Random Notes, June 2021

This month marks 16 years of blogging. As always, my attention span is a tad scattered:

+ My sister and I are still clearing out the house in Downers. I have no valid reason for my inconsistent dispatches beyond that, but it has been grueling. 

+ The Flower Shop Bangers' Zoom show is on hiatus. My improv partner has some family health stuff going on (a most relatable situation) and it's become to much of a burden and distraction. We will keep you posted when we're performing again. 

+ One of my exes recently came out as non-binary. This was a person that I dated for 14 months in 2016-17, and I am happy for their self-actualization. I always had this premonition that they weren't cis female, but for a day or two I contemplated whether I was truly "straight" or not. I've dated non-binary people, but I guess I prefer cis women. I don't think there's a label for that. 

+ This month marks 16 years of writing my rambling thoughts, but also the 15th anniversary of my first Fantasy Emmy ballot. I'm so detached from watching any TV outside of late night that your guess is as good as mine. Odds are, HBO and streaming will dominate the proceedings again. 

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Random Notes, December 2016

Some hot takes from all around:

+ So far the cabinet choices of President-Elect Trump have been, to no liberal's or moderate's surprise, an ongoing nightmare. With the possible exception of Bush 43 reheat Elaine Chao, each appointee has been subject to controversy, either because of a lack of qualifications or they inherently oppose whatever department they were chosen to lead. Gov. Rick Perry, the new Secretary of Energy, famously forgot that he wanted to abolish that position in a debate five years ago. Fingers crossed, he'll forget to show up for work.

+ Why was Kimberly Peirce booed and heckled? The students that organized this protest likely don't understand that "Boys Don't Cry" wouldn't have been made if the lead actor was trans; the very idea of a movie about a person transitioning in the late 1990s was very daring, thought-provoking stuff. The far-left undergrads likely don't understand (or remember) that the LGBTQ movement was in a more nascent place in 1999 then it is now. Its still new for a lot of people. She deserves an apology.

+ Well, I somehow survived my first semester of grad school. On to the next one.

+ For the first time since 2005 (the year I started blogging) I will not be posting my annual Best of TV list. My hectic schedule prevents me from watching television live, unless its a sporting event, awards show, or SNL. Thank goodness for DVRs, except when they automatically delete older shows to make space for new stuff. Allow me the mulligan while I catch up.

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Goin' to the Chapel

The judicial branch of the U.S. government is usually taken for granted. It doesn't command the hype and bloviating that the legislative and executive branches demand, especially in this day and age. The Supreme Court exists in a shroud of mystery, their discussions and arguments sealed airtight in their cozy Washington chamber. We don't think much of it, except when the judiciary season ends every late June and any political wonk worth their salt is scrutinizing the court's latest round of decisions.

For a Supreme Court that supposedly leans 5-4 in favor of conservatives, this year's round of decisions was an unexpected boost for a decidedly liberal president. Any conservative's hope of a lame duck presidency was quashed: the president's ambitious overhaul of our nation's health care system --er, "Obamacare"-- was kept intact in a narrow vote, and another slim decision legalized same-sex marriage in all 50 states. The impact of Obamacare still remains to be seen, and kinks clearly still need to be worked out, but the opposition has been forced to surrender.

As for Obergefell v. Hodges, the president might attempt to take credit but this was a populist court decision. Barack Obama's legacy will be filled with milestones in social progress (mostly for LGBTQ rights) but the fight for gay marriage first gained momentum about ten years ago, when the president was still a freshman U.S. senator. He championed the cause, albeit belatedly, but he never led the fight. Like many Americans, President Obama will have to sit down, kick back, and be amused the sheer novelty of two men getting married in deep-red locales like Mississippi and Arizona.

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Copper State Confusion

Which state has become more overrun by right-wing reactionaries, Kansas or Arizona? Amid national protests, Arizona Governor and immigration reactionary Jan Brewer veteoed a bill that would allow public businesses in the state the right to deny service to gays. It's hard to call the move an act of pragmatism or a change of heart; more than likely, the forfeiture of commerce and out-of-state revenue that this bill would've created was the likely X factor. When the NFL threatened to pull Super Bowl XLIX, just like they did 30 years ago, that might have been the final straw.

Unfortunately, these "gay Jim Crow" laws are growing quite common. As a rebuke of the many legal victories that LGBT activists enjoyed in 2012 and 2013, conservatives on the local and gubernatorial level are playing their hand. The law that Arizona shut down is close to passing in Kansas, and Idaho and Mississippi might follow suit. If these discriminatory acts pass, what have been a complicated series of legal battles are bound to get more convoluted. Are SB 1062 and its copycats really based on religious grounds, or just legalized bigotry?

Other notes from an eventful February:

+ Another Winter Olympics has come and gone. As it turned out, Sochi wasn't the polluted, psuedo-fascist hellscape that some (including myself) had feared, though as a venue it still left a lot of people underwhelmed. Considering how much was spent to spruce up the Russian resort town, perhaps it would be best if the Summer and Winter Olympics rotated exclusively between four or five different cities. Maybe LA, Tokyo, Athens, Sydney and/or London for the summer games, and Lake Placid, Albertville, Lillehammer, Nagano, and Reykjavik for the winter games? Maybe one city per continent? What are your thoughts?

+ My second attempt at producing a show went better than the first. I feel more confident in what I'm doing, and having a business partner to workshop ideas and split fees has been a boon. With that said, I'm proud to announce that we are in early talks for another run at the same theater in June 2014. If anyone is in or around Chicago on Sundays in the late Spring/early Summer, I'll keep you posted with more details.

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Illinois' Rainbow Connection

For once, I feel proud to be an Illinoisan.

When I heard that the state house would vote to legalize gay marriage again, I was anxious. Unlike other states, the bill had support and opposition within both parties.  When they first voted earlier this year, a coalition of Democrats and moderate "collar county" Republicans were narrowly defeated by both Christian conservatives and African-American Democrats (also on religious grounds). This time around, a handful of black representatives were persuaded to change their minds, and same-sex marriage was legalized by the same narrow margin. Governor Pat Quinn, a career Democrat who has waffled on the sanctity of marriage in the past, agreed to sign the bill when it lands on his desk. Effective next Spring, the Land of Lincoln will be the 15th state to pass such a law. Today in Illinois, logic and freedom trumped bigotry.

Besides the obvious, I'm feeling a new sense of state pride because for once, Springfield actually passed some legislation. Our state government can't approve a budget, but we passed this. Most other issues are just as divided along party lines as anything else in the country. With the GOP assuming control of the state senate last year --the Illinois Republicans' first semblance of moving forward since George Ryan left the governor's office nearly 11 years ago-- nothing is in lockstep. Ineffectual legislating and infighting among state Democrats resulted in losing seats in both houses last November, and Quinn is no sure shot to be reelected next November.

Since assuming the governor's seat after Rod Blagojevich's impeachment, Pat Quinn has been a stable but underwhelming leader.  On multiple occasions I've accused Quinn of being indecisive and doddering, as if Illinois was a dysfunctional family and Quinn is the hapless old uncle who has final say on everything. Despite the infighting, Quinn is the state Democrats' only hope in 2014; early contention from Attorney General Lisa Madigan (daughter of State Speaker/svengali Mike) and former Commerce Secretary Bill Daley (son and brother of former Chicago mayors) both flamed out early. Where Madigan was undone by her father's myriad controversies, Daley didn't feel equipped to run for office.

It's a shame of sorts, because there's a group of seven or eight Republican challengers ready to rip Quinn to shreds next year; whether this turns into Obama vs. Romney in miniature remains to be seen. The state of Illinois has taken a more liberal turn in recent years, something that Quinn can only take half credit for; after legalizing medicinal marijuana and allowing non-U.S. citizens to get driver's licenses, gay marriage was the next logical step. At the same time, Quinn's indecisiveness and unsteady hand of leadership are his undoing, and he is understandably vulnerable to lose his job one year from now. Quinn's best hope is that the wide stable of GOP candidates nearly cancel each other out, just like they did in 2010.

Drama aside, it's a great day to be an Illinoisan.

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Rainbow Bridge

So President Obama has no problem with same-sex marriage? I had assumed as much for a while now; he alluded to being pro-LGBT during the '08 election, but he didn't specify his stance until last week. As a political manuever, it's just as risky as it is brilliant. The American LGBT population, a steady growing bloc of voters, are already wary of the GOP options. President Obama's endorsement wrangled the cattle back to the ranch. As such, Mitt Romney declared his preference for traditional marriage --which he awkwardly phrased as "a preference for women"-- in a rare reachout to social conservatives. As such, neither candidate will make a crossover appeal to new or undecided voters.

What frustrates me, however is that the gay marriage debate only further distracts voters and candidates alike from a much greater issue, the economy. Social issues keep getting pushed to the forefront, and with Biden's remark being the exception to the rule, it's been mostly social conservatives dropping the bombs.  If this election focused strictly on job growth and fiscal responsibility, Mitt Romney would win in November in a walk. The mere mention of abortion and gay marriage, however is only adding muscle to the Obama campaign. Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum used social issues to undermine and distract Romney during the primaries and now it'll linger until the election. This has become an election of "values," even though I'm not sure that's the topic that needs debating, it is inadvertantly swinging the election in Obama's favor.

One other note:

+ Modern rock is back on Chicago radio... sort of. Earlier this month, Merlin Media --the same multimedia behemoth that killed Q101-- bought out a tiny "smooth jazz" station's signal and flipped it to alternative rock. Only problem is, that new signal is on 87.7 FM; older radios can't pick up that station, and the actual antenna is so far away from the city that it's difficult to listen to "Q87" on a car radio. This feels more like an unwieldy public relations ploy than an actual radio station (for now, anyway).

Next week: the 2012 memory list.

Bully For You

When I graduated from Downers Grove North High School in 2003, 15 of my former classmates came out. A few of my peers had been subject to gay rumors for years, others dropped hints but never specified their sexual orientation, but a few guys jumped out of the closet to virtually everyone's surprise. It was kind of unusual to see so many people come out en masse, but I was glad that they could finally be honest about themselves. I was friends with them before graduation and I'm still in contact with several of them via Facebook.

Coming from a predominately white, upper-middle-class, moderate-conservative high school, I understand why so many of my high school buddies kept the closet door shut until they left. Downers North at the time was not very gay-friendly --in fact, there was no organized LGBT student group until midway through my senior year-- and the few students that came out beforehand were treated like pariahs. I remember getting into an argument with a fellow classmate because it annoyed him that a boy we knew would regularly go to school wearing glittery makeup and women's blouses. My classmate knew nothing about the guy; his presence simply aggravated him.

I mention this because the human interest topic du jour has been anti-gay bullying. In the wake of that terrible suicide at Georgetown University, a spotlight has been thrown on utter disregard for students of alternative lifestyles in high schools and colleges all across the country. Even for those of you that are on the fence for LGBT rights, there's also the legal quagmire of harassment, freedom of speech, and invasion of privacy. What transpired in Tyler Clementi's dorm room last month and its tragic aftermath could be debated in court for years to come.

One would argue that bullying in our nation's schools is just as rampant as it was 50 years ago, but you could also argue that the ramifications of bullying have increased exponentially. It's not just about bigger kids beating you for milk money anymore; social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter have become new grounds for potential tormenters to run loose, in some cases anonymously. The daily beatdown in the schoolyard has been eclipsed by threatening texts, slanderous wall posts, and in this case, some asshole with a hidden webcam.

I'm only a straight ally, but I know what it's like to be bullied and this absolutely has to stop. The Clementi tragedy is only one of several gay suicides nationwide that have occured in the past few months. In most cases, the tormentor is compensating for their own unhappy life and takes it out on someone that can't or will not retaliate. This subconscious anger can lead to a wall of ignorance and prejudice that is hard to unravel, and in turn inflict psychological damage this is equally difficult to unwind. My classmates at DGN stayed in the closet until they were 18 out of fear of being hurt or humiliated. The religious right can call this opportunistic manipulation all they want, yet they're missing the forest for the trees. This is still bullying.

Other notes:

+ In light of my fantasy baseball success, my two roto football teams are struggling. My TV.com team is 1-4 entering Week 6, keeping a loose grip on 7th place in a league of eight teams. Not realizing that all my running backs have byes this weekend, I dumped Tim Hightower and picked up Giants standout Ahmad Bradshaw. My "other" team is 2-3, tied for 5th place out of 10, and holding steady after a weak start.

+ After going 2-2 in the divisional series, I'm picking the Rangers to beat New York in 7 and the Phillies to nail San Fran in 5. In the end, it truly depends on who has the more dominant pitching.

+ On the improv scene, I finished Improv Level 3 at IO last weekend and I start Level 4 on Sunday. My last Writing 1 session with Nate Herman ends next Monday, with Writing 2 beginning the week after. Still no word on my next show, though.

+ Last Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above 11,000 for the first time since May 2010. "That's awesome," said a cancer patient with no health insurance. ;)