There are a couple Op-Eds on HuffPo that I really liked this week. Both on Prop 8, of course. THIS one (read the whole thing if you can) says

"There is no such thing as a Christian Democracy. There is no such thing as a Muslim Democracy or a Jewish Democracy either (or a solely Heterosexual one, for that matter). True Democracy means True Equality..."
"Regardless of how sure you are that Christ will herald the Rapture and all sinners will go to Hell, connecting those beliefs with government is massively disrespectful of all the non-Christian citizens you share the country with."
"Religious elitism goes against the very foundation of Democracy and the principles that this great country was built on. If America is to truly be a shining beacon on the hill, it's light must reach all people, not some chosen few."

Here is a great No on 8 ad.


Here are 3 ads made by people who care about the cause, not the "official" campaign. They are funny spoofs on the ubiquitous Apple ads.






THIS op-ed also deserves a full read.

"The organizers behind Proposition 8 aren't worried about marriage, the definition of marriage or even the word marriage. This initiative is no different than any other anti-gay initiative."
It is homophobia in plain sight. Nothing else.
"Love cannot be legislated and discrimination cannot and should not be written into the Constitution of the State of California."

company party

Me (as a sequence from our movie) and a co editor on Astro Boy as the scariest man out there. We had a blas at our company party =) Hope to get more photos up.

Samhain

Have a very happy festival of darkness or Hallowe'en celebration today!!!!

so sad

I'm sad today because I found out that people close to me, related to me, are prejudice and are going to vote FOR Prop 8 which will take away the right of same sex couples to marry. I mean I know my "extreme" (to be polite about it which is really hard for me) religious relatives are of course against gay marriage (isn't that sad that if you're christian you are probably judgemental and exclude your fellow man?) but I thought they were the only ones. I'm actually really incensed. How is this not the same as denying interracial marriages in the past? Or Protestants & Catholics right to marry? Or even a woman's right to vote? It's all civil rights!

Most people who say they aren't prejudice or bigoted say they aren't against "Civil Unions" for gay couples but they shouldn't be aloud to "get married"-it's the word apparently that matters. Besides the fact that this automatically makes you prejudice whether you like it or not, this makes no sense and most of all is NOT EQUAL. There are soooo many laws that Civil Unions don't cover that "marriage" does. --Joint parental rights of children --Joint adoption --Status as "next-of-kin" for hospital visits and medical decisions --Right to make a decision about the disposal of loved ones remains --Immigration and residency for partners from other countries --Crime victims recovery benefits --Domestic violence protection orders --Judicial protections and immunity --Automatic inheritance in the absence of a will --Public safety officers death benefits --Spousal veterans benefits --Social Security --Medicare --Joint filing of tax returns --Wrongful death benefits for surviving partner and children --Bereavement or sick leave to care for partner or children --Child support --Joint Insurance Plans --Tax credits including: Child tax credit, Hope and lifetime learning credits --Deferred Compensation for pension and IRAs --Estate and gift tax benefits --Welfare and public assistance --Joint housing for elderly --Credit protection --Medical care for survivors and dependents of certain veterans... to name a few. How can you say you are a moral person and agree to this inequality.

It seems to me that this is mostly an issue with religious people. Christians, Mormons, Catholics... They want to own the word "marriage" and decide what it means. Well, I am NOT religious. At all. So, where does that leave me? I have more legal rights than my Civil Union friends but I don't subscribe to these religious communities so what is the word for me? I really want to know. This is why I wouldn't get "married" in a church or by anyone religious or let the word "god" be used in our commitment ceremony. I don't want any part of such a closed minded (and closed hearted) society.

This might be an idea:

I like the idea of putting the onus on straight-religious-Christians to specify their marital unions as sacramental marriages and let the rest of us use the word in its more common form. Example conversation between two religious republicans:

Woman 1: "Oh my, what a lovely diamond ring!"
Woman 2: "Thank you! I just got engaged!"
Woman 1: "Engaged?! You mean, to be sacramentally married?"
Woman 2: "Yes!"
Woman 1: "Well, I have been sacramentally married for years. You'll just love sacramentally married life!"

but this comment really rings with me:

If every straight couple (who is Christain or otherwise) is allowed to use it, then every gay couple should be allowed to use it. 

and if you can only use "the word" if you are of religious persuasion then come up with a word for the rest of us that want nothing to do with your prejudice and bigotry.

NOon8!!!!!!!!!!

please go here NOW & donate to beat this unjust cause!
http://www.noonprop8.com

parking lot

dinner date

From a few weeks ago.

We met up with Alex's (ex)cousin Hannah and her friends when they came up to Pasadena from San Diego. We hadn't seen her in a while. It was really great to see her. She's such a good egg. We need to go down & visit her!

in the shop

home cookin'

welcome

to the 21st century!!! Mel FINALLY got a new phone yesterday. Yes, she got an iPhone. Woooooo! I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am about this. I have been waiting, literally, years. Her phone was so old that it was black & white, you couldn't get or receive texts (!), it ran out of power in 10 minutes of talking from full charge... I could go on (but wont). One (even more) selfish reason for the excitement is that now she & mom (who are on a plan together) are now on the same carrier as I! This is tremendous. Besides Alex they are who I speak with most on my phone and I can't tell you the minutes (& dollars) I've spent talking to them. Now... It's mobile to mobile free! Just like talking to Alex & Bunny & every other friend I have that has an iPhone (only on AT&T). So, welcome to the new world of technology Mel!!!

50%

To celebrate being half way done with our movie the production took us bowling! It was pretty fun. I did ok (better than this summer) but who wins isn't the point... Right? :) Then I played my first game of Guitar Hero which is frightenly addictive! Eek! (mightave to be on the holiday list). Walked around City Walk with a couple friends for a while. Then went to the gym then home. Not a bad way to spend the afternoon/evening.

super? hero

This is so funny! (but batman movies are better than superman movies...)

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

huge

(from St Louis over the weekend)

I saw these pohtos and just think it's amazing. What a presence & a feat to draw this kind of crowd. I would love to see him speak in person some day.

cookie vote

We got lunch from Portos today and they had a cookie poll. Buy a
donkey for dems, an elephant for repubs. Take a wild stab which one
cam home?

momma

Happy Birthday Mom!!!!!

We hope you have a fabu day & year. A bushell and a peck and a hug
around the neck to you. :)
xoxoxoxoxo

multi tect/multi task politics

Last night I felt very much in the 21st century as I watched/listened to the Presidential debates. I was at work when they started so I streamed it on the web. Then I left the office and put my FM adapter on my Nano to listen on the radio, then in the car turned on NPR. Then I got to the gym. I put the nano adapter on the station the gym has for CNN* and listened to the debate while walking in and changing in the locker room. Then, on the treadmill I watched NBC (as CNN has that annoying lines on the screen). After it was over I went between listening to CNN & NBC whilst reading the closed captioning on the other channel. Then I listened to NPR's wrap-up on the way home. It was kinda cool to keep up with the whole thing through modern technology. =)

*at our gym they have 12 TVs in front of the treadmills & stair masters split between 3 different channels. They always have CNN and a sport channel and the third is, I guess, the "chick channel"; soaps in the afternoon, movies or network at night. The sound is sent out through the radio waves and you tune your radio to the channel that corresponds with the channel you want. All of little treadmillers with our various headphones spilling out of our ears.

mel's fire pix

These are taken from Melissa's front door, literally on her doorstep, in the morning of evacuation. Eek!
As Mel says: "When you can see flames down the street from your front door, it's definitely time to evacuate!"

GObama!

Wearing my obama t-shirt today. Go team!!!

sylmar fire

Here are some photos our neighbour took in the past few days of the fires up by my sister's house (where we used to live). Eek! But Mel's, Mom's & The Swanborg's houses are all ok. Some were not so lucky and the fire to the west is still burning and only 20% contained so we're still thinking the good thoughts for people.

This is the view from Mel's street a couple doors up from her at 5:30am.

On the road away from the houses during evacuation.

Further down the same road the next day. Couldn't get back to the houses yet but could see they were still standing.

Behind the last row of houses against the hillside. You can see that it litterally came right up to the back yards!

The wash around the neighbourhood the next day, still smoldering.

A map Eric made of the affected area that shows where their houses are in the blue section.

fires

Last night a fire started in the north mountains of LA. Unfortunately this happens every year. And the annual winds, known as the "Santa Anas", usually make it worse. And they have. At 5:30 Melis got a knock on her door in Sylmar to let her know her streets were being evacuated. She woke up Mom & they got some stuff togethter & go tout as the police were coming around to make sure everyone was leaving. Mom said you could see the fire in the trees up the hill above the monistary above their neighbourhood. Eek! Scary.

Our neighbour up there has since gone back as close as he could get and thinks the houses are, and should continue to be, fine. But you never know with the winds. The fire down a ways jumped the 118 highway which is an 8-lane carriageway! Big badness.

So, send good thoughts Sylmar's way. I know it's all "Stuff" but between Mel, Mom, Me & Alex we have a LOT of memories & "trinkets" and loves "stuff" there that we'd like to see again. As long as the people are OK that's what really matters.
{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{hugs!}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}

copy cats!

Okay not really. More like "great minds think alike..." but our TV-on-an-easel idea is spreading fast.

I do have to say that I think our set up (except the wires) is the best of the bunch  =)
(not sending this from regular site so will try & fix links later)

our home
house beautiful
bjurstrom
danny seo
scad
Vicente Wolf

play ball

One of Dashi's favorite games to play with Alex is fetch. He jumps &
runs after the ball and then brings it back in his mouth, even when
it's gone downstairs. He's so cute! Loads of fun :)

5!

Today is our 5 year anniversary. Yea! These are some gorgeous flowers
Alex brought home for me. Thanks sweets! Our wedding was such a fun
one, the best I've ever been to :) Every time we go to a wedding we
are reminded of how great ours was.

But not only a great wedding, a great marriage too. What a fun 5 years
we've had! Living in different countries, travelling, gathering books
& music, and great adventures...

Thanks, sweets. I can't wait for the next chapters in our life book
together. Loves! :)

"debate"

I saw this flow chart & had to laugh. Which is more than I can say for last night! It was the VP debate between Biden & Palin. Well, Biden showed up to debate & did so, admirably. Palin was just on another campaign speech stump. What a joke. Aside from the fact that sheirritates me-that horible flat grating voice and her attempt to be "everywoman"- she stands for the exact opposite of everything I do and so many women do. I think she's a disgrace to women in politics. And often, I'm embarrased that this is what's regarded as "appropriate" for our government.

What really frightens me is how many people actually buy her bullshit. And, always at election time I am reminded that this country is full of closed minded, dark ages, bible thumping, ill-travelled, fundamentalist, "usa is the only way", folks. (not that I have an opinion) And I just thank Ganesha (or whomever you choose or not) for the west and north-east coasts.

I think that as a country everyone should be required to travel for a year abroad. Like some other countries you must serve in the service, we should send US citizens (I bristle at the term "Americans" as that would include Canadians & Mexicans as we all live in America. North America) overseas. I think if this happened people would finally see that the US isn't the end all and be all of the world. This is, indeed, a great country & "the land of opportunity" but there are so many others out there with just as interesting (if not more) cultures and great people. They -go figure- don't necessarilly want to be just like us. But this is something you don't get from a living room in "middle america". Let's up the passpost holders (and users) to over 75% instead of just 34%. And travelling to places outside of North America. =)

(I know I'm probably just as "closed minded" in "my direction" as I'm judging others to be in the opposite direction but, hey, it's my blog!!)  =)

Anyway. I'm holding my breath for the next few weeks & hope the "pubs" don' tget away with as much voter fraud & election rigging as they have the last elections.

GObama!!!