Morning Music

First, a bit of news.  I had a dream last night about a unique passion:  Halloween music.

Following that inspiration, in the mold of last year’s “Greatest Christmas Music Countdown,” we will have a “Greatest Halloween Music Countdown.”  There will likely be 13 songs of this list, because I have no energy to come up with another spooky number that relates to Halloween.  However, all of this is condition to change.

For Today,

It’s A Beautiful Morning – The Rascals

It’s your chance to wake up and plan another brand new day

Obama to Denmark

Countdown to the Announcement: 3 days, 23 hours, 4 minutes. And all the Chicago supporters get a little more excited…

Obama would be the first U.S. president to take on such a direct role in lobbying for an Olympics event. [...]

Obama is also mobilizing his administration on behalf of Chicago’s bid. Senior adviser Jarrett, Education Secretary Arne Duncan and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, will also be joining the president and first lady in Copenhagen. All are from Illinois.

They join a Chicago contingent already packed with more star power than a Hollywood red carpet.

The first lady is one of the few people who rivals her husband in visibility, and she’ll be joined by talk show host Oprah Winfrey, who trails only Angelina Jolie on Forbes’ annual Celebrity 100 list, a ranking of the rich and famous’ most powerful.

Also, in case you haven’t gotten a chance to see the Chicago plans in detail, here’s the best 5 minute video explaining where everything would be with cool renderings…

Morning Music

The Kenny/Dave collaboration.

I’m Alive – Kenny Chesney & Dave Matthews

Breathing in and out’s a blessing, can’t you see?

“Should I Have One and Then Report Back?”

Long, but fascinating NYT article about Coming Out in Middle School.  I am assuming it is articles like these that scare up the anti-gay marriage base the most.  ”Think About the Children” is the most effective anti-gay marriage argument poll-wise.

Choice quotes:

But I knew I was different in second grade — I just didn’t really put a name to it until I was 11. My parents said, ‘How do you know what your sexuality is if you haven’t had any sexual experiences?’ I was like, ‘Should I go and have one and then report back?’ ”

“I definitely lost some friends,” he said, “but no one really made fun of me or called me names, probably because I was one of the most popular kids when I came out. I don’t think I would have come out if I wasn’t popular.”

“When I first realized I was gay,” Austin interjected, “I just assumed I would hide it and be miserable for the rest of my life. But then I said, ‘O.K., wait, I don’t want to hide this and be miserable my whole life.’ ”

Both G.S.A.’s and the Day of Silence have been controversial in places, as some parents and faculty members object to what they see as the promotion of homosexuality in public schools and the “premature sexualization of the students,” as a lawyer for a school in central Florida that was fighting the creation of a G.S.A. put it.

A tall, heavyset 15-year-old now in his first year of high school, Austin said his eighth-grade classmates regularly called him the “gay freak.” They groped themselves in front of him. Not a day went by when someone didn’t call him a “fag,” sometimes with teachers present. And at a football game last fall, several classmates forced him off the bleachers because it wasn’t “the queer section.”

What had changed? Not only were there increasingly accurate and positive portrayals of gays and lesbians in popular culture, but most teenagers were by then regular Internet users. Going online broke through the isolation that had been a hallmark of being young and gay, and it allowed gay teenagers to find information to refute what their families or churches sometimes still told them — namely, that they would never find happiness and love.

Chicago 2016…The Countdown…

The Chicago 2016 decision will final reach its apex in a mere 7 days and 15 hours.  Or so the Countdown To The Decision tells me.

On that note, here is humourous, well-written email I recieved second-hand…good stuff…

From: A Creative Mind <Redacted@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, Sep 22, 2009 at 8:15 AM
Subject:
To: A Less Creative Mind <Redacted@gmail.com>

Dear International Olympic Committee

When you meet in Copenhagen on October 2nd to determine to location of the 2016 Summer Olympics and Paralympics, I’ll ask that you keep the following in mind re: Chicago’s bid.

First and foremost, we. kick. ass. We are ballers. We are juggernauts of sport, commerce and leisure. We suck the marrow out of life and piss excellence. Our hospitality and generosity will leave you in awe.

We have over 200 annual parades and our 77 distinct and thoroughly amazing neighborhoods include 27 miles of breathtaking beaches. We have the world’s largest outdoor food festival with cuisine from every imaginable culture on the face of Planet Earth. We have the world’s longest avenue and Chicago is the second largest Polish city in the world after Warsaw. Our city library is the largest in the world. We invented roller skates, the skyscraper, Playboy, Twinkies, Crackerjacks, the sustained nuclear chain reaction, and McDonalds. We have hosted two World’s Fairs and reversed an entire river. We are American as apple pie. Hell, we probably invented that too.

We are proud that the first Chicagoan was half French, half Haitian – Jean Bapstiste Point DuSable – lending credit to our incredible history as being part of France, Great Britain, and yes, Connecticut. Enjoy our jazz and blues. Let Lollapalooza BLOW YOUR MIND. Watch an entire river be dyed green, and then praise Gospel Fest until your soul aches. Go ahead and soothe that soul with God’s gift to humanity – deep dish pizza.

We are proud of the fact that in no other city, and in no other country, could the story of the current leader of our Great Republic be told. Or Oprah’s. Or Jordan’s. Ditka, Sweetness and the Fridge are GODS and constitute, in our minds, the fourth great Western religion. Come to Soldier Field and fall down on your knees in worship. Let your tears of joy and wonder trickle down Lake Shore Drive and soak into our farms and fields that feed half of humanity.

We have the 4th largest GDP of all world cities (http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=454910) and are consistently ranked as an Alpha world city (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_city). The breadth and sure awesomeness of our ethnic and religious diversity is matched only by our fucking phenomenal architecture, world renowned museums and vaunted halls of higher education. Illinois doesn’t have mountains. So we built some. We are the crossroads of an entire continent. New Englanders, New Yorkers, Germans, Poles, Finns, Swedes and the Irish laid the groundwork for what would become one of the most diverse cities in the history of mankind.

Daniel Burnham summed up the spirit of Chicago best: “Make no little plans. They have no magic to stir men’s blood and probably themselves will not be realized.” In short, go big or go home. We are, as Carl Sandberg said:

Hog butcher for the world,
Tool maker, stacker of wheat,
Player with railroads and the Nation’s freight handler,
STORMY, HUSKY, BRAWLING,
City of big shoulders.

Give us a shot, IOC, and you won’t be disappointed. Illinois is Algonquin for “tribe of superior men,” and we tend not to disappoint. We’ll even overlook the fact you awarded us the Olympics in 1904, only to change your minds and give it to St. Louis.

To all my FIBs and Flatlanders, embrace your unabashed, unparalleled BIRTHRIGHT to be the most bombastic, bellicose, unwavering supporters of your city. Copy, paste and tag this. Spread the word like a PRAIRIE FIRE that would make Mrs. O’Leary’s cow jealous.

Ditka,

James C. O’Connell

FYI: Upcoming Marriage Battle in Maine

There is another marriage battle brewing that has yet to be mentioned on this page.

Location: Maine (the state in the northeast corner of the country; most famously known for its rolling trees and as the setting for 98% of horror films).

The gist: Maine became the 5th state to legalize gay marriage when the Governor signed a bill passed by the legislature in mid-May of this year.  Hooray.  But some not so happy folks were able to get a referendum on the Maine ballot for this election cycle which would  eliminate that right for gay couples.  Hmmm.

What’s next: Maine voters will decide on Nov. 3rd whether or not their gay citizens should no longer be allowed to marry.  The same old faces (on both sides of the debate) have been roiling up controversy for the past several months.  By same old faces, I mean the courageous folks who gave us the Prop 8 passage in California.  And round we go again…

What’s interesting: The opponents of gay marriage were so happy with their victory in California, that they decided to copy the exact same ad and run it in Maine.  And so without further ado, from the folks known as “YesonOne,” I give you the award-winning ad from California, now playing on a television near you in Maine:

Louis CK

Dated in internet time.  But timeless in its message.

For Kaylee.  With love.  I expect a comment.

Morning Music

Usually, if a song is on the Billboard Top 10, played constantly at fratty dance clubs, and something with a beat that seems specifically made to cause migranes, than I will hate it.

This is a rare exception.  Something about it is so contagious.  Also, enjoy the homemade music video.

I Got a Feeling – Black Eyed Peas

A Tooth for an Eye

This photo and caption shocked me.  A bit graphic, I apologize.  But how remarkable.

Sharron Kay Thornton during a press conference to discuss the procedure used during surgery for her to regain sight in her left eye at the University of Miami Bascom Palmer Eye Institute on September 16, 2009 in Miami, Florida. Thornton who was blind for nine years underwent a first of its kind procedure in the United States known as — modified osteo-odonto-keratoprosthesis (MOOKP). The procedure implants one of her teeth in her eye, as a base to hold a prosthetic lens. By Joe Raedle/Getty Images.

Morning Music

To shake away the blues from last night’s game, sometimes it is best to drown in a brilliant mellow tune.  Not depressing, just mellow.  Like this.  Beautiful

Willie Nelson & Kurt Nilsen – Lost Highway