STENARK: the archive of Stenar

Moby Dick

2010-10-16T02:12:00.000-07:00

Moby Dick by Herman Melville

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Throughout reading 97% of the book, I had planned on giving it 5 stars, despite the encyclopedia of whale hunting it contained, until I got to the denouement. The denouement was too short and unconvincing. It reminds me of Magnolia, long-ass, boring movie that I loved, but when you get to the end, you hear someone in the audience shout out, "All this for flying frogs?" Melville ought to have spent more time fleshing out the denouement and less time reciting all of the research he did for the book. Usually, authors do a ton of research to inform them and get the nuances right, but they don't include their background research in the actual novel. Melville threw in all of his research into the book as well. Much of it was interesting, but I could've lived without it. When he was writing, not reciting research, it was gripping. He has an excellent command of the language that was poetic at times. And then there were the out of place stage directions as if he decided it was a play 90% of the way into the book. Overall, I enjoyed the book, I even enjoyed the quirkiness where Melville didn't know what he wanted the book to be exactly. I just wish he'd cut out 50% of "Everything you never wanted to know about whaling and never asked."

View all my reviews

Blood Brothers

2010-07-24T18:46:00.002-07:00

BLOOD BROTHERS

So, I wrote this novel (not an especially good novel) when I was 22. A LONG time ago. And now it is available on Amazon.com for KINDLE (which you can read on not only a Kindle device, but your Mac, PC, iPhone, Blackberry, Android phone or iPad). If you're interested, you can get it at the following link.

There are some quirky events in the book, several of which happened to me in real life, too. ;) There is supposed to be a description of the book, but for some reason Amazon didn't enter that on their page. It's about two best friends, Matt and John, who have known each other since they were children. Matt is dying from leukemia and is bitter that John has his whole life ahead of him. But life doesn't always play out like we expect it to.

Available at Amazon.com

If you're interested in a FREE eBook copy to review (and you promise to leave feedback on Amazon.com after you've read it), leave your email address in the comments and I'll email you a PDF of the book. THANKS!

iPad!!!

2010-04-13T18:45:00.000-07:00

I just bought an iPad! This is my first post from my iPad.

Caprica - the Apple vs Microsoft fight lives on

2009-05-06T11:45:00.003-07:00

Am I the only one to notice the Apple versus Microsoft connection in the new Caprica pilot? No one else seems to have mentioned it.

First, there's Daniel Graystone (Eric Stoltz) who is very much a Bill Gates-ian type of character heading up a massive I.T. company who lives in a huge modern mansion on the shores of what is likely somewhere in Vancouver, but could as easily be in the Seattle area. He's going to become the show's antagonist.

Graystone steals from his main rival a very important piece of technology and steals key programming from his own daughter, much like Bill Gates stole the Apple system and made a cheap, upside down, backwards copy of it, we all know and despise called Windows.

The protagonists in Caprica are led by Graystone's daughter who has joined a monotheistic cult, following the one true god. The symbol of this cult is an infinite loop, which as any Apple fanboy can tell you is an unspoken symbol of Apple, Inc. as the address of Apple's headquarters is 1 Infinite Loop.

At the end of Caprica, we see Graystone's daughter (or what's left of her) trick her father by faking a collapse and later escaping with the technology he's misappropriated.

So, in the end Caprica boils down to a contest between Graystone's massive I.T. company, with military contracts and a majority standing with the population of Caprica and the followers of the one true god who "think different-ly" than the rest of society.

NaNoWriMo

2008-10-10T11:54:00.002-07:00

It's time again for NaNoWriMo!

Shitty City

2008-08-27T11:49:00.001-07:00

In other news...

Sandy mayor Tom Dolan announced today that Sandy will officially change its name to Shitty. The mayor felt the city needed a name that more truly reflected its nature.
"Sandy was a pretty shitty name already, so we might as well call our city Shitty," said Shitty resident Ledawna Dew.
Also, since Real Salt Lake is no longer located in Salt Lake, they will be changing their name to Real Shitty.

YAZOO!!!

2008-07-19T11:47:00.013-07:00

Well, what can I say about YAZ!? This short-lived iconic '80s band, which only existed for 18 months from 1982-1983, launched some of the most influential music to flow out of that decade. I discovered them as a sophomore in high school, probably introduced to them, or at least their lesser known songs, by my best friend Tom Rasmussen while riding around in his rickety old, green Ford Pinto. He had their two albums constantly playing on his car stereo with a huge set of speakers set up in the back of the Pinto.

I didn't know at the time I encountered them that they'd already broken up. I didn't know until recently that they'd broken up before their second album was even released, nor that they'd never even performed the songs from the second album live in concert. I just knew when I heard they were reconnecting for a concert tour that I had to be there, wherever there was. Fortunately, they came stateside and I found myself in the Orpheum Theatre in downtown L.A. on July 8 for their second concert in the USA on their Reconnected Tour.

So much of my teen angst growing up gay and Mormon in Utah was tied to the music of Yaz. Their music was so different from most in that time, sure it was synth pop, but it had soul. Most other bands of the era were cold, dark, or on the other extreme so very bubbly. Yaz had wound such a great contrast, the cool detachment of Vince Clarke's synth mixed with the warm, warm bluesy, soulful voice of Alison Moyet.

Vince Clarke founded Depeche Mode, but left because the other band members thumbed their noses at his song "Only You," which became one of Yaz's most tremendous musical moments. I can't imagine Dave Gahan singing "Only You," though. It was serendipitous, as Moyet captures the raw emotion of that song like no one else could. "Looking from a window above, it's like a story of love. Can you hear me?" I could hear Alison and it was like she could feel all the solicitude and solitude that came from being a gay Mormon teenager who was in love with his best friend who was hopelessly straight. "All I ever knew, only you."

I remember listening to songs like "Winter Kills," and "Mr. Blue" and aching with the pure agony of melancholy. Fortunately, while I still connect with the emotions these songs evoke, I no longer feel such intense pain. While I was a depressed, repressed teen, I've managed to grow into a singularly happy, successful adult.

And happily, Yaz wasn't just disconsolate, emotional tunes, they created some of the best dance hits of all time, which still get played in clubs worldwide even now.

So, I found myself at the Orpheum, wondering if Yaz would be as amazing live, whether they would sing the songs I wanted to hear. Moyet and Clarke did not disappoint. I was brought to tears at least 3 times during the concert. The first time was simply the moment Alison and Vince stepped on stage and began to perform "Nobody's Diary." I cried for that 16 year-old gay boy whose outlet was listening to Yaz and dancing. "For the time we had, I don't want to be a page in your diary, babe."

Again, I was brought to tears when the third song came up, "Mr. Blue," which was always one of the most emotional songs for me and comforted me when I was a lonely teenager. "I'm here to stay with you and no matter what you do, when you're lonely, I'll be lonely, too."

The rest of the concert was one of the best parties I've ever attended, like singing along with a crowd of your best friends to all your favorite songs. Yaz performed 21 songs (and they only ever released 23), so they sang nearly everything. The two songs they didn't perform were "Softly Over" and "And On," both songs from their second album "You and Me Both." I really think they should have gone ahead and performed all 23, but 21 songs is better than you get at a lot of concerts.

The final time I cried was during their first encore song, the song that started it all, the song Vince was willing to give up on Depeche Mode for. It makes me cry even now listening to it again: "Only You." And I cried because the party was nearly over.

Yaz left us upbeat with their crowd-enthusing dance hit, "Situation," the nine-minute 12" version. And we left the emotional roller coaster of an evening with Yaz on an emotional high.

Semaphore

2008-05-22T00:02:00.010-07:00

This is my favorite song du jour. It's from The Ting Tings. No, it's not their gateway drug, "Shut Up And Let Me Go," featured in iTunes commercials. Proving they're no one-hit wonder, they've also got the scorchers "That's Not My Name" and "Traffic Light." The latter is my current chocolate mocha swirl. It's so different from their other beats, with such stripped syncopation, and singer Katie White sings so sweetly.

Check it for yourself on YouTube:

And here are the lyrics for Traffic Light:

Don't you be a traffic light
Don't you be a traffic light
With all things said
You turn to red
Don't you be a traffic light

And don't you be a round-a-bout
No, not another round-a-bout
We've come so far
Yet back to the start
Don't you be a round-a-bout

Oh now baby don't misread the signs
If you just turn the key then things will turn out fine

Let's not have a break down
No, not another breakdown
You're on your own a long way from home
Let's not have a breakdown

Don't misread the signs
If you just turn the key then things will turn out fine

You're pushing me, you're breaking
Over taking me, you're racing
First placing me, not chasing me back home

Don't let me down

Convos

2008-04-18T15:03:00.002-07:00

Shawn: My mother just feels misunderstood.
Me: No, we understand her clearly. That's the problem.

Shawn: I wonder what that Qwest guy is doing in our neighborhood.
Me: He's on a quest.

Mormons Make Me Want to Puke

2008-04-07T10:46:00.002-07:00

PUKE! Mormons makes me want to puke.

My nephew on his Mormon mission in Germany just wrote an email to his parents:

Well, I am happy that Grandpa is in a better place as well. I agree with you… with some people, you can just sense their testimony, even if they haven’t always lived like they had one. I felt that way about Grandma Gummy as well. Even though she wasn’t active, I always had the feeling that she did have a testimony of the truth. Grandpa is certainly very happy now, even though we miss him. Grandpa will get to see his parents, grandparents, and other he knew. He will be with his son again as well. I’m sure Johnny will be very happy to see him. I seem to remember Grandpa mentioning once that Johnny would always come to him when he came home. I think that Johnny did that again when Grandpa came home. I know that it was a joyous reunion, and it will be a joyous reunion for us as well, when our time comes.

That is just wrong on so many levels. Least of which is, even if there is life after this one--which I rather doubt lately, my father does not deserve to see Johnny again.

I need to go throw up now.

Racism? Really??

2008-03-13T18:30:00.002-07:00

I'm getting really tired of Barack Obama claiming anyone who is against him is a racist. The latest, Geraldine Ferraro being called a racist by the Obama campaign. Obama’s campaign has been called a “historical candidacy” not by Ferraro, but by Obama’s own campaign. All she said was it wasn’t historical because he was a man from Illinois. Obviously it’s historical because he’s the first credible African American candidate for president. Obama’s wife Michelle made the ridiculous comment that she’d NEVER been proud of her country until now. Why now? Because people are turning out to vote for a MAN from Illinois? No, because he happens to be an African American man. Obviously, by the same stroke, Michelle Obama is a racist.

Hillary Wins Big

2008-03-05T10:09:00.002-07:00

Hillary Clinton has won the biggest states and all of the "bellweather" states that are so important in a general election. Obama has cobbled together wins in places like Iowa and Vermont. For the good of the party, Obama should quit now and agree to be Hillary's VP (if anything).

Obama Love?

2008-03-03T18:49:00.003-07:00

Barack Obama does NOT have as wide appeal as the mainstream media tries to make it seem. If he had as much appeal and momentum as they like to claim, he’d be up much more than 92 delegates. Obama is only 0.07% ahead of Clinton at this point. Calls from "journalists" in the mainstream media for Hillary to end her campaign now are very, VERY premature.

Hillary Clinton will not end her campaign this week. Sorry haters.

To see how crazy Obama followers are, please visit: Is Obama the Messiah?

Separate But Equal Is Never Equal

2007-08-12T14:01:00.001-07:00

"With respect to what Barrack Obama said, it’s just simply not true. Civil Unions are lesser than marriage."
-Gavin Newsom, mayor of San Francisco

09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0

2007-05-02T12:14:00.000-07:00

09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0

If you don't know what this number signifies, that's okay. It's interesting to think that this small sequence of numbers/letters can cause such a ruckus.

Mormons Can't Do That!

2007-04-16T16:45:00.000-07:00

I was reviewing the stats of my various websites and blogs today and I noticed someone found my blog by searching google for the phrase: "is it okay for mormons to have phone sex." I'm not quite sure how they found my blog with that phrase since my blog has never discussed phone sex.
My knee-jerk reaction was to think "Hell no! Mormons can't do that." But after thinking about it for a minute, I suppose it depends. If you're married and the person you're having phone sex with is your spouse, then I guess you could have phone sex, but with Bush and Dick listening to all your calls, would you really want to?
But if you're unmarried or the person with whom you're having phone sex is not your spouse, then dear readers, the answer would be no, Mormons can't do that.

Precipitous Withdrawal

2007-04-16T16:40:00.000-07:00

I was listening to NPR on the drive home from work this afternoon and heard Pres. Bush say, "I hope the Democratic leadership will drop their unreasonable demand for a precipitous withdrawal" [of troops from the war in Iraq].
I wonder if Bush even knows what the word "precipitous" means. I bet he doesn't. I think some speech writer wrote that and he has no idea what he's saying.

A New Utah Holiday

2007-03-17T11:51:00.000-07:00

So, the new unofficial holiday in Utah is May 23rd. What's May 23rd, you ask? May 23rd is the day that the first IKEA in the Intermountain West opens in the suburbs of Salt Lake City, namely Draper, Utah.

Of course, I'll be taking the holiday off from work to attend the rites associated with the grand opening of this wonderful Swedish, iconic store.

I felt the need to post the grand opening date as the majority of the hits to my blog lately seem to be coming from people searching for the grand opening date of this store, as I've commented on IKEA here in the past.

Music: Pain (My Love Is In Vain)

2007-03-15T22:56:00.001-07:00

I thought someone out there reading this blog might like a musical interlude. This is one of the greatest rock bands ever, The September When, of Norway, fronted by Morten Abel who is still recording solo albums although TSW is unfortunately broken up long since. Here's some live concert footage from 1991 featuring one of my favorite songs "Pain" and "The Beauty Of It Is."

Mitt Welcomes Romney

2007-03-14T20:14:00.000-07:00

I was reading the newspaper the other day and saw a photo of Mitt Romney at a campaign appearance in New Hampshire. In huge letters, the banner behind him said "New Hampshire Welcomes Mitt Romney." But in small letters at the bottom it said, "Paid for by the Romney for President Exploratory Committee, Inc." So really, Mitt Romney was welcoming himself to New Hampshire.
This reminds me of how Mitt takes all the credit for rescuing the Salt Lake Olympics. Friends who worked on the staff at the Salt Lake Olympic Organizing Committee tell me leaders there had already formulated a plan to "rescue" the olympics, but they needed an outside figurehead to make it appear as though everything was cleaned up by getting rid of the old leaders. Mitt didn't rescue the olympics. He didn't even come up with the plan. But he sure welcomed himself to all the credit.

Norwegian "Rice Cream" Pudding with Raspberry Fruit Sauce

2007-03-05T18:38:00.000-07:00

Someone recently requested this recipe after I mentioned it on another entry of my blog. So, I thought I would share it here in case anyone else wants it.

Norsk Riskrem
Serves eight
Ingredients:
4 cups Whole Milk*
8 Tbs. (1 stick) Butter or Margarine
1 tsp. Salt
3/4 cup Pearl Rice**
1 pint Heavy Cream
2 tsp. Vanilla Extract
4 Tbs. Sugar
1. Put milk, butter and salt into large pan. Bring to a boil, watch carefully as it begins to boil and remove from heat before milk boils over.
2. Add rice. Turn stove down to low and simmer approximately one hour covered with a lid until rice is tender and has thick consistency.
4. Stir approximately every fifteen minutes during this time period.
5. Whisk cream, vanilla and sugar together.
6. After rice cooks approximately one hour, stir in cream mixture.

Raspberry Fruit Sauce:
1. Use Danish Dessert, Raspberry flavor (available on the baking aisle of most grocery stores).
2. Follow directions on box for Fruit Sauce.
3. Serve rice warm or chilled with warm Raspberry sauce poured over the top of Rice Cream.

Notes:
*You may adjust the amounts in this recipe, but maintain a 5:1 ratio for milk and rice—5 parts milk to one part rice.
**NEVER use long grain rice. You may substitute medium grain rice if you are unable to find pearl rice.

Ding Dong, the Wicked Witch is Dead

2007-01-29T18:25:00.000-07:00

HURRAH! Thank god we have at least one politician in Utah with some honesty, self-respect and willingness to represent the people and not his own pocketbook.

Today, Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon said it didn't make sense to gamble the public money on a new soccer stadium for Real Salt Lake. Of course, Dave Checketts had a hissy fit and acted all childish because we wouldn't just open our pocketbooks and hand him all our money.

I'd really like the public to finance my personal business, too, but it won't happen. Why does he deserve special privilege?

Dave Checketts said he'd sell the team and he'll have a buyer lined up by Friday. Another round of HURRAHS! Good riddance. We can do without the likes of Checketts in this town.

Closet geek

2006-10-14T11:48:00.000-07:00

So, the long-awaited season three premiere of Battlestar Galactica finally aired last week. I'm usually not really into sci-fi shows, but I was first curious about the new Battlestar Galactica series because I watched the original series as a kid back in the late 70s and early 80s.
Also, it doesn't hurt that the new show is a really well-written drama nor that it has one of the hottest casts on TV.
I was intrigued by the storyline for the season premiere. The obvious parallels were there between the humans resistance against the cylon occupation and the Iraqi resistance against U.S. occupation. Although, the TV show made you see the side of the humans (Iraqis) and sympathize with why they would stoop to terrorism to fight against their oppressors. There were also less obvious parallels with plight of the Palestinians and their oppression by the Israelis.
I thought it was interesting how a TV show could help one see the other side of the issue and make one sympathize with the side which most in the West wouldn't normally side with in the real world.
They even had the cylons talking about how they had come to help the humans. As if. As if the Bush administration really went to Iraq to help the Iraqis! :P
Anyway, I guess I'm a closet geek since I'm so in to Battlestar Galactica.

KSL is the Taliban of Utah

2006-09-21T20:36:00.000-07:00

Salt Lake Tribune - Madonna may be crossed off local TV schedule:

Madonna's controversial depiction of a crucifixion during her worldwide concert tour won't be KSL's cross to bear if it airs on television in November.
The Mormon-owned TV station (Channel 5) has decided not to air an NBC broadcast of the pop singer's "Confessions Tour" concert if it includes a segment in which the Material Girl hangs on a mirrored cross wearing a crown of thorns.
"We make every effort to operate within the community standards," said KSL station manager Greg James. "This is clearly something that if the event occurs in that show it would - in my opinion - not be keeping within the [holiday] season and within community standards. And we would be compelled not to air the program."

I'm very tired of KSL acting like the Taliban of Utah and censoring what we can watch on TV. Just say no to censorship!

I doubt the controversial bits of her concert are even all that bad. People always work themselves up into a lather over things they haven't even seen.

Join the Homosexual Intifada

2006-09-01T20:32:00.000-07:00

I believe that straight men can become gay through prayer and/or therapy.

GO GAY! :)

Survivors

2006-08-18T17:13:00.000-07:00

I just read a really great quote, which I wanted to share:

"Every gay and lesbian person who has been lucky enough to survive the turmoil of growing up is a survivor. Survivors always have an obligation to those who will face the same challenges." - Bob Paris

Bush Makes Shit Up to Elect Republicans

2006-08-10T11:51:00.000-07:00

CNN.com - Plane plot involved energy drink, MP3 player, official says - Aug 10, 2006:

Terrorists planned to use MP3 players and energy drinks to blow up as many as 10 jetliners bound for the United States, authorities said Thursday.

President Bush said the arrests are a "stark reminder" that the U.S. is "at war with Islamic fascists."

• The U.S. raised the terror threat level to "severe" for all flights leaving Britain for the United States. Britain raised its alert level to "critical."

I was just saying to a friend last week that we should expect some sort of "terror alert" in the next couple of months because there's a major election coming up. I didn't expect it to come this soon. Remember a couple of years ago there were all kinds of terror threat levels before the presidential election and as soon as Bush was re-elected, they all went away.

You know they just make this shit up to help Republicans get elected, right?

Keith Christensen Voted to Rescind Gay-Protection

2006-08-09T15:44:00.000-07:00

Salt Lake City Council Rescinds Gay-Protection Law:

Church Makes Historic Move, Urging Members to Attend City Council Meeting

January 24, 1998

It was less than a month old on January 13, when the Salt Lake City Council rescinded the ordance that prohibited discrimination "against an otherwise qualified employee or applicant based on race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age, sexual orientation or disability."

"Having these words does not protect people from discrimination," said Bryce Jolley, a City Councilman who led the effort to repeal. He and Councilmen Carlton Christensen, Keith Christensen and Roger Thompson voted to scrap the fledgling law. Councilwomen Joanne Milner and Deeda Seed and Councilman Tom Rogan voted to keep the law.

As I said in a previous post, Keith Christensen, Rocky Anderson's choice to replace him as mayor, is no progressive.

Checkpoint set on 300 West

2006-08-02T22:12:00.000-07:00

From the Deseret Morning News | Checkpoint set on 300 West:

Salt Lake police plan on holding another court-approved administrative checkpoint Friday.
Between 10 p.m. and 3 a.m. Saturday, all vehicles traveling on 300 West between 1050 South and 1300 South will be pulled over to check for valid drivers' licenses and registrations and to check for possible DUI's and other violations.

Clearly the SLC police dept. is targeting the gay bar Todd's Bar & Grill, which is located right at 1051 So. 300 West, with this "court-approved administrative checkpoint." The article mentions another checkpoint last month. It makes one wonder where that one was. The article doesn't state the location of the last checkpoint. Why are the police targeting Todd's?

Technorati tags: gay bar, Utah

Keith Christensen is Not a Progressive

2006-08-01T07:41:00.001-07:00

On Monday, Mayor Rocky Anderson held a joint press conference with Republican Keith Christensen to announce Christensen as Rocky's choice to replace him as mayor of Salt Lake City. This reminds me too much of eastern European dictators who announce their successors. If Rocky endorsed him after he'd already entered the campaign, that is one thing, but to announce it together like this just seems wrong in America.
The last time a Republican was elected mayor of Salt Lake City was in 1971. In an attempt to overcome that stigma against Republican mayors in Salt Lake City, Rocky Anderson said party politics don't matter when selecting the best person for the job and said Keith Christensen is a progressive.
I'm sorry mayor, but obviously party politics do matter when selecting a mayor, otherwise a Democrat wouldn't have been elected every time over the past 35 years.
And most importantly, Christensen can't possibly be a progressive if he's a Republican. Republicans are the most regressive people in America.

Rejoice! Rejoice!

2006-07-28T17:12:00.000-07:00

So, the word on the street is that Rocky Anderson is going to announce tonight at his Town Hall meeting that he will not be seeking reelection as Salt Lake City's mayor. REJOICE! REJOICE!
I can hear the chanting now: "No more years! No more years!"

No Royal Treatment for Checketts

2006-07-26T10:57:00.000-07:00

It occurred to me today where Dave Checkett's royal tantrum came from after the county council didn't bow to his wishes and give him our money to build his stadium.
It can all be summed up in the name of his soccer team.
Réal Salt Lake... or translated into English "Royal Salt Lake."
The fact that he named his team "royal" shows what he's thinking.
If his team is royal, he is the king. And now he's upset that his subjects are not bowing to his wishes and forking over their monetary tribute in the form of taxes to pay for his new stadium.
Fortunately for us, he's only king in his own mind, otherwise we'd have to start a new revolution to overthrow King Dave.

Jeffrey Nielsen is Not the Only Mormon for Gay Marriage!?

2006-07-20T09:57:00.000-07:00

I received an email this morning from someone calling himself "Captain Moroni" with a link to the website: www.LDS4GayMarriage.net

The Captain wrote:

If you haven't visited our site recently, you'll see that we've added and updated our essays promoting civil same-sex marriage. With the elections soon coming up, our information may be of help to you in your efforts to secure equal civil rights for lesbians and gays. Our site promotes same-sex marriage from a doctrinal, libertarian, and common sense perspective. Please visit our site and offer any suggestions for improvement. Please consider putting a link to our site if you haven't done so as of yet. Help get the word out. Thanks.

Upon visiting their well-minded, but ugly website, I found some interesting points:

The Brethren have said that the ONLY official doctrine of the Church is the scriptures. They've stated that when the Brethren say things in accordance with the scriptures, that that is correct doctrine and when they say things not discussed in the scriptures, that they are simply expressing their private opinions and when they say things contrary to scripture, we are to ignore their words. Click here for references.
The Prophets HAVE said things that are wrong - Brigham Young saying that there were people on the moon and sun for example. Joseph Fielding Smith said that God would never permit man to travel to the moon or send spaceships to other planets. President Hinckley also forbade GA’s and missionaries traveling over the Y2k change due to the anticipated failures of a lot of electronics. Nothing happened anywhere in the world. Click here for references.
It is therefore clear that not everything coming from the mouths of the Brethren is given by inspiration and we are to only accept those sayings which agree with scripture.
The ONLY way for something contrary to scripture or not discussed in scripture to become official doctrine is for it to BECOME scripture.
The issue of whether to accept or reject the Church's policy on Civil Same-Sex Marriage is therefore whether or not it is in agreement with scripture.
D&C 134:4 and 1 Cor. 10:29 say that it is wrong for people to let their religion/morals prompt them to infringe upon the rights and liberties of others.
The D&C states that the Constitution was divinely inspired and set up to maximize personal freedom so that we can have the most freedom to exercise our agency (101:76-80) and any laws that violates constitutional principles are evil (98:6,7).
The Loving case, allowing mixed race marriages, showed that laws based on subjective morals are wrong.
The Court also stated that such laws violate the Fourteenth Amendment of the US Constitution's Equal Protection clause which states that the laws of the land have to be applied equally to all and not be discriminatory.
Since Civil Same-Sex Marriage is clearly a right/liberty, opposing it is clearly contrary to scripture and therefore must be rejected per the clear teachings of the prophets.

They actually flesh out each of the points above. I'm just posting the highlights. For more in-depth info, visit LDS 4 Gay Marriage.

Send Orrin Down The Hatch!

2006-07-18T09:34:00.000-07:00

Move your lazy hand over and click on this link, scroll down and then vote for Pete Ashdown.

If you do, Pete might get a nice big, fat check from Senator Barbara Boxer to help in his campaign to send Orrin down the Hatch.

You might not know this, but Pete Ashdown apparently organized the first underground rave dance party in Utah. This is the kind of person we need in the Senate! Before you get all whacked out about the evils of raves, I can attest, as someone who attended one of Pete's first raves in Utah, they were harmless good fun.

We need Pete! We don't need someone in the Senate like Hatch who gives cocaine users get out of jail cards.

Lose-Lose Deal

2006-07-10T11:44:00.000-07:00

Go out of town for a few days and all hell breaks loose.

Republican Utah House Speaker Greg Curtis has finagled a deal to get county tax dollars for the Réal Sandy soccer stadium in exchange for providing an increase in ZAP taxes to raise money for a downtown cultural arts district. Isn't that called extortion?

Curtis needs to stop holding Utah taxpayer dollars hostage to fulfill his own plans. This needs to stop!

Curtis is clearly abusing his power in the Utah legislature when he uses extortion and backroom deals to take taxpayer dollars primarily raised in downtown Salt Lake City to enrich Sandy City.

I thought for sure Sandy voters would kick Curtis out of office after the Guzzlegate scandal that he was clearly in the center of a couple of years ago. But then Sandy keeps re-electing that dolt Tom Dolan as mayor, too. So, I guess that was too much to hope for.

Seriously though, we need to focus our attention on getting him voted out of office in the next election cycle.

Stop the insanity!

You Can't Make This Stuff Up

2006-07-07T09:17:00.000-07:00

Apparently, Ann Coulter has been caught plagiarizing others' works in both her recent book and in her regular newspaper column.

You mean to tell me she couldn't make up all that hate speech!??

Hopefully, this is the nail in the coffin which finally gets her off the airwaves and her column canceled.

Oh! And she is under investigation for voter fraud in Florida, a third degree felony.

READ MORE ABOUT IT:
Syndicate May Look Into Alleged Coulter Plagiarism On Its Own ...

Olbermann hosted plagiarism expert to spell out allegations ...

Ann Coulter Voter Fraud

Calling on Evil Spirits

2006-07-05T09:07:00.000-07:00

It seemed funny last week how I casually posted on the what ifs of Nancy Workman still being county overlord... errr... mayor, and how she would throw money at the Réal Sandy soccer stadium. Then a few days later, she came forward to encourage residents to lobby the county in favor of the stadium. It was almost like my blog was an incantation to raise the dead.

We hadn't heard one peep out of her in months or maybe even a year and then suddenly after I mentioned her, there she was spewing forth into the public realm again.

Perhaps I was having a prescient moment when I thought about and later blogged about what it would be like if she was still large and in charge. Well, she's still large...

So, in honor of the former overlord and the dawn of the dead, I have written my own incantation to raise the dead Nancy Workman:

Do it for the kids
For the KIDS
Nancy Workman
For the kids
For the KIDS
Do it for the kids
Nancy Workman
Nancy Workman
For the kids
For the KIDS
Do it for the KIDS
Nancy Workman
NANCY WORKMAN
Did I mention our soccer kids?
Our soccer kids
OUR SOCCER KIDS
NANCY WORKMAN!!!

It's best to recite this incantation with arms raised and dancing in a circle.

Imagine if Nancy Workman was Still County Overlord... I Mean Mayor

2006-06-28T12:58:00.000-07:00

Gosh! Imagine if Nancy Workman was still county mayor. (God Forbid.) When Sandy came to present their original funding scheme to get the Réal Sandy soccer stadium built, she would have said, "Wait! Can't we give you more money? What can we do to spend more money?? (And plaster my name all over the project)..."

Oh, I know. Let's subsidize a huge development 3 times the size of the Gateway Mall in Salt Lake. Who exactly is going to profit from this Mondo-Gateway development, anyway? Why can't they pay for it themselves? How about these anonymous developers pay for the infrastructure upgrades for the Réal Sandy stadium while they're at it, since having the stadium next to their development will bring them big bucks.

Thank goodness we have someone fiscally responsible running the county. Thank you Mayor Corroon.

Sandy City Politicians Need to Lay Off the Crack

2006-06-27T20:20:00.000-07:00

Wow! Is this really the best they could come up with?

I just read the proposal from Sandy City regarding their public funding scheme for the Réal Sandy (Salt Lake?) soccer stadium. I really, honestly thought they'd come up with something better than this. They only managed to lower the county contribution from $87 million to $76 million. Really? Is that the best you could do?

And adding in Sandy City's miniscule contribution, the entire cost to taxpayers: $96.5 million!!

So, Sandy thought they could get people on board by saying this would just be a part of a 136-acre development... a new downtown at the south end of the valley. Is that what they thought?

I'm really shocked. It's mind boggling. I don't think Sandy is going to get the stadium with this deal.

The Best News Ever

2006-06-26T13:18:00.000-07:00

I just received the best news ever. :)
My former boss at the not-so-Grand America Hotel was fired!!!!
He was such a Dick, I mean his name was Richard... Richard made my life a living hell. So, I was so pleased to hear he'd been fired. There is some justice in the universe after all. :)
He was the "Creative Director" but didn't have a creative bone in his body. He hardly ever even did anything besides sit behind my coworker Amy for 8 hours every day looking over her shoulder telling her every change to make to designs. Talk about uncomfortable!
I can't even begin to tell you all the creepy, weird, asinine things he did. WORST BOSS I'VE EVER HAD. Even worse than Nikki at the Sundance Film Festival and that's bad.
I became seriously depressed while working at that job because he was so awful. I dreaded going to work each day.
If you see a guy named Richard applying for a job at your company with "Creative Director" of the Grand America Hotel on his résumé, slam the door in his face.

Religion a Branch of Politics

2006-06-25T13:31:00.000-07:00

The great 9th century philosopher Abu Nasr al-Farabi once said that "religion was just another means of controlling the masses and should be viewed as a branch of politics."
This is especially evident when looking at the Republican party today.

I didn't know I was making a doc about the definition of marriage

2006-06-22T20:27:00.000-07:00

While reading my email this morning, I saw the one from the Daily Utah Chronicle I receive every day (or once a week during the Summer) with their top headlines. One headline stood out, "Former U student creates documentary about the definition of marriage."

I'm also working on a documentary film about another topic entirely, but had actually considered making a documentary about the history of marriage. So, that one intrigued me.

Imagine my surprise when I clicked on the link and found it was an article about ME.

Unfortunately, whoever wrote the headline didn't read the rest of the article since it mentions the real topic of my film. Having been interviewed many times before, I was not at all surprised to find that it contained a few factual errors.

It's always interesting to see how other people organize the remarks you make in a long-ranging interview, picking one or two comments out of context.

Read the article here: Former U student creates documentary about ???

How to Bring Your Kids Up Gay

2006-06-22T13:51:00.000-07:00

Boy: Mommy, is make-up just for girls?
Mom: Make-up is for girls and really fabulous boys.

--Eckerd, Rockaway Blvd & Liberty Ave, Ozone Park

From Overheard in New York.

If One Can Question God, Why Can't One Question Mormon Church Leaders?

2006-06-16T12:47:00.000-07:00

Jeffrey Nielsen, was interviewed on RadioWest on KUER the other day regarding his firing from BYU. In the interview he said:
"I've never thought we [Mormons] believed in the infallibility of our [Mormon church] leaders. That's not a part of our doctrine. I think it's a social practice. We find examples in the Bible of people questioning god. And god, I think, didn't damn them for it. He changed his mind. I'm thinking of Abraham and Moses as two examples. I mean, if we can question god, we can certainly question another human being."
Good point, Brother Nielsen.

Academic Freedom Non-Existent at BYU

2006-06-16T12:15:00.000-07:00

In light of Jeffrey Nielsen being let go at BYU as an instructor in the Philosophy department for expressing his views on gay marriage in an op-ed piece for the Salt Lake Tribune, I see that BYU still struggles with Academic Freedom, which is a basic tenet of institutions of higher learning and BYU does not understand this important aspect of a university.
Although, I'm not at all surprised that BYU let him go as everyone expected it the moment they read his op-ed piece. According to the Tribune, "BYU spokeswoman Carri Jenkins said the decision to let Nielsen go came from the philosophy department.
'The department made the decision because of a recent opinion piece that publicly contradicted and opposed a statement by the First Presidency,' Jenkins said. 'Such contradiction is in violation of university policy.'"
I beg to differ, Ms Jenkins. BYU's "Statement on Academic Freedom" specifically states: "...exercise of individual and institutional academic freedom must be a matter of reasonable limitations. In general, at BYU a limitation is reasonable when the faculty behavior or expression seriously and adversely affects the university mission or the Church. Examples would include expression with students or in public that:

contradicts or opposes, rather than analyzes or discusses, fundamental Church doctrine or policy;"

If you actually read Jeffrey Nielsen's letter in the Trib, you'd see that he very carefully analyzed and discussed the Church's stance on gay marriage. He didn't just contradict it. But no one at BYU probably even read his op-ed piece. That's standard operating procedure at BYU. Condemn first without all the facts.
Like when Julie Stouffer was on MTV's the Real World New Orleans. They kicked her out of BYU based on hearsay while specifically stating that no one at BYU had actually watched any of the episodes of the Real World. If they had, they would have seen an admirable young woman who was shown going to church on Sundays, reading scriptures, having fun while being a good Latter-day Saint and good role model for her roommates and young people all across America. By kicking her out of BYU, the Church only hurt their own image among America's youth.
Good luck with that Mormon church. Let's see how far this attitude gets you. Back when I was still active in the church, they talked about how they were losing huge numbers of youth who were leaving the church. That won't be changing any time soon.

Jeffrey Nielsen's Response to BYU Firing

2006-06-15T18:56:00.000-07:00

June 13, 2006

Daniel W. Graham, chair
Department of Philosophy
Brigham Young University

Dear Dan,

I regretfully read your letter of June 8 informing me that because of my opinion piece in the Salt Lake Tribune of June 4, you have decided not to rehire me to teach the philosophy courses I had already been scheduled to teach through next year. I have only the utmost respect and admiration for you and for the students, faculty, and staff in the Philosophy Department at Brigham Young University. In my experience, the students and faculty have always been engaged and lively participants in the academic pursuit of truth. Now let me address some of the issues you expressed in your letter.

Church leaders have consistently opposed same-sex attraction and gay marriage. I have never agreed with this position believing that it was based in misunderstanding and in a purely human bias of cultural place and time and not reflective of divine will. Yet I have never publicly, or in the classroom, opposed their policy. Yet when church leaders take a political stand on a moral issue, then I am not only engaged as a member of the church, but also as an American citizen. As an American citizen, I publicly expressed an honest opinion contradicting a political statement by our church leaders. I fear for the church and the university if the time comes when the members of the church, including faculty at BYU, are not allowed to disagree, either in public or private, with political positions taken by the church. If such conformity is required, then we deserve to be called neither a church nor a university.

I also strongly disagree with the implications of your statement that faithfulness and loyalty to the church and church leaders never permits expressions of disagreement, or questioning of our church leaders - especially in an academic setting. Unquestioning acquiescence and blind loyalty to leaders in positions of power over human beings have no place in any institution of higher learning that values the pursuit of truth and search for justice. And in my mind, what is philosophy but the quest for truth and justice. I believe that there is great potential at BYU that will never be realized if the faculty, in certain areas of study, are limited in their research and work by the necessity of arriving at pre-approved answers given by church leaders.

Finally, when it comes to the sustaining of church leaders, I will always argue for the privilege of church members to examine, question, and dialogue with each other and with their leaders in order to genuinely sustain and support church doctrines and teachings. I do not believe that sustaining leaders requires either silent acquiescence or unquestioning conformity, but it does require active engagement with one another and with our church leaders, regardless of our place or position within church leadership hierarchies. If sustaining our leaders is to be real and genuine - not a sham as are elections in totalitarian governments - then members must be free to examine, question and benevolently criticize. Ultimately, I strongly believe that every person possesses the privilege to speak and the obligation to listen.

Again, I have only respect and admiration for you. I have enjoyed our association, and I also wish you the best.

Sincerely,

Jeff Nielsen

Paper Tiger, Zarqawi Dead?

2006-06-08T08:26:00.000-07:00

First the Pentagon creates this legend or myth of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in Iraq and then when it's politically expedient, they kill him off. As people started questioning whether Zarqawi was even a real person, the Bush administration conveniently kills him. He's becoming a liability and no longer an asset. Once one of the excuses for going to war, now it's become useful to kill off the fictional character in order to look good going into the midterm elections.

From the Asia Times:

Before January 2003, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was little known. Zarqawi stopped being a non-entity on February 5, 2003, when he was spectacularly catapulted onto the global stage - six weeks before the start of the Iraq war - by US Secretary of State Colin Powell's weapons of mass destruction speech at the United Nations. Powell used Zarqawi to link Saddam Hussein's secular Ba'athist regime to the "Islamic terror network", and thus partly justify the invasion and occupation of Iraq.

In Amman, Jordan in February 2003 practically nobody knew Zarqawi outside of Jordan - even though in 2002 he had been the target of a CIA disinformation campaign tying him to the theocratic regime in Tehran. But soon the Bush administration was to invest him with the aura of an "international man of mystery" - the world's most dangerous man after Osama bin Laden.

Soon Zarqawi started being characterized simultaneously as al-Qaeda's top operative in Iraq, and the number one promoter of civil war in that country.

Although the full weight of the Bush administration described Zarqawi as "a very senior al-Qaeda leader", strangely enough there was no meaningful Zarqawi connection whatsoever when one sifted through the terror information in the global media between September 11 and Shock and Awe in March 2003.

Senior former CIA agents say that Vice President Dick Cheney "blew up" when a report proved no links between Saddam and Zarqawi. No wonder: it was always a propaganda stunt.

The truth is more straightforward. Zarqawi had no connection either with bin Laden or with Saddam. Secular Saddam hosting an Islamic radical, of all people, at a time when the American campaign against the "axis of evil" had reached a fever-pitch is a ludicrous proposition.

In a suspect email allegedly found by the US Army in a raid of "an al-Qaeda safe house" in Baghdad in early 2004 - which immediately showed up at the website of the ultra right-wing Project For a New American Century - Zarqawi allegedly writes to bin Laden asking for his help in detonating a civil war between Sunnis and Shi'ites in Iraq.

The email - good timing - was found exactly at a juncture when the Bush administration could not disguise any more the lack of evidence linking Saddam and al-Qaeda. There's only one problem - or several, for that matter. Al-Qaeda was actually encouraging total cooperation among all factions of the Iraqi resistance, Sunni and Shi'ite, secular Ba'athist and Islamic. The email could not possibly have been written by a mujahideen like Zarqawi. The characteristic, elaborate Islamic phraseology was not there. No mujahideen in his right mind would complain of his imminent martyrdom, as it's implied in the text. And to top it all, for the many different strands of the resistance, Allawi's administration is just a temporary nuisance in the long road of a national liberation struggle. So the plot didn't fly, and it was scrapped after a few days.

So, first Zarqawi was used as a justification for the Iraqi war; then he became the reason for why there was no peace. Instead, what sources close to the resistance tell Asia Times Online, is that Zarqawi is a minor player: most Iraqis, Shi'ite and Sunni alike, reject his brutal methods, and even Islamic clerics who support the resistance but criticize Zarqawi's methods are routinely denounced by Zarqawi as "collaborators".

One American psy-ops operative recently leveled with the Australian newspaper The Age: "We were basically paying up to US$10,000 a time to opportunists and criminals who passed off fiction and supposition about Zarqawi as cast-iron fact, making him out as the linchpin of just about every attack in Iraq."

But not a single source, anywhere, claims to have actually seen "Zarqawi" since late 2001 in Afghanistan. Ask the Pentagon. Ask the CIA. Ask the Federal Bureau of Investigation. No one, on the record, is able to independently verify that "Zarqawi" actually exists. There are no photos - only that same CIA-owned black and white. The CIA doesn't even know how tall or how fat "Zarqawi" is. All the literature on "Zarqawi" since late 2001 springs from dubious "confessions" by prisoners and "statements" by all sorts of people claiming to be "Zarqawi".

Even more extraordinary is that everybody and his neighbor is after Zarqawi: the Pentagon; the CIA; the Mukhabarat-lite intelligence services of Allawi; the Mehdi Army of Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr; the bombed residents of Fallujah, where he apparently is hiding; not to mention millions of Iraqis who would bless the heavens above for a shot at laying their hands on a $25 million bounty. Just like bin Laden, nobody can find Zarqawi. Why?

The truth may be that the real one-legged, squat, tattooed thug Zarqawi is dead, but a composite Zarqawi lives. He may have been created by a faction, or factions of the Iraqi resistance as a mobilizing factor, a dashing neo-Saladin rousing the masses against the infidel occupiers.

Or better yet, he may have been created by US military intelligence. This American "Zarqawi" is definitely a Hollywood improvement on the original: tall, urbane, highly articulate, and with agile legs.

Zarqawi was extremely useful to defuse attention from the Abu Ghraib scandal: the Berg video showed up at the height of Abu Ghraib. The "Zarqawi" in the video does not speak Arabic with a Jordanian accent. His legs seem pretty normal. And crucially, he wears a golden ring, which for an authentic jihadi would be the ultimate affront.

If multi-purpose "Zarqawi" did not exist, he would have to be invented. The "Zarqawi" myth straddles pre-invasion and post-invasion, so the neo-cons can use it to justify just about anything. Cheney and Rumsfeld may keep exhuming Iraq's "long established ties with al-Qaeda" and may justify the de facto occupation because "Zarqawi", "linked to al-Qaeda", is still there.

Read the entire article at Asia Times Online.

Gays Marry, Civilization Does NOT Collapse

2006-06-05T10:52:00.000-07:00

As they like to say in Massachusetts, gay people have been marrying for two years now and the Commonwealth is still intact.

But you may argue, that has only been two years. Just you wait! Society as we know it in MA will be destroyed!

Well, in Scandinavia gay people have been getting "married" (civil unions) for over 16 years and society has not been devastated.

KCPW featured Darren Spedale on their Midday Utah show today (titled "Midday" at 9am, though???).

Spedale and William Eskridge have a book titled "Gay Marriage: For Better or For Worse? : What We've Learned from the Evidence" on bookshelves now.

This study of same-sex marriage distinguishes itself by avoiding molten rhetoric and grounding its analysis in empirical data from Scandinavia's 16-year history of legal registered partnerships. In clear prose that explains legal minutiae and precedents in lay-reader-friendly terms, the legal scholars apply to the domestic debate the history and statistical evidence of government-sanctioned same-sex marriage in Denmark (since 1989), Norway (since 1993) and Sweden (since 1995). They also offer stories of same-sex couples and a concise history of the movement for same-sex marriage rights internationally. The authors build a convincing case that shoots down spurious interpretations of the Scandinavian data, such as same-sex marriage destroying the institution of marriage and victimizing children. In bringing the issue home, the authors prescribe an incremental process to legalizing same-sex marriage in the United States that involves a "menu approach" where a variety of options are available, including full marriage rights for all. Though the book has its share of dry moments, its reliance on hard data makes it stand out in a crowded field.

Opponents of same-sex marriage in the United States often claim that allowing gays and lesbians to marry will lead to the downfall of the institution of marriage and will harm children. Drawing from 16 years of data and experience with same-sex unions in Scandinavia, Gay Marriage: For Better or for Worse? is the first book to present empirical evidence about the results of same-sex marriage (in the form of registered partnerships) from the Nordic countries. Spedale and Eskridge demonstrate that conservative defense-of-marriage arguments that predict negative effects from gay marriage are invalid, and the Scandinavian experience suggests that the institution of marriage may indeed benefit from the enactment of gay marriage. If we look at the proof from abroad, the authors argue, we must conclude that the sanctioning of gay marriage in the United States would neither undermine marriage as an institution, nor harm the wellbeing of our nation's children.

Mormons for Gay Marriage

2006-06-04T12:18:00.000-07:00

Not all Mormons blindly follow the bigoted dictates of their church leaders, thank goodness.

Jeffrey Nielsen, a professor at the Mormon church's Brigham Young University, has an editorial in today's Salt Lake Tribune in favor of gay marriage.

Among other things, he says:

I believe opposing gay marriage and seeking a constitutional amendment against it is immoral.

Amen.

Truly, God would be unjust if He were the creator of a biological process that produced such uncommon, yet perfectly natural results, and then condemned the innocent person to a life of guilt, while denying him or her the ordinary privileges and fulfillment of the deep longing in all of us for family and a committed, loving relationship.

...virtuous moderation and loving kindness require us to exercise caution before making constitutionally binding discrimination against a whole class of people based only on fear and superstition. In fact, when we examine the statements opposing gay marriage, we find few reasonable arguments. It is not enough to claim that we should oppose gay marriage because historically it has never been recognized. This is the fallacy of appealing to tradition, which was also used to fight against civil rights and equal treatment of women.

Further, to say that gay marriage will destroy traditional marriage and the family without giving any reasons why is the fallacy of appealing to fear. Indeed, once you get past the emotion, it is quite an unfounded claim.

How could the union of two committed and loving people negatively affect my marriage? I believe that quite the contrary is true; namely, legalizing gay marriage reinforces the importance of committed relationships and would strengthen the institution of marriage.

Ultimately, any appeal to religious authority to create law is misplaced. Our Founding Fathers were inspired by their study of history to separate constitutional authority from religious belief, recognizing as they did the potential for tyranny in unchecked religious influence.

Read the entire article.

Lobby Congress Against Mormon Marriage

2006-05-30T12:55:00.000-07:00

Personally, I think it's rather hypocritical of the Mormon Church to lobby Congress to amend the Constitution to forbid gay marriage. Weren't they persecuted for their form of non-traditional marriage a little over a hundred years ago?
How soon they forget. I say we should remind them that they don't want to be persecuted for their beliefs. As has been pointed out on The World, According to Me blog, evangelicals might take this opportunity to ban Mormon Temple marriages while they're at it.
I think we ought to lobby Congress to amend the constitution to make Mormon Temple marriages unconstitutional. Because really, those secret rituals are kind of creepy and not very much in keeping with traditional marriage.
Okay all you Mormon folk, before you start hating, I don't really think the Mormon temple marriage ritual is ALL THAT CREEPY. Maybe a little. I've been to one or two in my lifetime, but it is definitely not very traditional. The whole thing is a rhetorical argument. I don't really want Congress to ban Mormon temple marriage. I don't think the Constitution should be amended for such petty things as banning any form of marriage. But I really am going to lobby Congress asking them to ban Mormon temple marriage to make a point!
If you'd like to join me, you can find your senator's contact info on the United States Senate site or your Representative's contact info on the U.S. House site.

Nancy Saxton, the Snowball

2006-05-24T12:08:00.000-07:00

Council member Nancy Saxton announced she plans to run for mayor of Salt Lake City. All I can do is laugh because she has the proverbial snowball's chance in hell of being elected mayor.
She's probably as divisive as Rocky Anderson with even less substance.
Her big idea she is pushing is horses in Pioneer Park? That's like Rocky's biggest accomplishment as mayor: orange flags. And has anyone noticed the city seems to have stopped stocking those crosswalks with flags?
We need another mayor like Deedee Corradini who knew how to get things done, minus the animosity from the City Weekly, which single-handedly created all the controversy surrounding Corradini.

I Really Mean It This Time

2006-05-16T19:15:00.000-07:00

Last week, I said that Taylor Hicks needed to get kicked off American Idol, but I really mean it this time America! Taylor has an okay singing voice, not my style, but okay. The big problem with Taylor, though, is that he's just a karaoke singer. He's just the type who sings at weddings or in lounge bars. He's not a star. See, Elliot and Katharine lend their own style to the songs they sing. They make the songs their own. Taylor, on the other hand, tries his damnedest to imitate the orginal singer...and that's what karaoke is all about. That's what wedding singers do so well. That's not what stars and idols do. Taylor really needs to go home tomorrow night.
Katharine McPhee was AMAZING tonight. I loved it when Simon said she had the best performance of anyone in the entire competition up to that point after she sang "Somewhere Over The Rainbow." I am a huge fan of Katharine, but even I wasn't sure if she'd sing it right. Some people try and sing the song all happy and cheerful, but if you listen to Judy sing it, whom the song was written for, it's a very melancholy song. Katharine did it justice.

Hatch Doesn't Believe in Democracy

2006-05-12T09:52:00.000-07:00

Okay, so not only is Senator Hatch a NUTCAKE, he doesn't believe in DEMOCRACY, either.

According to an article in today's Deseret Morning News, Utah stands to gain another seat in the House of Representatives, to balance out Democratic-leaning D.C. FINALLY getting a vote in the House as well, which is proposed in a new bill.

But our beloved, senile old nutcake Hatch "supports the idea of Utah getting a fourth seat but has concerns over the District of Columbia getting a House vote." While it would be nice if the Deseret Morning News had the journalistic sense to have him explain what his issues with D.C. getting a vote are, it basically comes down to the fact that D.C. has no democratic representation and the tax-paying residents there deserve representation.

If Hatch has a problem with that, he doesn't believe in democracy.

Phone Records and Poll Results

2006-05-11T21:01:00.000-07:00

So, you're telling me, Mr. Bush, that 10-50 million Americans are associated with Al-Qaeda!? Get real, buddy. You're such a silly megalomaniac that you think God chose you to be president so you can do whatever you damn well please?

On NPR this evening, they were saying that the phone companies who gave records to the NSA could face penalties. What about BUSH!? He needs to be impeached, if not do jail time.

This all reminds me of the things we used to hear about Soviet Russia as a child: eavesdropping on phone calls, gulags, limits on civil freedoms, etc., etc.

Will someone please restore order. This is AMERICA!

Oh and tonight I read that Bush's approval rating has sunk another 6% in the Harris Poll down to 29% who think Mr. Bush is doing an “excellent or pretty good” job as president. While I think it's great that more Americans are waking up and seeing this guy for who and what he really is, I'd like to know who the fuckwits are who think he's actually doing an excellent or pretty good job.

Karaoke with a Capital K

2006-05-09T19:20:00.000-07:00

Okay, it's really time for Taylor to get the boot on American Idol. God, could he suck any more? Such bad karaoke versions of those Elvis songs.

Help Bill Gates, Buy Apple

2006-05-08T15:39:00.000-07:00

Bill Gates says he doesn't want to be the world's richest man. I think we should all help him out by buying Apple computer products. Macs are a viable option to Windows products, people!

And Bill, if you're really serious about not wanting to be the world's richest man, I'll be taking donations. You can give me a few billion.

P.S.: I'd even be willing to take that donation in the form of Microsoft stock! (Which, of course, I'd promptly sell and diversify my holdings.)

Utah is a Four-Letter Word

2006-05-04T08:24:00.000-07:00

Utah's new slogan might as well be "Utah is a four-letter word" instead of "Life Elevated" since that's about all people outside Utah know about our state, that it has four letters in its name. According to a recent national survey about Utah, few people knew much of anything about the state.
Among other things, the Associated Press reports, "Most survey respondents associated Salt Lake City's mountainous skyline, its state Capitol and the distinctive spires of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' downtown temple with Colorado, just as they did with a summertime photo of a ski tram." D'oh! Tell me it isn't so. They thought the Salt Lake Temple was in Colorado??? Oh my!!

HURRAH!!! RSL Will Get No Tax Money from Salt Lake County!

2006-05-03T12:13:00.000-07:00

Ever since it was announced that Real Salt Lake [RSL], the major league soccer franchise in Utah, had chosen Sandy over Salt Lake City to build its new stadium, I have been advocating that NO COUNTY TAXES be utilized to help them build the stadium in Sandy.
The reason I feel this way? Simply, Sandy City government officials (and legislators from Sandy) were completely dirty and underhanded in the way they convinced RSL to locate the stadium in Sandy.
If RSL had chosen Sandy purely on its own merits, that would be one thing, but they used all sorts of dirty tricks in the legislature to make it impossible for Salt Lake City to field a decent candidate site for the stadium. They basically got laws passed which made it impossible for SLC to compete.
In today's news, the Salt Lake Tribune is reporting that SL County Mayor Peter Corroon has announced that "the 'numbers just don't work' for county taxpayers, so he is ending negotiations with the Major League Soccer team.
That means RSL will not get the $35 million in public financing from the county to use toward land and infrastructure for the $145 million soccer-and-entertainment complex.
'For the citizens of Salt Lake County,' Corroon said, 'we didn't feel it was fiscally prudent.'"
I couldn't agree more, Mister Mayor.

Smarmy Comics

2006-05-02T14:24:00.000-07:00

I FINALLY updated my comic strip. Check it out: SmarmyComics.com

Pete Ashdown for President! errr... I mean Senate.

2006-05-02T08:37:00.000-07:00

Send Pete for Beer! I mean to Congress. Did any of you ever see that "Send Enid Greene to Congress" billboard back in the day across from East High School? The one on which someone crossed out "to Congress" and wrote in "for Beer"? Good times.

Pete is the kind of bloke who could appreciate a good laugh like that. I mean, Pete has the "Party Palace" after all. Orrin Hatch? Seriously, can he really laugh at all?

But SERIOUSLY, can Orrin even represent Utah? First of all, he'd never lived in Utah 'til he decided to run for election from Utah back in 1976. 1976!! And then he promptly left Utah for Washington, D.C.. So, essentially, he's never actually lived in Utah.

Sure, some of you out there think he represents your values, but does he really? Just because he writes cheesy songs with Janice Kapp Perry does not mean he understands Utah.

And then there's the fact that he's just been in Congress so damn long. 1976, people!! Term limits, anyone? Please. Add to that the fact that Orrin is just a nutcake and how can you really vote for him?

But I'm not just advocating Petey because he's not Orrin Hatch. Pete has issues! Not that I'm that read up on his issues, but I'm sure he has them. I'll let Pete speak for himself on these. Here are a few notes from his website:

America should lead the world with innovation. Education and infrastructure for doing so should be a top priority. An Internet free from government control, taxation, and monitoring strengthens our economy.
The death penalty is not a deterrent for violent crime.
Copyright should protect artists and creators when they take action to request it. Instead, it is abused to the point that innovation is held back and very little falls into the public domain.
I propose what The Economist calls the "true" flat-tax, one that carries no exemptions, deductions, or loopholes.
Our ecological environment is the most important possession we pass down to our children. Loose controls on clean air and clean water are starting to come back to haunt us in the form of excessive mercury deposits in fish and game.

Geez! Okay, that's enough about content. Reading is hard, mmkay?

Just vote for Pete or go to his website if you want to read more. ;)

Check out the rest of the blog swarm for Pete at:
Pete Ashdown Day- slcspin
Why I Support Pete Ashdown For US Senate- Obiter Dicta By Steve
Mr. Wiki Goes to Washington- Signifying nothing
Why I support Pete Ashdown- Gary Thornock
Senator Pete goes to Washinton- The Utah Amicus
Pete Ashdown for U.S. Senate- One Utah
Fat Pete Ashdown: Quote of the week- The Utah Amicus
I'm with Pete- Formaline
Mr. Ashdown- Utah Democrats
Pete Ashdown- Innisfree
A Senator from Utah for Utah- Jeremy's Jeremiad

Ace Young Must Go!

2006-04-19T11:09:00.000-07:00

I hate to admit that I've been watching American Idol religiously this season, but I love that Katharine McPhee. I guess I have McPheever 'cause she's clearly the best one on that show.
But now it's time for Ace Young to go. I couldn't believe Bucky got voted off last week before either Taylor or Ace got the boot. Ace may be cute, but he's traded on his looks long enough. This is a talent competition not a beauty contest. ACE YOUNG must go tonight! And then after that, Taylor must go. My prediction: Katherine, Chris Daughtry and Elliott Yamin will be in the final 3...but maybe, just maybe that little black girl, what's her name? Prince? Oh yah, Paris...she might be in the final three in Elliott's place. That is if the American people vote Elliott off just because he's one of the less attractive people on the show.

South Park Conspiracy Theories

2006-03-23T11:38:00.000-07:00

Isaac Hayes did not quit "South Park." My sources say that someone quit it for him.

I can tell you that Hayes is in no position to have quit anything. Contrary to news reports, the great writer, singer and musician suffered a stroke on Jan. 17. At the time it was said that he was hospitalized and suffering from exhaustion.

It’s also absolutely ridiculous to think that Hayes, who loved playing Chef on "South Park," would suddenly turn against the show because they were poking fun at Scientology.

Last November, when the “Trapped in a Closet” episode of the comedy aired, I saw Hayes and spent time with him in Memphis for the annual Blues Ball.

If he hated the show so much, I doubt he would have performed his trademark hit song from the show, “Chocolate Salty Balls.” He tossed the song into the middle of one of his less salacious hits and got the whole audience in the Memphis Pyramid to sing along.

* * *

But it’s hard to know anything since Hayes, like Katie Holmes, is constantly monitored by a Scientologist representative most of the time. Luckily, at the Blues Ball he was on his own, partying just with family and friends. He was very excited about having gotten married and about the impending birth of a new child.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,188463,00.html

Is Anyone Really Surprised?

2006-03-23T10:33:00.000-07:00

Is anyone out there really surprised that Microsoft has postponed Vista yet again? This is standard operating procedure for Microsoft. They're always delaying their new operating systems and when they finally arrive, they don't work, are full of bugs and have major security flaws. To top it all off they're always 5 years behind Apple anyway. Why don't people just buy a Mac already? Why buy a cheap imitation that doesn't work as well as the original? Apple computers may be a little bit more expensive up front, but you save so much money in the long run because you don't waste all that time patching your computer and updating virus software. And these days you can do everything and more on a Mac than you can on a Windows box.

America, What Are You Doing?

2006-03-23T10:21:00.000-07:00

First you vote to re-elect George W. Bush and THEN you kick cute little Kevin Covais to the curb on American Idol and not Taylor, the grey-haired weirdo!?? Please boot Taylor!!! FREAKER!! He's such a bad lounge act, people. I can't bear to look at him. For some odd reason, I feel compelled to watch American Idol this season. I've never previously watched it much, except a few times to see my home girl Carmen Rasmusen a few seasons ago. My favorite this season is Katherine McPhee. That girl can sing. Chris Daughtry is quite good, too. And I think Bucky has quite a bit of star charisma. I can't imagine why he was in the bottom three this week. :P

South Park: Season Premiere or Season Dud?

2006-03-23T09:58:00.000-07:00

I was disappointed by South Park's season premiere last night. I expected more. It's the season premiere, for one thing, so it should be really a big episode. And it was the return (and demise) of Chef...sort of. But it wasn't especially good. I was hoping they'd rip on Scientology and Tom Cruise what with their press release saying that Scientology had won that battle over the episode rerun last week, but that the million-year war for Earth had just begun. ;)
Alas, it was an okay episode. It could have been much better, though. C'est la vie.

The White House is Not a Frat House, Mr. President

2006-03-22T12:54:00.001-07:00

I was driving to work yesterday morning listening to NPR (National Public Radio) on KCPW as I do every morning when they tuned in LIVE to the press conference with Pres. George W. Bush.
I was so proud of Helen Thomas who posed the question, "I'd like to ask you, Mr. President, your decision to invade Iraq has caused the deaths of thousands of Americans and Iraqis, wounded Americans and Iraqis for a lifetime. Every reason given, publicly at least, has turned out not to be true. My question is, Why did you really want to go to war? From the moment you stepped into the White House, your Cabinet officers, former Cabinet officers, intelligence people and so forth .. but what's your real reason? You have said it wasn’t oil, the quest for oil; it hasn't been Israel or anything else. What was it?" WOW! Way to go Helen!
But then Bush gave the typical politician's answer where you talk around the question, but never answer it, of course.
The thing that was most annoying and creepy was how he kept laughing throughout his answer and while answering other questions. He was talking about soldiers, Americans dying and LAUGHING!
I so wanted to be there, to be Helen Thomas or some other reporter with the moxie to stand up to the President and chastize him. I'd say, "Mr. President, this is not a frat house. We're not your fraternity buddies. This is not a joke. Thousands of people are dying because of your little prank."
I don't mean to disparage fraternities, so if you're in one don't get upset. I was in one in college, too. My point is, Bush was infamously a frat party boy and he still acts like one. It's disgusting.

The T-Shirt Blog

2006-02-24T10:25:00.000-07:00

I recently created a new blog to tell about my T-shirt designs. Sometimes people wonder where I get my T-shirt ideas from, so my idea was to create The T-Shirt Blog where I'll post a new design every day with a description of how I came up with the idea.

Check it out: http://getkickedoffaplanewearingthis.blogspot.com/

Four Things

2006-02-20T13:51:00.000-07:00

Four jobs I've had
1. Bagger. Yes, sir, my first job ever was a grocery bagger at Harmon's grocery stores. This only lasted two weeks as my brother-in-law got me my 2nd job paying a couple dollars more an hour.
2. Ummm...Odd job man. I wouldn't exactly say I was the janitor, but I did sweep things up, and clean the toilet, but I also sanded wooden cabinets of various shapes and sizes, mowed the lawn, ran odd errands to pick up things in a pre-historic van that nearly died every time I tried to drive it, and much, much more.
3. Sony Music Marketing Rep. I hung out with rock bands from the most famous to the ones you never heard of and got paid... very little for it. I planned events to promote said rock bands. I met U2 drummer, Larry Mullins, at a party in NYC and convinced him to bring U2 to Utah in concert for the first time since 1978.
4. HIV Prevention Specialist. I worked for the Utah AIDS Foundation, a non-profit organization that on the outset sounds like it would be a noble cause, but found that the organization's leaders regularly committed fraud to collect grants to pay their salaries and regularly used drugs, which made working for them difficult at best.

Four movies I can watch over and over
1. Run Lola Run. I'm watching it tonight. Wanna come over and watch it with me? (I'm not really watching it tonight.)
2. Muriel's Wedding. Muriel (aka Toni Collette), I love you!
3. Little Miss Sunshine. Starring Toni Collette. The VW Bus in this film reminds me a bit of the van I had to drive at my 2nd job. I have actually only seen this movie one time so far at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival, but I imagine it would be one I could watch over and over. Look for it this summer! (It opens in theatres on July 28th, 2006.)
4. Bedrooms & Hallways. This isn't the greatest film ever, but is pretty funny and I seem to watch it over and over again with new friends who've never seen it.
I just noticed that all these films first premiered at the Sundance Film Festival before making it into theatres in the USA. But that's just a coincidence.

Four places I've lived
1. Ålesund, Norway.
2. A block from Laurelhurst Park in Portland, Oregon.
3. Sutton Place, near the Upper East Side on Manhattan, New York.
4. Paris. No, not that Paris. Paris, Illinois.

Four TV shows I love
1. ALIAS
2. Battlestar Galactica (the new one, but I loved the old one as a child, too)
3. Dr. Who (the new one, the old one sucked rotting eggs)
4. Desperate Housewives

Four places I've vacationed
1. Stockholm, Sweden
2. Boston, Mass.
3. Florida
4. Mexico

Four of my favorite dishes
1. Norwegian Rice Pudding with Raspberry Sauce.
2. My homemade pizza which I learned how to make from Brenden Taylor in Norway.
3. Norwegian waffles with Norwegian goat cheese and Raspberry Jam.
4. Anything with Norwegian goat cheese on it.

Four sites I visit daily
1. MacDailyNews
2. Google News
3. G-ZUS.net
4. The Salt Lake Tribune

Four places I would rather be right now
1. Marakesh
2. Rome
3. Oslo
4. Anywhere with Shawn

Four bloggers I am tagging
1. Musica Obscura
2. Sissel News
3. Ummm...I don't read many other blogs
4. ???

My Candidates for the Anti-Christ

2005-12-30T23:31:00.000-07:00

I was just flipping channels earlier and came upon a program on the History Channel that was talking all about the anti-Christ and the battle of Armageddon and all that Revelations shizz and it gave me the inspiration to write this list of my candidates for the anti-Christ, if you actually believe in such.

1. Pres. George W. Bush: I was shocked and amazed that throughout his first presidency, he pretty much did whatever the hell he wanted and didn't get in any trouble for it. Even more amazed that he got re-elected when all the polls showed the majority of the USA didn't care for him. I am frequently reminded of childhood stories of the former Soviet Union and how terrible it was with the state listening in on citizens' phone calls, secretly arresting them and locking them away, etc., and how much that sounds like the USA today. In his second administration, people are starting to question his activities, but he still seems to be getting away with it. And then he claims that he was chosen by god to be president. Never trust anyone who says that. Sounds exactly like something the anti-Christ would say to fool the fools.

2. Bill Gates: Microsoft seems to do whatever it wants and get away with being a monopoly and illegal acts which run their competitors out of business. Gates is a corrupt and evil individual who guides the philosophy of this behemoth. Not to mention they create the software that runs (or doesn't most of the time) 96% of the world's computers. Microsoft seems to be falling apart lately, so Gates maybe isn't the anti-Christ.

3. Meg Whitman: The CEO of eBay could easily be the anti-Christ. They say that in the last days the anti-Christ will control all buying and selling in the world. eBay seemed to be taking over all commerce a couple of years ago, but lately it doesn't seem like anyone is talking about eBay much any more. So, maybe not.

4. Eric Schmidt: Google's everywhere these days dabbling in everything and giving everyone a run for their money. They seem to be trying to take over the world, one Google product at a time. I think Schmidt, their CEO, is the evil mastermind behind their success.

5. Steve Jobs: Apple is insanely successful and Jobs seems to be taking over the entertainment world. I hope he's the anti-Christ 'cause I love Apple products and if he was the anti-Christ he'd make everyone use an Apple computer, which would probably make the world a better place, but looking at Apple's share of OS users and the fact that Apple use would actually be good for the world, means he's probably NOT the anti-Christ.

Yah, the more I think about it, I think Dubya must be the anti-Christ. In that History Channel program about Mr. Anti-Christie, they said the evil guy would start the big Armageddon war 7 years into his reign. I guess we have about 2 years 'til then.

SWAPATORIUM

2005-12-09T15:20:00.000-07:00

I'm diggin' this blog I just found. Check it out. It's full of old flea market finds.

Musica Obscura

2005-12-07T14:22:00.000-07:00

Check out my new music blog at: Musica Obscura
The inaugural entry is dedicated to music from Norway and is called "Little Norway, Big Music." It features band descriptions and links to songs from the following bands: Bel Canto, Lene Marlin, The September When, Savoy and Anneli Drecker. Give it a twirl. You won't be sad that you did.

The Theory of Actual Time vs. Man-Made Measurement of Time

2005-12-01T10:28:00.000-07:00

I have a theory about time. That time is actually variable.
And that man-made measurement of time does not correspond exactly with what I call "Actual Time."
So, sometimes when it seems faster or slower than man-made measurements, it is because time actually is moving faster or slower than man-made measurements indicate.
Some people might argue that other factors make it seem faster or slower.
For example, if you're really busy, you don't notice the time flying by. But sometimes when you're busy time really still seems to drag.
AND I've notice the phenomenon over distances. Such as various friends in different places all commenting that time seems to be dragging or alternately going by really fast at specific times or on certain days.
Now, I'm not really any good at math or physics, so maybe some mathematical genius out there can come up with the mathematical formula to prove my idea of "Actual Time." But if you do, remember, you have to give me credit for the idea.

It's Official: IKEA coming to Utah!!!

2005-11-30T10:35:00.000-07:00

Okay, so it's no longer just a well-publicized rumor. IKEA officially announced yesterday that they will be building a 310,000 s.f. IKEA store and restaurant in suburban Salt Lake City. This will be the first IKEA in the Rocky Mountain region and one of very few away from the U.S. coasts. HURRAH for UTAH and IKEA!!!

The store, scheduled to open in early 2007, will be built near the junction of I-15 and Bangerter Highway in Draper, Utah (about 15 minutes from downtown Salt Lake City). This is a rendering of what the Utah store will look like.

Her Majesty Queen Noor

2005-11-22T08:59:00.000-07:00

I just got an email from Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan. It was in response to an email I sent her. They had those bombings over there in Jordan a couple of weeks ago and I felt bad.

I have a degree in International Relations with an emphasis in the Middle East, so I already know quite a bit about Jordan, but I had just finished reading Queen Noor's Book about her life with King Hussein. Queen Noor was an American and met her husband King Hussein while working in the Middle East after college.

Anyway, I decided to send her an email with condolences on the recent bombings in Jordan. Most people don't realize this, but this is probably the first time they've had bombings in Jordan. Jordan has been an oasis of calm in the Middle East...partly because historically Jordan is the protector of Palestine.

Queen Noor emailed me back to say she was most grateful for my kind message regarding her deceased husband, that she appreciated my kind words about her book and was most touched by my words of consolation and support regarding the recent bombings.

I almost deleted her email because at first I thought it was spam. You know, I thought it was one of those, "Dear Mr... I inherited 10 million dollars from my warlord husband in Africa and I would like to arrange a business deal with you..." Fortunately, I noticed in time that it was legitimate.

How nice of her to reply. I didn't really expect any response because I'm sure she's quite busy.

IKEA! IKEA! IKEA!

2005-11-17T11:00:00.000-07:00

FINALLY! IKEA has bought land in Draper (suburb of Salt Lake City) to build an IKEA store! There have been rumors swirling around for 2-3 years that IKEA was coming to Utah and finally it looks like it's happening.
I used to pass by the IKEA store nearly every day when I lived in the suburbs of Oslo, Norway (the store that was only the world's 2nd IKEA store ever after the first one in Älmhult, Sweden...and yes, Oslo had IKEA two years before Stockholm, Sweden!)
IKEA is such a cool company. Did you know that IKEA charters planes from Tromsø, Bodø and Harstad in northern Norway for shoppers to fly down to Trondheim to shop at IKEA?
And I thought it was great that they had a bus from Manhattan (where I lived for two years) to the Elizabeth, NJ IKEA.
Once while on a vacation to Los Angeles, I went shopping at IKEA and wrote in their guestbook that I wished they would open an IKEA in Utah. Before I even arrived home from my trip, they had mailed me a letter thanking me for my comments in their guestbook and said they were forwarding my request to their real estate manager. How nice that they not only responded to me, but that a letter from IKEA was waiting for me on my return from vacation!
Rumors of an IKEA in Utah have been swirling and fomenting for years and finally reached a fever pitch in the past few months. Every day I would look up the local newspaper online expecting to see news of IKEA coming to Utah. Yesterday, the news was finally in the Salt Lake Tribune:
"Swedish home furnishings giant IKEA, which has been scouting the Wasatch Front for its first Utah location, appears to have found a site for a new store in Draper near the intersection of Interstate 15 and Bangerter Highway.
The commercial real estate industry is abuzz with news that the company, the world's largest home furnishings retailer with more than $18 billion in sales a year, is purchasing nearly 40 acres of prime commercial property with freeway visibility at approximately 13350 S. Pony Express. In fact, those with knowledge of the deal say the transaction could close within weeks, which would pave the way for a new store within a couple of years.
Commercial brokers say a new Ikea store would raise the state's profile among retailers nationally, perhaps even attracting other retailers that don't yet operate here."
Another retail store that I've been looking forward to here, the Apple store, is opening at the Gateway Mall in downtown Salt Lake City on Saturday, 19. November 2005.
Now if only we could get Crate & Barrel, Urban Outfitters and maybe Hennes & Mauritz to open stores here... oh and Crunch gym. Then we'd be set.

Bloggerati

2005-11-09T14:28:00.000-07:00

There are too many services out there competing for my attention: Friendster, MySpace, Connexion, Wink, Tickle, Digg, Technorati, Flock, ad nauseum.

Everyone just needs to visit my Sissel website and buy my T-shirts. Then the world would be a better place.

Check out my Technorati Profile! :P

Closet Cases

2005-11-07T13:01:00.000-07:00

All the swirling debate over gay marriage lately made me think of some Norwegian words around marriage. (I lived in Norway for a couple of years and am fluent.) I don't get why people are so upset at the idea of gay people getting married.

The Norwegian word for poison is "gift." Not a gift I'd want to receive, but the word for getting married" is "gifte seg." It's the reflexive form of the word. "Seg" means yourself. So, if you "gifte" someone else, you're poisoning them, but if you "gifte" yourself, you're getting married. What does this say about marriage? Marriage is to poison oneself?

The Norwegian word for marriage is "ekteskap," a compound word. If you break down its parts, "ekte" means "genuine." That sounds like a good thing. You're doing something because you genuinely love someone, but the word "skap." means "closet." So, to Norwegians, marriage is a genuine closet!

So, if gay people want to poison themselves to get back in the closet? Why should anyone care??? ;)

Is cleaning rocket science?

2005-10-06T11:20:00.000-07:00

OMG! I didn't know cleaning was so difficult.
There's this handyman sorta guy at work who just had some of his crew come into our office and wipe off the tops of the cubicles that are very dusty. We have a regular cleaning crew that comes in every night, but they don't actually seem to clean ANYTHING.

It seems that the handyman had to go into rather lengthy detail to tell his crew how to wipe off the dusty tops.
And one of the guys was like "I don't get it."
He replied, "There's nothing to get, just wipe off the tops of the cubicles... " and then proceeded to go into a lengthy description of how they should spray the cleaner on their rag first, etc. Complicated stuff!!

GRRR!!! He specifically told the guys to only wipe the cubicles that were empty and come back later when we weren't here to wipe the occupied ones...
But the guy just wiped my cubicle 3 times and now I'm breathing dust and cleaner smell.
AND he knocked off my Sissel poster! :P

QXL

2005-09-20T15:14:00.000-07:00

Oh! I just joined a Norwegian auction site, QXL, a la eBay, in order to find more Sissel junk! They have a whole bunch of dishes with the pattern name of "Sissel," I guess, but I'm looking for Sissel music and memorabilia. But there's one rare CD on here that I'm going to bid on.

Oh my! This seller has all sorts of rare promo CDs by all my favorite Norwegian bands. eep!!

*spends lots of money @ QXL*

Maybe I should buy this cute VW!

POOP! They don't seem to have an automatic search feature that emails me when new Sissel items are added, like eBay. I don't want to check this QXL every day! :P

OH! I think I found where to do it. *maybe* At eBay you can do it right from the Advanced Search page, but not on this site. Here you have to go to your account and add a "notice."

Hurrah, they're "detective" will now search for Sissel shizz for me!! ;)

If you want to bid on more than 2 items at once or sell, you have to have your post address confirmed, but international users are not allowed to have their address confirmed. Hopefully, there isn't a flood of Sissel product on here that I am unable to bid on! ;) hehe I doubt it, though. There are only 2 Sissel items on there currently, if you don't count the dishes.

The History of Marriage

2005-09-13T09:51:00.000-07:00

The religious right says marriage is a "sacred union" and other right-wingers like to claim marriage is a religious institution and therefore it ought not be open to gay people.

It's too late to be arguing that marriage is a religious ceremony only. If one wanted to make that argument, one ought to have made it when this country was founded. Civil marriage has been a component of America since the colonists passed laws allowing it.

In actuality, civil marriages predate religious marriages. The first official marriages (approximately 527 A.D. as codified by the Justinian lawyers) were civil marriages among wealthy Romans which had nothing to do with religion.

It wasn't until the ninth century that the church was involved in any capacity in marriage. From this time until the 12th century church involvement only consisted of blessings and prayers during the marriage ceremony. Around the 12th century, priests began to involve an agreement made in their presence during the marriage ceremony.

English weddings in the 13th century among the upper class became religious events but the church only blessed the marriage and did not want to be too involved in the actual ceremony or have any legal commitment. It wasn't until 1563 when the Council of Trent required that Catholic marriages be celebrated at a Catholic church by a priest and before two witnesses. And it took up until the eighteenth century before the wedding was a religious event in all countries of Europe.

In Colonial times in North America the customs of the old countries were followed. However, there were some who only wanted a civil ceremony and not a religious ceremony. The colonists who wanted civil marriages passed laws to this affect.

At the end of the eighteenth century both religious and civil marriage ceremonies were legal in America. One cannot argue that marriage is a religious institution only and thus should not be an option for gay people since it has always existed in civil form in this country and thus marriage has to be allowed for gay people as it is for straight people according to the U.S. constitution.

Religious institutions which do not support same-sex marriages should not be forced to offer them, but those religious institutions which do support gay marriage should be allowed to offer gay marriages and there definitely ought to be civil marriages for gay people. Because the traditional form of marriage is civil, not religious.

I make me laugh :)

2005-09-01T10:45:00.000-07:00

[11:37] ProvoCycl*st: should i get a domokun plush?
[11:38] StenarHome: What the heck is that?
[11:38] StenarHome: It's something scary and Japanese, isn't it?
[11:38] ProvoCycl*st: lol
[11:38] StenarHome: Is it that brown poop with a big red mouth you have as your icon?
[11:38] ProvoCycl*st: LOL, yeah
[11:38] StenarHome: :)
[11:38] StenarHome: You don't need to buy one.
[11:39] StenarHome: Just pluck a poop log out of the toilet and put a big red mouth on it and you'll have your very own domokun creation.
[11:39] StenarHome: ;)
[11:39] ProvoCycl*st: LOL
[11:39] ProvoCycl*st: ewwwy!
[11:39] StenarHome: You'd love it as if it were your own child!

Hatch is a nutcake!

2005-09-01T10:18:00.000-07:00

I was just listening to Sen. Orrin Hatch (R) being interviewed on KCPW...
He was complaining about the "nutcakes" protesting Bush during his recent visit to Utah...

He said he was in the LIMO with the Bushster leaving the Salty Palace with Laura's Bush and the Gov and his bush...

And he was shockimified to see hundreds of people lining the streets outside the Palace of Salt giving the Bushes the finger.

I was so proud of my fellow Utahns.

I ♥ Utahns giving Bush the finger.

I was so worried that while Bush was here, he would be protected from all the protestors and not see any of it.
So, I was pleasantly surprised to hear that he saw people giving him the finger. HURRAH!!! :)

Although, actually.... just because Hatch saw the finger, doesn't mean Bush actually did.
I bet everyone in the LIMO was like...
Oh, Bushie!! Look up there!!
Look through the sunroof! There's a flying pink elephant!
DON'T look at the street!!
LOOK UP!!!
And he strained for many minutes trying to see the flying pink elephant out the sunroof.
...until they had passed all the protestors.

Anyway, Orrin Hatch is a nutcake.

ALIAS

2005-01-05T14:35:00.000-07:00

I've been sick for the past few days. That's no fun. I have some sort of flu and fever, etc. I didn't go to work yesterday, but I came in to work today. I wish I hadn't. I feel like crud. C'est la vie.

HURRAH! Today is January 5th, which means the season premiere of my favorite TV show is tonight: ALIAS. I love that show! And I love Jennifer Garner. I've gone through withdrawals not having seen her for so long. ;)

Jeremy, one of the guys from the gayRMs social group that I started a few years ago, is helping me plan new activities for the group. Our first activity of the new year is GAME NIGHT a week from tonight. That should be fun. Hopefully lots of people come to the activity.

It's odd planning activities beyond the Spring, though, because I am very possibly going to move to NYC in the Spring. If I can stop being a chicken about moving. ;)

I really ought to...

2005-01-03T15:55:00.000-07:00

I really ought to write in this blog more often, but you know how it goes. Life gets busy.

I came out and finally admitted to myself that I was gay 6 years ago while I was living in NYC, but never came out to 2 or 3 friends when I moved back to Utah. I just never had any contact with them at all, for various reasons.

Anyway, this year I sent Holiday cards to Tom Rasmussen and Hollie (Backman) Churcher. Included with the card was a short letter detailing what I've been up to over the past 5-6 years that I've not been in touch. Also, I told them in the letter that I am gay (and never happier).

I'm sure Tom and his wife won't care, but I doubt that Hollie will accept that me being gay is a good thing. But that's her problem, not mine. I am very happy now.

So, it's now 2005. Time really flies. It seems like just yesterday, it was turning 2000. I've decided I want to go back to grad school to continue my studies in International Relations, continuing through to a PhD and become a college professor. Unfortunately, I only decided upon this course of action in the past couple of weeks, which is too late to apply for next Fall. I'll have to wait until next Fall to apply for the following year. BLAH!

In the meantime, I might move back to NYC in the Spring with my friend Chad. I haven't decided definitively, yet. I love the house I live in here in SLC, but there are many things I miss about living in NYC. Living in a tiny apartment in NYC is not one of them, though. I'm tired of living amongst the Mormons and especially the gay community in Utah, which is messed up from having grown up Mormon. I need to get out of Jesusland!!

So, here's this bloglet...

2004-12-15T14:38:00.000-07:00

So, here I am writing in my new bloglet. I am really enjoying my new job. I've worked here about a month and a half. I am doing graphic design for XXXXXX (censored for privacy reasons). I am enjoying working here so far. My previous job doing graphic design for the not-so-Grand America Hotel was a nightmare. My boss there was a complete Dick...I mean his name is Richard.

Anyway, that's all behind me now. Thank god! I like this new place a lot. :)

Last night, my newish roommate informed me that he is getting back together with his ex-BF and moving out in order to move in with him. :( I'm sad because he's been a really good roommate AND I'm tired of the revolving door that has become the 3rd bedroom in my house. None of the roommates in that room have lasted longer than 6 months and the last four lasted 2 months, 2 months, 4 months and 4 months respectively. UGH! That's been the past year, basically.

Doesn't anyone want to live in my cute little house!?

Anyway, that's all I'm going to say in this inaugural bloglet.

Love ya,
Rob
;)