Tuesday, June 30, 2015

I need to find this

Add to my Schwetty Balls 

Equality has never tasted so sweet. On Friday, Ben & Jerry's renamed its iconic "Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough" ice cream flavor to "I Dough, I Dough," in celebration of the historic Supreme Court decision to legalize gay marriage nationwide.


For a limited time, the specially named flavor will be available at participating Scoop Shops in a commemorative pint sleeve. If you want to celebrate with your own pint at home, the sleeve can also be purchased online through the Human Rights campaign, with all proceeds benefitting the organization. 
Ben & Jerry’s is proud of the Supreme Court’s landmark decision against discrimination as it boldly stands up for equality for same sex couples everywhere,” Jostein Solheim, the CEO of Ben & Jerry’s, said in a press release. 
The company is a longtime supporter of equal rights. Ben & Jerry's writes on its website that in 1989, it was "the first major employer in Vermont to offer health insurance to domestic partners of employees, including same sex couples, and we haven’t spent one minute regretting it."
In 2009, the company celebrated the legalization of gay marriage in Vermont by renaming the "Chubby Hubby" flavor to "Hubby Hubby." A year later, one of Ben & Jerry's Scoop Shops in Washington, D.C. served as the venue for a gay wedding, when same sex couples could first tie the knot in the district. 


For the 4th OR the WORLD CUP FINAL !

The inconvenient Civil War did cause Atlanta trauma .....





From the AP

The Atlanta Cyclorama, a colossal Civil War painting created about 130 years ago, is leaving the building it has occupied since 1921 to move across town.
Cyclorama officials said Tuesday was the last day visitors could see the 15,000-square-foot oil painting in Atlanta's Grant Park neighborhood. The panoramic painting is displayed in a cylinder that rotates slowly as a narrator describes its content.
The painting will now be prepared for its move across town to a new addition being built at the Atlanta History Center in the Buckhead area.
The task of moving the 358-foot-long, 42-foot-high painting won't be easy. Officials said the process will include making giant scrolls of the artwork and then extracting it from the building through a wall or the roof.
"This is an unparalleled thing for us, but, hey, we're up for this," said Gordon Jones, a curator at the history center. "We're happy. It's the best thing for the artifact. I think it's the best thing for the city."
Last year, Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed announced the move as the city commemorated the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Atlanta, which is the subject of the artwork.
The Cyclorama was painted by a group of German artists at the American Panorama Co. in Milwaukee in the mid-1880s.
Officials said the painting should be open to the public by 2017.

One More





This was the cover of the INTERIOR DEPT. Friday after the ruling. 
This may be my favorite pic of the whole event.





It's just not funny anymore




This is the live radar 11:30 tonight , thunder and pouring rain . We did have a break this afternoon with a few hours of sun. It is just getting ridiculous.

USA! USA! USA!



USA  - 2    GERMANY - 0

I had a wonderful time watching the US Women's Soccer team play in the simi finals of the WORLD CUP tonight . Still dont know all that much about soccer, but this was a very fun game to watch. The other game is tomorrow , England v Japan, to see who we play in the final on Sunday.

Larry Kramer In Love & Anger (HBO Documentary Films)



We watched this documentary last night , the first night that it was on HBO. Very interesting it is on HBO to GO - find it if you have any interest. This is our / my history - GMHC and ACT-UP. So much that I did not know . Including the fact that Larry Kramer wrote the screen play for WOMEN IN LOVE. ( makes much more sense now )

26 Million and Counting




So so so very many people chose to make their Facebook profile rainbow covered in honor of the Supreme Courts decision last Friday. I didn't do it, but did not really make the conscious choice not to, I just never saw the app to gay up my pic. Neil did and he has the same pic that I have, so I can have the pic.

They just seem to grow and grow as the day / weekend went on - which just added to the outrageous joy that I was feeling. Seeing ALL the straight allies who did switch over really meant the world to me. I'm sure they did to every LGBT person out there.


HISTORY OF THE RAINBOW FLAG



ORIGINAL RAINBOW FLAG


It has been all over everywhere this week, so here is what you did not know.

Created in 1978 by Gilbert Baker

Sunday, June 28, 2015

HAPPY VALLEY



I watched this really interesting documentary on the whole PENN STATE mess of a few years ago. Goes much deeper into the hows and whys - and fallout of the case than any news ever did. Much of this I missed - I guess because it was during football season.

Very interesting to me that the film makers attempt to paint Penn State as an outlier in our culture, the place where football is god and the coaches are kings  - I dont want to say to much about the film, because I highly encourage you all to find and watch it on NETFLIX. Parts of it are just heart breaking, but many of you reading this will fully understand the mindset of the people in the film

I am a product of this culture - football is god in the part of Georgia that I am from - and from the looks of things in this film, the Penn State brand of football crazy is way toned down from , at least Athens . And from the few times Ive been other places Auburn, Tuscaloosa , Columbia etc, etc.

Do watch this movie, it is an interesting outsiders take on what for many of us is a way of life - above and beyond the horribleness that happen there in Happy Valley.

Where did Alex's Summer go ?



Back to the rainiest June on the record books the last couple of days, add to that today - the lowest high temperature on record - I don't think it got close to 60 degrees today.

SOMEWHERE

The entire country went RAINBOW this weekend. 
You have seen the WHITE HOUSE already , here are more

Niagara Falls - which also did this when NY STATE passed it 
( I do think these are the Canadian falls )

 FREEDOM TOWER
SAN FRANCISCO CITY HALL

all those pretty usual suspects 
BUT

 BRDGE IN LITTLE ROCK , ARKANSAS!




THE PRESS DARLINGS


From coast to coast the newspapers rang out with pride announcing the Courts ruling. 


This is my favorite that I saw. The Hattiesburg, Mississippi AMERICAN and their may be PERFECT photo to rile up the other side. A Priest, a FEMALE PRIEST  and a bi racial lesbian couple JOYFULLY getting married. Let Freedom Ring.


CORPORATE AMERICA ❤️'s THE GAYS

My hometowns hero COCA COLA was not alone Friday rolling out the rainbow carpet to celebrate a great day in America. Almost all of them did.

From MAKERS MARK

To American Airlines 

and

The flat earth set is going to have a hard hard time shopping for , well anything .

AMAZING


Friday was the biggest news day with no one getting elected or something blowing up in maybe ever. Woe to have been a news editor that day. Supreme Court making gays and lesbians equal citizens , President of the United States getting moved by the Spirit and breaking into song, the crazy man hunt in upstate NY, overseas terrorism ....


Something had to slip through the cracks, and not that this did, but it got less play from me. Out of everything that happened that day, THIS was what just put my jaw on the floor. I wasn't going to watch - My eleated brain just was not in a place to go to a memorial service - SO happy that I did. A horrible tragic event, yes - but there could not have been a more perfect bookend to the President's morning Rose Garden speech on the Supreme Courts ruling.

Some are calling it his best speech ever, for me that is the Pettus Bridge speech from this spring - but this was an moment of purity that will go down in history .

Friday, June 26, 2015

Gay Men's Chorus of Washington Sings National Anthem After Supreme Court...

THE BIG ONE



I couldn't sleep the last couple of days. Part of that was Neil not being here, but mostly it was just a knot in my stomach about the coming Supreme Court ruling. I tend to take these things to heart and this was , like our title says : THE BIG ONE.

We have known for months that the ruling would be handed down this week, but everyone , all the folks in the know, were saying that it would be on Monday, because the courts always save the " big one " for last. All the lgbt / progressive chatters were on this night and day. " No, it will be on Friday  - and we will win - because the Supremes want to kick of the best day PRIDE weekend ever in NY and SF ( and other places ) . Or, Yes, it will be on Monday because the court is going to go against us and they don't want riots in these big cities with 10's of thousands lgbt people and their allies gathered for a festival and parade .

So Koda and I were up early yesterday, logged into SCOTUSBLOG - and boom, The President and the country win on health care - and score! the progressives win a battle over fair housing BOTH shocks from the Roberts court and very much reasons to celebrate - no ruling on marriage equality today. There are five cases yet to rule on - everyone saying Monday is the day.
A Good Morning for a Little Marriage Equality

Never the less we were up early, at least today I took Koda out before hunkering down to watch this clicking blog . I'm there at 8:30 knowing that there would not be any announcement until after 10. Click click click, the great bloggers there answering questions on the cases coming up, etc. Friends chatting on Facebook, Neil calling from Salt Lake City - the time really flew by. By 9:45, I was really unable to put two sentences together to talk to Neil , so I just told him I would call him after the cases were released. Scoutsblog makes this click click click with each additional post. I was not watching tv. They did not focus enough on the Court yesterday.

10:00 - and the blog is still. 10:03 , one word : MARRIAGE - decision by Justice Kennedy. We had won - WE HAD WON.

And won it all , this was not some watered down " half assed " some states can some can't this was coast to coast, one law. This was gay and lesbian Americans are full fledged citizens. It was not real for a long few minutes. Very hard to explain. Neil called - and I had yet to turn on the television. just watching the blog - then Facebook started just scrolling on its own with rainbow after rainbow after rainbow.... It was over, we had won.

So much has been said of the speed that this took place , but compared to what. Stonewall was 46 years ago. The Mattachine Society formed in 1950 , people have been working and fighting and some dying for this cause for a long long time. And yes, it was not always marriage, that seemed to far fetched for the early leaders, but that notion has been kicking about since the early 80's.

Andrew Sullivan , who first wrote about same sex marriage in 1989, broke his self exile in Ptown to post on his old blog and to call A. Cooper on CNN - and they played an old Crossfire from 1993. A babyfaced Andrew facing Gary Baur - who simply laughed Sullivan off at the mere mention of marriage, it was laughable then, but that was twenty two years ago - not exactly an over night victory.

And now it was over - we had won. Hard to really wrap my mind around , I was never some great gay activist, but always read a lot. A ruling either way would not have affected our marriage, NY state is safe, but I was still overcome with just a great since of relief and joy. Almost like when we first got married , you don't think it is going to make that big of a difference, but it does, and a big one. So yes, being equal in the eyes of my government is a huge deal . One of the most amazing days of my life.

Im beat - it has been a long day of just pure joy. Ill come back to this tomorrow.




THE WHITE HOUSE TONIGHT




It Is Accomplished



Andrew Sullivan came back to his blog THE DISH today
 to take a well deserved victory lap, read his post 


Thursday, June 25, 2015

Yes, but is it art ?



This one is called :

Nervous Energy Waiting on the Supreme Court

sharpie on printer paper - 2015

Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Some Daily Koda

 A very nice day today - still in the cool pocket post big ol storm 
 A good day for a swim


 Every thing is so green


There is a tiny fawn in this pic, if you can see him/her

Tuesday, June 23, 2015

The Camera Does Love My Husband.



Neil getting his time in SLC off to a smiling start.
Photo from the Diocese of Rochester webpage.

RIGHT and WRONG at the SAME TIME



Susan gave me a subscription to GARDEN AND GUN for Christmas - and you would think that those are two things that I would really want very little to do with , but it really is a lovely magazine, full of all sorts of fun articles. Southern places, music , football and FOOD, lots of food.

The FB page is pretty good too, and today they posted this one.

Crab Hush Puppies
From Callie White 
Serves about 20 people 

INGREDIENTS
3 cups buttermilk cornmeal mix (preferably White Lily)
1 cup self-rising flour (preferably White Lily)
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. kosher salt
4 tsp. fresh-ground black pepper
1 cup chopped green onions
2½ cups full-fat buttermilk (batter should be thick but not stiff)
1 lb. lump crab-meat, picked over
1 egg, lightly beaten

PREPARATION

Mix all ingredients together and drop by the heaping teaspoon into a deep fryer at 350 to 375 degrees until golden and crispy. Serve with tartar sauce.


Tartar Sauce

INGREDIENTS
¾ cup mayonnaise
(preferably Hellmann’s) 
1½ tsp. Dijon mustard
Juice of ½ small lemon
1 medium shallot, minced
1 tsp. Tabasco
1 tbsp. capers, rinsed and roughly chopped
1 tbsp. sweet relish Kosher salt and fresh-ground pepper, to taste 

PREPARATION
Mix all ingredients together. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

¾ cup mayonnaise (preferably Hellmann’s) WTF ?  

magazine that prides itself on being the be all to all things Southern not using DUKES mayo - " Yankees in Georgia, how did they ever get in ?" I commented on the fb and tons of folks agreed with me. But with that one substitution and a little bit of Old Bay, this sounds like it would be just yummy!



And then there were three ....


This is a huge week for LGBT America, maybe the biggest ever.


Either this Thursday, Friday or the coming Monday the Supreme Court will rule on Obergefell v Hodges. The case that will or will not mark gay and lesbian Americans as full or second class citizens.


Our old pal the Same Sex Marriage in the USA map that we were glued to over the last couple of years, watching state after state turn color as more and more corts or state legislatures made marriage equality law - till BOOM! Two out of three judges in the US 6th court of appeals  ( Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee ) said " we think that the gay is icky , so not just the back of the bus, but kicked off all together ". Teeing up the Supremes to take the case - which is not something they really seemed to want to do in a post WINDSOR world. The 6th is the only district in the county that has found banning same sex couples from marriage constitutional - if the case had gone the other way, the  big guys would have just let the lessers handle things - and the whole map would be blue already.

There are three GIANT cases yet to come out of this term. OBAMACARE, VOTING RIGHTS and THE GAY MARRIAGE .The court just added the Friday release date last week, and before that common wisdom was that Obama care would have been yesterday and SSM on Thursday for marriage equality JUST in time for the NYC and SF PRIDE parades , but with the addition of the Friday and now the Monday, folks seem to think it will be health care this week and US on Monday. But no one really knows - and the court can do what ever it wants for as long as it wants, there is no law they have to be done by July.

Now, nothing at all will change for Neil and I , New York passed our marriage equality in the house and senate , so we will still be fully married, with full federal rights and benefits. As will most all couples in commonly blue America, but if states are given the right to ban same sex marriage  - then all those western and southern states will certainly go right back to their bans. No one knows what will happen to the full faith and credit part of the Constitution - if a NY married couple moves to Idaho -  are they unmarried ?

EVERYONE EVERYWHERE is saying this is a fait accompli - with what local Atlanta paper going as far as to print spots in Greater Atlanta where same sex couples could get married asap. All of the right wing GOP Presidential clown car has reved up the anti gay rhetoric . The usual characters of wing nuts growling and ripping their clothes asunder when nothing has been said yet.

I can not see how on earth Justice Kennedy at this point, after everything he has written in the past could chuck us all under the bus as this late date, but YOU NEVER KNOW. ( I also thing Roberts may come down on the right side of history ) 

But either way, with all three of these cases we will be in an entirely different country one week from your day. 


A MIGHTY WIND

Chatting with our next door neighbor last night , she said that there were big storms on the way later on, it was such a nice night , cool and dry-ish that I did not think she was right. The air was just not " pea sourish " enough to stir up some big old thunder boomers.

I was wrong

 Loud banging thunder woke Koda and I up about 5 this morning - just as the sky was beginning to lighten - but the wind had come before the storm itself. Looking out the window, the new gazebo`thing was blown into a pile and ( this one totally my fault ) the umbrella was left up on a glass table, which tipped over - shattering the glass and the things that were on the table

 The tent is a total goner, all bent , broken and twisted - which really sucks, because it was fun to sit out under.
 The table and things that were on it


 There was damage all over the area, some big limbs in houses over in Honeoye Falls - really all over the Finger Lakes. So, we were lucky that it was just things that can be replaced

 The storm did bring in even cooler and drier weather - it was a really lovely day
Limbs down behind out house

Sunday, June 21, 2015

Longest Day of the Year




HAPPY SOLSTICE

to all my pagan buddies !

Change of Plans


Off to see the zillion dollar in the bank JURASSIC WORLD - silly Kyle and Neil not even thinking that it is a weekend - when the normal folks all go to movies. We are weekday matinee people . Everything sold out, does not help most of the theaters have the fancy feet up seats , meaning fewer actual seats.

So, we just got some lunch

 Wegmans Burger Bar

It is right there in the grocery store - but we had never been until today.
 A damn good turkey burger with avocado and arugula
and the best fries I have had in a while - they come with all these flash fried herbs.


WE WILL BE BACK!

Walking a Tightrope While Wearing a Hood



From the NYT :



Saturday, June 20, 2015

Saturday Night




Braves beat the Mets in Atlanta tonight , and being the Mets, I got to watch!

A Happy Neil




And why not be happy? All in bright green at the Taco Bell this afternoon.

Picture to Scale


Helen Mirren keeps racking up the awards this season - as well as being in an eight show a week play! The icon seen here was honored by the World Jewish Congress in New York for her role as Maria Altman in the film  WOMAN IN GOLD. Seen here with Gustave Klimt's " portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer ". It is just nice to get the human scale of the famous painting, just there on the wall behind Helen and her nice cup.


10$





Let's all say it together :



Come Monday Neil is off to be a good Episcopalian at their triennial convention in 



( yes, but it's a dry heat )