Another Queer Jewish Buddhist

Happy Birthday Ruth Messinger!

Ruth is one of my heroes — New York lost when we didn't elect her mayor. But the world won, since she went on the lead a truly great humanitarian organization, American Jewish World Service.

I remember the first time I saw her, handing out leaflets outside Zabar's, running for City Council from a very left 3rd party. Of course, she didn't win in that race. But soon she was inside the Democratic Party and raising hell when she did get on the Council from my nabe, jewish left central, the Upper West Side of Manhattan.

Ruth is 68 today. And I am sure the results of Tuesday's election was present enough for her. But best wishes from this old supporter and left handed/left headed queer Jewish Buddhist.

Image credit: Chrystie Sherman

Shehecheyanu: Giving thanks for being alive to see this moment

All blessings, and life, flow from One Source — a Source that is beyond time and space — and which has sustained us and brought us to this moment.

Yes, we did.
Yesterday was spent phonebanking for Obama with my friend John down at UFT headquarters near Wall Street.
We called voters in swing states. PA. FL. Then tonight we were off to Room Service in Chelsea where the local queer Dems were holding an election party to watch the tally as the polls closed.

It was a wild scene that began with some tension that lifted as the count clearly headed in our direction. When Christine Quinn took the stage after CNN called the race at 11pm, the crowd was screaming (including one man who vented his fury at Quinn for voting with the mayor on extending term limits). I left at 1am, after our new President spoke to the crowd in Chicago. I still don't know where we are in CA on Prop 8. But I do know this, while the road ahead in this country will still be hard, and while we are clearly still a country very divided, we have a leader who is clearly about healing division. Here at home. And abroad. And that is a real reason to say the Shehecheyanu prayer.

Depression is depressing: Smile, and help rename the new, improved 21st Century Hooverville: Contest Update

Businessweek reported that in October there were 40 invitations on Evite for Depression parties -- no details as to whether, like the old "Harlem Rent Parties" of the '30s whether guests were expected to help pay the month's mortgage to keep the hosts from becoming homeless...which brings us back to our month-long contest for a new Bush era name for the Hooverville. Details and prizes below. Meanwhile, some other depressing facts from Businessweek about the new Depression: Netflix reports a 10% rise in rentals of The Grapes of Wrath, while unemployment statistics rise to 6.5% (not counting the underemployed). And today the Chinese government, taking a page from FDR, announced a stimulus package of over $500 billion. Bush?  MIA, just like he was in the National Guard.

Too bad that Proposition R, the ballot measure in San Francisco to rename the local water treatment facility "The George W. Bush Sewage Treatment Plant" failed to pass. But you still have a chance to give Dubya an enduring memorial by renaming the Hooverville for his incompetent leadership. Entries accepted through Thanksgiving (tho today, the day after the election, feels like Thanksgiving to me). Details follow:

In the 1930s, as the Depression threw millions out of work — and foreclosures threw thousands of families out of their homes — shantytowns sprung up all over the country, makeshift shacks and sheds thrown together from discarded wood and packing material to house the newly homeless in vacant lots, public parks, wherever they were tolerated. Sometimes they weren't tolerated and the police acted to hide the problem in the name of cleaning up the neighborhood. Right. Well. This is a familiar story in New York City.

These shantytowns were called Hoovervilles, after the president who presided over the worst financial disaster in American history — until Dubya's deregulation led to our current ongoing crisis. Above you can see the Hooverville that sprang up in Central Park. But there were local Hoovervilles all over the country. You can actually download an excellent presentation on the subject for Oklahoma schoolkids at Oklahoma Council on Economic Education site.

This brings us to an art installation in Madison Square Park created by Tadashi Kawamata, and paid for by the Madison Square Park Conservancy. Shacks, "tree huts" have been built and installed as art. Reminiscent of treehouses I knew as a kid, my first response on seeing one was delight. Then, as I looked around and saw them in several trees, all I could think was that the money spent on this so-called art could have been given to Habitat for Humanity, which actually makes houses for people. But then, the board of the Conservancy all probably have so much money, for them this is simply play. I think it is in extremely bad taste. Of course, for some already living on the street, these are better digs than what they've got and are in move in condition. I supposed they're guarded at night just so that won't happen.

What is worse, I think it is an unintended harbinger of what is to come in our public parks none too soon. Except that they probably should be renamed for Dubya. Or maybe Greenspan. So this brings us to the contest: What do you think the new Hoovervilles should be called? 

I'll pick 3 winners for first, second and third prizes. To be awarded the day after Thanksgiving. What are the prizes?

First Prize: $100 donated to Habitat for Humanity in your name, and a copy of the B52s CD Cosmic Thing. Why that CD? Loveshack, baby.

Second Prize: $50 donated to Habitat for Humanity in your name, and a copy of the B52s CD Funplex. Why? Cause it's a revolution I can dance to.

Third Prize: $25 donated to Habitat for Humanity in your name. No CD. Wish I had put my 401k in CDs. Don't you?

Oh yeah, I'm the judge! So my family can't enter.

What do Sarah Palin and Osama bin Laden have in common? Jihad!

Today's New York Times, finally catching up to YouTube, wrote about Sarah Palin's church and their belief in "Spiritual warfare:"

"Palin has had long associations with religious leaders who practice a particularly assertive and urgent brand of Pentecostalism known as “spiritual warfare.” Its adherents believe that demonic forces can colonize specific geographic areas and individuals, and that “spiritual warriors” must “battle” them to assert God’s control, using prayer and evangelism."

And just what is the definition of Jihad?

The word jihad is a noun meaning 'inner struggle' Jihad appears frequently in the Qu'ran and common usage as the idiomatic expression 'striving in the way of Allah (al-jihad fi sabil Allah).'

 Of course, there are those fundamentalists who turn jihad outward and see their enemies everywhere but within. Seems like Sarah Palin and Osama Bin Laden have a lot in common.

The interesting thing to note about the phrase "striving in the way of Allah (al-jihad fi sabil Allah)," is that it is rather congruent with with meaning of the word "yisrael," or for English speakers, israel, which means "one who struggles with G!d" and in some ways less the name of a nation or group of tribes than a spiritual state of being within a particular tradition.

Unfortunately, I don't believe Governor Palin understands or cares about the inner struggle. Her comments about the "real Amerca" suggests she believe there are those of us who live in a geographic area controlled by demonic forces  — New York is nice as a backdrop for using the Trade Center attack to publicize one's shallow definition of patriotism but for Palin, all those who live here, including those who died in the attack, are simply Satan's little helpers. And of course that certainly includes queer jewish buddhists.

So, we have basically established that Osama bin Laden is an Islamic terrorist, and since Palin, as one who clearly won't brand those who bomb abortion clinics as terrorists, is obviously a Christian terrorist or at least a sympathizer.

So let's take a brief pause for a moment of wisdom:

"We are each different. Yet we each have the opportunity to become free from egoistic thinking. There is no separate so-called Buddhism. There is no separate so-called Christianity. There is no separate so-called Judaism. It doesn't matter what you call yourself. When you walk in the rain you get wet. When you walk in the snow, you get cold. This is true for all people whether they call themselves Buddhist, Christian, Jew or Muslim.

People get into all kinds of arguments concerning religions. Sometimes there are even wars over religions. In these situations, all religions are like a finger pointing to the beauty of the moon. In all religions we need to look beyond the finger and see the beauty of the moon. Then we can live in harmony and help each other. We can share our wisdom and compassion."

-Sense Koshin Ogui
in his book of essays
Zen Shin Talks

Not very Buddhist to say so, but I have a finger for Governor Palin. And a moon.

Scrotalitarianism: Keeping your balls (not the german underwear) clean and fresh.

Yes, now men don't have to feel left out of when feminine hygiene ads run on TV. Manjunk promises fight odor causing bacteria that impede your sex life. Of course, you can be the auteur and create the TV commercial — Manjunk is sponsoring a video contest for the best ad, with winners getting a tropical vacation where no doubt, it will be hot and humid, so that product use will be essential. Unless of course, you are of the opinion that the fresh fragrance of a sweaty crotch is a turn on.

My favorite visual on the MJ website is the eye, looking through what can only be described as a gloryhole. You can't make this stuff up and if only for this reason alone I would include it in my ongoing Queer Product Watch. I imagine if you work for a client like this, you can sure have a lot of fun. Unless you use the product. 

Then there is the ad campaign for Balls underwear, which can be seen at their site. It features famous men, in scenes we recognize, except for the fact they are only wearing the undies. My favorite is the one of Errol Flynn, who was one of the sexiest men ever to grace the silver screen, in his signature role of Robin Hood. It's a very silly campaign, but I still love this ad. And I don't believe for a minute that Errol Flynn would be caught dead with Manjunk under those brief. He might be caught dead with an underage girl in a hotel room, which in fact he was, since when he died his girlfriend was 17. But Manjunk? I think not. 
 

Random drag in advertising: Renault

Please explain to me how this spot sells the car to its target market.

The Bamboo Sukkah

Up to the NY Botanical Garden today with friends Lou & Danyal to see the Henry Moore sculptures on a glorious autumn day. So glorious that the roses were still in wild profusion in the rose garden. The sculptures were fun, for a bit, but a little Moore goes a long way.

What got me, no surprise, was the exhibit of chrysanthemums, done in cooperation with Shinjuku Gyoen. The amazing blooms trained in rows like so many Japanese schoolchildren was a flashback to my autumn days in Tokyo. And then we saw the Sogetsu Sukkah. No, it isn't really a sukkah. But many Sogetsu ikebana masters like to make large arrangements with bamboo. The last head of the school, the late Hiroshi Teshigahara (also film director, whose Woman in the Dunes was an existentialist masterpiece) loved to make large, sculptural arrangements with bamboo. And this one, by Tetsunori Kawana, is clearly in that tradition. Standing under the tangle of a roof, held up by simple poles, I realized you could see just enough sky for this roof to be right for a sukkah. All the installation needed were bamboo blinds hung on the sides to serve as walls. And maybe tatami mats for dinner on the floor.

This could be an ongoing theme: best penis quote of the day!

The ongoing Chinese food scandals have now rocked the U.K. sex toy market. Seems that melamine in dangerous levels has been found in a chocolate flavoring used to make the sucking all the sweeter. A spokesman for the British Food Standards Agency, in alerting the nation to this clear and present danger, said:

"We’ve never had to put out an alert before on 'willy spread' – chocolate-flavoured or otherwise."

Even better, Ann Summers, the owner of the  sex toy chain (and of course, chains are sex toys) gave me even more of a laugh with this quote:

"As a responsible retailer we have tested all of our chocolates and even before the FSA alert was issued had taken all relevant steps to remove the chocolate willy spread product that could be affected by this issue."

Just how are they testing the willy spread? And do they need help?

Sexy Underwear Advertising, Minus the Sexy Underwear: More Cute Butts

Somehow I don't think a straight guy will feel compelled to pull something out of this guy's butt crack, however cute it may be. That said, this "interactive" print ad for Styx underwear, with the USP that the fabric won't automatically give you a wedgie, is pretty attention getting. The question is for the media buy in Vogue, where one wonders if, as in perfume ads, there is an added fragrance to the card. Ahem.



As it is so often, courtesy of Adsoftheworld.com

qwerty oops! wild keyboards from cio magazine

Esther Schindler has written a great story about some wild keyboards over at CIO Magazine, starting with the de rigueur Steampunk keyboard, which inspires my consumerist lust. However, there are some other hot new items, including the Bluetooth virtual keyboard, which is not only wireless, but really, keyboardless, since the letters are projected onto a surface. Then there is the hyper-ergonomic kinesis keyboard. All, however, are qwerty keyboards except for the Optimus Maximus, which uses an LCD display that can be customized for each key, making it useful for any language or symbol set, or enabling you to position the keys exactly where you want them: qwerty, dvorak, abcd or your own invention. As long as I can use my typewriter keyboard software — which mimics the sound of using an old Remington and available free from alphaomega software — as I hit the keys, I am happy.