Today's Mighty Oak


And I’m back, just like I promised, although with a much more media-intensive entry than I thought I would.  Enjoy!

I don’t watch The Simpson’s that often, but I know a lot of my friends do (I’m looking at you, Brad).  Can someone explain this to me:

I know, I’m very needy.

Updates on the oil spill, first the sad comedy:

And some more sad, angering news:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

 

You know what will make you feel better after all that depressing news, fun movies about the Arenas!  First off, this awesome tribute, set to music from The Chronicles of Narnia:

And now, a time-lapse of the building of the Consol Center:

And also to make you feel better: just remember, you could be at home (or the DLLCC) playing the Furry Card Game.  I kid you not.  Click over if you dare, and have some mind bleach on hand.

Here’s my first part about Star Wars: Did you know when The Empire Strikes Back was coming out, there was a special 1-800 line you could call to get “hidden” messages from the characters?!  And that it was so popular it broke AT&T?!  Now you can listen to them, and I suggest you do!

I can’t believe I’m about to write this sentence: but I think I’ve found something that was made worse by the addition of lightsabers!  I know, hard to believe, but why mess with what is perfect already:

It’s been mentioned elsewhere, but I’m going to grab a newspaper and smack PennDOT on the nose, “Bad PennDOT, bad!  You need to make it wider, not taller!  Wider!

Have you met Gary and Elaine?  They live in a catalog.  Go check it out!

Andrew Sullivan links to an awesome quote from tinfoiler:

“When my son Hunter asked me why it was okay for Bristol Palin to have a baby before she was married, I told him that God has special rules for special people.  God knew that Bristol could become very rich from having a baby, so He granted her a pregnancy.  Since she is the daughter of Sarah Palin, and the name Bristol Palin can be rearranged to spell “Orbit Plans” she is pretty much an angel, at least by the official bible definition.  And that pretty much makes her son like a Jesus, technically speaking.  This is just more proof that the blessed Palin family has wonderful and holy plans for true Americans.  After explaining this to my son, he told me that he wanted to be sex-educated at a public school so that he could have a Jesus baby too.  I smacked him in the mouth and told him that sex education is only for liberals and atheists. As good Christians, we should be ashamed of sexuality and our bodies, unless you are chosen by God, like Bristol Palin,”

You might also want to check out Tea Party Jesus:

Woot! was bought by Amazon, and as amazing as that it, it pales in comparison to the letter sent to the Woot! employees, I really think that this actually went out.  Knowing Woot! it just seems to fit.  Here are some of my favorite quotes:

Other than that, we plan to continue to run Woot the way we have always run Woot – with a wall of ideas and a dartboard. From a practical point of view, it will be as if we are simply adding one person to the organizational hierarchy, except that one person will just happen to be a billion-dollar company that could buy and sell each and every one of you like you were office furniture.

Q: Where can I get one of those vuvuzelas?
A: Are you even paying attention?

They’re not looking to have their folks come in and run Woot unless we ask them to, which incidentally you can do by turning off the bathroom lights and saying the word “Kindle” three times; a helpful Amazon employee will appear in the mirror.

Q: Is Snapster leaving? A: Are you kidding? He’s out the door about ten seconds after that check clea- that is to say, Snapster will continue as Woot.com CEO, just like before, and the rest of our staff’s not going anywhere either. Woot and all ourvarious sites will continue to be an independently operated company full of horrible, useless products and an untalented jerkface writing staff, same as it ever was.

And finally today, I would just like to brag a bit.  Ginny over at That’s Church asked for a motivational poster, and I happened to have a few free minutes (I was off of work that day), so I quickly threw one together and sent it over.  If you don’t read her blog, you really should ,nothing else makes me laugh on such a consistent basis, and she cares so much for Pittsburgh it hurts sometimes (why we love her!).  I of course, complain that I wish I had more time, things I would change, but as my friend said, “shush!”  Here’s the post, and here’s my work:

As always Ginny, your wish is my command!

That’s it for now, have a great one everybody!



This could probably also be posted on “The Great and Secret Show” but for now, I’ll leave it here on Warhol’s Phone.

The City Paper is reporting that the ACLU is looking into the almost arrest of Green party activists at Point State Park.  Apparently, it is against DCNR regulations to distribute anything political in their parks without getting prior permission.  This line of the article made me laugh a lot:

Turns out the regs have been in place for nearly 40 years … but even the ACLU never noticed them:

Some things just go unnoticed.

It’s tough, I guess that I don’t know enough about the review process, and even if there will still be any kind of process in this whole mess.  Of course I think we need to protect our first amendment rights, but we also need to protect our natural resources, which is ultimately what the DCNR does.

How much of a bother are groups passing out literature or holding rallies in parks?  I guess that too, depends on the person.

So at the moment, I have a whole lot of nothing to add to this conversation, but that’s okay too, I just wanted to bring he matter to everyone’s attention.



Quick update for everyone, I should be back either later today or tomorrow with more.

I just left D’s from watching the World Cup game.  I’m very sad that Ghana lost, one, because they were my team in the poll, but also because they were the last African team.  However, the last few minutes really showed that they did deserve to win that game.  Not that Uruguay did, but Ghana just seemed to fall apart a lot.  I”m excited for The Netherlands upset of Brasil, so I’ll either be rooting for them or Uruguay (yes, because their abbreviation is URU) in the finals.

First off, let us not forget this amazing portrait of the CEO of BP:

And of course, the time their Twitter account got interviewed by ABC:

If you’re a regular reader of Savage Love, be sure to check out this awesome parody that was published a while ago.

Like I said, real short, but I’ll be back with a lot more real soon, I promise!



I don’t do this very often, but this has gotten stuck in my head and it’s feeling a bit appropriate:



Just a quick note, I’ve added World Cup widgets to the sidebar on the main page, as well as over on the blogs.  The first will follow Ghana, who I pulled in our World Cup pool at D’s, the second will follow the U.S.  And on that note, congrats to the U.S. for their draw and Ghana for their win (first for any African country in this year’s tournament)!



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idLG6jh23yE

And in case you need a primer, The Onion has you covered.



Just in case you forgot, tonight is the season finale of Glee!  And now, Jane Lynch takes on the iPhone 4:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QzmtZQMqso

You’re welcome.



Written: 6/8/2010

I previously mentioned that I would be fired if I came out, if I told the truth.  I work for the Boy Scouts, and we operate under a pseudo-“Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy (lets keep going and ignore the fact that I think I just butchered grammar).

Working for the Boy Scouts, we don’t have the official DADT, but that is how we operate, and how we reference the policy.  Now, there are a few special circumstances that set our member policy apart from that of the US Military.  First, youth members do not fall under it.  From National’s perspective, a youth member is never gay (or more accurately, non-straight), they are just questioning and experimenting.  At least until they register as an adult, which can be 18, or can be 21. So I did a little bit of digging, and I was wrong (it happens a lot, don’t be surprised), although it was a more recent clarification, which is why I missed it I think.  Youth members cannot come out of the closet either.  Which again, is a shame.  Although I think, at least around here, you would be hard pressed to find a Scoutmaster who would kick a kid out of the program.

All my best,

The King of Spades



Written: 6/5/2010

I am the King of Spades. It’s not a great name, but it will work for now.

Obviously it is not my given name, but a nom de plume. How did I choose that? Do I have an obsession with royalty? Far from it. And besides, Spades is not a country (note to self: buy an island and name it Spades, then proclaim myself King, but you know, a benevolent one). The name came from a series of connections in my head, and I actually keep finding more connections and uses for it, so I’m keeping it.

I don’t want to keep the name though. I don’t want any of this to be hidden, to be a secret. I used to always pride myself on the fact that my life was an open book, at least to my friends. But life has gotten in the way I suppose. And in order to protect myself, I’ve kept myself bottled up, kept myself in the closet. If I were to tell the truth, to say that I am gay, I’ll be fired.

Even in a city with a non-discrimination protection, there are enough loopholes and addendums that for being honest, I would be fired on the spot.

Which leads me to one of the great ironies of my situation: I work for the Boy Scouts. The first point of the Scout Law is trustworthy. But every day, I lie. Every day I live a false life. Every day it feels like I die a little bit more inside.

This leads to all kinds of realizations, thoughts and craziness inside my head. I’ll do my best to get them all out. But first, a quote from one of my favorite authors, the dedication from House of Leaves:

This is not for you.

Sorry to be blunt. But this is for me. Yes, I love writing, and I’m sure part of me wants people to read this and understand me more, maybe even take something positive away from what I’m going through, but it is more important for me to see these words, to put them down on paper so to speak (that’s another conversation, probably best left to The Great and Secret Show).

I think a good portion of this would make more sense if I explained how to came to this place in my life, how I came to understand and accept myself. But that is for another day, I do apologize.

Some people will say that I brought this on myself, and they would be right- if they didn’t know my whole story. So I’m sorry dear reader, I probably will put all that down at some point, but not today, I can only take so much catharsis at a time. I may be strong, but I’m not that strong.

So I carry on, as I must I suppose. To what? Some sort of misguided and self inflated purpose I think. Can I turn this around somehow and make this all into a positive? I like to think so. After all, I am an eternal optimist.

So I write, and I look forward to seeing where this will take me.

All my best,

The King of Spades

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