Liza Minnelli At The Stadium Theatre

What a fantastic night! I just got home from seeing Liza Minnelli at the Stadium Theatre in Woonsocket, Rhode Island. Now those of you who know me know that I have been attending Liza concerts since the 70's! All I can say tonight is Wow! The show is wonderful and Liza is in tip top shape! I had great seats in the 3rd row with my dear friend Susan.

Liza has had vocal trouble off and on, since she had surgery on her vocal cords . She damaged them after she filled in for Julie Andrews in Victor Victoria on Broadway. Well I am happy to report that her voice is vibrant and is as strong as ever in this current show! The first half of the show is many of Liza's showstoppers, while the second act has a big section of songs from her godmother, Kay Thompson. In Act II, Liza also sang Judy's Palace Medley ... and believe me Mama would be proud!

The audience was mesmerized for the show and didn't want it to end! For an encore Liza gave us a beautiful rendition of her Mom's, Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas. Before she sang it, she mentioned how at the holidays she always thinks of her parents and by the last stanza of the song you could hear the sniffles in the audience... including mine!

This was a tryout of the show that is headed for the Palace Theatre the first week of December in New York! Get your tickets now as this is definitely a show you'll want to see!

Thanks Keith!

Keith Olbermann had a great speech tonight on Prop 8

Stupid Anti-Gay Law to be Repealed

The bill to repeal the 1913 law is on its way to Governor Deval Patrick, who will sign it into law.

The bill cleared a final hurdle this afternoon, when the House of Representatives passed the bill on a roll call vote after about 45 minutes of debate. The vote was 118-35, with five members not voting.

The 1913 law prohibits out-of-state couples from marrying in Massachusetts if their marriage would be considered void in their home state, and it has prevented most same-sex couples from out of state from marrying in Massachusetts. LGBT advocates and their allies in the legislature have argued that the law was passed in 1913 in part to prevent interracial couples from skirting anti-miscegenationlaws in their home states. Full Story

Kudos: Bay Windows

Congratulations to Gays and Lesbians of California!

Only 48 more states to go before equality is truly all over the United States. Whether gays marry is no one else's business other than the couple involved!

Elmo the Killer

Apparently someone has hacked Sesame Street's Elmo Toy! You can read the full story here. What's next? Suicide bomber Barbie?

Kudos: Endgadget

Mitt Romney OUT!

This is the best news that I have heard in a long time! He reminds me of several actors I worked with over the years. They would say anything to get the part and overall they were a big phonies! BYE, BYE... YOU JERK!

Mitt Romney is my Loser of the Week!

The South Carolina Debate Logo

What was the horrible graphic on the bottom of the screen tonight? It looked like scaffolding or something. It was very distracting and quite ugly! I guess my attention to that shows you how interesting I thought the candidates were!

The Gays are Coming! The Gays are Coming!

Can you believe this trash being sold by the American Family Association? What a complete load of bullshit. Substitute the word jew, black, or muslim for the word homosexual and you will truly see what a bunch of intolerant bigots these people are. I still haven't received the memo from gay headquarters to take over my town.

P.S. Don't tell the American Family Association that we have already taken over!

Fred Phelps .. The Music Video

I almost forget this wonderful gem from Fred Phelps, The Westboro Church.






I truly hope they get sued from Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie for this blatant rip-off of their song, We Are The World.

"Reverend" Fred Phelps Finally Gets Some Discomfort!

I am so glad that this moron and his church are finally getting hit back for a change. They are despicable human beings and have caused so much pain and suffering to people around the globe with their message of hate. I truly hope that they lose any appeals that they may pursue.

The White House Edits Out Science...Again.

The current administration just does not want to face the facts about global warming. All they seem concerned about is staying in a war with people who never attacked us. From faith based initiatives to this current censorship, our government wants to create its own reality. We really need to get these fanatics out of power!


Kudos: Yahoo! News

Senator Tom Harkin is my Hero!

Bravo to Senator Tom Harkin for standing up and doing the right and just thing. His dressing down of General Peter Pace in regards to comments the general made back in the spring calling homosexuals "immoral" was a sight to behold.  It is not often we have the government called on the carpet for their stupid and insensitive remarks.

Inside the Surge... Shocking

 This video is so disturbing. The old woman in the film reminds me of my mother and how terrified she would be as this woman was. Iraq needs to police their own country.

Kudos: Guardian Unlimited, Rosie's Blog

General Petraeus is in Charge, Not Bush!

Today I listened to President George Bush repeatedly state that he relies only on the opinion of General David Patraeus for all matters about the Iraq war. I have only one question. What if General Patraeus is wrong?

My iPhone Likes and Dislikes

Well I did it. I purchased the much hyped Apple iPhone today. Those of you who know me will wonder why I waited this long. I mean it has been out a whole day. Well let me tell you I wanted to wait in line with everyone on Friday, but I had a chemistry test and it took me all day to study for it and then finally take the thing. I of course took the time to order one online exactly at 6 P.M. P.S.T. I was very unhappy to read that it would be two to four weeks before it would ship to me... two to four weeks! I was one of the first to order on line! Unacceptable! I decided to call around on Saturday morning to see if by chance some local store ATT store was overlooked by the madness. Fat chance... the two out of the way stores I called were entirely sold out. I decided to call my local Apple store, and to my surprise... they had them in stock! Woo Hoo! I raced to the store lest some other crazy person like myself got there before me! I purchased the 8 gig model and of course opened it in the car on the way home. I have always felt that instant gratification takes too long! I don't know what propels me to pursue the latest and greatest gadget. It really is an addiction. I spend far too much money that I don't have on the latest and greatest gizmo, and cell phones are a really strong weakness for me. I don't even talk on them very much and never come close to my alloted minutes! It is madness I tell you, madness!

Before I tell you my likes and dislikes, let me tell you what I have been using for the past 7 months... a Samsung Blackjack.  Overall,  I have been pretty happy with it. I like the full qwerty, the camera, and the ability to get my email. I also really like the 3g speeds I get while browsing the internet. What I don't like is the fact that it seems to have a slow reaction if you forget to close applications you are not using. I also don't like the fact that it seems to take forever to get to the function you really want to use. But overall,  7 months says that I have been pretty happy with it.

Enter the iPhone. I recently have started using a Mac Mini and also bought a Mac Book Pro. I have been a Windows user for years, but I have not been that impressed with Vista and have been frustrated with Microsoft products for a long time. The iPhone became appealing to me because of good experience so far with my Macs and my beloved Video iPod. Okay, Finally I will mention my likes and dislikes!

Likes

1.The iPhone is really a nice looking phone. It fits well in my hand, and is just a touch bigger than my Blackjack.
2. I love the large screen! It really is nice.
3. I love the easy access to the applications that you use most often from the moment the unit starts!
4. The iPhone is perky! It doesn't seem to slow down when going to an application the way my Blackjack did.
5. I love having Wifi build in! I really missed that in the Blackjack. I can cruise the web from my home network fast... so much fun!
6. I really like the slide to unlock button on the touchscreen. I had to do two awkward key presses to unlock the Blackjack.
7. I really like the way it handles your photo library. The pinch to make smaller and reverse pinch to zoom are really cool, as is the swipe to the next photo.
8. Moving all over a web page with your finger is really great, as are using the finger pinches on a page.
9. How cool is it to have a Youtube button? Very Cool! Lots of mindless entertainment available while you are waiting at the dentist's office!
10. I love its integration with iTunes. Now I really have a reason to buy movies from Apple! This is the perfect item for plane rides.
11. The activation and setup couldn't be easier(at least on my mac). It automatically set up my gmail account and imported all my addresses. My Blackjack took forever to get the email working correctly.
12. It is intuitive for the most part. No need to spend an hour or two with a manual trying to figure out how to change a ringtone, or set up a bluetooth earpiece. It just works.
13. It's cool... period.

Dislikes

1. The phone is slippery. I really think a rubberized outershell, at least on the sides would have made sense. It is only a matter of time before this beauty is gonna hit the ground.
2. Difficult access to the sim card. Geeks have many phones and we like to use different ones for different situations. The card is damn near impossible to get out and there is not way to do it with out a paper clip.
3. The camera is not up to what it should be. The iPhone really needs and external button to release the shutter! They could even change the software to use the volume buttons as a release while in camera mode. It is very difficult to hold the camera still and try to do a finger press on the screen.  You will end up missing a lot of shots. Also, tapping an on screen button jars the camera and can contribute to some really nice blurry shots! Forget about trying to take a picture of yourself with it! You can't see the button to press! It is really disappointing.
4. No 3g! This is really unacceptable...having a slow connection on a full web browser is horrible! Especially when you get used to using the phone on the Wifi network. Shoot me now!
5. No flash and no java? You have to be kidding me. All the web phones I have had the past few years have been able to use flash and java. Flash is beginning to be used on everyone's website. I really hope that there is some update to this. I am missing have the content on some sites.
6. No battery access. I am gonna have to send my phone in if I want a new battery? That is crazy. With all the use that the phone is going to get with video and music, having a way to swap in a charged battery would make so much sense. I think many of us are going to be calling you back after you leave a message because our phones are all dead!
7. No Voice  Dialing.  C'mon this is the phone of the future and there are times you can't press a button, nor should you.
8. Controlled Youtube. You can't search for any video on Youtube. I have a bunch that I created, but they do not turn up in search. I think they must be converting only top videos or something fro iPhone use. Don't call it Youtube, if I can't access all of their videos. I am very disappointed.
9. The keypad. I am trying! I can do quite well with an index finger, but the iPhone does not like my thumbs, especially my right one! I can never hit the right letter with my right thumb for some reason. It really slows me down with thumb typing. The keypad is much better when in landscape mode, but it only works when browsing. It really needs to be available in landscape in all modes. I hope that they might be able to update this. I find the delete key way to easy to hit, but again it has something to do with my right thumb. So many problems could be solved if they let us use the keyboard in landscape mode! Please Apple!
10. No Mp3 Ringtones. Why is this? I can't believe it! I have been making my own Mp3 ringtones for years. I have this whole access to my music library and I can't select something instead of the standard stuff included? It makes no sense.
11. No micro sd memory card. They probably didn't have any more room, but this really would make the thing rock! 8 gigs isn't enough for us geeks! I really can't complain, it really is a phone first, but I can dream.
12. The metal back is really gonna get scratched if you don't keep it in a case I think. Time will tell.
13. No itunes store access? Strange. I would thing they would want us to buy songs from the phone. Of course it probably would be a painfully slow download without 3g!
14. Itunes only activation. There are a lot of people still that don't have a computer that would still like this phone.

Well that is all I can think of at this time. All in all it is about even in what I like and dislike. I have always said that the phone I want hasn't been invented yet. I still feel that way, but I think that the new iPhone is a step in the right direction. I hope that Apple improves it soon. I can't imagine actually holding onto a cell phone for a while. Hey, and in case you would like a slightly used Samsung Blackjack, I will be posting it in my auction soon!

Love is Spreading Over the World

Here is a little slide show I made celebrating marriage for gays and lesbians!

Lawmakers Vote No In Massachusetts To Putting Marriage Amendment On Ballot!

Thank You! Thank you to all the lawmakers who did the right thing and not let my civil rights be put to a popular vote!

Happy! Happy! Joy! Joy!

Big Day For Gay Marriage

Today is a big day for gay marriage. Today.. people who I don't know, will decide whether more people who I don't know, will decide if people as myself deserve the same rights that they so richly enjoy. What a country!

Bay Windows is live blogging the Massachusetts Constitutional Convention. I want to watch live but have to study!

Doug Obey Loses!

Yes, Mr. Authoritarian may have had more votes in my neck of the woods, but thankfully he was rightfully trounced in Dedham, Massachusetts to Paul McMurty, the winner of the Massachusetts 11th District State Representative seat. The virus of "Obey" signs can now retreat from the planet...restoring our oxygen!

So Long Rosie

Well now the only reason to watch ABC's The View is Joy Behar. Rosie is leaving because she couldn't come to terms with ABC on a new contract. I feel sorry for Joy, as Rosie and Joy were a great team. Who will be honest and say what is really on our minds on TV now? Yesterday was a sad day for truth.