that bothers me.

What bothers me is that whatever I'm doing there's this shadow of doubt hanging somewhere. We're planning for the future at the moment... where next? what next? when do we move? And the whole time I'm thinking "... if this test is clear" or "damn wouldn't an It's Back diagnosis ruin these plans"

I guess that once you've learned that life has a habit of tripping you up and kicking you in the rubbery bits you come to expect a storm whenever the seas start to look inviting.

Thank god the scans are tomorrow - this hyper awareness is killing me

First snow

First snow
Originally uploaded by Kirill Tryaskin

We got our first snow yesterday. Light but icy. The kind that looks pretty then turns roads to icy death as it lands and becomes an invisible, smooth diamond of inky blackness.

Was fun to watch, less fun to be in and has made travel today all the more exciting.

Suddenly the thought of Singapore - even a rainy season Singapore - is becoming a whole lot more attractive

If you're looking for a way to show an idea

the this website (actually this page) is genius

The things that we hate the most

Can you tell we're moving?
Originally uploaded by Oinster

Our landlord is coming over today to make a video of the place that he can then use to sell it - meaning that we're going to have to move before we move (in June)

As a result we're doing the 'pre-move' dance and throwing away anything that's been in a box, closet or drawer unused, unread or unloved for more than 6 months.

I'd like to say that it was liberating and that the 'out with the old spirit' was something that filled us with hope but it's actually an exercise in reducing the cost of moving by throwing away things that you might actually want to keep. And it's especially hard to do when the move is small.

Gimme a flight of more than 5 hrs and this kinda thing is okay. Don't and we're in flux again. And flux sucks.

All change

P1090252.JPG
Originally uploaded by stevenjude

you see what I did there? How about that for channelling the zeitgeist? And how about THAT for spelling?

So all of the US auto makers announced huge losses today. Chrysler (who also own Jeep and Dodge) are shit out of time and it looks bad for them as GM (is there a worse name for a 21st century company than 'General Motors'?) pulled out of merger / acquisition talks and announced that it's fast running out of money - 2009 being the date that they see it going bang.

Ford looked better, but not much. And of course all of the gloom around these companies makes selling a car even harder - would you buy a GM if you thought that they'd be going out of business in the next year?

I wonder whether the outgoing President is reflecting on any of this.

If they'd told him 8 years ago that the result of his presidency was going to be 1.2m jobs lost in 2008, a $10trillion dollar deficit, two wars, a collapsed banking system, the nationalization of the money markets, the death of the US auto industry, the sanctioning of torture, wiretapping of citizens, public flouting of the Geneva convention, the worst 'terror attack' ever committed on US soil (unless you're a native American of course) and politically the loss of the Senate, House and WhteHouse -- would he have stood?

Maybe it's not too late to ask him.

Mr President?

Dangerously tired

When Jude isn't around I quite often forget to go to bed. Or rather I forget when to go to bed and remember when it's so late into the night that any attempt at sleep would be pretty pathetic.

As a result I'm dangerously tired. I've dropped the dog food. I've almost hit a women crossing the street (okay jogging in all black, at night, across a stop sign) - I saw her late; missed the brake pedal and responded with the girliest of gasps.

What else? Well I was dreadful in a meeting, went blank on several occasions, managed to misuse the limited vocabulary I could muster and forgot the name of a close colleague.

Time I think for some zerious Zees

Barack Obama's Speech last night

NEW ERA
Originally uploaded by january20th2009

Was good....

Sure it was a tad "Bob the Builder" (Can we fix it? Yes we can)

But it was gracious and eloquent, it attempted to reach out, it promised humility and it talked (as ever) about the audacity of hope and America's ability to overcome the obstacles that threaten to derail the idea of the country. He talked about his election not being the change we seek - but permission to pursue that promise.

He's good. But having heard the boos at his name when McCain tried to put a band-aid on the wounds caused by his savage attacks over the last six months means that he has his work cut out.

I for one sat tense as he spoke -- waiting for the sound of the gun that for some reason I was almost certain would be aimed in his direction. Was I alone?

My fave bit of the speech can be found here

Yes We Can

Yes


We


Can

A good thing?

Day 86 - Head in the Clouds
Originally uploaded by margolove

Why do people view uncertainty in other people's lives as 'a good thing'

This month I have scans that will tell me if I'll live or die in 2009.
To whit people say "It must really help you value life"

We have Jude interviewing for jobs everywhere in the world
To whit people say "Oh I envy your flexibility and sense of adventure"

We have a house that may be sold from under us
To whit people say "It's the perfect time to get something great cheap"

When did the very very possibility of being homeless, stateless, jobless and dead become cause for celebration?

That said - it is pretty cool

One more day

Leapin' for Obama
Originally uploaded by Delta Niner

So the longest, most expensive and quite frankly most bizarre election in US history is finally drawing to an end. People are pulling stats the way that they used to pull entrails from chickens - 'proving' everything from the 'fact' that rain favors the Republicans to the more obvious 'the old white guy always wins'

Looking back we had the strangest line up of Republicans standing. Crazy old guys, cross dressing mayors, actors and 3 that didn't think that evolution really held. The Mormon was supposed to win, holding out until all of the others imploded. It was an okay plan - but he proved just too hateful and lost his nerve before he lost all of his money. Probably wise... expecting people to come around to you as the least mad of a bonkers bunch is a good plan only if you're not too detestable to ever contemplate.

In the end it went to the guy least like George Bush. McCain came back from the dead and Zombie like stumbled into a campaign against Obama that mirrored the failed campaign of Hillary Clinton.

The he picked Sarah Pallin. A woman with no record (and therefore no real ties to Bush) and with a vagina. Turns out she WAS a vagina (or something similar, I'll not use the word here, though I don't know why)

Cynical yes. Brilliant - well no. Her numbers broke faster than her water and much of the campaign was spent trying to hide her from the media while exposing her to the far right wing that McCain needed.

Obama ran a quieter campaign. He was measured. He never raised his voice. He looked calm. He gave one great speech that took race off the table in terms of campaigning and then went about looking as Emperor like as possible... from the Caesar tilt of the head to the ramrod straight stance... it was all about looking and sounding like a statesman.

So who'll win? The press has it as an Obama landslide. The Obama people are worried that this will mean a lower turn out amongst their voters... people assuming victory and thus heading to the grovery store rather than the polling booth.

McCain thinks that the polls are wrong - and he has the advantage of recent legislation on his side. Many poor mexican and black voters will be turned away from the electronic booths owned and run by Republican Party contributers. But it will need to be close to be stolen.

Either way it doesn't matter too much to the individual. The economy is in the toilet. The stock market has gone mad. It's too late to save the auto industry. We're mired in two wars. The Patriot Act is still in force. Katrina victims have spent too long visiting the dead and returning to their prefab homes. The US is still the country with the one site the publically flaunts the Geneva convention and several more secret black camps where the worst torture happens. There are still more people who hate the US today than there were a decade ago. The deficit is still at record levels. And cynicism is still at an all time high.

What Obama offers is hope. Perhaps we can change things after all. Change the way the world views us - and the way we view the world. Hope that a different path can lead to a different result. Hope that this could be a pivotal point. As I heard recently "The country doesn't need another Clinton, it needs another Lincoln"

Obama may not be up to that. But there's a chance. And that's what we need. Let's see if tomorrow brings it.

Flying visit

So Jude's mom flew in, shopped some and flew out --- on her way to Mexico for a vacation.
Much fun.

The clocks went forward - throwing my body clock into a 'where the hell am I and why is everyone else awake?' panic
Not much fun.

Lewis Hamilton is world champion (hurrah) - earning the points that he needed at the very last corner and giving hope to McCain and a lesson to us all in the process.

Sarah Palin got prank called... that was fun

Posing as French President Sarkozy the prankster tells Palin thatone of his favorite pastimes is hunting.

"I just love killing those animals. Mmm, mmm, take away life, that is so fun," the fake Sarkozy says.

He proposes they go hunting together by helicopter, something he says he has never done.

"Well, I think we could have a lot of fun together while we're getting work done," Palin counters. "We can kill two birds with one stone that way."

Holy Schmoly

Halloween

last night seemed to be an excuse for girls who usually feel the need to be good to dress up and drink and use both as an excuse not to be.

this morning the girls in the coffee shop were incredibly hung over... amusingly so.

which reminded me of this failed attempt at self portraiture... trying to do 'tense, nervous headache'

ended up doing blurred, bat-winged, bingo caller

Feeling casual today

P1080951.JPG
Originally uploaded by stevenjude

So after a couple of days where I lost my sense of 'all is well with the world, offer things up to the universe and see where they settle' I'm back in a zen zone.

Work will happen with of without me. With me it will happen smoother and be a little better. Without me the ride may be more jarring and the end less shiny - but I've realized that what I am here is lubricant. And sure lube is important (ask any mechanic, or hooker) but ultimately you can run any planner through the grinder and grease the process with the resulting juices.

So that's my role here. To be juicier than the average planner... and last longer before I'm totally dry --- at which point they'll give me an office to make sure that the dust doesn't contaminate the fresh new fodder

I just booked

Inverted Vertigo
Originally uploaded by DanielKHC

I just booked

1. Scans at the hospital in New York for Nov 12 and 13

2. A ticket to Singapore for November 22nd - November 29th

Hurrah (and ouch!)

If I was Barack Obama

a million quid
Originally uploaded by just_john

If I was Barack Obama right now I'd not be taking interviews, not varying from my stump speech and not doing anything that could be seen as being a pre-emptive celebration of victory (remember Kinnock and the Labour party?)

He's ahead - there are six days to the election - and still he's making big, bold, KLF burning a million quid style gestures.

Last night saw him buying 30 minutes of airtime across 7 networks; 30 minutes! Sure it gave him the time to talk to the American people that the debates didn't allow. But to some it came across more as a display of "Look how much money we have" rather than a last chance for a more nuanced look at a new candidate.

McCain's response "He paid for that ad by breaking a promise" (the promise being to take public finance for his campaign - one that he broke as soon as he saw how much he could make privately)

It seems to me an unneccessarily big gesture. At a time when people are looking for excuses to knock big gestures. And when the conversation is about the media that was bought, rather than what was said in that media you know that something is wrong.

This made me smile for some reason

CSI: MIAMI
Originally uploaded by mercuryrising9572000

An Austrian woman accused of stalking "CSI: Miami" star David Caruso is being sought on an international arrest warrant, and officials said Tuesday she could be hiding in Mexico.

The woman allegedly sent more than 100 letters to the American actor, pursued him for an autograph and then sent death threats when he refused to "give her one" according to prosecutors in the Austrian province of Tyrol.

The woman -- identified only as being in her early 40s -- was charged with stalking and threatening to kill Caruso, but failed to show for her trial in July 2007 and again in April, Innsbruck Provincial Court spokesman Thomas Lechner said.

Judge Guenther Boehler has issued an international warrant for her arrest.

Austrian authorities said a 2007 letter allegedly written by the suspect and bearing a Miami postmark was discovered in Caruso's fan mail. It read, in part: "I will locate you and your ugly Latina tramp and kill you."

It is unclear if the Latina reference alluded to actress Alana De La Garza, who played Caruso's wife on the TV show until her character was killed.

A court-appointed psychiatrist testified that the suspect has a "profound personality disorder." If convicted, she faces up to three years in prison.

Take a deep breath

So - as I'm sure I've said here "The Naked Uganda Project" has been postponed due to the success of Jude's many job applications and academia's inability to give you reasonable lead times for interviews. December just isn't 'do-able' so we thought that we'd try to head out in March instead... we'll be 54 months into Winter by then and ready for the break.

But the aim of The Naked Uganda Project was to whip my ass into shape - or post my failure for all to see. The pics of me in Cyprus were shocking. I was flabby, I was soft and looking at the picture I was ashamed. So when we got back I vowed to hit the gym, watch what I eat, cut down to no more than a glass of wine a night (vs. 'well the bottle is almost empty now') and generally take more care of myself.

The bag has been mixed. The exercise wagon is something that I'm enjoying. The food wagon I fall off when people come to visit. So things are going slowly - but they're going - and that's a good thing.

To mark progress I've been taking a picture a week. From the same spot and in the same mirror. Vanity it is not - the pictures are ugly but serve as reminders of both how far I've come and how much further I have to go.

The stats are that I'm about 7lbs down, that I've taken four inches off my waist, added 1.5 inches to my arms and no longer have the knees of an elderly dowager.

So it's time to swallow hard and post the first picture. Not as a 'done' (this is far from being an 'after' pic... but as a public statement that the delay of the trip cannot now mean a dilution of effort. I'm gonna post a pic a month from here on out and I'm asking you - faithful blog reader and random person coming in look for post-op tranny news - to keep me honest. This is more than neighborhood watch. It's flab-watch. Less pleasant I agree, but then you're supposed to be my friends.

To Hell and back

P1080807.JPG
Originally uploaded by stevenjude

Hell, Michigan is a very small place. It's barely a place at all. More a couple of stores that banded together and asked "How do we attract people to the shores of out little lake here?"

The answer "Hell"

"Go to Hell"
"I've been to Hell and back today"
"I've seen Hell freeze over"

All things that you can say having visited, realized that it's crap and bought a mug to console yourself.

By all accounts bikers love it

"Let's meet in Hell"

But I have to say - once in Hell was enough for me

Homeless

صبح بخير زند گي/Subuh Bakhair Zindagi
Originally uploaded by *abro*

Just got a note from our landlord saying that despite the crashing housing market and slumping economy he's thinking about selling the apartment that we live in.

This is very bad news. For us anyway. Mainly because we're looking to leave Ann Arbor in about 8 months. And 8 month leases anywhere are really hard to come by. Especially if you have a dog. And cats. Plus it's about $1500 to move all of our stuff. And more hassle than you can think.

Yesterday's "I'm so zen" mood has been replaced by a "holy Ker-jezuz wha-now?" mood

Still possession is 9/10th of the law,,,,

Do Squatters have legal protection in Michigan?

Whatever happened to the good old days

Ford Capri 2.8 Injection Special @ Duchy Capri Club Classic Car Show 2006
Originally uploaded by Tristan P Barratt

I've spent much of the day today thinking about the best way to position cars.

In days of old I'd have spent my time thinking about the best way to position bikini clad models on the hood of the cars.

That's how much times have changed. You still get models at autoshows - but now they're Spokesmodels... given a microphone and talking points from which they cannot stray (a lot like Sarah Palin)

The future, of course, is to employ drop dead gorgeous engineers. Those guys (and gals of course) really know their stuff. The only issue is the fact that they're about as attractive and intriguing as Joe Everyman --- and nobody stands in line to hear people who know what they're talking about waffle on for hours (a lot like Joe Biden)

Looking at the pic above - it's a shame that Ford dropped the Capri in Europe. It was bonkers. It was also the first car (at age 3) that I ever envied someone for owning. Massive (by UK standards) engine, big (by the rules of the time) performance and cops n robbers street cred. What more could you want.

I blame the Capri for the fact that I now own a Mustang rather than the Pious that everyone else in Ann Arbor seems to love so.

Oh to

Brrrrrrr

Somebody just turned the heat off outside.
Yesterday morning it was minus 3c
This morning isn't much warmer
And there's snow forecast for halloween
Which is when Jude's mom is flying in (cue "On her broomstick?" jokes)
Did I really sign up for this?

At dinner tonight

Originally uploaded by Any Syler

we were talking about American spelling.

Two theories that I liked

First Webster's name was Miriam - and she hand embroidered the first dictionary, dropping vowels as a way to save time and her eyesight.

The second was that the American's traded the letter 'U' for the statue f liberty. Basically they amassed a large "U mountain" somewhere in Nevada which they then gave to the French (a nation way over quota on use of the letter) in return for a sturdy torch carrier of unusual height.

It was that kind of dinner.

My Etch A Sketch client presented his Urinal ad "Wouldn't you rather be playing with your Etch A Sketch?"

My boss told stories of the Ohio militia

And I tried to explain just why I'd spent two hours this morning stuffing small pictures into balloons (twas a pop the balloon, have an idea exercise)

Good day then

resume in progress

resume in progress
Originally uploaded by Robotconscience

I'm trying to dust off my resume...

... and to make it interesting

That's interesting in a way that has some depth and integrity - rather than in a way that's all "flash and gash" (to quote my latest meeting 'he's gone too far' faux pas)

In the past I've done... 'things I most regret', 'ideas I wish I'd sold', 'Ideas that made the most money', 'Ideas I've had that you've probably heard of' and 'what I'd do with everything'

Truth is I'm pretty good at what I do.
I'm really good given a room and a brief
I do speeches really well
I'm fearless without being overly reckless
I get cultural diversity
I tend to view most things through a different lens
I'm generous with praise in success and selfish with blame in failure
And I know my way around numbers

but

I dress poorly
I can get bored if a process takes 'too long'
I have less time than you sometimes need for the slowest person in the room
I'm too quick to grab the reigns
I can be high energy and low gravitas on my bad days

I think that that balances positive.

Clients like me
Agencies like what I represent
I tend not to lose pieces of business
I have a great new business record
And I've never lost a member of my staff

But how do you turn that into a resume

Mixed bag

So the market sucked - all bad leather and poor quality novelties
Ferndale had shrunk to 3 interesting stores
Royal Oak was better - a small strip of cool stores manned by giant trannies
The Whitney was posh - food was good
We were late for Kathy Griffin (my fault) but she was gossipy and the theatre (pictured) was spectacular
Finally got back in time for the SNL Palin / Fey

Sub zero today.... brrrrr

A real Saturday

Looks like this weekend might be a real weekend.

We start tomorrow with the gym and then pilates (as ever) before heading out first to Ferndale and then to the newly minted Russell Bizarre. From there it's off to The Whitney for dinner before heading out to the Fox Theater for some comedy c/o Kathy Griffin. We finish the night with a quick cocktail at Cliff Bells - a 30s throwback speakeasy with an easy style that feels like the Detroit of old.

Looking forward to it

Seems that Joe The Plumer, ain't a plumber

Joe the Plumber's story just sprang a few leaks Thursday.

Turns out that the man who was held up by John McCain as the typical, hard-working American taxpayer

- Isn't really a licensed plumber.
- Owes nearly $1,200 in back taxes.
- Is called Samuel

Now Joe's in trouble

He doesn't have a plumber's license, but said he didn't need one because he works for someone else at a company that does residential work.

But it seems he'd still need to be a licensed apprentice or journeyman to work in Toledo, and he's not, said David Golis, manager and residential building official for the Toledo Division of Building Inspection.

And then there was the matter of his taxes.

Wurzelbacher owes the state of Ohio $1,182.98 in personal income tax, according to Lucas County Court of Common Pleas records.

In January 2007, Ohio's Department of Taxation filed a claim on his property until he pays the debt.

But he does seem to be a Republican at least - a registered Republican at that

He said he was "a fan of the military and McCain"

But that doesn't mean that he's prepared to be a McCain puppet/

Joe T. Plumber said a McCain campaign official contacted him several days before the debate to ask him to appear with the candidate at a Toledo rally but he's now unsure if he'll attend, since he's now scheduled to be in New York for TV interviews.

Final word (as ever) to Obama

"He's trying to suggest that a plumber is the guy he's fighting for. How many plumbers you know that are making a quarter-million dollars a year?"

This is "Joe the plumber"

This is Joe The Plumber.

Joe may well win the election for John McCain.

He was certainly the center of last night's debate.

You see McCain wants to cut Corporate income tax rates.
That means lots of money for big corporations, tiny savings for small business and nothing for workers.

Obama wants to cut taxes on income under $200,000
And to not raise tax on anyone making less that $250,000
That $250,000 limit applies to small business too.

Now the stats say that 98% of small businesses make less than $250,000
So 98% of small businesses would pay no more tax under Obama.

BUT

Joe the plumber is thinking of buying a business.
That business would make between $250,000 and $270,000 a year

That means he may, possibly, at worst pay an extra $20 a week in tax.

DISASTER

He looks ordinary.
He's going to be taxed more.
OBAMA IS A COMMUNIST

That's how it's going to play.
The 98% who pay no more - or get a reduction have no face
Joe Plumber has a face.

The families that will get tax savings are a mass, with no face
Joe Plumber has a sad face.

The fact that this is a guy who doesn't own a business.
A guy who says he 'might buy a business'
And the fact that that business is right on the cusp of a small increase in tax on a small part of its income
Combined with the fact that he emerged to talk to Obama a day before the debate
And was easily found afterwards.

Makes me think that Joe Plumber was a plant.

If he was then McCain deserves the election - it's brilliant politics.
If he wasn't then God must love John McCain - and he'll win anyway.

Things (I think) just took a turn towards the Red

When Penguins Attack

Penguin (Batman Returns)
Originally uploaded by _Villains

So he last debate tonight and it looks as though Penguin move-a-like John McCain really only has one option.

He needs to slander, to attack and to lie (Obama is a radical Muslim, his wife has a huge diseased cock, his children are in training to become suicide bombers and his mother isn't dead - she's giving Osama Bin Laden blowjobs in her Pakistani cave)

Then after the debate, when nobody is looking he needs to quietly apologize, claim that the fact checking may have been off and then promptly change the subject ("Have you noticed how good Tina Fey's impression of Sarah Palin is?")

The result? 70m people hear the slander. 7m people note the retraction. 63m think twice about Obama.

Hey mud sticks, and if the mud can also remind people that he's black too all the better. This is war. Well it's not. But it should be. Hand them both bayonettes and tell them that the last man breathing is the new President.

This ought to be good

Arab is a 4 letter word

Arabian in Red
Originally uploaded by HMsa

After the hoo-haa following McCain correcting an equally elderly bigot who claimed "I don't trust Obama. I've read about him and he's an Arab." nobody seems to be questioning the implication that Arabs can't be trusted.

I mean George Bush trusts them enough to take their money when his 'businesses' run dry, enough to hold hands in public as they walk through scented gardens, enough to prop up several Arab regimes that other people may have questioned. But no - that's not enough for Joe Six Pack or Susan Soccermom.

These guys have decided that if you don't sing hymns from a dreary book of a Sunday you're an enemy of the great idea that is America. America is Xtain dammit. It's a monoculture. It's a force for good. And you're all bent on our destruction.

Racism, it seems, is fine - just so long as you get the group tha Hollywood is currently casting as villains.

It's sad. It's pathetic. It's where we are in the world.

We want change

Best Homeless Sign Ever
Originally uploaded by rowkitcat

We open on a politician at on stage

The crowd are chanting
"We want Change, We want Change"
A wave of a thousand voices in unison

The politician smiles.
He raises his hands.
"Change is coming" he intones, a deep baritone that fills the space.

A pause

"No. We want change" the crowd replies.

We cut away from the politician to see that the crowd is made up of a thousand homeless people, each holding a cup.

The crowd starts up again

"We want change. We want change."

Voice Over : More and more Americans are finding themselves desperate for change. And it's only going to get worse. November 4th is your chance to stop the bleed to the street.


(I'd find it funny anyway)

So here I am in Dallas

1530 Main
Originally uploaded by the urban fabric

alas not at the Hotel Joule pictured but stealing wireless at a Sheraton hotel that's as resolutely brown as any that I've seen in aeons.

It's an "in and out" day - here to present at a sales conference and then off into the sky and back to Detroit in search of my car in the world's most confusing car park.

Should get home a little after midnight... and have a 7am so gonna be a knackered bunny.

Still have a good book and there's a new men's health in my bag - plus the new North Terminal is much, nuch friendlier than the 50 year old Smith terminal it replaced

McCain does the decent thing

Centurion Labor Union for McCain
Originally uploaded by Tubes.

McCain was booed by his own supporters today when he described the Barack Obamat as a "decent person and a person that you do not have to be scared of."

The boo's became even madder with shouts of at "traitor," "terrorist," "treason," "liar," and even "off with his head"

"If you want a fight, we will fight," McCain said. "But we will be respectful. I admire Sen. Obama and his accomplishments."

Again they boo'd

"I don't mean that has to reduce your ferocity," he said. "I just mean to say you have to be respectful."

Here's a typical exchange

"I don't trust Obama," a woman said. "I have read about him. He's an Arab."

McCain shook his head and replied:

"No, ma'am. He's a decent, family man, a citizen that I just happen to have disagreements with (him) on fundamental issues and that's what this campaign is all about."

Perhaps the old stoat does have a sense of honor left - even if his #1 objective is to get the Whitehouse moved to Boca Raton

My Day

There have been those recently who've said to me "Hey, it's all well and good you talking about politics in a naiive and slightly stupid fashion but what about the details of your 'life after certain death'"

So for those people and those people alone here are the last 24 hrs or so of my life.

Drove home from work at a steady 75mph, avoiding the speed traps and feeling a little blinded by the unseasonable Michigan sun. The weather is gorgeous at the moment and the Mustang seems to be responding. I've replaced 70s driving tunes with acoustic strumming and yesterday found the windows down and the lyrics to 'Wicked Way' drifting out on to the balmy Michigan night.

Get in and Jude needs a ride to the airport. Take her. About 1hr 20 mins round trip and more acoustic strumming. Get in go shopping for more underwear (hence the pic) then talk to some people on Facebook while trying to come up with some lines for a gay celebrity spotlight website ("All the news that's fit to spit" my favorite)

Around midnight I watch Tabatha's Salon Takeover. Then head to bed.

4.5 hrs later the alarm goes off and I head for the gym. Work out. Get home. Shower and head to work for a 7.45 am meeting. follow that with a 10.00am and then to lunch at a Mexican place in the middle of a strip mall full of strip clubs. Eat warm vegetables as everyone else tucks into sizzling meat dishes that look vastly superior. Back to the ofice - big presentation in a darkened room to magazine people. I'm quite good, if a spotlight whore.

Decided I've had enough of work and head home. More computer stuff then take the dog for a two hour walk, call the local massage place (6.30 appointment) and try to find someone to come to Daniel Tosh (comedian) tonight. Everyone is busy so I decide to go it alone - and sell the other ticket.

Head for massage. Head for Tosh. Catch up with busy people who have been getting drunk in front of baseball. Cocktail or two. Home. Then to bed. Brunch with a new friend tomorrow then off to Dallas to present at a toy fair. All fun and games. Still my new "Obvious secrets" line of T-Shirts is coming along nicely. Today is "I shower naked"...

trying to come up with a line

beach cross
Originally uploaded by henribean

Two teenagers stopped me in the street today, ostensibly to talk to me about my dog. What they really wanted of course was some weed.

"Do you smoke?" they asked

"I don't" I said

"Not even weed? Or whatever your generation called it" the asked

My generation? Ouch.


Anyway I was very glad to get home and find a request from a friend to help him come up with an endline for his new website - an endeavor that specializes in 'fun gay celebrity news'

This is as much as I've managed in 5 mins

The queerest thing since We Know Who

Nothing could seal our lips

The site they can't gag

Spilling more than just beans

The site that lives in a celebrity wet spot

All the news too good to swallow

All the news that's fit to spit


Like the last one...
Anyone got any for me?

Obama v. McCain Debate

Obama v. McCain Debate
Originally uploaded by redking

So the results are in and here they are (according to CNN - who do seem the most impartial source; trying to find a neutral and representative sample)

54% said that Obama did the best job in the debate,
30% said Sen. John McCain performed better.

64% had a favorable opinion of Obama after the debate, up 4 points from before the event.

51% had a favorable opinion of McCain after the debate, unchanged from before its start.

A majority said Obama seemed to be the stronger leader during the debate, 54 percent to 43 percent,

65 percent to 28 percent thought Obama was more likable during the debate.


"McCain's advantage on leadership shrunk from 19 points in September to just 5 points this weekend, if Obama can use this debate to convince Americans that he is a stronger leader than McCain, he may be difficult to defeat."


Advantage Obama then... but as Chris Rock said " It's like boxing. It's not enough for the black guy to beat the white guy; the only way he can be certain of winning is to knock him out."

And with so many 'rigged' electric voting machines out there that's never been truer

Everything you need to know abt the Vice Presidental Debate

Giuliani, Hillary, and Obama Naked
Originally uploaded by SA_Steve

can be found right HERE

Another day - another debate

It's debate time (again) and this is one the John McCain intends to win. It's in the Town Hall style - which means that you can take questions from the floor and address people directly. McCain's good at these. he wanted more of them. Obama said no. That's the way with these shifty black folks - they just won't take on the straight talk express.

Meanwhile Palin has been out and about, stringing together words into what resemble sentences and banging on about how she likes neither Osama, ooops I mean Obama', terrorist pals or his vicar. It's gotten that low. The black guy is a secrey Muslim who has terrorist friends who are waiting to jack off on the Whitehouse lawn.

Not that Sarah is racist. No she had a witch doctor perform an exorcism on her in her own church. And he was African and everything. (WINK)

Obama is trying to shrug off the whole "He's black. He has black friends. He's going to blow you up" thing with the occasional one liner.... "We're looking at the economy and looking to change America, John's looking to change the subject." we'll see.

A lot of people only pay attention in the last 4 weeks. So expect it to get uglier than an orgy at the Hefty Hideaway.

Politics, huh?

Run, Obama, Run!

Run, Obama, Run!
Originally uploaded by Winkingskunk

So "terrorist pal" Barack Obama is on Sarah Palin's shit list
But it's 'soon to die' Steve Jobs that he should be worried abt
Hope this video works

Buzzzzz required

Originally uploaded by daniel doug

I'm feeling dull
And flabby
And as though I've settled

Life in A2 is pleasant
It's nice
There are things to do
And people I like

But I miss the electric buzz of the New York City
The pent up sexuality of Singapore
The endless alleys to explore in Thailand

I'm feeling as though experience is being sucked out of me
And that there's very little being soaked up

And being dry is my biggest fear

I want to do 'new'
Try 'new'

To be afraid
To be nervous
To be energized

I want to feel naive
Unworldly

I want to not understand

I want unease
And uncertainty
And experimentation

In a controlled way

I want it as a possibility
Not as a certainty

As an option

Which makes me greedy

But also means I have a criteria for what's next.

I'm excited for the next move.
Impatient for it.
But I'm hanging in.
And I'm doing okay.

Which is why I came here
And why, for now, A2 is enough.

But I can hear the clock ticking
And my 'feed me' drive spooling up.