MTV's Real World Sucks

It sucks. It plainly sucks.

This season in Austin with Johanah, Nehemiah, Wes, Danny, Mel, Lacey and Rachel are definitely boring. Why?

Too pretty twinks and bitches.

They are all gorgeous girls and good-looking guys. They do not have an average looking guy or gal. Never had a chubby or disabled person on that show.

I admitted that I did apply about ten years ago for it. Never got a call. They probably did not want to touch a pole that emits "DEAF" all over it. After talking with friends who admitted that they did apply for this as well -- never got in touch with them. It is clearly bias. They probably have an unwritten rule not to include a Deaf person.

I think I'd make a good one on that show, I'll brag about it. Who is the best person to make fun of hearing people behind their backs and still maintain a fake smile? Of course, who else? Moi.

I would bring Deaf friends on weekends just to cause a drama in the House. Beth, Merritt, Manny, Gus, Jason, Perlis, Sarah, Erin, Santini -- they would entertain the viewers to no end with their snappy comments. Many people do not realize that we do drink, booze, smoke, snort and deal the stuff in our community. Except that we often get away with it when we tangled with the authorities. Hearies get busted, we rarely get busted -- except at Gallaudet! C'est la vie!

If I'm drunk, I'm darned slow reader but fast talker without a thought -- so you can imagine what it is like for me to get in a conflict with hearing people who could not communicate effectively ... I lack patience when I'm fucked up, especially when I'm annoyed. I'm not animalistic like Marb(t)y Bonales but I can supply the firepower.

The truth is that whether if I get on the reality show, I'd cause the FCC to censor the show permanently, really!

Fuck the Bunim/Murray Productions for denying Deaf people a chance to be part of something else! I once emailed a LONG TIME AGO about the opportunity to be part of something else. Of course, they did not respond. Fuck 'em. What do you really expect from a group of hearing people who monopolized the whole thing?

Bah,

R-

Shaq Is Cool

Friday the 16th: Don't forget to turn in your comments to bitch at anyone else. Feel free to do so by email me at Ridor9th@gmail.com. It will be posted the next day.

Shaq Is Big, Bad Ass: Shaquille O'Neal, all of his massive body at 7'1 and 325 pounds, could have just ignored the whole thing and let the gay bashing incident vanish. But Shaq did not. He was instrumental in following a gay basher, Michael Gonzalez, 18, and flagged a cop to bust this guy for bashing on gay couple in Miami Beach.

By doing this by example, I hope this sends a message to the players in NBA that it is cool for them to be man enough to stand up against homophobia. Shaq is simply great.

Interesting Pick: It is interesting to note that they used the word: Bulge to describe the area which the scientists alarmed that there is an activity. Sarah IMmed me to check her blog of an article -- which I already read a while ago. Maybe the scientists need to get laid.

Ever Had A Bad Roommate? Some of us felt we had our shares of bad roommates. But thanks to Michelley's link -- I feel much better about my shitty roommates (figuratively, that is!). The best part is that the shitty roommate is the son of wealthy parents. This is akin to what I told Gus that there is a high chance that Queen Elizabeth II cannot tie her shoelaces -- because she probably never did it in her lifetime -- why should she learn to do that?! Gus' eyes widened and said, "You think she does not know?"

I asked him, "Do you truly think she needs to learn something like that?"

Be My Guest, Do It! It is virtually that nearly all hearing people are using cellphones and iPods. What do I think of them? It is their right to do so -- I'm fine with it -- but in 20 years, they'll be full-fledged member of our community who cannot sign worth a shit. How horrible is that?

Cheers,

R-

9.12.05 Tidbits

Ophelia Is Coming Home: When I heard that a new Tropical Storm has been named for Ophelia, I was amused. I think it is fitting that this storm will visit the Carolinas in few days. Why? Because more than a year ago in August, I wrote an entry about Ophelia, my grandmother's deaf black maid in Raleigh, North Carolina.

As for this storm, Ophelia is fluctuating just right off the East Coast, deciding whether to go for its status quo -- being Tropical Storm or category 1 Hurricane? Only Ophelia can decide for herself.

But since I noticed that there is lack of humidity around here, the chances of Ophelia hitting the category 1 is very remote. Its winds probably will remain less than 74 MPH when it gets to Cape Hatteras.

FEMA Chief Michael Brown Is Gone! What does it reflects on GW Bush? It was only a week ago that GW Bush said that FEMA Chief Michael Brown did a heck of a job -- now with Newsweek reporting that he padded his resume to make himself look good -- he was quickly recalled to Washington. And he ultimately resigned.

Good riddance, Michael Brown.

Ack! This Is One Dumb Sign!: This woman's attempt to sign "hurricane" managed to make it look so corny. It even made me wince my eyes when she signed that word repeatedly. Hat tip to Surdus.

Poor Guy! Guy Ritchie seemeed never to get a break from the critics? Madonna's hubby seemed unable to please any critics when he attempts to show his film several times in the past. What gives? I personally hadn't seen his films. Anyone care to comment about Guy Ritchie's films?

As Virginian, I Would Choose ...: According to the information sheet I have on me -- Sen. Russ Potts is Republican, Jerry Kilgore is Democrat and last, Tim Kaine is Republican. They are competing for the Governor of Virginia. The City of Staunton's local newspaper had a questionnaire for them about VSDB, which is mirred in a struggle with the State Board of Education whether to close the school and build a new campus, or preserve two schools, or to consolidate two schools into one at Staunton. Many Deaf people wanted the schools to be consolidated to Staunton and renovate and improve the quality of Deaf Education at VSDB.

The truth is that these gubernational candidates cannot do a thing about it -- the State Board of Education has the final say in this -- regardless if the Governor likes it or not. It has been like that way in Virginia -- one of the nation's most staunch retarded-conservative states.

However, here is what they said about VSDB which the Staunton's News-Leader popped a question, What should the state do with the Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind and its two campuses?

TIM KAINE
While the legislature made the decision to combine the two campuses based on enrollment rates, what we must focus on now is how to provide an excellent educational opportunity for the school's students going forward. I support building a new, state-of-the-art facility at a location that best meets the needs of our students. We must also ensure that students have the facilities and teachers they need to succeed and that our teachers have the training and equipment they need. Additionally, we must make a greater effort to draw on the expertise of the deaf and blind community to ensure that we are meeting our goals.

RUSS POTTS
I support keeping the Virginia School for the Deaf and Blind in Staunton. It is an historic landmark and a vital part of the Staunton community.

JERRY KILGORE
I support the efforts of the General Assembly to consolidate the two campuses. It simply did not make sense financially or operationally to keep two facilities up and running. I hope that the campus in Staunton will be renovated to accommodate the consolidated campus.

Well, I like Jerry and Russ -- Russ is Eisenhower Republican -- he claimed that the current group of Republicans are not real Republicans, the party had been hijacked by conservative, religious and special interests groups. Tim Kaine, I gotta rule him out. He is obviously an idiot to start with.

One Last Thing About 9/11 Thing: I asked my sister, Hedy, to scan four pages which she liked from DC Comics' tribute to WTC few years ago -- I also liked it very much. It is about the Flight of 93 which crashed in some rural area in Pennsylvania. All I knew is that it was done by folks at DC Comics -- if Hedy managed to give me the names so that I can give the credit to, I will do it.

These four pages are so good that when I first read it, I actually felt goosebumps. Basically, the story is that nobody knew the exact thing that happened inside the Flight 93. So they illustrated based on the theory of what had transpired inside the Flight 93.

For each page, you can click on the image to read it up close. Enjoy!





Too bad, it also neglected to mention that Mark Bingham was gay who loved to play rugby. I should mention that Mark was into men who are hairy -- it was said that he was a cub who loved and chased after big, hairy men.

Cheers,

R-

9.11.05 Tidbits

Maybe Ed Hottle Is The Real Deal: For the first time in a long time, Gallaudet football, under the direction of Head Coach Ed Hottle whom I thought is very HOT, is now 2-0 after posting hard-fought wins versus Shenandoah University 21-13 and Apprentice 13-12. I should mention that both games took place on the road. Even with two wins, this is great progress for the team and Coach Ed Hottle. But let's wait for the next three games at home -- if the team is 5-0, then Ed Hottle means well. If the team wins more than 5 games, I'll be impressed.

Katrina's Heroes? After Katrina whipped New Orleans, people ptiched in to help out with the relief efforts. People also claimed that the cops, National Guards and many others are doing something to help them out. They even told the media that they are going to take "care of people" that sits on the highway. What did they mean by taking care of them? The truth hurts. People out there thinks it did not happen but yes, it did! Check the link for the shocking revelations about the victims of Katrina.

And this.

And to think this happened in our country -- we are good people, I guess. Good enough to let things like this slide by and act like we are noble. Except that we are not.

The Hanging Garden: I got to watch a film today called "The Hanging Garden". I enjoyed it very much. It focuses on a dysfunctional family with some dysfunctional neighbors as well. There is this big boy who happens to be gay, he liked to fuck Fletcher, his sister's boyfriend. Later, you get to meet a young girl who loves to cuss "Fuck you!" to any adult -- it turns out that this particular fat boy who is gay is the father of this illegitimate daughter -- which his mother paid someone trying to turn her son straight -- the fat gay boy at 16, impregnated this woman. You get the picture. Later, I get to see this former fat boy turning into a hot, thin gay man. Even with his sister's "I don't care" attitude, her husband still wanted him. It was weird fucked-up film but I enjoyed it. The ending was not so All-American type which is nice to start with.

Did You Wonder ...: Whether if the ABC's Home Extreme Makeover will do few houses in New Orleans? I just read an article where a poor couple refused to leave their property because they just planted the crops in their backyard -- even right after the floods which swamped the area. One reporter asked the family if they are worried about their food crops being contaminated. One woman laughed, "Guatemala is worse than this, it is OK with me." Fine with me, darling.

Religious Extremists Are Dangerous: When a disaster struck any place, people always turned to God for answers. Islamic Extremists said that Hurricane Katrina was the answer on their call to destroy the United States. Xian Extremists said that it was the answer to cleanse gays, pro-choice and shit. GW Bush mentioned about the National Day of Prayer. Bleargh. Like it would help us at all. I personally think it is their right to believe in God and have a relationswhip with a hocus pocus, but trying to conjure ideas to say that God did this, that and there in the name of "justice" is full of shit. Get a life, really!

This Is Lower Manhattan! HELLO! I stumbled upon one comment by somoene who thought that the site of World Trade Center should be memorialized. I disagreed. Lower Manhattan is the Financial District, the best in the world. Business talks. People come and go. Businesses are here to stay. I'm sick of people who attempted to capitalize the victims to turn the place into hallowed ground! The dialogue is over, build the corporations, leave the memorial in some corner for all I care. In 200 years, nobody gives a shit about who's who jumped off the building and splat. If you expect us to memorialize this, then memorialize every victims that were blown apart in Israel, Egypt, Kenya, Tanzania, Bali, Indonesia, Iraq, Turkey, Great Britain and Spain! The Financial District is not fit for any cemetary and/or memorial services. You can have a museum or the memorial site but do not turn the whole area into the hallowed ground -- no sane New Yorker wanted that!

Guess Who Won Venice's Golden Lion? In Venice, Italy -- Brokeback Mountain won the top prize at Venice's Film Festival. It was reported that many viewers emerged from the film theaters in awe of love story between two gay men. Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal, both are straight, seemed to hit a chord with the audience. Can't wait for this!

Henh Henh Henh: Last night, someone told me that I got a "cute" sound of laughter. I was perplexed. He nodded, I tried to tell him to stop it as I could not stop laugh. He then wrote, "HENH HENH HENH HA HA HA HA!" as in trying to write down what I just said. Well, my friend is cute and sweet. What can I say about him? It was fun spending a night with him. Ahh!

Anyway, when he talked about my laughter, he was not the first time who said it -- apparently, hearing people do love to hear Deaf people laugh, of course, not in a loud, raucous guffaws. But a simple laugh, really. I'm sure, many of you Deaf readers got comments from hearing people who told you that they liked your laughter and asked you to do it one more time. Icky but very amusing, I guess.

This afternoon, I was cleaning up the scrapbook and I came across this great picture of Hillary Clinton who laughed so hard with Tipper Gore in 1996 Democratic National Convention, I believe. This is one of many reasons why I liked Hillary. First of all, she is not afraid to laugh hard, actually to open her mouth to bellow loudly. It reflects her human side. The real side of humanity. I feel that the persons who runs the governments tend to be pretentious with their fake laughters and fake smiles -- these has to go. A simple, honest laughter is the best.

Hillary Clinton for 2008!

Cheers,

R-

In Midst Of Everything, New York Is Still There!

4 years ago on a Tuesday morning, we got the jolt of our lifetime with this bang. Actually four times.

I still remembered where I was at that time. I was next to Larry Gray in HMB Atrium at Gallaudet when I first saw the North Tower burning. No need to repeat the whole scene. But the point is that everyone remembered where they were. I do remember the moment when I was notified that Gallaudet student was murdered. Same thing with Princess Di's death.

I remembered GW Bush sitting leisurely and waiting at some elementary school during the nation's darkest moment.

Then I remembered GW Bush saying that we'll go after Osama Bin Laden. So far, still nothing. In fact, he's still chasing the phantoms -- he even joked at some fundraising dinner that he's looking under some table few years ago -- utterly tasteless. Osama Bin Laden is 6'5, for god's sake! That is pretty rare for Arab to be that tall. And yet, we cannot find him in Tora Bora. Today, we are simply playing tic-tac toes with Al-Qaeda, simply put. We may have clipped some tentacles of Al-Qaeda, but they are improvising.

To top it all, he and Dick Cheney claimed that there is a connection between 9/11 attacks and Iraq! Even with Colin Powell's interview with Barbara Walters (?), he considered his report to the United Nations to be a blot of his career. With the daily suicidal bombings in Iraq that seemed to desensitize everyone else, especially with the Xians, in the process -- their attitude was: "Better over there than here!" It is as if their lives are insignificant than ours.

As for New York whose had to dealt with less than 3,000 perished victims -- not only the victims, the city also had to deal with countless of families that lost their loved ones. It was quite a period of self-examination for New York which, I can frankly say, they passed it with flying colors. Instead of waiting for the federal government to pour money in, they licked their wounds, comforted each other, cleaned up the mess, took care of the dead, calmed the jitteries of Wall Street, stabilize the economy -- all with a heavy price on many New Yorkers' souls, while the nation talked the talk for months.

But guess what? New York still rises without anyone's help. It has been doing just fine for years. I think the picture below is a testament of what New York is all about -- even with the smoke billowing from the Ground Zero, you can see the beauty of New York still standing proud.

New York, New York!
This is New York. Sophisticated. The Best. The Greatest city in the world. This is the city I adopted when I first moved to New York. Even with the fact that I'm in Philadelphia, I still heart New York.

R-

Phila's Deaf Professional Happy Hour

Went to my very first Deaf Professional Happy Hour in the city of Brotherly Love at Champps Bar & Grill. Not bad. Saw Staci Rensch! Saw Robert Traina! And unfortunately, I saw Dorian Yanke.

It is true. Dorian is now living in this town next to me. Go figure. Nothing happened -- one gal said, "Here is your best friend! He's sitting over there." I immediately smiled and said, "Dorian?"

She smiled with an evil grin. I groaned and said in a teasing manner, "That boy cannot live without my ASS! Serious case!" But on a serious note, I wish him the best in his endeavours -- *people behind me probably snickered when I said that line*.

Today, I heard from a friend of mine in Washington, DC -- he went to the DPHH, it was packed with more than 300 people. Here in Philadelphia, less than 100 showed up. Many faces, I do not know who they were. That is OK with me. I'm not concerned about that. I once mentioned to a friend that I'm not making new friends. Instead, I am more selective with making friends -- I guess, getting older, you do not want to deal with the hassles of friendships going through some growing pains. I do not know why but in early 90s, I enjoyed meeting new faces. Today, I do not. Is it normal? I do not know. I routinely went to the fairgrounds, events, homecoming events -- I get annoyed each minute. Maybe I liked the intimate conversations rather than "HI ... ME NOW SSI $885 MONTHLY, YOU? WHAT KIND JOB? HAS WIFE?" I cringed when people says things like that.

It was nice to see Staci once again. Been some years since I saw her! Never forgot the moments that I had with Staci in the board room where she blasted Mindy Moore to smithereens during the Deaf Moonlite Show's brainstorming sessions. It was hysterical to see Mindy Moore falling apart. I remembered her writing a note to tell me to inform me that the student next to us was eating his dinner from his nose. This woman has the eyes has her own rule: Observe But Do Not Interfere. Sure enough, we were sitting at the bar recently ... Staci and I smirked each time we cruised each individual that comes in our path -- she would explain a little about his/her background right below the bar counter, to prevent from anyone seeing our conversations. Why did she do that? To prepare me to be aware of peoope around me.

For example, I asked her, "This guy is cute, any chance for me to nab him?" She smirked and fingerspelled under the counter, "He's not available. He just is in the process of divorce, his wife is now with this guy. He's straight breeder but very wacko." I rolled my eyes at stuff like that. But that is how the Deaf World operated -- you talk clandestinely at public events about people, even if you deny it. I do that, you do that, Rayni does that. Everyone does that to an extent.

I probably did not dwell on negatives too much, just that I do not know who everyone else is -- so there were people out there who could supplant me with the necessary information about people wherever I go. Some people wondered at the fact that I seemed to have tons of information about people's lives -- the truth is that, y'all told me about it by yourself.

Not that it's bad. It was interesting evening.

Jason has a graphic novel of "Kyle's Bed and Breakfast Inn" -- I am so going to read it. I love Greg Fox's works on Kyle's Bed and Breakfast Inn.

What About Pets? Merritt paged me and insisted that I say something about the pets being stranded in New Orleans. It is true. The Humane Society of United States is struggling to rescue animals abandoned by the humans during the floods which buried New Orleans by Katrina. They are hungry, they are scared, it was said that you can hear the dogs barking for miles. If you want to donate something, you may check the Humane Society of United States's website. Merritt said dogs will arf, birds will chirp and cats will meow when you do that. So do it.

Cheers,

R-

Few Things To Remind About Katrina

National Day of Prayer? Why? GW Bush has called the nation for a day of prayer for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. For what? Think the national day of prayer will send a miracle to restore the city of New Orleans in a day. Get back to work already.

I Do Not Contribute To ARC: Some people wondered why I do not donate a cent to American Red Cross or The Salvation Army. Get this through your thick skull -- to donate something to an organization that discriminated against who I am is unfathomable thing to do. These organizations reserved the right to discriminate against the gays and lesbians. Therefore, it is my moral right not to donate -- I do not care if it is only for the victims. I can find another source, but not this organization. Call me evil, bastard or whatever you wanted -- at least I am being honest with my beliefs. Unlike you.

Barbara Bush Is Old Geezer Bitch: She is overprivileged who needs to be trashed or two. Last week at the Astrodome, she told the National Public Radio with this line, "And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this (she chuckles slightly)--this is working very well for them." Honest to God, what did this bitch do for herself? Actually, nothing.

How Bad Is Superdome? Many people cannot fathom the idea why many assaults and rapes occurred inside the Superdome in front of thousands' eyes. Actually, they may have happened in front of thousands' eyes but the electricity was out. So essentially, the Superdome was virtually dark. Call it the dark bowels of Hell where the National Guards forced the evacuees to stay inside despite the heat, stench and darkness fouling the place. It was said that the Superdome will be destroyed. Good.

New Orleans Will Not Be Back: You know, people will return to New Orleans but the polls has indicated that 66% of the evacuees do not want to return to the city at all. You can say that the city will dissipate in a short time despite the efforts to bring the city back. New Orleans is the modernized version of Atlantis, like it or not.

Boo-hoo, Dick Cheney Was Insulted: Someone shouted at Dick Cheney in Mississippi on CNN, "Go fuck yourself, Mr. Cheney. Go fuck yourself!" The camera was focused on Dick as there was a scuffle behind the camera, according to RawStory.com, and Dick Cheney commented, "First time I've heard it., Must be a friend of John..., er, ah - never mind." AS you can see, not many people liked Dick or GW, they will not be seen in the general public -- only in the areas that they will be liked. That is why they had the secret service to screen everyone from entering their parties, ceremonies, events and all that shit. Perhaps the most coward President in this country has to be GW Bush and his cronies. They are afraid to stand up and face the challenge in the faces of people who disagreed with them. They always used the press to say that they support the freedom of speech but behind the scene, they went at work to assault and shield people from getting the opportunity to reach out. Who does it sounds like? Richard Nixon -- once a crook, always a crook.

That particular someone is the physician whose home was destroyed in Mississippi -- he was offended when there were no cars for many people to get around and Dick Cheney has massive line of cars going down the street. Dick did not tour, he flew in to make a press conference to show that he "did" tour then ran off to DC. Typical crap of Bush Administration.

What A Fucking Douchebag: House Majority Leader Tom Delay (R-Texas) approached 3 young boys who are evacuees in the Astrodome and asked them, "Now tell me the truth boys, is this kind of fun?" The younger boys were confused and perplexed before nodding. Tom, is it fun that you got yourself indicted?!

Who Is Profiting From This? Many people are whining that the Democrats and Liberals are politicizing the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, but if you look at the other side -- Conservatives and Republicans are also politicizing this as well. Going to the press conferences, trying to tell their side of the story that they did a good job. First impressions are extremely important. They failed when they overtook Baghdad and the lootings escalated. Same thing goes for New Orleans. Goes on to say how much they handle this in a crisis. They need to go to Crisis Intervention or something.

Great Pictures! This is classic! Observe carefully.

Daddy, want to dine this tonight?!
Self-explanatory
Cheers,

R-