Slovaks

This video just makes me happy. It serves no other purpose. It was filmed at the SBB Christmas party, a few days before I left London.

some stories

#1 - I was on the square Tuesday night waiting for a bus in that gross stop at the top of State. There was some dude waiting as well. By all appearances he was slightly homeless but he didn't look crazy. Turns out tho that he may have been. Whenever I moved at all, crazy man would jerk suddenly and stand at attention. He never really looked at me but whenever I moved he would jump to attention. Then he started talking. The following came as one thought, "Father? Yes son? Daddy, what is sodomy? Sodomy is a form of rape son. Rape dad? Yes."

So, I found another bus stop.

#2 - On the bus Wednesday night, we were cruising along until - we pulled over, the bus driver stood up, turned around to address the passengers and asked, "Do any of you know where this bus turns?" I don't really require a lot of my bus drivers. I do prefer them to know where we're going tho.

#3 - After a wonderful night at the Shamrock with Becki I walked her home and she made me a grilled cheese. Then I called saferide for a cab. Saferide is a system set up by the University to supply free cab rides. As I work for the University I still get to use it. Anyway, saferide gets me pretty far but then they start charging after Midvale. So the cab picked me up and the driver said, "Ya know Porter's after..." Which made no sense to me so I said, "What?" and he had to repeat himself 4 times before I got him to say, "You're charged after Midvale...quarters!!" "Oh, yeah I know" I had thought he was making some sort of sports small talk...oops. So we drove off and picked up Hazel on the way. All was well the whole way UNTIL we got to my apartment’s parking lot. Cabbie (as he shall be forthwith known) announced the price of $4.50 and I handed him my debit card as I was told I could do when I made the cab request. Here is where the event went downhill. Cabbie totally freaked out, resulting in this exchange:

Cabbie: Don’t you have any cash?!?!
Me: No. I was told I could use my card when I called.
Cabbie: Well I’ll just take you back then!!
Me & Hazel: Wha?
Me: No! I asked before I got in this car if I could pay with plastic and was told it was fine.
Cabbie: Well, if I run your card the meter is going to reset and I won’t be able to charge her right.
Hazel: Listen, I’ll just pay for him.
Me & Cabbie: No.
Cabbie: (to me) You’ve been nothing but trouble since you got in this cab!!
Me: So you’re going to take me back downtown?
Cabbie: No but you’re not getting out until I drop her off so I can charge her.
Me: Fine! Drive! Can I have my card back please?

Cabbie kept my card and drove to Hazel’s place where she got out. Needless to say, I was seething but, I figured my eventual complaint would have more merit if I didn’t get violent or start swearing at him so, contrary to my standard procedure I kept my cool. We dropped Hazel off and while in her driveway Cabbie ran my card and handed me the slip.

Me: I’m not going to sign this until you take me home.

He turned around completely and just stared at me. I stared back and repeated, “I’m not signing yet. Take me home.” He got heated to the point that I thought I was going to get punched but then he drove.

Cabbie: Fuckin’ kids!! Oh, no, don’t trust the cab driver. Always expect the cab driver to fuck you over. You fuckin’ kids think this is great? You think I like driving snotty-nosed people all over this fuckin’ city?! You think you’re all so fuckin’ smart with all your fuckin’ classes. You’re too fuckin’ drunk is what you are.
Me: I’m completely sober.
Cabbie: Well you’re too fuckin’ tired! Fuckin’ kids are younger than my kids. You think I like this fuckin’ shit-paying job? You think this is so great? Oh, porters? Porters? Clean your fuckin’ ears.
Me: You need to communicate better if you want to get anything across. I had no clue what you were talking about.
Cabbie: Must be my fuckin’ accent huh? (He had none) That must be the problem, huh? You students would never consider that you’re the problem. What do you think you’re gonna do with your life? What are you studying?
Me: I have a degree and a certificate and two jobs.
Cabbie: … Get the fuck out of my fuckin’ cab.
Me: You want me to –
Cabbie: Get out, I don’t want your fuckin’ money!

I’ve been told that technically, if a cab driver doesn’t take you where you want to go, it’s called kidnapping. From here on in this story will be called, “that time I got kidnapped by a cab driver”. Needless to say I was kinda scared. It’s very intense to be in a moving car with a driver who seems nuts and seems like he wants to hurt you. I’m glad I kept my cool. When I got home I called Union cab and explained. They seemed genuinely concerned and promised that he would be called in and severely reprimanded. I hope the jackass was fired. It was intense!

It's very exciting...

On March 28, 1834, the United States Senate voted to censure President Andrew Jackson, saying, "Resolved that the President in the late Executive proceedings in relation to the public revenue, has assumed upon himself authority and power not conferred by the Constitution and laws, but in derogation of both." [emphasis mine]. Jackson had refused to provide documents pertaining to his plan to remove the government funds from an account at the privately run Bank of the United States.

Censure is provided for in the constitution as a way of scolding Senators and Representatives in the House. There is nothing in the constitution allowing for censure of a President but that didn't stop Congress from officially scolding Andrew Jackson in 1834 (although the censure was expunged from the record three years later). The precedent has been set.

Today, Senator Feingold announced that he will introduce a resolution to censure President Bush for misleading the American public about the legality of the NSA's secret wire-tapping program. It would also scold the president for directly breaking the law by authorizing the program; using powers not directly given him by the constitution and in violation of the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).

For those of you that don't know, the NSA program authorized by Bush allows the NSA to eavesdrop on the international phone conversations and emails of American citizens without a warrant if those people are suspected of having ties to a terrorist organization. Nobody ever really says what constitutes the suspicion. According to the administration, FISA is too clunky. FISA allows these wiretaps and interceptions after a warrant has been issued from a special Intelligence court. The program that he authorized smacks of 'Big Brother' and, as it was totally secret didn't even have a real mechanism providing oversight. In short, it's scary shit that has grave potential to invade our privacy.

Naturally the Republicans had a response to Feingold. Senator Frist is quoted as saying, "The signal that it sends, that there is in any way a lack of support for our commander in chief who is leading us with a bold vision in a way that is making our homeland safer, is wrong,". Apparently, nobody showed Frist Bush's current ratings: only 34% of Americans approve of the job Bush is doing as President and 50% of Americans think he's doing a lousy job "handling the campaign against terrorism" (according to a CBS poll). It seems to me that there is a very clear lack of support, thereby negating Frist's complaint about the censure. For some time now there have been reports of the dissatisfaction Republican members of Congress feel for Bush.

The really interesting question is the political fallout this could have for Feingold. I for one have never been more proud to be from Wisconsin but whether that sentiment rings for many is unclear. Feingold has largely been rumored to be considering a 2008 run for President. I think he'd be great but really, will the country elect a twice-divorced, currently single, Jewish, northern, liberal-Democrat? Is Feingold perhaps giving up on the Presidency with this censure resolution or is he showing his strength? Or, as I like to think, is he merely a good man doing what he should do despite the possible political fallout? Regardless of his goodness, we'll see how brave his colleagues are when it comes time to vote on the censure. Being an election year, many of the Democrats may not wish to sign their name to something so potentially huge. Many of the Republicans may wish however to sign on as a way of showing their distance from Bush. Oooh, I'm excited and I'm rooting for Feingold. You may wish to contact him and offer your support: (202) 224-5323 Or, contact your senator and express your wish for him or her to support the resolution by going here: http://contactcongress.blogspot.com/. They're your representatives, tell them your views.

Ruff/Rough...

Following Laura's request for a definition of "ruff" or "rough" as it is used by our group, I did some searching for "ruff" or "rough". Here's what I found. Hopefully the parts or the whole of this post will provide an understanding to any and all that were wondering.



















As you can see, "ruff" or "rough" works in many situations. It can be used metaphorically (Laura's ruff) or literally (This stone is rough). It can be positive (Nice earring Rach, you're ruff) or negative (Pride and Prejudice was ruuuuff). It can be serious (She's pregnant? That's ruff) or not serious (Molly in sequins is ruff). It's a very versatile word and I hope this has helped.

Good friends and drag queens...

Last night, being in a rather melancholy mood, I called Becki to hang out. Neither of us really knew what to do...so we went to Club 5. Club 5 for those of you that don't know is Madison's only real gay dance club. It's one of my least favorite places. We, however, the intrepid fun-finders that we are had a lot of fun. We stumbled, completely surprised onto a drag/strip show. I know it sounds as if drag queens were stripping and that would be a pretty intense/cool show anywhere other than Madison but no, there were drag queens and then there were strippers. Both groups were kinda funny in a semi-pathetic way. People-watching is one of the highest forms of entertainment in my world and last night was like the super bowl.

Drag queens in Madison are really nothing more than female impersonators and rather poor ones at that. Real drag queens should be, in my opinion, for lack of a better word, fabulous. Ours are pretty shabby at best. Below, on the left, you'll see a good example, on the right, a piss-poor Madison type.

The strippers also left a little to be desired. They suffered a different problem though. Rather than being really sexy, they were kinda cute and endearing which also made us laugh. The first guy, whom we've dubbed 'cowboy guy' was kinda cute but had no rhythm at all and the skinniest little chicken legs sticking out of his huge boots.

The people on stage though, weren't the only ones worthy of scrutiny. A few tables in front of us was a table of goth-gays and a girl. These guys were completely bombed out of their minds. At one point, while I was standing at the urinal, which is thankfully in an alcove of its own, one of the goth guys came in and announced his presence with projectile vomit. It's never a good idea to have your puke precede you. After this impressive display, escaping the rancid bathroom with the other innocents was a challenge. Trying to dodge the puke on the floor I grabbed the wall and my hand slipped on the upchuck there so I had to go back in, doing the crazy hop-over-the-puke dance to wash my hands again. Needless to say I got out and back to the table, ready for more people watching

Puking completed, goth/raver boi was back in action on the dancefloor. He and his matching friend were grinding with some girl. The moves went something like this:

Please note: everything seems to be in order:
#1 - we're dancing
#2 - we're dancing
#3 - uh oh, we're bending back
#4 - how low can she go?

Everything is still ok until we get to step 5 however:

#5 - ooooops, I dropped her! on the dancefloor...
#6 - no worries though, I'll just come down to the floor and we can continue dancing there.

So, we laughed about that and then we laughed about "springy gay" who was trying desperately to get onto the box to dance. He was just a little too energetic though and kept overstepping the box, falling to the floor with perfect comic timing. Getting back onto the box also proved difficult and springy gay accidentally somersaulted over it. We laughed. Then one of the strippers came over trying to shake money out of the people. Becki and I however are quite above putting money in thongs (at least last night we were) and we were having none of it. Sensing this, stripper man let his guard down and complimented (?) me on my look, saying, "Has anyone ever told you you look just like Quentin Tarantino?" There's something strange about a man making small talk while standing in tiny leather underwear. So we laughed and then left.

We left but the night was not over. After Club 5 as most people know is "Perkin's Time". Becki and I headed to the famed University Ave. Perkin's for some late-nite vittals. The usual suspects were in full effect. I made my way to the bathroom and discovered the-man-who-loved-paper-towels. Perkin's has a motion-sensored paper towel dispenser. I walked into the restroom and found a strange man slowly moving his hand up and down in front of the paper towels, seemingly unaware of the towels already hanging out the front. I gave a concerned look and went about my business. When I got to the table Becki told me all about "toothless-man" and his disturbing stares. We were served by a young man who we only know by the name on his name tag-Steve the Pirate. Naturally we had to work pirate talk into everything, ie: "Steve, arrrrrrrrr there any lemons?" There were. Seated directly behind Becki was a table of tragically gay men. One man in particular talked without seeming to pause for breath about his cousin who still lived in Jamaica and the unfortunate incident of when she went slightly crazy and decapitated her new husband on their honeymoon. The story kept spewing until suddenly, in a puzzled voice, he asked, "Hey, what happened to my m & ms?"

What happened indeed?!?