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-

Next Month's Agenda?

Next month is October. That means what? The autumn is coming slowly. Halloween is going to sprout up in places like RiteAid, CVS and Duane Reade across the nation, trying to sell these damned candies. It also meant what?

It is time to go back to the movie theater and participate in The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

I'm Just A Sweet Transvestite from Transexual, Transylvania!
Flashback to the Fall of 1994 at Ely Auditorium, now known as Andrew Foster Auditorium, on Gallaudet campus where Carl Denney first set up the movie theater where everyone pays $1 or so to watch the movies. Remember the film where "SPEED" made its first appearance on the tape, the audience was so full that some people had to be turned away. Someone was so pissed off that they triggered the fire alarm (some said They Abbey burnt the food which sets the fire alarm but I never knew the truth!), everyone refused to leave the auditorium? Priceless. Carl and his cronies had to mark numbers on everyone before they leave their seats to prevent them from stealing the spots.

One day, Carl announced that there would be a feature film on Rocky Horror Picture Show at midnight in Ely Auditorium. I heard so much about it but never get to see it. So I went. Only 10 people showed up, including the late Rebecca Luftig's father who stood in the back of the audience. I kept on watching him doing the imitations and doing the dances when Dr. Frank-n-Furter made its first appearance. It was an eye-opening performance to see a man in his fifties to shout and dance. Then he later ran to the stage and take over ... in front of less than 10 people who hollered him to go on.

Later, I learned that it is typical part of Rocky Horror Picture Show. In Los Angeles -- I went to the midnight feature on a Friday night on Santa Monica Boulevard just off the 405 freeway where people converged to the theater, all dressed up as someone else in that film. Sure enough, I had a blast time. People were throwing things in the movie theater. People were dancing, people were shrieking, people were spraying water guns on each other, people threw the toilet papers at each other. It was such an amazing experience.

If you watch the film on VCR, the chances is that you will never understand why it is very popular. It does not work in a home where you can just sit alone. It works fabulous when you're in a big group, especially in an auditorium.

Many actors cherished their roles on this film -- except for one, Rocky, of course! That guy who now lives in Phoenix claimed that he was duped into believing that he was not featured to be a "hot guy", that he would act more than just a male model for the world to drool at.

The scene where Dr. Frank-N-Furter said this line, "It's a rather tender subject ... another slice, anyone?" Everyone else looked at their meats on their plates. Priceless. Or a line where everyone said:

DR SCOTT: Janet!
JANET: Dr Scott!
BRAD: Janet!
FRANK: Rocky!
ROCKY grunted and grabbed Janet's arm.
FRANK: Listen! I made you, and I can break you just as easily!

I intend to show up with Liz and friends in October here in Philadelphia if there is one. I shall find out.

Makes me -- Ooh!

Dr. Frank-N-Furter: But a deltoid and a bicep
A hot groin and a tricep
Makes me - Ooh! - shake
Makes me wanna take Charles Atlas by the hand

Chorus: In just seven days

Dr. Frank-N-Furter: Oh, baby

Chorus: I can make you a man

Dr. Frank-N-Furter: I don't want no dissension
Just dynamic tension --

Janet Weiss, interrupting Dr. Frank-N-Furter: I'm a muscle fan

Then Dr. Frank-N-Furter turned to give Janet a hard stare which subdued Janet into silence

Chorus: In just seven days
I can make you a man

Dr. Frank-N-Furter: Dig it if you can

Chorus: In just seven days
I can make you a man

Yes, you can make me a man ... !

Cheers,

R-

UGH! Sometimes You Want To Strangle 'Em!

Last night, went to Center City with Jason just for the heck of it. In fact, I mentioned that I saw an advertisement that there will be an event called Bulge at The Bike Stop which enforced the un-dress code. Turns out that you had to wear white underwears, no colors allowed. Only white ones. No jockstraps allowed, no boxers allowed. The event is a carbon copy of Manhattan's TigerBeat Underwear parties hosted by Daniel Nardicio first at The Slide, now at Boysroom. I'm not sure if it is still running or not.

Since I wore the black boxerbriefs and Jason wearing a white boxer -- that was no-no! But we got to mingle a little before we stumbled upon two Deaf gay fellas, Yossi and Rob. Good thing, I was buzzed -- did not have to deal with them directly. Both were abrasive, rude and embarrassing. In fact, the bartender wrote a note to me, saying that "this guy (Yossi) do not buy anything when he comes here at all."

I attempted to ask Yossi why he does that. He kept on saying, "DEAF CULTURE! DEAF CULTURE!" I was ready to bash him, serious case. His name is Yossi, which is Jewish -- but he said, "I am Jewish Christian!" -- whatever suits him the best. He said that he will fuck guys until he's done with it, then marry a woman. Yossi remarked, "Because it is the right thing to do. Mom said so."

One word: Whatever! Yossi, you are one, big stupid fuck. Get lost already!

Then later, Jason and I went to Woody's which is popular in Center City. It is OK to me, I miss Nowhere, The Cock, Urge, The Slide, The Hole, Boysroom -- now that is MY type! However, Yossi followed along and came straight to the computer area -- yes, they have three monitors for any drunk fools to check emails in the bar -- and Yossi stayed there until the closing time -- not even to buy a drink or anything at all. Oh, god.

Then there was this deaf guy named Rob -- he talked too much. In fact, he was signing excessively to a point where he repeatedly shoved people around him. I can see that Jason wanted to cruise a little around the room and mingle a little. When I saw a cute guy walking by, I attempted to tell Jason to look at how hot he is -- suddenly, Rob went ballistic and said, "I'm not DONE talking with him!"

Ahh, he was talking non-stop for about 30 minutes! Take it easy, Rob. Anyway, I saw one cute guy who waved at me, then he walked to me and hugged me. Very hot. Name is Justin. But thanks to Rob's constant interferences, Justin gave me a look that can read like, "Sorry, but he is too much, bye!"

So he vanished. But at least, he bribed me his email address on a small note without Rob's sight.

Thanks a lot, Rob and Yossi. You're the classic example why sometimes I am embarrassed to be Deaf Gay man and that is why I restrict my time with 'em. Grow up a little, for my sake!

Otherwise, my evening with Jason was fun and interesting.

Another Note: I got an email from Teri, a volunteer interpreter at the Astrodome, trying to refute the hoax email. At first, I was bit suspicious with her cold, callous email blasting me about my comments. I attempted to ask her what she meant by that, she quickly clammed up and said that I do not have to be "semantics". The tone of her e-mail which she volunteered and "helped" Deaf people at the Astrodome -- I can paraphrase what she wrote, "too bad the community that PROFESS to support them". To me, that was more of plantation mentality -- "See? I have to help them because they cannot do anything on their own! That's why I'm volunteering myself over there!"

I shot back to tell her that her tone of plantation mentality is not appreciated and needed in our community. She went ballistic on her last email and told me that she will block me. And in turn, she runs off to McWeenie for some kind of moral support. McWeenie claimed that I sought after Teri for information which I never did. In fact, she emailed me first to notify that the "17 Deaf Dead" email was, indeed, a hoax.

Guess what? Do I give a fuck? No, not at all. These stuff will happen ALL the time, no need to work up on this subject but to act like you HAVE to help them because their community does not provide the support they claimed to is offensive, simply put.

And fuck you, Teri and McWeenie.

One More Thing, McWeenie: McWeenie, you wrote an entry before you quickly deleted it -- the one that you decried me for snickering at the CNN video of Deaf man being melodramatic -- grow a spine, McWeenie.

I had Gus to watch the CNN video and I stood behind him to see his reaction to the facial expressions of this deaf man's melodramatic expressions. When the scene of Deaf man's expressions appeared, Gus quickly smiled and coughed a laugh. See? I rest my case. That was a simple response to the facial expression. Get a fucking life already. If you want to do something for Katrina victims, more power to thee. But I reserve the right to comment my own toughts whether if you like it or not.

I see that Patti Raswant gave her few words to McWeenie on her DeafSurvivors' blogsite, I had been trying to locate Patti for some numbers of years -- I attempted to ask that from McWeenie, he went on the series of tirades on the emails on me. What do you expect from a conservative, Republican prick?

R-

HEY! YOU FREEZE! GET DOWN ON THE FLOOR!

Thanks to the tip of a certain friend in Philadelphia who alerted me of this picture.

It is absurd to think that if they are Deaf, it means they all can lipread. I highly doubt they can lipread. They probably improvise the best way they can. Knowing cops, I do not trust their antics.

If I was the guy on the floor, I'd say in ASL so fast that they cannot decipher -- I'd say, "Get that fucking gun out of my face or else, you pig!!" -- at the same time, putting a smile on my face.

But this is very common amongst Deaf people when a crisis appeared, we have to deal with this crap.

Dale Fatterson Is An Idiot: Dale Fatterson (Update:I removed the link because Dale Fatterson removed his picture, how pitiful is that? Let me describe what he looked like -- he is enormously obese who forced his pregnant wife to work while he stays home, surfing the 'net to attack people as he wished!) mentioned that on his dying forum that "ASL nearly killed this guy," when a Deaf person could not understand the written direction. This fat boy thought ASL was solely responsible for his inability to read very well. Actually, Dale Fatterson, you got it all wrong. His lack of educational background may be the reason why he was not able to understand BOTH languages. He is likely to attend schools where his teachers are HEARING ONES who do not care nor take the time to educate him properly. ASL has nothing to do with it, you dumbfuck!

UPDATE! I received an email from a volunteer at the Astrodome in Houston, she is able to confirm that the email that was circulated to Deaf people across the country back and forth of 17 Deaf people dead or missing is, indeed, a hoax. But is it cruel or heartless? No, not really. In fact, if I found out that I was presumed dead, I'd be amused by that. Don't cry a river about it, please.

Cheers,

R-

Dr. Jordan & Katrina

His Announcement Is Insensitive! When Hurricane Katrina steamrolled the Gulf Coast communities, Dr. Irving King Jordan announced the retirement. Is it only me that I thought it was insensitive of him to do that? He could have waited until Friday or a week after that. When I heard about it, I thought someone was joking. But no, no one was joking.

After talking with 4 persons online, each thought it was insensitive -- one said that there are about 20 students that hailed from Gulf Coast communities -- how can he do that in front of them?

Silly Thing To Say?: Dr. Irving King Jordan did a lot of things for the University. And he did a lot of things that did not pan out the right way that many people wanted it to be. The truth is that he was a decent President but he was never a popular figure -- not after he forced Dr. Roslyn "Roz" Rosen to resign from her position. You see, Dr. Rosen is considered to be popular figure among faculty and students. Dr. Jordan chose the hapless puppet, Dr. Fernandes to replace Dr. Rosen.

I do recall remembering the fiasco with the Communication Statement which pissed many people from the alumni to the student body. Yes, Dr. Jordan managed to get money from Congress and donors over the years, that is good. But it is no secret that he alienated many people when he took Dr. Rosen out.

I do not think Dr. Irving King Jordan deserved the headline that Donald Tropp and his team at the Buff and Blue gave to Dr. I. King Jordan! Of course, I gotta give two jeers to Donald Tropp for having this ridiculous headline. That was tasteless and barf thing to do.

In fact, my friend from DC alerted me when she saw the headline -- she was appalled with the headline. How can anyone do that to brownnose this person who turned his back on Dr. Rosen?

I'm Sorry But I Had To Snicker: I know the tragedy in Gulf Coast communities are difficult and crazy but Deaf people sometimes are so melodramatic. I'll leave you to your own imagination. Hat tip to Michelley for the link.

For Hearing People's Curiosity: Want to understand what it is like to use the videophone? Or even the video relay service? Check this link.

Cheers,

R-