Summer in New York City: Rust

Photograph by Elyaqim Mosheh Adam. Roosevelt Avenue and 83rd Street, Jackson Heights, 14 June 2010.

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New York Bear Den Promotional Drive

Photograph by Chaz Antonelli. Hamming it up in a shot that simultaneously promotes Bear Den’s lounge atmosphere and Internet stations. New York Bear Den at the Diversity Center of Queens, Alliance Building, 76-11 37th Avenue, Jackson Heights, 12 June 2011. ────────

Chaz put up a Web page promoting New York Bear Den utilizing many of the suggestions I gave him at our last gathering on 12 June. I had been musing about why Bear Café had been so outstandingly popular while Bear Den, built on a very similar model, is less well‐attended and can’t seem to even take in a month’s rent to the Diversity Center of Queens at a single gathering. However, existing aspects of Bear Den we might take for granted could draw new participants: I thought promoting Bear Den in part as a lounge with eclectic music might draw the type of men who frequent venues like Nowhere. Also, relegating the board games to one specific table would open up other tables to general conversation and make us appear less like a gaming group like Board Stiff was. Chaz came up with the timely ideas to promote the air conditioning, Internet access and the remodeled (or soon‐to‐be remodeled) washrooms. We need to apply these ideas to other modes of promotion, and hopefully our attendance will grow.

A steering committee meeting is tentatively scheduled for the thirteenth to discuss the initiatives the Den will put in place.

Related

• Chaz Antonelli, “What’s new at the Bear Den?,” n.d. [June 2011].
• Chaz Antonelli, “2011-06-12 Bear Den,” photo album, Picasa Web Albums, shot 12 June 2011.

• Last modified 31 March 2012.
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March 2011 micro‐content, part II

💬 Wow. Any fan of Wonder Woman should see The Big Beautiful Wonder Woman Blog. http://fatwonderwoman.blogspot.com/ —13 March (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, FF, FF, MS, FF)

👀 Go for a stroll in my neighborhood and you just may encounter the Jackson Heights robot walking down the street. http://goo.gl/m8XJY —14 March (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, FF, FF, P, FF)

…bids farewell to beloved singer Nilla Pizzi who died Saturday. http://youtu.be/05SXs73_MpY —14 March (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, FF, FF)

[Video favorite.] jackson height —15 March (Bz, FF, Fb, MS) ▴ This video is absolute insanity! The camera operator raced down the aisles at Apna Bazar here in Jackson Heights, spinning the camera as he went. Who could even focus on any product?! ▴ Kudos. I cannot even tell if you’re right or wrong beyond the Tilda and the vegetables. Your whole comment reads like the ingredient list of some atrocious recipe.

✾ Both Purim and Novruz will be next weekend as can only occur in a Jewish leap year, though Theodor Gaster wrote Purim was based on Novruz. —16 March (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, MS) ▴ From Encyclopædia Britannica: “The principal monument of Jewish story in the Persian period is the biblical Book of Esther, which is basically a Judaized version of a Persian novella about the shrewdness of harem queens. The story was adapted to account for Purim, a popular festival, which itself is probably a transformation of the Persian New Year. Leading elements of the tale—such as the parade of Mordecai, dressed in royal robes, through the streets, the fight between the Jews and their adversaries, and the hanging of Haman and his sons—seem to reflect customs associated with Purim, such as the ceremonial ride of a common citizen through the capital, the mock combat between two teams representing the Old Year and the New Year, and the execution of the Old Year in effigy.” ▴ But see also: http://www.myjewishlearning.com/holidays/Jewish_Holidays/Purim/History/Origins.shtml

🗾 “Japan is one of the best friends the [US] ever could have to provide support…in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.” http://goo.gl/f7b1W —16 March (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, FF, FF, MS)

🌻 Od Çərşənbəsi چهارشنبه ‌سوری was yesterday, and now it’s full speed ahead to Purim פורים, Novruz نوروز and Holi ہولی. Happy spring!! —17 March (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, MS)

…bids farewell to songwriter Hugh Martin with a great vocal performance of “The Trolley Song” by Alex Heinen. http://youtu.be/Q8cECc1Vf3I ♫ —17 March (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, FF, FF, MS)

…bids farewell to songwriter Hugh Martin with this great rendition of “The Trolley Song” by Carol Burnett. http://youtu.be/hHrFZp0OXv0 ♫ —17 March (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, FF, FF, MS) ‎Of course; that was really my intent. I have a great version on vinyl by Leslie Uggams.

…mourns the loss of Shifra Lerer, legendary Jewish‐Argentine actress and singer in Yiddish theater and cinema. http://youtu.be/2wwdhylniAQ —17 March (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, FF, FF, MS)

…mourns the loss of Nicholas Kelo Jr. who shot and killed himself in Rittman, Ohio, after relentless anti‐gay bullying. http://goo.gl/NFroe —17 March (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, FF, FF, MS, FF) Thanks to Brian for the alert.

…cannot fathom the sorrow of Irish Jews when Taʻanit Ester תענית אסתר‎, a fasting day, falls on St. Patrick’s Day, as is the case today. ☘ —17 March (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, MS, FF)

⚔ Homophobes are out for blood. This assault was barely covered by the news until the victim’s friends alerted bloggers. http://goo.gl/AtQIu —17 March (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, FF, FF, MS, FF)

[Video favorite.] Feed the Rich, Starve the Worker: That's Bullshit... from Madison —18 March (Bz, FF, Fb, MS, FF) Thanks to שמואל for sharing.

📜 For those unfamiliar with the Purim legend, here’s a little synopsis: http://youtu.be/mYGqOMe-DqQ —18 March (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, FF, FF, MS, FF)

📷 See my pictures of my visit to Florida, including the Columns at Bear Creek, New Port Richey, and dinner at Red Lobster, Spring Hill. http://on.fb.me/hAqNdP —18 March

📷 See more of my pictures of my visit to Florida, including Macy’s in Gulf View Square, dinner at Super Royal Buffet, then Bed Bath and Beyond and Books‐a‐Million, Port Richey; then “The Art of Flight” exhibit, Tampa International Airport. http://on.fb.me/hqI0lU —19 March

💮 With whom better to celebrate Novruz (and Purim) than Leila Forouhar? The equinox approaches. http://youtu.be/2XtU5wbH368 —19 March (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, FF, FF, MS, FF)

◬ If you didn’t like the previous cartoon synopsis of Purim I posted, try this one out for size. http://youtu.be/3wvrbAa2Onk —19 March (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, FF, FF, MS, FF) ‎▴ Rehob Sumsum is the Israeli version of Sesame Street in Hebrew, but Shalom Sesame is a sort of blended version of the two aimed at English speakers and featuring Anglophone celebrities. ▴ ‎This cartoon probably originally appeared on RS and was then adapted for Shalom Sesame with an English script.

💲 I just donated to the production of a movie about how the murder of Julio Rivera forever altered Jackson Heights. Might you consider donating too? (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/659926942/julio-of-jackson-heights-documentary-film) —19 March (Fb, FF, FF)

✾ Drink some bhang thandai while you watch this number from the 1981 movie Silsila. This weekend is Holi. http://youtu.be/rm17BPGvZSc —19 March (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, FF, FF, MS, FF)

📷 See my pictures of the Queens Pride House “Valentine’s Gay Fun‐raiser Party” at the Diversity Center of Queens, Jackson Heights. http://on.fb.me/hqI0lU —20 March

♪ Probably my favorite Purim song of all time, but I prefer Ruth Rubin’s version which I could not find online. http://youtu.be/WMvLi2lF4a8 —20 March (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, FF, FF, MS, FF)

…is not sure what this has to do with Novruz as he doesn’t know Uyghur or see holiday imagery, but it’s pretty. http://youtu.be/py8RplC9RQ4 —20 March (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, FF, FF, MS, FF) With it?

…hopes you enjoyed the supermoon and equinox and feel a part of our Solar System. Here’s a great Novruz summary: http://youtu.be/bYRTEjhnopI —21 March (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, FF, FF, MS, FF) ▴ And if you like, see some of the Novruz videos I posted last year:
• http://elyaqim.jaiku.com/presence/1874d1c69cde45dcafbdbb18a6b05510
• http://www.friendfeed.com/elyaqim/99c2cd6a/
• http://youtu.be/pu6lkz2DqUw‎ ▴ • http://elyaqim.jaiku.com/presence/7fdb47776ac941149facc34e262b3f47

• Last modified 18 March 2010.
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Overweight, Bearded Gay Men, Who Call Themselves Bears

Photograph by Valerie (ucumari), under a Creative Commons license.

Three of my favorite local Queens organizations were mentioned in a New York Times article last week. Unfortunately, it was about how Congressman Anthony Weiner had to cancel appearances at events organized by two of them—the Queens Lesbian & Gay Pride Committee and Queens Pride House—and it referred, unnamed and described rather unflatteringly, to New York Bear Den. Reporter Dan Bilefsky wrote

On Monday evening, Mr. Weiner…canceled an appearance at a forum at Queens Pride House in Jackson Heights on the implications of health care reform for the gay community.

On Sunday, the congressman…did not appear at a gay pride march in Queens.

Pauline Park, President of Pride House, said Mr. Weiner, a proponent of gay rights, would have found a sympathetic crowd at the community center, which has hosted events ranging from Nepalese dance troupes to support groups for H.I.V-positive mothers and fathers and mixers for overweight, bearded gay men, who call themselves bears.

Related

• Dan Bilefsky, “Weiner Cancels Another Public Appearance, at Gay Forum,” section of “Weiner Says He Sent Photos and Lied, but Won’t Resign,” City Room, The New York Times, 6 June 2011.
• Christopher Dufault, “Someone Needs a Bear Hug!,” Internals Plural, 6 June 2011.

• Last modified 31 March 2012.
• A version of this article is reproduced at webcitation.org/5zTas6CGB (and based upon Fb).
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March 2011 micro‐content, part I

📷 See my pictures of the Queens Pride House January community potluck at the Diversity Center of Queens, Jackson Heights. http://on.fb.me/gtzHcz —1 March

[Video favorite.] Little Chicken Shake .mov —1 March (FF, Fb) My online discovery of the night is Jackson Heights’ own Katha Cato of the Department of Positive Commentary (DPC). In this video, she makes an absolutely ghastly dish vegetarians might want to avert their eyes from viewing. In a sense, it’s a variation of the chicken split idea my friends and I came up with many years ago. Fun for the whole family!

📷 See my pictures of the Rockbear January “Underbear” party at Rockbar, Greenwich Village. http://on.fb.me/gtzHcz —2 March

📷 See my pictures of Thai dinner at Spicy Shallot, then “Jaime’s Peter Pan birthday party” at Music Box/Caja Musical, Elmhurst; then Friend’s Tavern, Jackson Heights; then la Abundancia Bakery, Elmhurst. http://on.fb.me/feSsg8 —3–7 March I shop and eat in Little India so frequently the merchants know me and give me special prices. One of these days, I’ll figure out if those prices are lower or higher than what normal customers pay.

• Pakistan’s Minister of Minorities is dead in a “campaign to slaughter every liberal, progressive and humanist voice”! http://goo.gl/KJSto —3 March (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, FF, FF, MS)

☕ “[T]his be will {sic} remembered as the time…the American people decided to come together [and] confront the plutocracy….” http://goo.gl/M4zcq —4 March (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, FF, FF, MS)

…is frustrated that the St. Pat’s for All parade and the “Globally Queer” block at the Queens World Film Festival conflict with one another. —6 March (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, MS)

[Video favorite.] ‘America Is NOT Broke’: Michael Moore Speaks in Madison, WI — March 5, 2011 —6 March (FF, Fb) A poignant lesson in economics from Michael Moore that is very easy to understand. Liberals and progressives give us facts while conservatives give us lies and then threats with guns if we don’t believe their lies. Thanks to Leyb Mendl for posting.

[Video favorite.] YouTube Transcribe Audio Fail —7 March (FF, Fb) Some of my friends already noticed it and brought it up on my wall, but my being a linguistics geek got me mention in one of gunnarolla’s videos (beginning at 2:17). Basically, when Google’s automatic transcription of the audio track in one of his earlier videos was unable to make heads or tails of his Canadian English, I accused them of being anti‐Canadian.

📷 See my pictures of Thai lunch from Rumphool in Woodside. http://on.fb.me/hAqNdP —8 March

📷 See my pictures of Richard Shpuntoff’s screening of Julio of Jackson Heights as a work in progress at the Jewish Center of Jackson Heights. http://on.fb.me/hAqNdP —8 March

…found this funny video a few days ago but wonders if it’s appropriate to post on International Women’s Day. http://youtu.be/tJRzBpFjJS8 👩 —8 March (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, FF, FF, MS)

📷 See my pictures of New York Bear Den at the Diversity Center of Queens, Jackson Heights. http://on.fb.me/hAqNdP —8 March

◬◬◬ Where can I get ozne Haman אזני המן‎ (i.e., Homen taşn המן־טאַשן) in or near Jackson Heights? ◬◬◬ —9 March (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb) ▴ If they’re still there. You’re just making me more frustrated, as well as more hungry. ▴ I’m afraid my worst fears will be confirmed.

📷 See my pictures of my visit to Florida, including lunch at the Ram’s Horn and a visit to Publix, Hudson; dinner at Central City Pizza, New Port Richey; dessert from Walgreens, Hudson. http://on.fb.me/hAqNdP —9 March

[Video favorite.] Teresa Graves & Carol Channing “Soul Sisters” Laugh‐In —11 March (Bz, FF, Fb) This video was shot before Carol Channing came out of the closet as black.

• Last modified 31 March 2012.
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Spring in New York City, part 5

Shopping carts of all sorts at Met Foodmarket, 76-10 37^th Avenue, Jackson Heights, 16 March 2010. See the full set of pictures in my Facebook photo album March 2010, part VI.

Photograph by Elyaqim Mosheh Adam. ────────

Photograph by Elyaqim Mosheh Adam. ────────

Photograph by Elyaqim Mosheh Adam. ────────

Photograph by Elyaqim Mosheh Adam. ────────

Photograph by Elyaqim Mosheh Adam. ────────

Photograph by Elyaqim Mosheh Adam.

Previously

• “Religious Experience at the Ambassador Program,” 17 March 2010. (Spring in New York City, part 1.)
• “Standard and Sea,” 5 May 2010. (Spring in New York City, part 2.)
• “Passover sweets,” 6 May 2010. (Spring in New York City, part 3.)
• “Hard-Boiled Eggs,” 8 May 2010. (Spring in New York City, part 4.)

• Last modified 31 March 2012.
• Versions of this article are reproduced at webcitation.org/5z6HVdNyo and webcitation.org/5z6J5xjFj.
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November 2010 micro-content.

📷 See my pictures of the Queer Rising night march in Chelsea and Greenwich Village, and Rockbar thereafter. http://on.fb.me/bIs3Y9 —1 November (Jk, Bz, FF)

📷 See my pictures of the New York Bear Den Halloween gathering at the Diversity Center of Queens, Jackson Heights. http://on.fb.me/bIs3Y9 —1 November (Jk, Bz, FF)

…learned what the term “Morton’s fork” means from this article about the proposed New York City Charter revision. http://nyti.ms/9EoE8L —2 November (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, FF, FF)

…suggests installing the free Symbola font because he likes using emoji characters newly supported in Unicode 6.0. 😉 http://bit.ly/2d7HeU —2 November (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, FF, FF)

…was “helped” to vote by someone with an invariably befuddled look on her face who confused the surname and given name of everyone on line. —2 November (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb) She even “informed” a registered voter she was not registered, until her coworker, who was probably used to the ineptitude, caught the error before that voter was turned away.

💣 Islamic terrorists addressed a parcel bomb to a gay synagogue, although it was not intended to reach its addressees. http://bit.ly/cV8Ymt —3 November (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, FF)

[Video favorite.] desi spiderman official song – SPIDERMAN SPOOF —3 November (FF, Fb)

My photos of Queens Pride House volunteers at Friend’s Tavern; Peter’s “Fashion Night Out” party, Music Box, Queens. http://on.fb.me/9gHto9 —3 November (Jk, Bz, FF)

…bids farewell to songwriter Jerry Bock with a gorgeous song oft performed by old friend Miss Understood. http://youtu.be/PoaDq2ROHqA ♫ —4 November (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, FF)

[Video favorite.] Test Yourself: Stroop Effect —5 November (FF, Fb) …hopes you have a fun viewing this.

My photos of the “Garage Classics: What Can You Do for Me?” Dance 208, the LGBT Community Center, Greenwich Village. http://on.fb.me/9gHto9 —5 November (Jk, Bz, FF)

🔥 Šabbāt šālôm and happy Dīvālī. Did you light your lamps? —5 November (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb)

[Video favorite.] Rachel Maddow Explores Right Wing Lying Echo Chamber —6 November (FF, Fb) ▴ Republicans and conservatives are so evil that they feel they can lie anytime they like in order to promote their agenda. The world is a scary place on which to live when their constituents ignore the truth because lies make them feel better. ▴ Some idiots believe that merely disagreeing with someone is an infringement on freedom of speech. Some idiots also believe that freedom of speech means that every person’s beliefs or anything that can be read in a book, a periodical or on the Internet is of equal validity. Thus they believe anything to be truthful if said by someone whom they support. They believe their choosing from any sources whatsoever the ones that make them feel best will result in finding unquestionable truths, especially if other idiots go along with it. This is not how reality works, numbskulls. ▴ The conservative leaders are evil, their constituents are at best misguided, and the “middle management” just know how to echo the rhetoric. … Don’t get me started on why gays or anyone would want to support the military and its genocidal policies against Arabs and Afghans! Do you have any idea how much gays are suffering in ʻIraq since the US came in?

[Video favorite.] Bill Maher on John Stewarts FALSE EQUIVALENCY Nov 5, 2010 —6 November (FF, Fb) As comedians and television personalities, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert did even better than I had hoped, but ultimately, I agree with Bill Maher.

…dreamed that, in a pinch, the leftover liquid from a can of Spam could be used to destroy the Wicked Witch of the West. 💤 —7 November (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb)

📷 See my pictures of Queens Pride House’s Stonewall history talk by Rich Wandel on “Spirit Day,” Jackson Heights. http://on.fb.me/9gHto9 —7 November (Jk, Bz, FF)

[Video favorite.] BBC Middle East Business Report: Designer Dishdasha —8 November (FF, Fb) Saudi fashion that mixes traditional and contemporary aspects. Thanks to Gay Middle East for a link to the video.

…can’t spell “intergenerational” without “rational.” 👴 —8 November (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb)

After anti-gay bullying, fourteen-year-old Brandon Bitner ended his life in front of a tractor trailer in Pennsylvania. http://bit.ly/aNUfX3 —8 November (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, FF)

📰 A violent attack in Jackson Heights steps from my building on an employee of a business I frequent. http://bit.ly/bzAO62 —8 November (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, FF)

…commemorates the birthday of Carl Sagan, gone from the universe fourteen years now. http://youtu.be/wupToqz1e2g 🌎 —9 November (FF, Jk, Bz, FF, Fb)

⛤ Activities for Kifkif’s “Moroccan National LGBT Day” (اليوم الوطني للمثليين المغاربة) were held in Rabat last month. http://bit.ly/bNSsTe —9 November (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, FF)

[Video favorite.] Surprise Unfriending! —10 November (FF, Fb)

[Video favorite.] Bollywierd Clips – WTF —11 November (FF, Fb) ▴ The song “Idhi oka nandanavanam” from the 1985 Telugu movie Adavi donga. When you have had enough of the original, take a look at a parody of it: 🔗. ▴ Yes, the video is a fairly accurate depiction of a typical street scene here in Jackson Heights, except that on 73^rd Street they’d be singing in Bengali. (Not a lot of Telugus in this neighb.)

…notes another great contribution Near Eastern people made to Western culture. 🔗 —11 November (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, FF)

…suspected even before reading this article that Yiddish meşugas משוגעת should probably be spelled ‏*משוגעות. http://bit.ly/COGc8 📖 —11 November (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, FF)

…thanks Sally for a great Ambassador Program event in Astoria last night that truly fostered appreciation of the depth of Egyptian cuisine. —12 November (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb)

“Michele Bachmann Totally Looks Like Bat Boy” —12 November (Fb, FF)

…saw a screening of La Mission at Queens Pride House and really liked it (and thought Benjamin Bratt was gorgeous). http://bit.ly/bLbdY6 🎦 —12 November (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, FF)

📷 See my pictures of the cast and crew of BearCity at the Rockbear “Underbear” party, Rockbar, Greenwich Village. http://on.fb.me/b0n2g8 —13 November (Jk, Bz, FF)

…is excited an Amalgamated Bank will open in his neighborhood. —13 November (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb) It is a labor bank in which I have had accounts for decades when I lived in the Bronx. Once the branch in Jackson Heights opens, I will no longer need to travel to Long Island City or Manhattan for transactions that need to be done in person. There’s a 24-hour a.t.m. closer to where I live that doesn’t charge me fees, but when it’s broken or empty of cash, I can trot down to 78^th Street for a no-fee alternative.

…is winding down from a fun weekend that included the FurBall and Bear Den’s great Thanksgiving event. 🔗 🐻 —14 November (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, FF)

📷 See my pictures of the Queens Pride House Halloween Extravaganza in Jackson Heights. http://on.fb.me/b0n2g8, http://on.fb.me/cGM6Ou 🎃 —15 November (Jk, Bz, FF)

Content on Delicious. —16 November (FF)

🚗 The FBI secretly placed a tracking device in the car of a young Egyptian-American for undisclosed reasons. 🔗 —16 November (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, FF)

🍒 The Jackson Heights Greenmarket will now be open year-round. 🔗 —17 November (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, FF)

…has finally, now that autumn is drawing to a close, finished uploading his New York pictures from the summer. http://on.fb.me/9F42Sa 📷 —18 November (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb) ▴ On DSCN4054 2010.08.29: It turns so‐so photographs into masterpieces. Some stunning photographs of me and friends have the view from this park in the background. And there was a time in my life when I’d visit this pier nearly every weekend in warmer months. —31 March 2012 ▴ That’s a good idea. I have not been to Gantry Plaza State Park, although a friend of mine shot some lovely pictures there. (Judy K., “Gantry Plaza State Park,” The Outdoor New Yorker, 8 May 2011.) —31 March 2012

“There can be no honor…serving in a shameful war. [G]ays deserve civil rights. But Iraqis deserve them just as much….” http://bit.ly/aDvdTY —18 November (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, FF, FF)

My photos of the Dance 208 Halloween Ball, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center, Greenwich Village. http://on.fb.me/d2IP9S —19 November (Jk, Bz, FF)

☠ “Utah leads the nation in suicide among men 15–24,” including gay youths David Standley and Tim Tilley, and others. http://bit.ly/bbs5zI —19 November (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, FF) … See also http://bit.ly/csItmL.

☠ Eighteen-year-old Josh Wilkerson was bludgeoned to death after purportedly making sexual advances toward his killer. http://bit.ly/bPJiEv —19 November (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, FF)

⚔ “Does Opposing ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ Bolster US Militarism?” 🔗 —19 November (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, FF) ▴ If only the gay movement or any movement could truly be “ending discrimination in all of its forms,” but there are so many issues affecting us that we must pick our battles wisely. Gay people face poverty, inadequate health care, workplace discrimination, elevated suicide and addiction rates and staggering violence. (Recently here in New York City, gay men were abducted and tortured in the Bronx.) However somewhere along the line, self-styled gay leaders decided that getting married and serving in the military were the issues that should get the most money and attention. The gay community should only be too happy to temporarily put DADT on the back burner so we can fight our biggest problems rather than contribute to these obscene wars that have killed thousands of people and are based on greed and the dehumanization of Near Eastern peoples. ▴ … Had we somehow bundled (the repeal of DADT) with ENDA from the beginning, because ultimately it is an issue of employment discrimination, we might have avoided the glorification of the military, especially when people of color are so disproportionately employed by the military, and when the situation of gays in ʻIraq has deteriorated so dramatically since we took down their government. ¶… The gay movement could, for example, have made health care reform our biggest fight, putting our energies into obtaining a public option and securing health coverage for the large number of us who are dangerously underinsured. Instead we ignored it and made believe we would get health coverage if only we were allowed to marry, a ridiculous middle-class presumption that the gay uninsured are in committed relationships with people who already have coverage.

…knew he liked Australian pop music for a reason. http://youtu.be/Qho9o4zRwtE —19 November (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, FF)

♪ And so it was that later … the face of Alice Ghostley turned a whiter shade of pale. 🔗 😄 —21 November (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, FF)

[Video favorite.] Aga biyahe to mani bazaara (Khalil Sohrabi) —21 November (FF, Fb) I think I saw the back-up dancers voguing on Christopher Street a few weeks ago. The song is in the Balochi language, closely related to Kurdish.

📷 My pictures of Halloween in Jackson Heights, including the Beautification Group’s parade. http://on.fb.me/d2IP9S http://on.fb.me/90mGdZ —22 November (Jk, Bz, FF, FF)

The latest news on Víctor Mejía de los Santos, whose skull was broken with a metal bat three four blocks from my building. http://bit.ly/azrqp9 —23 November (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, FF) See also 🔗.

…wishes a happy “Ḥag hā-Hôdāyâ” (חג ההודיה) to all his friends and is thankful they are a part of his life. 🍴 —25 November (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb)

[Video favorite.] You Can’t Gobble Me —25 November (FF, Fb)

📷 See my pictures of the Ambassador Program enjoying Egyptian cuisine at Cherry Café شيري كافية in Astoria. http://on.fb.me/h5cWs2 —27 November (Jk, Bz, FF)

…misread “donated” as “detonated” in an update: “I went to a local church…and d[et]onated 2 turkeys and plenty of sides for the homeless.” (🔗) —28 November (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb) I hope they weren’t still frozen!

[Video favorite.] Leila Forouhar – Bigharari | لیلا فروهر - بیقراری ‎—28 November (FF, Fb) ▴ …may sound surprisingly old-fashioned but remembers a time exemplified by this 1998 video when women singers could drown themselves in glamor without feeling obliged to act like strippers or pole dancers. The title “بیقراری” “Biqərari” means “restlessness.” ▴ Also view some of her later videos: http://youtu.be/UEBMh1UA1Q0 and http://youtu.be/kKZDpDBk3Q0.

• Last modified 31 March 2012.
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If You Hadn’t (but You Did) {FOUR VIDEOS}

“If You Hadn’t (but You Did)” is a patter song composed by Jule Styne with a lyric by Betty Comden and Adolph Green from the 1951 Broadway revue Two on the Aisle and was introduced by Dolores Gray. One of the things I like best about the lyric is how easily the words are understood despite their extreme foreshortening to force a rhyme with if: terrif’, diff’, Pacif’, prolif’, beautif’, signif’, specif’ and certif’. Below is Dolores Gray’s performance from the original cast album.