Misters Houghton and Crawford go to Albany

Misters Houghton and Crawford go to Albany II

they call the club.....

This is the New York state Archives and Museum. I looked all over this building and could NOT find ONE two headed calf OR any stuffed squirrels playing poker! and they think themselves civilized.

timing is everything

 We went to Albany with the New York Pride Agenda yesterday to lobby our law makers on lgbt issues. All in all it was a little bit of a clutser - but, in the end, I think, successful . Four busses rolled out of downtown Rochester at 5am!, everyone on our bus was very friendly ( It was the church bus, there was a young bus, not sure what the other two were...) We got a little bit of a primer of what to expect when we got there. Our meetings were already set up. Every Tuesday is "Lobby Day" at the State Legislature.

So, we arrive, our first little glitch is that we are not Rochester, we are Southern Tier, thats fine, we are a more hearty lot than those city boys. The plan is have an over all big meeting ,( there are like 1500 people there)  then break down into our areas ( roch, buffalo, staten island, north country, southern tier, etc......) Then have the big fire up the troops rally outside, Then head out to see our Senators and Representatives.  

I had never been to the state capitol before, so Neil and I took off to explore. Damn!, it is HUGE. For the ATL crowd reading this, imagine dropping the Ga state capitol down on top of Lennox and Phipps and bring in the Fox Theater, it is just a massive complex, above and below ground. Its very pretty, parts of it, and you can tell, just way cutting edge modern in its day, still holds up very well, design wise. Those Rockefellers knew their real estate! We had the big really outside. Turns out the answer to "what do we want"? was not "TOUCHDOWN". Old habits die hard.....

BUT, back to whey we were there, since Marriage Equailty has already easily passed the NY house, Neil and I were going to skip the visit with our house member and just join the , quite large group ( U of R, RIT , plus all the other colleges in town were with us) at our Senator JIM ALESI 's office. Pretty much as soon as we get there and fill out our little hello my name is card, he comes out and asks us into his office.  He as a broken leg , he fell off a ladder, I offer to get him his wheel chair, just the kind of guy I am. We had a very nice 15-20 min meeting, one on one, well two on three, he had his people with him. Seemed very open to voting YES, on the bill when it comes to the Senate. The rest of our group arrived and was shown into the conference room, where we all joined them, but really, the one on one time was much more productive. So, timing is everything! Also the local PBS channel was there filming , so look for me on WXXI this Friday Night, 9:00 pm!

I am not sure how productive this gang lobby tactic is , BUT, it was darn good too see SO many young lgbt kids, High School, college age kids, out there fighting a fight that they will WIN. Just like the story in the NYT this weekend, these kids today have an entirely different mindset about them, and even me ( who , lets face it KNOWS for a fact that youth is SO wasted on the Young)  has to be thrilled for them.

(many thanks to DDG for walking Koda and Pookie!)

 

The View from Sore Loser Alley

Albert Mohler, the President of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, reads the Sunday New York Times. 

"I'll take there is a waste of good newsprint for 1000$, Alex." I don't really want to link to his response to yesterdays NYT story, but read if you must. A much better take is the wonderfully readable Joemygod, for the the highlights. Let me just use a quick money quote : ( Mr. Mohler writes:)

"Denizet-Lewis's article raises at least one final thought. If the legalization of same-sex marriage is changing homosexual culture, is it also changing heterosexual marriage? We can only wonder how long it will take for some heterosexual couples to decide that "emotional fidelity" and "sexual fidelity" can be separated."

REALLY, DUDE? Just how bad was the mans tongue bleeding when he left his computer?( or Laura Ingalls-esque slate board). Because we all know that there is no cheating, no divorce, no IN-fidelity at all in his world. I'm so tired of these dinosaurs passing for human.

Defying Gravity - Raúl Esparza

Your Monday morning Broadway moment. Yeah, this one is pretty much ALL for me, but it is the KYLE+blog.

" I did not have sex with that woman, Miss McCready"

It all depends on what your definition of Cooperstown sailing away is.

NY Daily News is reporting that Roger -"the rocket"- Clemens "carried on a decade-long affair with country star Mindy McCready, a romance that began when McCready was a 15-year old aspiring singer-Clemens was a 28-year old Red Sox ace , married father of two"

uh-oh! Right wing darling, Clemens is turning out to be a shootin' up -horn dog. I'm just loving him more and more. I tend to like clay feet MUCH more than that steel pole he , as a rule, has shoved up him!

the "M" word.....

 A very interesting article in todays Sunday Times Magazine: Young Gay Rites, by Benoit Denizet-Lewis. A look at how the right to get married, the right to be " just like every body else" is playing out with some young gay couples in Massachusetts.

 I can not imagine , really, can not wrap my brain around, what it would have been like in my early 20's to just know that the possibility existed . ( and Lord, can you just imagine how freaking many wedding showers there would come out of the  the Delt house!!!) The article does touch on how basic behavior is being changed so very quickly. How young gay men today, are coming out so early that they are having the "normal adolescence " that gays in the past were not allowed to have , at all. I mean , I had my very first relationship at 27 (!) the sort of thing that breeders...errr,.... straight people  ( some of my best friends...) have in middle school.

It was very surprising to both Neil and me, when we got married, how INTENSE the feeling was. Not just the love and all that,( which, you know, was the best....). But the ABILTY to wait in line for our wedding license with people just there to get their moose hunting license, was so very eye opening. To be treated , for me the first time EVER, just like everyone else was, was very powerful, and something that these Massachusetts kids will 100% take for granted.

  Legal marriage, in the end, can ONLY be a good thing. Although stupid and young is stupid and young, no matter who you are being stupid and young with . ( and NOT all 20 something yo gay men look like the uber twinks in the story)

AND: a much more elegant take on the same topic from my much more elegant pal Susan Russell

The LILACS are coming!

These buds are in my yard. Here is a  link to the festival! ( where they have deep fried oreos, but this is about flowers, not food...)

weekend movie round - up

Friday: Dahn and I went to see BABY MAMA. Exactly what you would expect, and I like that in a movie. Silly, but some very funny parts. Who knew that Tina Fey had such a nice figure! and anytime you get to look at Greg Kinnear , its a good time!   B-

  Friday Night: Neil and I watched THE KITE RUNNER. I guess its sort of like "The Da Vinci Code" in so much as half  the planet read the book. I thought it would have been sort of hard to keep up with the movie, if you had not read the book, which Neil had not , and he liked it more than I did. The young boys were very good, very believable. It is funny seeing a movie that personal, because Khaled Hosseni forms such  clear mental pictures in the book that you almost want to say " thats not what it looked like.." Thought the movie ending was better than the book ending. B

Tonight: We watched THERE WILL BE BLOOD. Yes, Daniel Day-Lewis was amazing, but I just didn't get it. Was it just a character study? And if it was, didn't we need a little bit of background as to why he was the way he was? I did like the way the film looked, very "new" sort of lighting. But over all a C-

big ole grill-o-ribs

New Order live, 1983, 'Age Of Consent'

Saturday Night dance party kick off...

Jonesing for salvation

Everyone wants him, at long last a new man for all the ages.

Senator Obama appears to belong to what ever generation he is viewed from, astute readers of the kyle+blog know that I have covered this before. But, it just keeps popping up, so, lets recap:

• baby boom generation: 1946-1964
• generation Jones: 1954-1964
• generation x :1965-1982
• generation y "the millennnals" :1983-1994

Senator Obama's birthday is August 4th, 1961, so , just take your pick. ( The whole generation jones thing is a new concept, it's sort of the buffer between the two baby booms, the thin part of the hour glass , if you will. I do not think it is as long a time period as most do, becuase that leaves the much bally-hood boomers at only nine years. Let's rethink the "jones" thing at say.... 60-65. Sort of post watergate/pre computer age.)

To anyone under 30 he is the MOSES of America, come to save us from the evil that has been heaped upon us by the haggard old crones! Here is an example from a 27 yo phD student from my ex andrewsullivan's blog : (complaining about his parents generation he writes):

"Now that it appears we've reached the limit of unrestrained consumption, they appear more than willing to take their social security checks and medicaid benefits and ride into the sunset, leaving in their wake a bankrupt, increasingly desparate younger generation. They even have the gall to claim that we're the generation of narcissists! In my mind, the struggle between Clinton and Obama lays bare this generational conflict. Unfortunately, we do not have the demographics on our side, and I'm afraid that our struggle will ultimately be unsuccessful. I'm afraid that by the time a pragmatic, problem-solving leader like Obama reaches the White House, we'll be beating ourselves over the heads with our guns (bullets having become an expensive luxury) in a vain attempt to protect our local community's water supply."

Yes, Mad Max is on his way.

Here is an exaple of generation jones hyperbole from Huffington Post:

"Obama also recognizes that voters do not just want change -- they want a new type of politics (a theme he has emphasized since ABC's tabloid debate). This is why Obama has tried to steer away from the confrontational politics of the Clinton-Bush era, but has not dodged the taboos that the prior generation assiduously avoided from the death penalty to Social Security. Unlike his opponents, Obama understands that the method is part of the message -- change.

Historically, "the torch has passed" to a new generation when an energetic challenger faced a ruling generation that had simply lost its steam (although this spirited campaign has demonstrated Boomers still have plenty of steam) or one whose governing paradigm was repudiated by the voters as with Franklin Roosevelt's 1932 landslide rejecting the disastrous laissez-faire policies of that era"

I have come to the conclusion ( getting banned from Americablog was the last straw) that it is in NO WAY Senator Obama that I do not like. It's his wack-job overzealous followers who chap my rapidly approaching ( yes, I said it rapidly APPROACHING) middle age hide. Im just sort of an anti band-wagon guy, a curmudgeon of a Joneser.

Truth in Art

my backyard 10:00 am

Rochester Redwings-8 Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs-2

I'll get you, and your little dog, too

"I hope you know, that this will go down on your permanent record"

I'm pretty sure I have been banned from posting comments over on AMERICA blog.  Which is too bad, I enjoy debate! What pushed them over the edge was something close to this:

" IT WAS NOT HIS FAULT!  How could he have won when those evil evil Clintons said such mean things about him, Those horrible CLINTONS hate Democrats, and were mean to Barack. It had nothing to do with his uber liberal stands on , well, everything , in a moderate country, or his youth or his inexperience. NO! It was all the CLINTONS fault" - ( ooops, did I just post that, I meant to wait till November 3erd) "

It was posted for a short while, but then went away, they are getting bitter. I am the disloyal one,  ME, the man who drove, from Milledgeville, GA. to Winder , GA. without! any beer ( yeah, like Paul, Laura and I could ever think ahead .. no beer sold on election day....) to vote for Walter Mondale! ME! ,who was proud to vote for Michael Dukakis ( Kitty and the listerine were no problem for me, I had YEARS of Mrs. Fred hiding bottles under my belt) They delete/ban me, but leave some guy going on and on about how easy it will be for Senator Obama to take TEXAS in November . Crazy is as crazy does. I'll lie low for a few days, see if they calm down.

bad kyle, bad !

David Cook

not ALL my crushes look like John Kruk and David Wells.

"colorful" NOT "pervy"

I was wrong.

As many long time visitors to kyle+blog land know, I have a most warm and fuzzy spot in my heart for that plucky little red headed step child of the SEC : Vanderbilt. Not only do they still dress for games And for the most part, let us win our Homecomings every year, ( except for that fateful one that brought me to the Lord) BUT, the bff D.D.G. is a proud Vandy grad.

SO, when I made the comment over the weekend to Proud Vandy Alumna Dahn that RICHARD QUEST  (Vandy grad) was pervy and deserved to have his journey judged, I didn't know that he had gone to a SEC school. We don't talk bad about family, therefor  COLORFUL not PERVY.

Best of Luck in getting well, Richard.

eats shoots and leaves

The power of the headline. 

Protesters outnumbered at gay bishops book event.

A line from the Lebanon, Pa. newspaper where Bishop Gene -going to England anyway- Robinson gave a talk and a book signing. Now as someone was was sort of on the very distant peripheries of the whole getting Gene elected and sworn in happenings ( Neil was at both and giving me real time information as to what was going on as I watched filtered through cnn and the faux news set), I know how things can be twisted. So, when you read that headline, I for one, picture masses of people yelling at each other from the other sides of police barricades.

FOUR PEOPLE!

Two of which are a couple that do nothing but ride around and rant and rave over the coming gay menace. SO, yes, the four hard core bigoted nut jobs were OUTNUMBERED by all the people who attended the event and the pro Robinson people there. You can find FOUR people to be against giving coats to the cold or Mothers day. 

If it bleeds , it leads, and if you can stir up controversy where none exists you sell newspapers, at least to those four pin heads.

almost porn boys for obama

My very good friend over at Joe.my.god. ( don't know him from Adam, but it's my blog, there for he is my vgf) posted this- ( as I guess has a large part of the free blogging world, I see a talk show in the works for the boys) . Neil and I noticed it too, last night during Senator Obama's speech. It had to have been planned. Is there a really big metro-sexual, quasi gay, tight shirt wearing A&F vote to be had in Indiana? 

They are sitting down in this pic, but for the most part were up and on their cell phones. One of them kept looking for the waitress....

mmmm... deer poop

the Pride of Snellville

 DAVID POLLACK to retire. Such a tough break for such a nice kid.

was lost , but now I'm found

( cue the band : If it has to be Nearer My God to ME, then so be it.. I'm going down with the ship)

I had strayed in the last few weeks, attracted by the new bright and shiny toy, allowed myself to be swayed by those with SO much convection. I mean, they have been using Math, that has always thrown me. But, its over, I am 100% behind Hillary till the end, and there are lots and lots and lots of us out there. 

So much is being made in the blogesphere about how Hillary's win doesn't change anything, that the numbers are still the same. Might be true by morning, I don't know, or care. What has changed is that Barack Obama lost big in Pennsylvania tonight. In conservative ( very conservative) western Penn, it's 70-30 for Clinton, across the board. This does not bode well for Senator Obama in the general election, if he is the candidate. Many rank and file Democrats just do not like the man and since we are not sad to see President Gore leave his second term, MOVE ON can not get someone elected. 

This is a very new place for me to be in, I have always been on the far far left of , well, everything. All of the commenters on all my favorite blog are starting to hate me , cause I say silly things like: " umm.. it will be over when one of them WINS!". SO, tonight, she had to win, and she did, BIG.. now, in a week, she has to win big in Indiana ( could be VERY hard, so much or N.W. Indiana is Chicago-land), and at least not get blown out in North Carolina. Guam is coming up, and this year, Guam matters.

my absolute favorite kitchen!

IN Fayette County, and you know, with out the First Baptist Church, but still, My Absolute Favorite Kitchen ! Funny story, Laurahight just came across her very own kitchen on the pages of the AJC.

America...

A little Monday morning Broadway for those that need it. ( America.....)

SO!  At freaking last , tomorrow is the showdown in Philly, the Thrilla in Pittsburgh, the clash of the titans in Bryn Mawr. The long awaited Pennsylvania primary, with both sides chomping at the bit. I've been laying off the politics on here, because , well, nothing has been going on .. and its been baseball season... But, tomorrow should kick things back up into high gear. The barage of ifs and what ifs and whys can pour down like honey dew vine water from heaven starting as early as they want to tomorrow.

• IF Hillary doesn't win by enough
• IF Barack can not take a big state with only a primary
• Will the Clinton camp have any money left
• Can the Obama steamroller  (?) connect with Joe-sixpack 

In a moment of weakness I wondered on to the response pages on Americablog yesterday and broke the cardinal rule of left-leaning blogging and simply asked " why does she have to quit, why cant he just win?"  Lord, you would have thought I was stabbing kittens on christmas morning in the children's ward of the local hospital. The orthodoxie of the hard left is out and not happy that anyone would dare NOT give them what they want when they want it! That bitch and her , surprisingly, cheating husband. Since there is really not a hair's breadth of difference between the two leading candidates on anything having to do with policy, they are attacking Senator Clinton on President Clinton: many many mentions of Monica and the whole mess, and this from the LEFT. America... America.

Somehow this silly pic, real or photo shopped , just sums it all up for me. "We won't let anything like facts get in the way of what we are pissed off about, or Who we want to be President. All the popular kids are angry these days....."

sunday afternoon

Drinks with Father Andrews in his very lovely circa 1803 home in LIMA, N.Y.

( a little gin drunk....)

Lemon-Rosemary shortbread with pine nuts

• 2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
• scant teaspoon kosher or sea salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter , at room temperature
• 2/3 cup sugar
• zest of one lemon
• 2/3 cup pine nuts, lightly toasted, loosely chopped
• 1-1/4 teaspoon fresh rosemary, finely chopped

mix four and salt

whip butter till fluffly, add lemon, rosemary and pinenuts, whip well

add four mixture-only mix till it gets crumbly...

bring to a ball with spoon or on lightly floured counter

kneed once or twice, make ball, flatten to disk

refrigerate for hour or so

roll out 1/2 inch or so thin and cut any way you like

cook 10ish min in 350 degree preheated oven

( NEXT time I will use less sugar and lemon, a little more salt and rosemary)

Pittsford, N.Y. 9:10 am

The last few days weather wise have been pure chamber of commerce. Bright and sunny and mid 80's, low humidity, on and on. Was warmer here than in Winder yesterday, looks like its going to hold all week too!

just plain odd

things you never knew about kyle

I love Bollywood. 

There , I've said it: "Hello, My name is Kyle, and I love the Bollywood" Every time Neil goes on one of his "save the world for the teachers/gay episcopalians/tree huggers/goodness knows what" meetings I have netflix send me a Bollywood movie.  It is against the law, really, in India for men and women to do anything other than kiss on the cheek and hug, gingerly. SO, none of that icky stuff ( and the boys , as a rule, are very affectionate with one another.....) This was a good one! Dil Chahta Hai Sort of Jane Austin-esque but with MUCH more attractive people,  disco dancing and hot dark skinned guys in tight cloths.

Lets just say it: To the American eye Bollywood Movies are as gay as a paper hat,and for the most part,  I love them.

 

just perfect!

D.N.C.

( driving near Canada )

NOW it is Spring!

Redwings 4- Braves 5