"They Just Don't Get Buffalo" written by James on estrip.org

11/16/08 09:51 - 36ºF - ID#46702

They Just Don't Get Buffalo

There was a piece in the Friday Times about Buffalo's architectural history and our future. I just don't think the authors understand a damn about our city.

1) There are some very significant large structures, yes. Darwin Martin, Richardson complex, all great. But the gems of Buffalo are in the homes where Plebes like us live in mansions. The omni-presence of beauty was missing and the author did not get it.

2) Richmond Avenue is not "one of Olmsted's grand decaying parkways". If there have been any successes in Buffalo it has been on Richmond. I can't think of a home that taints the whole avenue with the air of decay.

3) The author thinks that the Mayor's plan to knock down 5,000 is a failure of the preservationist movement. However, they do not mention Buffalo Re-Use will get to sack these homes for architectural goodies like stained glass, copper pipes, etc. Nor does the author mention that 20% of the homes in the city are vacant and will always be vacant. There are no plans in the works for a revitalized economy that will fill those homes. There are some plans to revitalize the neighborhoods in which they are situated. But we just do not have the resources to restore 18,000 homes and we do not have the people to put in them.

blah!

Permalink: They_Just_Don_t_Get_Buffalo.html
Words: 219
Location: Buffalo, NY

11/14/08 02:54 - 63ºF - ID#46689

Welcome to My Evil Twin

Deven Green does my favorite series on youtube. She just uploaded this one and it fills me with happy.

"Now will him over here with garbage-bag eyes!"

Permalink: Welcome_to_My_Evil_Twin.html
Words: 34
Location: Buffalo, NY

11/13/08 09:32 - 54ºF - ID#46682

OMG I MUST KNOW!!!

Permalink: OMG_I_MUST_KNOW_.html
Words: 2
Location: Buffalo, NY

11/12/08 07:31 - 44ºF - ID#46666

Otto; or, Up With Dead People

Bruce Labruce is the new, new-queer cinema. Move over Greg Araki, there is a new sherif in town.

I feel in love with the man when I saw Raspberry Reich: a queer retelling of the Patty Hearst story. It is full of T-shirt worthy revolutionary slogans like "The Revolution is my Boyfriend" and "Heterosexuality is the Opiate of the Masses".

Labruce makes either the smuttiest movies you ever say, or the most high brow porn possible. The only real difference between a 'legitimate' film and porn is that I don't go to the theater to see the former with sanitizer. I wish I could show you one of the opening clips from Reich where a man masturbates with a loaded gun. The gun didn't go off but he sure did.

Well, he is back with a film sure to haunt my wet dreams for years to come. Here is the trailer (with a sweet ass song by CocoRosie).

oddly, the most erotic thing I find about this movie is that the title has both a coma and a semi-colon.

Permalink: Otto_or_Up_With_Dead_People.html
Words: 187
Location: Buffalo, NY

11/07/08 06:41 - 64ºF - ID#46594

Post-election Blues

Lord oh lord, I got the blues so bad I can't even shut my eyes. Prop-8 has been an absolute disaster. The latent racism and bigotry against Mormons has exploded in the GLBT community. We need to be building coalitions, not burning bridges and sadly things are not going well.

But then, there is always GWAR. You WNYers are not as familiar with GWAR as you should be. You are hungry. Hungry for something but you don't know what. You hunger for

Meat Sandwich

james writes at 09:01:38 11/08/08 - Comment #41774: Jason, foul language is not only acceptable on this journal but it is also encouraged.

I would rather say that shitting on Mormons is PE, politically expedient. They only represent 2% of California's population and even if they are a unified bloc, that still leaves another 48% of California to share the burden of guilt. Granted, Mormons won the money game for them, but there is plenty of blame to go around.

The great irony of this is that gay people are saying to the social conservatives "Hey, we want to be like you. We want to take part of the great civilizing force, marriage." It is the most conservative thing the GLBT community has ever done. And our demand for normalcy is rejected, as if social conservatives like the good old bachelor homosexuals of popular imagination.

tinypliny writes at 08:07:03 11/08/08 - Comment #41770: That's so charming! Why are you upset??! You still look as youthful as a 17 year old!!

jason writes at 12:58:20 11/08/08 - Comment #41768: PS - Sorry bout the foul language, I'm not upset with anyone, I was just carded and denied for cigarettes at Willies. Crying out loud.

Obviously, the numbers with the Mormons realistically may not matter compared to the numbers that can be swayed in the correct direction. I imagine attitudes in some areas are changeable and some are not.

jason writes at 12:43:28 11/08/08 - Comment #41767: I agree with (e:James) when it comes to coalition building.

It's easy and PC to shit on Mormons. Nobody should be afraid to say, well, 70% of blacks voted for Prop 8, and that shit is fucking wrong. We all know god damned well it's wrong, but people shit their pants over people knee-jerking on them and calling them racist. Fuck that. Wrong is wrong.

james writes at 11:51:42 11/07/08 - Comment #41766: The Mormon Church and individual Mormons are two different things. I am seeing blanket blaming of Mormons when it is the Mormon Church and certain individual Mormons who are guilty of disgusting discrimination. Hold them culpable, not the whole lot of them.

And as far as coalition building, I did not mean with the Mormon Church. Specifically we need to work with our relationships with the Latino and Black communities. Both of these groups voted overwhelmingly for prop-8 and both are minorities who are discriminated against. Working towards a solid voting block is more constructive than pissing on Mormons, who, by and large, are worthy of our piss.

paul writes at 07:50:28 11/07/08 - Comment #41758: The latent racism and bigotry against Mormons has exploded in the GLBT community. We need to be building coalitions, not burning bridges and sadly things are not going well.

I hope you are being sarcastic but there is no ground on which it is reasonable to defend mormonism. To me it is the epitome of the outageousness of religion. I have zero tolerance or respect for them.

Nothing fills me with more religious hatred than the mormons. I hated them as long as I can remember and it has nothing to do with prop8 and everything to do with my personal interactions with even the nicest of them. That plus a couple book I read about them. This one book :::link::: was particularly interesting, obviously the mormons hate it.

Why should I need to build any sort of coalition with them - I am just assuming you are kidding. I have no peace with the mormons, nor will I ever. In fact I hate them more than they hate me.

tinypliny writes at 06:45:52 11/07/08 - Comment #41753: YEAH! GWAR :D

Permalink: Post_election_Blues.html
Words: 92
Location: Buffalo, NY

11/07/08 09:26 - 57ºF - ID#46582

Dear California

Can you vote on prop 8 again in two years when voter turn out it low?

kisses,

James

Permalink: Dear_California.html
Words: 17
Location: Buffalo, NY

11/02/08 08:18 - 42ºF - ID#46477

Oh hell yaroswell

I am writing my cover letter for a job I am applying to at Roswell. Cover letters are so tough to write, I have been in front of the computer for an hour banging my head against my desk. It is such a parched writing style, devoid of any personality.

Wish me luck. I really want to work there.

james writes at 03:42:07 11/09/08 - Comment #41852: Mike: the hubub happened today. I am sorry that I applied for the same job as you. It was completely unintentional.

mike writes at 03:12:28 11/09/08 - Comment #41850: ahh sorry i didn't respond. I have not been keeping up with my e-mail or checking estrip. I did get your e-mail and I think it is the same job . it happens, i didn't think you heard about it from my journal, i figured you found it on the site just like me. maybe they are hopefully hiring two people? I didn't realize all the hubub it was causing in the comments.

jim writes at 03:06:31 11/09/08 - Comment #41849: Yeah, James still doesn't know what Mike is applying for...

james writes at 02:53:51 11/09/08 - Comment #41848: I am not sure what you want me to delete Tiny O_O

Matthew. No worries.

tinypliny writes at 02:39:53 11/09/08 - Comment #41847: (e:James), please read your email!!! Please delete that abstract comment!

matthew writes at 02:38:14 11/09/08 - Comment #41846: yeah, I assumed that. After re-reading my comment, it sounded pretty harsh. Sorry about that, it wasn't my intention.

tinypliny writes at 02:22:40 11/09/08 - Comment #41842: Hey! (e:james) and (e:jim) told me that (e:james) would love to work at Roswell and gave me good idea about the kind of skills they were targeting and I have been actively looking at job-postings that satified the criteria ever since (e:jim) posted that (e:james) was looking for a job! This was one of those jobs!

james writes at 02:20:41 11/09/08 - Comment #41841: I did not find out about it through Mike's journal. I actually emailed Mike several days ago to find out what the situation is but haven't heard back yet.

matthew writes at 02:14:13 11/09/08 - Comment #41840: You are applying for the same position as (e:mike)? I hope you didn't find out about the job from mike's journal, 'cause that would make you a real asshole.

james writes at 10:18:42 11/02/08 - Comment #41449: It is the Clinical Navigator position. If it is the same job Mike I hope they are looking for two people ^_^

mike writes at 10:13:59 11/02/08 - Comment #41448: i hope its not the job i just applied for

fing writes at 08:46:09 11/02/08 - Comment #41444: What job are you interviewing for?

paul writes at 08:33:13 11/02/08 - Comment #41443: We could be lunch buddies.

Permalink: Oh_hell_yaroswell.html
Words: 59
Location: Buffalo, NY

10/31/08 10:09 - 52ºF - ID#46443

Hamster on a Piano

enjoy the ear worm

Permalink: Hamster_on_a_Piano.html
Words: 12
Location: Buffalo, NY

10/30/08 01:49 - 44ºF - ID#46428

> Rock the Vote

much, much, much better than Aerosmith urging you to vote for whoever.

Permalink: _gt_Rock_the_Vote.html
Words: 20
Location: Buffalo, NY

10/28/08 12:49 - 38ºF - ID#46385

Halloween Movie Madness

Movies don't scare me. I love horror movies for the pure cheese, without a trace of felt terror. Movies like The Exorcist, The Shining, The Omen, are all good horror movies, but I don't get a chill up my spine at any point. Never have I been actually terrorized.

Until Freaks.

Todd Browning's Freaks is the only movie to creep me out. To make me so uncomfortable I had to take a break and untangle the disgust in my brain.

The film takes place in a carnival. There are the big ring circus folks, and the sideshow freaks. Plotting brings the big ring people into the world of the freaks. The freaks are so other that we can't help but empathize with the plotting, evil characters. The viewer is the villain.

The movie is filled with little scenes of simple humanity. Like a man born without limbs rolling a cigarette.

Or take a look at this iconic scene. Just prior to it, the woman was mocking her new dwarf husband (all part of that evil plotting) at their wedding. The sincerity of the freaks response is one of the most chilling things on film.

And the ending... if the ending doesn't keep you up all night you aren't human. But I wont spoil it. Go out and rent it.