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Homo Marriage Equality Restored to California
Posted by Dan Savage on Thu, Aug 12, 2010 at 12:39 PM
The stay has been lifted—same-sex couples in California can legally marry as of now.
UPDATE: Actually, no one can get married now. According to a news report same-sex couples have to wait until August 18. And the enemies of joy—religious bigots—are going to seek an injunction.
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Comedy / The Ladies "You're making your anus special by not wanting it talked about."
Posted by Lindy West on Thu, Aug 12, 2010 at 12:36 PM
Re: my feature this week, let's all watch Feminist Bookstore, shall we?
Money That's a Mighty Big Dot, Republicans
Posted by Paul Constant on Thu, Aug 12, 2010 at 12:31 PM
I love it when an infographic comes together, especially when it shows how ridiculous the Republican tax cuts for the rich really are. Here's the top of the chart comparing Democrat and Republican tax plans:
And you can find the rest of the chart at the Washington Post. It's kind of mind-blowing. (Via StopBeck on Twitter.)
Video of the Day Lunchtime Quickie: Yeah, Art!
Posted by Kelly O on Thu, Aug 12, 2010 at 12:15 PM
This is art right? RIGHT? "Dirt Is All Around Us, Everything Is Shit". Man, right?! "ART!"
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Drunk Are You Missing Your Right Boot?
Posted by Grant Brissey on Thu, Aug 12, 2010 at 12:09 PM
It's on the corner of Pike & Melrose.
Visual Art How to Have an Art Opening in a Public Park: Tonight
Posted by Jen Graves on Thu, Aug 12, 2010 at 12:06 PM
Tonight is the kickoff event for MadArt in the Park at Cal Anderson on Capitol Hill, which I posted pictures of here: "The Art Has Landed."
But a new work has gone up since then that interests me as much as if not more than the others. I haven't seen it in its final form yet, but I walked by it yesterday as it was being built, and today I got an image of it in my inbox from the artist, Justin Lytle. (Full disclosure: Lytle was a student of mine at Cornish, which does not mean I am either for or against him; he's just like anybody else.) Lytle's work has always had a kind of poetry and repetition to it, and it often is somewhat literal in its references.
This piece—you can walk inside it, and both ends are open—takes after the skeletal belly of a seabird full of colorful plastic bits whose festive appearance belies that they are the cause of death.
The belly here becomes a makeshift shelter, too, in a park that's near a food kitchen, where people often camp out for the night. Maybe they'll take up residence in Lytle's structure sometimes. It's also in the shape of a wrecked, tipped ship, and with that, Lytle was thinking of Coleridge's Rime of the Ancient Mariner. The Mariner kills the albatross, and at first the sailors think maybe that was a good idea.
'Twas right, said they, such birds to slay
that bring the fog and mist
But that attitude doesn't last long, and the killing of the albatross becomes a superstitious event—and an idiom.
Ah! Well a-day! What evil looks
Had I from old and young!
Instead of the cross, the albatross
About my neck was hung
Tonight's opening will include the milling-about of the artists, who are available for questioning and congratulating, and an outdoor screening of four short films. Events run from 6 to 10 pm, and details are here.
Media / The Ladies The Greatest Day for American Women Since August 18, 1920
Posted by Paul Constant on Thu, Aug 12, 2010 at 11:59 AM
"She's decided to end the comic on Oct. 3," Universal Press Syndicate executive John Glynn tells Comic Riffs. "She is deeply appreciative of all the relationships and all the fans, but after 34 years, she feels it is time to hang it up."
Words cannot express how happy this makes me. The only way this could make me happier is if Cathy does the honorable thing and goes out as a suicide bomber*, taking The Family Circus, Marmaduke, and Garfield with her. Thank you, Slog tipper Banna. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
* Although this plan does have its problems: I'm unsure if Cathy's hands, which have been so lazily illustrated for the past twenty years that they now resemble mangled starfish, would be able to properly operate a plunging mechanism to activate the bomb. If she loves America, she will find a way to do the deed.
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News Today In Simulated Sea Landings
Posted by Dan Savage on Thu, Aug 12, 2010 at 11:40 AM
Courtesy of the BBC:
Showing off their strength, South Korean special forces pose for photos before a military exercise, in which they simulated a sea landing.
South Korea doesn't allow gays to serve in the military... so there's nothing gay about all those hot guys in black speedos doing the gayest crunches you've ever seen. (Thanks to Slog tipper Tim.) Says Wiki...
Military service is mandatory for all male citizens in South Korea. Enlistees are drafted through the Military Manpower Administration (MMA; Korean: 병무ì²) which administers a "psychology test" at the time of enlistment that includes several questions regarding the enlistee's sexual preferences. Homosexual military members in active duty are categorized as having a "personality disorder" or "behavioural disability" and can either be institutionalized or dishonorably discharged. This is a problem since South Korea does not allow for conscientious objection and dishonorable discharge bears with it significant social pressure, as many South Korean companies will request a complete military service profile at the time of a job application. On military records, the applicants can appear as having been dishonorably discharged either due to their homosexuality or for being "mentally handicapped."
History / Media Hate Registration: Charity 102 at Beck University
Posted by Paul Constant on Thu, Aug 12, 2010 at 11:33 AM
Yet again, this class had absolutely nothing to do with charity. It was basically a civics class on separation of powers, and it didn't really touch on anything having to do with small government, as Beck promised it would in his introduction to the class. It did possibly set the stage for the final Charity class. Stoner spent a good amount of time talking about the Necessary and Proper Clause in the Constitution, which is kind of the negative capability of Constitution wonks. You can kind of make anything you want out of the Necessary and Proper Clause, and Stoner chooses to interpret it as being for small government.
Stoner talked a lot about Congress and the Supreme Court and checks and balances. He actually appealed to our better natures, suggesting that the populace wants to "elect, they hope, someone a little bit better than themselves, but like themselves.” He said that we would be “changing the whole structure of Federalism” if we look to the government to solve our problems. And he talked about bureaucracy, but he made clear that not all bureaucracy is a bad thing. He said it was a great thing that "Social Security checks come out when they’re supposed to come out, month after month after month," for example. You can almost picture Glenn Beck's head exploding in the background. Stoner even called the Constitution "resilient," countering Beck's own claims that Obama is about to override the Constitution and hand us over to the socialists wholesale. So there was no hilarity to be had in what Stoner said. Instead, I had to amuse myself with the misspellings in the title cards:
And in the post-class chatroom:
[Comment From TLT1: ]
Hello...you educated freaks!
[Comment From Michele - Texas: ]
It's because of you - we will be able to keep this alive for generations to come. Thank you Prof Stoner
[Comment From JACK (GA): ]
NEED TO REPEAL THE 16 AND 17 AMENDMENT
James Stoner:
Lots of you are asking about the Seventeenth Amendment, making Senators directly elected. I think a number of states were effectively doing that already, and I don't think that an amendment that seems to reverse something that made the Constitution more democratic is likely to succeed. Put your efforts into electing the best people to the Senate, I would say.
[Comment From Ed S: ]
Beck U is the best in higher education
[Comment From KrisK: ]
It's a pity the Constitution isn't taught this way in our public schools. I don't even remember it being mentioned in my history classes.
[Comment From JACK (GA.): ]
I LOVE TO LEARN ABOUT OUR CONSTITUTION
But I'm going from Beck U's best professor to its worst: Next Wednesday is the Faith 103 class. I'm already dreading it.
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Music / Homo / Nightlife Hercules & Love Affair Last Night: "The Gayest I've Seen Neumos Since It Was Arospace. Or Something."
Posted by Eric Grandy on Thu, Aug 12, 2010 at 11:30 AM
The above quote comes from no less an authority than Adrian Ryan, and it's true. Last night, a packed, hot and steamy Neumos crowd was losing their collective shit for Hercules & Love Affair, waving their hands in the air, clapping and singing along, dancing like maniacs, Neumos co-owner Jason Lajuenesse up on the private balcony looking like Des McGrath in Last Days of Disco, all for what was basically two dudes pumping classic house music and disco while a pair of towering Paris is Burning queens, Shaun Wright and Aerea Negrot, vogued, threw shade, and, along with Kim Ann Foxman, belted out lines like, "Jupiter, Saturn, Venus, Mars/Where do I come from," "I'm looking for a place to stay," "Baby, this might be who you really are," and "I am FREEEEEEEE." Word.
Visual Art / Architecture What Guerrilla Architects Would Like to Do With the Olympic Sculpture Park
Posted by Jen Graves on Thu, Aug 12, 2010 at 11:17 AM
Thanks to the recession, a bunch of underemployed designers set up cameras and watched how people move through the park. They discovered that the orange chairs lined up on the Z path control visitors like no other single element.
So they took their surveillance footage, created a video they presented to park owners Seattle Art Museum (in which a violin becomes highly bothered as the data piles up on the screen), and are proposing a new seating system, which gives control back to the sitters. My column this week advocates for it.
The idea would look like this, minus the dream-state fuzziness:
The museum is considering it. One more image and the bothered-violin video on the jump.
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Animals Giraffes > Unicorns! Who's With Me!?
Posted by Megan Seling on Thu, Aug 12, 2010 at 11:05 AM
I understand they fit in nicely with the strange obsession with reliving childhood (along with playing D&D; and kickball and stuff), but they're just horses. With horns on their heads. And they're not even real.
Giraffes, on the other hand, really are MAGICAL. Not only do giraffes have two horns, but they actually exist. You can see them. In real life. They're cuter, too. They have the best eyes of any animal in the animal kingdom, and they have blue tongues. Unicorns don't even have tongues. Because they don't exist.
Unicorns are done. They're over. It's time the giraffe gets some play. Who's with me?
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Film / Theater / Teh Internets A Casting Director Calls Out Actors Who Work for Free, Directors Who Ask Actors to Work for Free, and the People Behind "Grassroots"
Posted by Brendan Kiley on Thu, Aug 12, 2010 at 11:05 AM
A few weeks ago, someone named WLcasting@live.com posted a Craigslist ad which was like a lot of Craigslist ads—looking for actors who will work for free, promises of "HUGE EXPOSURE," etc.:
CASTINGCasting for a series of commercials to be shot next week! The series of commercials will play on the web and possibly appear on national television. The series is likely to be viewed by hundreds of thousands if not millions. Read: HUGE EXPOSURE.
Stephen Salamunovich, the president of Seattle's Complete Casting, decided to respond (and posted his response to Facebook):
I was very distressed to see this posting which appears to ask actors to work for free with the hollow benefit of "Exposure!" being dangled like a carrot that I've seen be offered way too many times. Please realize that when producers continue to offer "free" or low-paying work to actors and other crew ...personnel, the market rate is irreparably eroded and those of us who live and work here can no longer afford to do business and that includes the actors. Any production market is its own ecosystem and needs all the elements to remain strong in order for that market to continue to be able to attract productions that actually EMPLOY production personnel and talent. If the market erodes to the point where the only work available is free and low-paying "bottom-feeder" work, that market's demise is soon to follow.If you doubt me, there's a feature film being done here right now called "Grassroots" with "name" film makers (Stephen Gyllenhaal, Peggy Rajik) and they've budgeted the film at $250K!!! They did so because they believe they can get people to work on the cheap and apparently, they're right because one of my peers was willing to cast for them for free and eroded not only her own rate but mine as well by doing so. Free and low-paying work being offered for "exposure" hides the dirty, little secret that while actors may think they're winning the battle because "They got hired!!!" they're really losing the war because they won't be able to continue to afford to trade their time and effort for cheap and still be able to afford the basic cost of living.
When the good actors have moved where there actually IS work or move on to regular jobs that will actually pay them, productions won't come here because we can't supply the infrastructure they need and there certainly won't be any need for professional casting directors like myself because there won't be any actors to cast. I respectfully hope that no actors answer your ad for all our sakes, including yours, as it's not in your long-term interest either.
Stephen Salamunovich CSA President, Complete Casting, Inc.
I like Stephen's spirit, and it all sounds good on paper (in pixels?), but his dream will never come true—as long as acting seems like a prize instead of toil, some actors will work for free. The very thing that makes film wages overinflated, the thing that pays Stephen's salary, is the thing that convinces actors to work for free: the glory and the glamor of being in the movies.
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Stranger Suggests Today The Stranger Suggests
Posted by The Stranger on Thu, Aug 12, 2010 at 11:00 AM
Music
Chromeo, Holy Ghost!, Telephoned
Montreal duo Chromeo make unflappably cool synth pop and electro-funk that recalls the hammy charm and unassuming virtuosity of, say, Hall & Oates (with whom Chromeo have unironically collaborated). Their forthcoming third album is called Business Casual, which follows She's in Control and Fancy Footwork. The trio of titles tells you what these guys are about: ladies, dance moves, and style. NYC duo Holy Ghost! are DFA session musicians turned adroit disco popsters, impeccably remixing Phoenix, LCD Soundsystem, In Flagranti, and others, and recently releasing an EP of originals, Static on the Wire. (Showbox at the Market, 1426 First Ave, 628-3151. 8 pm, $21 adv/$24 DOS, all ages.)
ERIC GRANDYAdvertisement
Visual Art 'A partial and subjective inventory' of the Photographs Taken Inside the Superdome After Katrina
Posted by Jen Graves on Thu, Aug 12, 2010 at 10:59 AM
- Standing guard in the end zone.
What she sees is an erosion of publicness, or a people stranded in wait for publicness and instead experiencing hell.
Based on the images of the Superdome and the Estadio discussed thus far, we can trace some of the extreme effects of neoliberalization, which oscillate somewhere between forced imprisonment and wretched abandonment. In them we can also recognize individuals waiting, as passive players rather than interactive extras, ... for a publicness that will never come. They are the S.O.S. signals of a society whose publicness is under siege.
Read the whole thing here.
City / Visual Art Liquor Control Board Cracks Down on Art Galleries
Posted by Cienna Madrid on Thu, Aug 12, 2010 at 10:22 AM
- mfehrenbach via Flickr
- Tom Waits toasting youth.
"They sent in an underage person working for them to grab alcohol and leave the place with it," explained one gallery owner, who asked to remain anonymous. "Then they sent in an undercover plain clothes cop to confront the business owners and in my case warned me that I need to card everyone and if it happens again I will face criminal charges."
But the WSLCB says the sting came as a direct result of a 19-year-old who allegedly got drunk at the popular art walk and then received a DUI while driving home. Her family filed a complaint with the board.
"Our main concern is public safety," says Brian Smith, spokesman for the WSLCB. "Whenever we receive a complaint, we follow up on locations. We wouldn’t have gone through the effort of these premise checks without a complaint."
Smith says that the results of last Thursday's sting were "cause for concern. Our undercover aid hit six art galleries, and in the six locations, they all provided liquor to the 19-year-old. We witnessed 100 percent noncompliance."
The targeted locations included: Shotgun Ceremonies, Statements Distinctive Tile & Stone, Art Exchange, Flatcolor Gallery, Seattle Center of Contemporary Art, and Art Studio.
One gallery owner argues that facilitating this type of alcohol compliance check during First Thursday this month was unfair, given that Seafair was also occurring. "I had tons of drunks up and down the street who had nothing to do with art walk." Others say that on this particular First Thursday, policing their businesses with larger-than-normal crowds, many of them already drinking, was overwhelming.
But Smith says the problem is many galleries don't have the proper training for serving alcohol to the public. In 2009, legislation was adopted that allowed art galleries and wedding boutiques to offer a complimentary glass of wine or beer to patrons without having to go through the hassle of obtaining a banquet license or special occasion license. Since then, more businesses have opted to do so. "We offered some of the art galleries training in advance of the summer activities and were turned down," Smith says. "Since then, some have come forward and said they want the training."
Because the galleries aren't licensed, they can't be slapped with an administrative violation from the WSLCB like a bar would in this situation. Instead, the penalty is shouldered by the person serving the alcohol, who receives a criminal citation for offering alcohol to a minor. Like a traffic fine, it requires the person to go to court and pay a fine. For a first offense, the fine is typically in the range of $500, says Smith.
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Books Reading Tonight: Of Water Ghosts and Elvis
Posted by Paul Constant on Thu, Aug 12, 2010 at 10:22 AM
Shawna Yang Ryan reads at Elliott Bay Book Company and Third Place Books today. Water Ghosts is a novel about three Chinese immigrant women.
Local author Gillian Gaar reads at the Capitol Hill Library tonight at 6 pm. This is a reading from Gaar's new book, Return of the King: Elvis Presley’s Great Comeback. It's a book about how Elvis went from this to this:
The full readings calendar, including the next week or so, is here. And if you're planning on staying in and you're looking for personalized book recommendations, feel free to tell me the books you like and ask me what to read next over at Questionland.
Housekeeping / The Weather Slog Happy Is Tonight, the Sun Will Be Joining Us
Posted by Megan Seling on Thu, Aug 12, 2010 at 9:52 AM
- This mojito (or one like it) will be at Slog Happy. For $6, it can be your new best friend.
And where better to spend such an evening than at Slog Happy on the rooftop deck at the Hunter Gatherer Lodge? There will be cheap drinks, free books, "People Hate Me on SLOG" buttons, and one lucky person will walk away with tickets to Bumbershoot.
See you tonight at 6 pm!
Homo Even When We Lose...
Posted by Dan Savage on Thu, Aug 12, 2010 at 9:49 AM
...we win: support for full marriage equality is picking up steam. Because just having the argument—even when we lose a battle here and there—moves public opinion in our favor. Nate:
Something to bear in mind is that it's only been fairly recently that gay rights groups—and other liberals and libertarians—shifted toward a strategy of explicitly calling for full equity in marriage rights, rather than finding civil unions to be an acceptable compromise. While there is not necessarily zero risk of backlash resulting from things like court decisions—support for gay marriage slid backward by a couple of points, albeit temporarily, after a Massachusetts' court's ruling in 2003 that same-sex marriage was required by that state's constitution—it seems that, in general, "having the debate" is helpful to the gay marriage cause, probably because the secular justifications against it are generally quite weak.
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City / Media On the Passing of a Reporter Who Declined to Wear Fleece in the Newsroom
Posted by Eli Sanders on Thu, Aug 12, 2010 at 9:48 AM
- 1948 - 2010
Science One More Reason to Love Japanese Culture: The Expression “Forest Bathing.”
Posted by Charles Mudede on Thu, Aug 12, 2010 at 9:24 AM
NYT:
In a series of studies, scientists found that when people swap their concrete confines for a few hours in more natural surroundings — forests, parks and other places with plenty of trees — they experience increased immune function.Stress reduction is one factor. But scientists also chalk it up to phytoncides, the airborne chemicals that plants emit to protect them from rotting and insects and which also seem to benefit humans.
One study published in January included data on 280 healthy people in Japan, where visiting nature parks for therapeutic effect has become a popular practice called “Shinrin-yoku,” or “forest bathing.”
Forest bathing was once almost possible in Freeway Park, but now all of the big trees are gone. There is no place in the heart of the city where one can come even close to enjoying the benefits of being around many trees—trunks, bark, branches, and leaves.
- Casey Yee
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Politics Give 'Em Heck, TV Ad Edition
Posted by Eli Sanders on Thu, Aug 12, 2010 at 9:22 AM
Now, I'm not saying I thought of the phrase first. (As Ben Smith notes, one can hardly avoid thinking it when the candidate involved is Denny Heck.) But I will say I saw this coming:
Homo Meanwhile in California
Posted by Dan Savage on Thu, Aug 12, 2010 at 9:14 AM
Same-sex marriage may be legal this afternoon. Or not. Details here.
Crime The One Tragedy the Middle Class Can Express With Great Feeling
Posted by Charles Mudede on Thu, Aug 12, 2010 at 8:58 AM
A heartless investment banker deprives her clients of their savings, and the clients finally have a moment, a reason to air their pain in public:
(Seattle Times) Disgraced investment broker Rhonda Breard was sentenced to six years and eight months in prison Tuesday for embezzling more than $12 million from her clients, many of whom sat angrily through the hearing thinking the court got conned, too...Does the middle class have no sense of shame? Why is this Heath lady not at all embarrassed to present her life to a packed court as one that placed so much meaning in the squirreling of a retirement fund? 25 years of doing just this—waiting, saving, checking desire, calculating, dreaming of the future fruits—seems like something that should be kept a secret, kept in the darkest parts of the heart, as it exposes how little you are as a person. All of this pleading, crying, and screaming about lost savings not only shows a lack of shame but that the Heaths of this world ultimately need the Beards of this world ("Not only did you steal everything I had, you were my best friend," Hart said Wednesday), otherwise how would they ever feel anything that's almost real, and express themselves (and see themselves) as the mighty and noble (but doomed) characters in the famous Greek tragedies?...Pechman's Seattle courtroom was packed with victims — more than 43 people lost all or most of their life savings in the fraud. Several spoke of their anguish at finding out that the woman they trusted with their futures had spent their savings on jewelry, cars, vacations and mansions.
Shelly Heath described "25 years of financial sacrifices" to build a retirement fund she later found out didn't exist.
Now the Heaths have a story tell: I lost all of my savings! My whole life lost. See, that is me; that is my tragedy. The audience in the court is moved to tears.
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Politics Screw As I Say, Not As I Screw
Posted by Dan Savage on Thu, Aug 12, 2010 at 8:58 AM
Colbert on Gingrich...
...is required viewing.
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