11.21.2006
For Kerri
White Door/Open Door by Wilhelm Hammershoi1905 Oil on canvas
Eef Barzelay - Thanksgiving Waves
Matt Pond PA - Measure 3
Neko Case - Hold On, Hold On
Labels: Women We Love
annamaria at 10:07 PM
11.15.2006
Interior with a Lady
Interior with a Lady by Wilhelm Hammershoi1901 Oil on canvas
One of those happy memories involves the painting above. A few years ago, Rich and I spent a lovely afternoon at the DIA, and we noticed this fantastic piece tucked in a corner of the European Masters room. It looked bereft and humble, almost as if it was embarrassed to be sharing space with the Rembrandts and Renoirs. It seemed to know that hundreds of people passed it daily, perhaps giving is a passing glance but never their full attention.
We must have spent a half-hour staring at that painting, and the rest of the afternoon talking about how much we loved it. I'm sure I spent ten minutes alone discussing the dirt and scuff marks on the bottom of that interior door and how lifelike it was in its dereliction. Rich was impressed with the paintings within the painting, and they way the light from the window lit upon the cold, hard floor infusing a drab and depressing existence with its only source of life.
About a year later, Rich sent me this article about Michael Palin's 20-year obsession with Hammershoi; accompanying the article was our painting. We both laughed, blaming our 20-year obsession with Monty Python for somehow leading us to give a lonely painting a second glance.
This summer, Rich and I went back to the DIA and discovered that Hammershoi was a victim of the DIA's ongoing renovation project and ever-shrinking European collection. It's been relegated to wherever it is that art goes to die. Inexplicably, this is still taking up valuable wall space. I'll take Danish realism over ironic pop-solipsism any day.
More melancholy: The Magnetic Fields - All My Little Words
Labels: Bitch Bitch Bitch
annamaria at 6:30 PM
11.13.2006
My fantasy boyfriend president won't make an honest woman out of me
DreamyU.S. Sen. Russell Feingold said he has decided not to seek the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008, saying his party's victories in the midterm elections have energized him to continue working in Congress.
Feingold, 53, is an outspoken opponent of the Iraq war, the USA Patriot Act and other Bush administration policies. He said Sunday that although he had explored the possibility of running, he has ruled it out.
"I never got to the point where I felt strongly I wanted to run," Feingold said. "Then I saw the result Tuesday and thought what a great opportunity to do my work in the Senate."
Feingold (D-Wis.) said he would keep an open mind if he were asked to join the ticket as the vice presidential candidate.
"If some nominee called me up and said, `You're the guy, I need you,' I would have to take that very seriously," he said.
Is it bad that I'm looking at the Democrats and wondering whose foot is nearest the grave?
Labels: Men We Love, Politics
annamaria at 1:05 PM
My head just exploded
This scene from Queer As Folk immediately comes to mindThe American Family Association has just called for a boycott of Wal-Mart, claiming the union-busting, music-censoring, gender-discriminating discount chain is too....pro-gay!
I'm going to let that sink in for a second.
The AFA is a little more unhinged than usual on this one. Here are some of the claims:
- When you visit Wal-Mart via a link from their website, the Washington DC Metro Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Center will receive 5% of whatever you spend. The AFA describes the Center as " a place where homosexuals can come together to 'socialize;'" scare-quotes theirs. I wonder when "socialize" became code for fucking, and what does that mean for any future church ice cream socials?
- Wal-Mart sells books and other items that are of interest to gay people. Specifically, the AFA's team of crack researchers found 26 whole items that pertained to gay marriage. Without doing a lick of research, I bet several of those items were greeting cards and not one a manifesto for destroying the sanctity of traditional marriage and converting bored housewives into a league of pagan lesbian warriors.
- And...actually, that's it! Two whole bullet points from those over-achievers at the AFA.
The absolute best part of the boycott, though, is it's scope. The AFA is asking all members to avoid shopping at Wal-Mart on the Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving. Apparently, come November 26th, its okay to pander to the gays so long as you're still getting a good deal on cheap shit made in China.
I must give credit where credit is due, though. Good on Wal-Mart for recognizing that the queer dollar is just as green as the breeder dollar. Of course, no self-respecting gay man would be caught dead buying anything in that crap emporium, but it's a good effort nonetheless. Now, let's talk about living wages and health care, hmm?
UPDATE: Pat Boone used to play tennis with Sam Walton, which is why his opinion on homosexuality matters.
Labels: Fundies Say The Darndest Things, LGBT
annamaria at 8:56 AM
11.08.2006
And the hits just keep on coming...
Damn, I almost feel sorry for the GOP. Almost.
Labels: Politics
annamaria at 9:35 PM
Oh Happy Day, Part 2!
Huzzah!
- Jennifer Granholm wins re-election in the Michigan gubernatorial race, handily defeating former Amway
cult-leaderChairman Dick DeVos. My friend Aaron's father, who helped turn around the Kwame Kilpatrick mayoral campaign last year, was at the helm to help Granholm win her race...though the Granholm team should be embarrassed that no one thought to note that Amway laid of thousands of Michigan workers to outsource their pills and soap operation to China was an election winner before Kwame's savior came along.
- Michigan agrees not to murder Mourning Doves (ironically, the state bird of peace) for sport. I was a little shocked at how easily the amendment was defeated, given that Michigan is a big hunting state. Maybe they were afraid that Dick Cheney would make his next hunting trip here and incite panic amongst the state's elderly population.
- Little Ricky Santorum loses his job. Oh, would that I could muster some sympathy and compassion, but it's just not in me. As I noted in the Decemberists post, I heard the news last night on NPR driving home from the show. What I didn't tell you then is that I immediately called Kerri to scream like an idiot on her voicemail out of sheer, undiluted joy! In other news, former Florida Secretary of State and famed 2000 election stealer Katherine Harris lost her bid for the Senate and Homo-bigot (and 2004 election stealer) Ken Blackwell didn't fare much better, losing the Ohio gubernatorial race to Ted Strickland.
- Bernie Sanders is the projected winner in the Vermont Senate race. Sanders, for those who don't know, will be be the only Socialist elected to the 110th Congress. Even better? As of 11:42 a.m., CNN shows him getting 65% of the vote. Hey Wake, you live up and around the New England way--is it terribly expensive to live in Vermont? Any good job opportunities? Do they like people with funny midwestern accents? See, I'm looking to leave Detroit in the near future, and while Chicago was a serious contender, Obama's got nothing on Bernie Sanders!
- South Dakota rejects the abortion ban, so now Bill Napoli will only get to fantasize about those poor sodomized virgins. Everyone shed a tear for Ol' Bill now, won't you? The forced-birth crowd love to argue that abortion rights were forced on this country by the Supremes and that the people should have been given the opportunity to approve abortion laws. With the South Dakota referendum results in, I have only one thing to say to the anti-choicers: Shut the fuck up! See, the people did decide, and you lost! Not only in South Dakota, but in California and Oregon, both of which defeated parental consent and notification laws. Poor anti-choicers, not quite as popular as you thought, huh? You should try being on the right side of the debate sometime.
- Arizona becomes the first state to turn back a same-sex marriage ban at the polls. Pam's got the scoop about how this isn't just a victory for queers in Arizona, but for grassroots activism all around.
- Oh, I seem to forgotten a big one: Speaker Pelosi! The Dems win the House giving Nancy Pelosi a fat new job title and the honor of being the first woman speaker of the house.
- Oh dear! In the course of writing this, Jon Tester has won the Montana Senate seat, making the Democrats one seat shy of a majority. Just waiting on the Virginia race, where unrepentent racist George Allen is contesting the results and demanding a recount. Funny how only Democrats get called whiny ass titty babies when they ask for recounts...
- The Guardian's breaking news:
LATEST: Republican officials say Donald Rumsfeld to step down, it is reported. More details soon ...
Sure beats that other memorable British headline.
Boo! Hiss!
- Michigan's Proposal 2 "Get those darkies back in fields and women back in the kitchens where they belong" Affirmative Action ban looks like it is going to pass, despite the fact that the fucking KKK was the only major organization (terms used loosely) to back the damn thing. I hope Ward Connerly is proud of himself--he sold out his race and his morals and jumped in bed with people who might shake his hand today, but only so they can calculate his weight for his eventual lynching.
- My man Amos Williams lost to incumbent Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox after a valiant campaign effort. I'm really pissed because I don't get to make the joke I've been saving up for weeks about Dick DeVos and Mike Cox being tossed out like the couple of pricks they are.
- Wisconsin shocks us all by not only passing the same sex marriage ban, but at 59% to 41%, a much bigger margin than anyone would have predicted. Tennessee, Virginia, South Carolina, South Dakota and Idaho join the existing oppressor states by refusing to recognize queer marriage rights, while Colorado rejects a civil unions proposal. Incidentally, Britney Spears filed for divorce from her
hanger-onhusband of two years, Kevin "K-Fed" Federline, yesterday. Ahem.
Ho-Hum
- I didn't vote for Debbie Stabenow, since I tend to think anyone who approves of torture is a soulless asshole undeserving of my vote. I proudly voted Green, and actually whispered a "Fuck you, Debbie" in the voting booth while I filled in the little oval on my ballot (we kick it scantron-style in the Shelby T). But, despite the loss of my one little vote (and Kerri's!), she won anyway. And by a huge margin. I can't work myself up enough to put this is the Boo! Hiss! section, but I'm certainly not going to call it a win.
Feel free to leave your post-election day cheers and jeers in the comments.
Labels: Politics
annamaria at 12:46 PM
Oh Happy Day!
Colin Sings, Annamaria SwoonsJubilation! That's the only word I can use to describe last night—Jubilation!
Kerri was my lovely date for the Decemberists show at Clutch Cargo's; terrible venue but fan-fucking-tastic show. Everyone on stage was lovely, and the audience much younger that I anticipated—I know that I'm approaching 30, but I really shouldn't be amongst the older members of the crowd yet, should I? In deference to the kiddies in the room, the show was a non-smoking event...Kerri and I audibly groaned when we saw the signs posted asking us to step outside to smoke. Here's something I've never understood—you're at a bar, presumably imbibing spirits, you're at a rock show, presumably listening to the devil's music, and smoking offends people's sensibilities? We're already going to Hell, why not light up on the way down? And before I get the “second hand smoke kills” lecture, so does drinking and driving (more and quicker!) but I've yet attend a dry concert aimed to prevent drunks from killing themselves and others. Fuck, listening to music at exceptionally loud volumes will fuck up your hearing but good—is the sound booth going to account for that, too?
/rant.
Besides the non-smoking thing (felt like I was in LA again!), the show was amazing. Really good mix of old and new, though I would have loved to hear When the War Came or Summersong live. I think I might be the only person that actually likes those songs, though! I was pretty excited to hear July, July! which was, to me, the biggest surprise on the set list. The Perfect Crime No. 2, hands-down my favorite track on the new album (indie-rock purists be damned! I like my Decemberists sounding like Steely Dan...and I hate Steely Dan!), was so good live I might never be able to listen to the studio version again. I noticed the arms-crossed-over-their-chests and imperceptible-head-bob-used-to-approximate-dancing hipsters even shook their asses a bit during that number.
Hurdy Gurdy Man
The highlight of the evening, and I think it's safe to assume that I speak for all Michiganders here (and it is Michiganders, Colin, not Michiganians), was not only ending the show with A Cautionary Song but having Chris, Lisa and John parade through the crowd with drums, tambourines and cymbals, which finally culminated in a reenactment of the beheading of Anne Boleyn. I'm so not making this up.
Oddly, all those paper lanterns were red, even the
one that appears to be white in this picture.
After the show, I figured nothing in the world could make me a happier girl...and then as I was driving home listening to the election results on NPR* I discovered that Rick Santorum lost his Senate seat. I don't know that I've ever felt such peace and joy.
----------------------------
*Thanks to Carina for sending me text message updates on the election results during the show, solidifying my nerd status once again.
Labels: Men We Love, Pop Culture
annamaria at 12:42 PM
