i love photoshop

Okay, this is just flat out brilliant. It's almost as good as Phil Spector's hair. I love the people who have the time and energy to do this stuff and share it to make the rest of our lives so full.

Just 4 days left; I'm falling behind in e-mail again. Time to go home.

kudos

Finally, folks, some happy news—congrats to artist (and scholar) Roshini Kempadoo for completing her PhD. Go, Ro!!!

in honor of today's democracy now...

...could this image from last night's De Beer's store opening in New York look any more pseudo-colonialist (well, yes, I guess if the woman at right were African)?

And can I just comment, in the midst of Lindsey Lohan mania (she attended the De Beers thing), that Herbie: Fully Loaded is directed by Angela Robinson, a black lesbian (and the director of D.E.B.S.)? I mean, if there's any story attached to that movie, hers is probably it.

One more week in Taos, then back to reality.

white people can sure mess up your day

So there I am walking to the post office with a letter for my love, it's a beautiful warm day, 2½ weeks left in Taos, I'd gotten some work done this morning, I'd just had a good latté, and I'm walking along and there are two teenagers in front of me, a boy and girl, about 16-18, and I'm a few paces behind them, enjoying the day. The boy turns around and looks at me (there's no one behind me), then a few yards later does it again, then again, then he finally grabs his girl's arm and bolts across the street so, what, I don't mug them? They just don't have to be near me? (And no, they weren't going anywhere immediately across the street because they walked beyond where I turned off at the post office.) How threatening was I? Why was I? I'm more than twice their age, wearing a linen skirt, t-shirt, jewelry, sandals—you know, thinking I was looking nice—what was he thinking? I really couldn't believe it, but of course in those situations you feel stunned, pissed, and powerless, so I did the only thing I could do (well, I suppose I could have run after them or shouted something)—I whipped out my Polaroid I-Zone and took their picture, catching them right under, appropriately, the American flag.




I'm still having a nice day, but he did take some of the shine off of it.

michael jackson walks

Now, I haven't kept up with all the details of this one, but, man, don't all those kids lose.

just so i seem like a balanced person...

...and not everything in my life is protests against despicable persons, places, and things, I just scored a 10 out of 10 on E! Online's Lindsay Lohan THS quiz (http://www.eonline.com/On/Holly/Shows/Lohan/index2.html). They advised me to "maybe put down the Teen People and Tiger Beat and go get some fresh air." Word.

and it won't stop...

Is this the season or something? I just received this from a friend in Denver:

Please read below about the new restaurant "donkey den" and their policies and their menu item names, etc. There will be an "action" tomorrow nite (Sat, June 11) at 10pm to make known to the owner of this establishment, that violence against women and girls is UNACCEPTABLE, and that we will not support his business. if you agree, then join me in solidarity.

The Donkey Den is a bar and restaurant located in downtown Denver that bills itself as "Tijuana, Colorado." A Tijuana "donkey den" refers to a brothel where men pay to see women have sex with animals. Such places also participate in the sexual slavery of girls. Naming a restaurant "The Donkey Den" is a blatant mockery of sex crimes against women and girls. The Donkey Den's menu includes "Ho-Made Fries" and "Donkey Punch" burgers. The Encyclopedia of Sex defines a Donkey Punch as follows: Donkey Punch (verb) : During doggystyle sexual activity, a man punches his female partner as hard as he can in the back of the skull right before he reaches climax. This causes her to convulse and tighten every cavity. A "Donkey Punch" is not a sex act, it is violence.

We ask that you join us in boycotting the Donkey Den to show the owner that our community does not support this type of marketing. Our next action is scheduled for Saturday June 11 at 10pm. We'll be meeting at 1109 Lincoln Street in Denver to protest and hand out flyers with information on sexual assualt and the boycott. I hope to see you there.

Also check out www.boycottdonkeyden.com. If you don't live in Denver there is a petition on the website.

for those who like to protest (zoo update)

From the CAAR listserv:

Please note that—at last word—the Augsburg zoo exhibit was scheduled to begin today and run through this weekend. Letters of protest can still be sent to the following addresses:

Frau Dr. Barbara Jantschke (Director Zoo Augsburg) at barbara.jantschke@zoo-augsburg.de.

BCC to augsburgprotest@ecoterra.net and send copies to:

Bayerisches Staatsministerium des Innern
Odeonsplatz 380539
Muenchen
Postanschrift:
Postfach
80524 Muenchen
Telefon (zentral): (089) 2192-01
Telefax (zentral): (089) 2192-12225
E-Mail: poststelle@stmi.bayern.de

oh, i wish i was in o.c., today, today...

...because today some fucked up child of a Republican called my beautiful, fabulous, beloved, amazing, sensitive, gorgeous 12-year old half-black, half Iranian nephew a "nigger." Then another of their hideous children ran at him and tackled him. My 74-year old mother and I agreed that they're lucky neither one of us is his parent because we'd have gone up to that school and found those two children and beat the hate out of them. Really. I know it's everywhere but I wish my sister and brother-in-law would get both my nephews and themselves the hell out of there. Makes me extra glad that the mix CD I just sent him had some early James Brown and Gil-Scott Heron on it.

So my mom now lives behind the Orange Curtain too, in a seniors' apartment building. One of her neighbors, S., is a wheelchair-bound black woman. A wheelchair-bound white neighbor was visiting S. in her apartment, spewing hate about S.'s looks, her boyfriend, etc., when someone knocked on the door but when she went there was no one there. "Oh, where I come from we call that nigger-knocking," the white neighbor told her. Um, say what? Again, my mom and I agreed it was a good thing that wasn't us, because she'd still be crawling back to her wheelchair.

But this is our America. Sanctioned straight from the top. It's really a shame how all of us see race in everything (I did some searching around on the web for references when Moolattes first came out, and that was the prevalent attitude about the controversy). Those kids probably were just imitating black hip-hop and paying my nephew a compliment, right? And that neighbor, she was just being open about her own life experience. I'm sure they didn't mean anything by it.

Mexicans are the new blacks!

Need I mention that this is the woman who claimed "Mexicans" had kidnapped her—that's right, vilifiy a racial group when you want to drum up false sympathy in America. Susan Smith, anyone?

Turns out it can also make you a well-paid celebrity (as long as no white people, especially children, are harmed by you in the process. In that instance, all lucrative deals are off.)!

Runaway deal?: Fresh from copping a plea to faking her own abduction, "Runaway Bride" Jennifer Wilbanks seems ready to cash in. I hear that Queen of All Media Judith Regan is close to inking a mid-six-figure deal with the 32-year-old Wilbanks and her on-again, off-again future husband, John Mason, that includes movie-of-the-week rights (possibly for NBC) and a network television interview - maybe with Katie Couric.

Hmmm...what's her title going to be? I Was a Whacked Out, Race-Bating Imbecile Afraid of My Big Wedding?!

old news but messed up news

I was driving back to Taos through Española today and what do I pass? A Dairy Queen whose sign was advertising its Moolatté drink. What is this, its second season?


Not that I ever ate there, but you know what, Dairy Queen? Fuck you. Between you and the German zoo, I'm not even going to try to be eloquent anymore.