Happy Birthday Jeff! Party on with your bad self ... looks like you're well on your way. Love the festive umbrella behind the ear ... stylin'

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I think most of the spring operated umbrellas like this one I've owned wore out more from me playing with the mechanism than normal wear and tear (it's like clicking a ballpoint pen but a thousand times more satisfying).

Actually, no. It would be unlikely that he'd face any charges.

The law allowing for self-defense even makes killing an offender allowable if they are a grave imminent threat to you or someome else.

Repeatedly punching a blind person as hard as you can in the head falls under that umbrella. I think even if he shot the fucker he'd be in the clear.

I don't think it's supposed to be taken in a general way and applied to "gay" people, but rather telling the story that isn't very often heard about those people who don't identify as either gay or straight, or who fall into the bisexual, asexual or questioning (gay/bi/trans curious) categories of the LGBT[QIA].

The truth is, we want to believe SO BADLY as a society that we are either gay or straight. And then we want to label ourselves to find community and identity SO BADLY, that some people get caught in the middle of two (or more!) different worlds, and that neither normative communities quite describe their sexuality. Hence the final comparison with the romantic comedy Sliding Doors. Also, that's why these crazy parties exist in the first place. (You're NOT invited.)

Let's see, there's:

L is for Lesbian, which is women's special gay letter. Technically you could just call LGBT, GBT, as some women identify as gay but not lesbian, or vice versa, or both. But women are special because of feminism, so they get L and G but men only get G.

Don't get on my ass because I speak the truth. I attend plenty enough GBT events to know the fluctuating social stigmas within the group, as well as the bitter rivalries between different letters of the acronym (or those who want to lengthen or shorten the representative letters). It's confusing to people who have this misconception that all stories of gay or lesbian people apply to all gay or lesbian people. It's so diverse, what's even the point of labels any more?

Anyway, moving on.

G is for Gay, which is women or men, but in common usage was (or is, depending on your perspective) for men. Yet as time goes on and the information age fills in our social gaps, women have begun to identify as gay. In fact, I have a genderfluid friend who was born female, but often identifies as a gay male, and has even been accepted into the ranks of the the Gay Men's Chorus. Take that label obsessed society!!

B is for Bisexual, which is a broad category that I'd say more aptly covers this situation, but even more so I think the Q (Questioning) with a little or a lot of A (Asexual) of the greater acronym LGBTQ or LGBTQIA is an even better term for these two star crossed lovers.

T is for Transgender, which is another broad category but with very specific splinter factions of crossdressers, transexuals, transvestites, genderfluid, etc. etc. Some of these terms, depending on the context are either outdated, have new or older and more specific defining characteristics, or even more often, people define themselves as the umbrella term itself, transgender, because the feelings of one or the other specifics oscillates and changes as transgender people (male and female) age. I know trans people of all ages and wow, the perspectives are vast, and are rarely consistent throughout the years. (You just DON'T know how you'll identify at the age of 65+.)

Q is for Questioning, which is for people who just don't know what they are. This one is really an open ended letter and often isn't included because it represents an ignorance of the self. Maybe you figure out your sexuality or gender specifics right away or maybe it takes you years of experimentation to find your niche. Or maybe you transcend the boundaries forever, always changing and never staying the same throughout the years. The main thing here is that you don't know. Maybe you have a gay romance and then you're like, "Damn, I'm definitely straight" and now you're not even part of LGBT. Q is like the gateway letter. lol

I is for Intersex, which is for people who have genitalia or other gender defining anatomy which is different, not entirely present, is equally both, or more of one than the other. Look it up, because I'm the least familiar with this one, though I do have friends who are intersex. I just haven't asked them enough specifics out of respect. Also, recent research into genetics has shown that you could have a portion of your body that isn't gender defining, but which is made up of the opposite sex's genetic code. I've heard of people who have had their toe or their heart identified as male, but the rest of their body is female. Some people will never even know they're intersex, and depending on what part of their body is intersex, may not experience any feelings other than their body's dominant sex. (I don't have a scientific link, but it was part of a topic that I attended at PRIDE.

A is for Asexual, which is for people who don't have sexual feelings, or who don't act on sexual feelings for any number of reasons intellectual, physical, or both. I don't know how broad this category is but I myself go through periods (sometimes years) of asexuality. A defining characteristic for some people who have misidentified as gay or bi. For example, my parents thought I was gay and I had friends who would openly call me gay, despite me not showing ANY sexual emotions towards either sex. Though I did have both guys and girls who would hit on me or have sex (oral or otherwise) with me on the down low, despite my half interest in both! People are curious and when you can't figure out someone's sexual identity, some people will lay it on so thick, it could be seen as sexual harassment. I knew several girls that just wanted to have sex with me so bad to figure out if I was gay or straight. I just didn't care about either sexes at the time, though I was pleasantly stimulated to varied effects.

I think this is the story that isn't told. If you're asexual or going through an asexual period, that doesn't make you gay!

There could be more movies or shorts out there telling this story, but this is the first honest look into the Q and A of LGBT that I've ever seen. Shit, and I thought when I published my book I'd be the first. Damn. heh

Back when my dog was still with me (put to sleep at 17yrs for congestive heart failure, btw) when we went out in my convertible, and had to park somewhere, I brought along a big golf umbrella and left the roof down so he'd have some place out of the sun and still get cool air.

That's it, I'm leading a march to the sea to make salt. We can't let the cute little Morton girl with the umbrella's tyranny go unchallenged.

Might be interesting to compare and contrast how we in the US have handled our laundry list of "bad things we've done in the past" compared to, say, Germany.

I know that the Nazi flag and other imagery are outright banned / censored in Germany. From what I understand, WW2 history taught in schools in Germany is handled very carefully, if not largely glossed over.

In the US, the only bit of history that gets treatment similar to that (in my experience/opinion) is the Vietnam war. I know my High School history classes definitely glossed over it and didn't want to get into any details about why, how, or whether or not we should have been in the war at all.

Compare that to WW2, which was covered in pretty great detail. Very much including actively encouraging students to consider their own thoughts on controversial things like dropping not just one but two atomic bombs on Japan.

The Civil War is also covered much more openly and honestly. I don't think I can recall anyone ever seriously suggesting that the single, most important root cause of the Civil War wasn't slavery. Other umbrella labels like "states rights" might be referred to as the impetus, but yes, any and all of those things really boil down to slavery.



One thing that scares me about the German approach (sweep under the rug and don't talk about it) is that it sort of all too conveniently ignores the reality that these terrible things were done by people who were (disturbingly) not very different from us. OK, Hitler himself might have been a 1 in a million or 1 in a billion combination of evil, crazy, and powerful. But Joe Average from today ... not so different from Hans Average from 1930s Germany.

Celebrating one's heritage and past is OK, sometimes even good. Especially when one can honestly own and try to understand the bad along with the good. I think it is OK to appreciate the Confederate flag, along with historical figures like Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson. It is possible to accept that their core motivations were done in support of a very bad and evil institution (slavery), but to still respect or even admire their accomplishments as human beings. Thomas Jefferson owned slaves too, but we are willing to look beyond that when considering his legacy.

Maybe the Confederate flag is tied too closely to the institution of slavery for it ever to be uncoupled from that. Maybe a government that prides itself on being democratic should consider that that connection creates a conflict with many of its constituents. But I hope we never sweep it under the rug and pretend it never happened.

I don't know what dirt Blatter has on what politician, but how did he not get arrested?

The business around the Qatar world cup demonstrates perfectly how this horrible world works. Football is loved around the world, for the most part by peace loving individuals who believe in fair play and good sportsmanship.

Yet somehow, the money that we pay to watch football (and the money that the advertisers pay for the privilege selling us things while we watch) was used to set up a football competition in a country at a time when football is not playable. To ensure this impossible spectacle takes place, tens of thousands of low paid (and many unpaid for years at a time) migrants were moved into desolate infested squats in order to provide the slave labour to build the beautifully designed and wonderfully engineered, air conditioned stadia that we will all sit in or otherwise experience, in comfort, at the expense of all of those poor people.

And yet almost every one of us would be outraged and moved to action at the possibility of a person being exploited in our name.

They investigated themselves, they found themselves to be acting in an exemplary fashion. If anyone is punished for corruption, they will eventually return to their normal life of luxury after a brief stint out in the cold, and possibly be rehired under an umbrella company or to a lower-profile position of equal importance.

The same happened with the banks, the same happens with our politicians and their spiderweb of connections in big business and finance. Fuck capitalism. We need something new.

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That's a pretty damn awesome steampunk outfit!

"umbrellas and blimps, nigga!"

A fascinating episode in the struggle between unions and the establishment is currently taking place over here. A change in the regulations of union membership within a company allowed the union of railroad engineers to grow a pair and actually represent their members in a meaningful way.

Keep in mind, unions over here were not busted, but subverted instead. "Domesticated", you might say. Now here's a small union in posession of tremendous leverage: if the trains stop rolling, half the country grinds to a halt.

Many corporate lackeys in government got scared and a new law was proposed to curtail the power of smaller unions. A law that is deemed quite unconstitutional, by the way.

And that's when the umbrella organisation of this small union pitched in with a statement that can be summed up unequivocally as "it's on, bitches". It's just rhetoric so far, but the small union already made good on their threats last month, so I'm somewhat hopeful that we'll finally get to see some meaningful pushback against the war on unions.

Come on guys, this thing has CG all over it! Look at the compositing at 0:50 when they are coming out of the building - they are floating all over the place in movements that don't match the camera. The dancers are obviously sped up many times while the band members are not. The clouds at the end come in awfully conveniently when the camera pans upward. Etc.

According to Rolling Stone, it was stitched together from 44 takes, so that might account for all of that. I'm a bit skeptical that the umbrella animations at the end weren't completely CG, but we'll see for sure if they release a behind-the-scenes.

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/videos/watch-ok-go-use-synchronized-umbrellas-for-trippy-new-video-20141027

If there's any after effects in this, I would be seriously disappointed with OK Go. They've "kept it real" so far, and I think post cheats would be horrid.

I was just thinking of a way to do the human LED board.

What I figure is little wifi-signaled lights to each umbrella holder. ON means open the umbrella, Off means close it. Then all the people have to do is hit their marks (the tape crosses and lines on the ground) and follow what the light shows.