Pride: "Don't ask Don't Care"

Portland Pride, June 14, 2009, Oregon

The Beginning of the Parade on Broadway

LGBT Pride Portland Oregon

Student Graphically Pens Me

 

Moira, Fergal and Barney, our father, circa 1965

 

A Candlelight Vigil in Hillcrest, Nov 1, 2008

On what is official "Day of the Dead" in Roman Catholic and Pagan culture, Hillcrest came to life, moreso than at any recent Gay Pride Rally.   A gutteral roar came from a crowd of 2,000 outside the LGBT Center on Centre Street, as Mayor Jerry Sanders announced his opposition to the initiative to change the California State Constitution to outlaw same-sex marriage.   The communities around Hillcrest came out in force.   By 9:15 pm, we marched westbound of University Avenue, the crown growing so large that all traffic in the zip code was brought to a standstill on a busy Saturday night.    The crowd cheered, carried candles and signs reading "No on 8."   In the picture above, demonstators hold a sign reading the Obama Campaign chant, "Yes We Can" with a bar in the background adding to the levels of meaning:"Yes We Can Have a Cocktail."   

Take Better Photographs - wikiHow

Take Better Photographs - wikiHow

Overcome of the Internet Isolation Through the Technology

As a teacher of writing, I am honored to occasionally read stunning sentences. Stunningly brilliant or baffling or unwittingly cryptic, I welcome them all equally. Here are some that I read this week. Together they read like the poetry of a heartbroken herdsman from Uzbekistan whose cell phone has forsaken him. I imagine him standing outside U.S. Legation, tears of rage and frustration streaming down his face as he cries out at night, the quarter moon waning:



I come to school each day and I am surrounded by cell phones all over the place.

Contact is being used by cell phones all over the place.

The same goes for computers and ipods.

The face of the people are lost in this technology.

I would Force them to make trips with no technology.

National Parks can help get them in touch with another.

This can help different groups get into touch with each other using just one voice.

Camping can be a solid way to bond because of the atmosphere of fire and cooking. Better than the couch and the tv and the family.

Many people go to the beach and go swimming. No one wants their cell phone destroyed, so they do not take it in the water with them.

I remember you wanted a job, you met a person. In a room.

There isn't any face to face or anything.

Here's what I'm stating. Everyone is open to becoming more isolated. We need an aid in the conversation with the other.

In today's society the existence of the human face is being covered up with technology so people can be close and stay in touch and know each other.

In California, Californians have a tendency to be more laid back but when its comes to texting their number 1.

Of course people of this generation still use the old and traditional way of communicating: talking, cell-phoning, and, obviously, writing letters, and receiving it too.

The last way of meeting the people is on the internet.

When people put a picture on the internet, they are looking for a trouble to start.

Have you made a new friend in the past?

To avoid the isolation, you should have the party many times.

You might go to a house or something.

Danger: Old People

Danger: Old People
Originally uploaded by VirgiliusDerriensis

This sign, on the Isle of Bute, off the coast of Scotland, warns of marauding pairs of elderly people in the area, armed with walking sticks. What is the woman's hand doing on the man's bottom?

The Wedding of Peter and Liz on the Isle of Bute, Scotland

In a modern incarnation of ancient celtic "Pre-Nuptial Purification Ceremony," Peter is captured and held on his Uncle's bed by his cousins, Brid and Clare the night before the wedding.   The groom is symbolically imprisoned by his female relatives to ensure good fortune on the day of the wedding.   Liz, the bride, in another undisclosed location, is imprisoned by her male relatives in a similar manner.   The anthropologist, Margaret Meade discovered the ritual among the Pictish tribes of Scotland and Ulster, the northern province of ancient Ireland.

he arrival on Bute of an Electric Bakery is the cause of much celebration by the locals who have suffered under the tyranny of gas for centuries.  

The women of Rothesay gather outside one of the numerous Menswear shops to protest the lack of women's clothing shops on the Isle of Bute.  The sale on menswear only fuels their rage.The Haggis Shop is licensed deal in game.  I fear this may involve Bambi and Co.  Do not ask what is involved in the preparation of haggis.

In good ol' Amurikay, it's called a "Barber Shop" but oh no, on this island that have to call it a "Gents Hairdressers," without so much as a nod to the conventions of proper punctuation.

They couldn't find another name for the local hardware store?  Have they no idea that some perverse Americans might visit the Isle once in a while?

The Carpet Warehouse needs no commentary.

One of the finest drinking establishments on the Isle is the Buteman.

Bute has every modern convenience, including rest room fittings.

Day One:    Arrival at Glasgow International Airport; meet brother, Muredach, his wife, Anne , and their daughters, Brid and Clare.  We get into rental car and drive to  Bute.
I'm happy to be finally here on the island, off the ferry from the mainland near Greenock, which is near Glasgow, which is in Scotland. The wedding will take place tomorrow at Rothesay Castle. The journey here has been thusfar filled with long
delays at Chicago, O'Hare and London, Heathrow. Then the ferry over to the
island in a strong gale, driving rainy sleet (it's 34 degrees this morning,
barely above freezing). My brother, Muredach, his wife, Anne, and their daughters, Brid and Clare, drove as a team from Glasgow Airport to the ferry near Greenock. On the Isle of Bute, the locals all look like characters from Beckett. I asked an old man walking a tiny dog (that looked like a rat) for directions to the hotel. He said, "I'm concentrating on the
dog at the moment, but let me think....will you hold the dog's leash
for me while I go across the road and ask my wife, for she's sitting
in that car yonder and she knows the isle better than I do?" So
there I stood with this wet little rat that looked up at me gingerly,
imploringly, in the driving sleet, while the old man tottered across
the icy road to a shape in a car that was, apparently his wife. I
watched them talk through the car window, which was steamed up, for
nigh on ten minutes. He nodded to her. The window was rolled up,
and the old man, with his walking stick, tottered back while I looked
at the small dog with a mixture of pathos and terror. The old man
told me that the hotel is on the hill. "Is it on the hill?" I
repeated. "It is," he affirmed, "on the hill." The hill is singular
on the island. The hotel was on the hill. I was sure of that. I
drove to the hotel. It is built from stone. The wind comes through
the gaps in the stone, as does the rain.  I'm sharing the lovely old room with Peter,
Moira's of son, on his last night as a single man.  There are two beds. There is a woman who brings food.  She does not talk. The man talks incessantly. About the weather.
About America. He asked me questions but answered them himself. I
didn't need to talk. I just drank tea and ate my scone and listened
while crumbs fell from my lips.    It was lovely and easy.

Spring Flowers and Blossoms in San Diego

My new splurge this year has been a Canon EOS Rebel, 10.1 megapixel digital SLR camera with an EFS 18-55 mm lens.   It's so light that I was able to take it with me on the morning jog down Florida Canyon with Rory.   While he peed on shrubs and tried to dig out gophers, I snapped away.  The canyon was bedecked with California Poppies (the State flower), lillies, and cherry blossoms on the first sunny Sunday we've had in ages.   The rain has helped the flora and probably also the fauna.   Red-tailed hawks called to each other from the tops of the nearby eucalyptus trees.   I was vividly reminded why I chose to live here.

(click on picture to enlarge)

When Rory Speaks, Cody Listens

Here's Rory, shouting for his dinner, while Cody waits patiently.   Some dogs are loudmouths (like owner, like dog) and others are well-mannered. Cody and Rory have been friends for four months now, and are beginning to show signs of pack behavior, like defying the orders of their masters. They sleep together in "Rorschach Inkblot Test" position: paws perfectly synched, even as they jerk and whimper in their dreams.

Rory and Cody at Play with coveted Squeaky Toy

Milton Park at Bamboo Lounge in Hillcrest

The Milton Park band rock the Bamboo Lounge on Saturday, January 12, 2008, with "Bring it on home."    This local watering hole in Hillcrest is turning out to be quite the spot for the local sophisticates.    Alex, the proprietor, and Yvette, the wine bar pourer, plied us with delicious treats and sumptuous, fruity wines served in generous portions.   To add to the kaleidoscopic quality of the evening, Frederico Fellini's "Satyricon" played on the well arranged video monitors.   Could we have enjoyed the evening more?  I think not!

60th California Men's Gathering at Pathfinder Camp, Anza, California, November 23-25, 2007

After the auction, Ken seems please with his winnings: Modern American literature to cultivate his mind and soul

The less than silent auction gets under way with bidders raising their cards

Fergal finally finds someone who appreciates his didjeridoo playing

Fergal wins an Oscar Wilde Action Doll in the Auction.   But can it eat cucumber sandwiches?

Paula Idrool powders her nose before going on stage and tries to thin herself down.

John, Garrick and Al-Binky welcome the new arrivals

Fergal and Bobby, two of the newbies to CMG, shiver in the cold as the sun sets on the first evening of camp

Camp Pathfinder, a few miles up the hill from the town of Anza, on the road to Idyllwild, California, the site of the 60th gathering.

A woodpecker soars over our cabin

Eric enjoys the raucous auction of precious items to raise money for scholarships.  Randy is not so sure.

 A musical group called "The Boys Who Go Down, Under" performs a hip-hop version of "Twinkle, Twinkle, little Star" on home made didjeridoos. Gyan (standing in rear) is playing an "authentic" didjeridoo made of real wood. (thanks to Eric for this picture)

The glitterati shine: judges Simon Scowl, Paula Idrool and the inimitable Dame Edna, who took great pains to join us from her native Australia.

Paula Idrool make an unscheduled performance of "Defying Gravity" from the musical Wicked. While the diva was unsuccessful in her endeavor to defy gravity, she did provide us some levity.

Paula, poor creature, showing signs that her constipation is worstening

The Boys Who Go Down, Under, are (from left) Ross, Randy (Fez by Dior, vest by Tom of Finland, Puffy Shirt by Captain Sparrow), Steven, Gyan and Fergal. (Didjeridoos by Home Depot).   (Photo by Eric)

Men receiving unwarranted applause for making rude noises into one and one half inch PVC water main pipes

Thanksgiving at Chef Jess's, 2007

Benji, with the patience of a sanctified dog (which he, incidentally, is) awaits Turkey Yum-Yums

Fergal's hand-vogue moves fail to impress David visiting from Vancouver, the epicenter of the latest dance moves. David shows Fergal the right finger up nostril move - a favorite, apparently, among our neighbors north of the border.
The Holy Family: The Savior Benji, Virgin Most Holy Rex, and Saint Keith.
Fergal is startled that his hand has changed color and position.
Hieu and Jim attempt (and fail) to enjoy a quiet moment together.
Chef Jess enjoys a moment of quiet, and while his punishing cooking and baking schedule began early in the morning, he managed to whip up a startling dessert of pies and whipped cream.
While Hieu enjoys some food, Fergal passes a little judgement.
Chef Jess is thanked by Keith, adorned in an LSU sweat shirt.
Rex, Keith and Hieu enjoy some of the delicious fare prepared by chef Jess.