An epidemic of douchery.

I find it amazing that the revocation of collective bargaining rights (and the other nefarious proposals in the republican budget plan) have stirred such passions in normally moribund Americans that they've been protesting at the Statehouse for an entire month. This picture was taken two days ago, on Saturday. There were over 100,000 people on the square, which is amazing given that the entire Madison metro area has only about 561,000 residents.

The republican plan to divide-and-conquer by pitting struggling private sector workers against also-struggling public sector workers has been remarkably successful. It's tempting for people when republicans keep telling them to blame those greedy public-sector workers and their nefarious unions for the budget crisis in Wisconsin (if there even is one). Yeah, those teachers and doctors and cops and firefighters and snowplow drivers and prison guards and pothole-fillers and garbage collectors and social workers... greedy bitches with tons of cash who just go aroud flaunting those pensions in front of "real" Americans.

Never mind that the people who are to blame are the truly greedy bastards on Wall Street, as well as the general American public for their years of blithe ignorance. Yes, I said the American public is partly to blame. As long as the money was rolling in, no one cared how it was being made. But like sausage, if the process by which the product is made is flawed, one can get sick.

So now the republicans have passed, through devious parliamentary shenanigans which are still under legal question, a "budget repair bill" that has little to do with the budget and doesn't really repair anything. Up to 60% of Wisconsin residents oppose the de-certification of unions, but no one in the republican party seems to give a rat's ass. Walker keeps saying it's about the money... but the unions already capitulated to the financial aspects of the bill, and only wanted to keep their collective bargaining rights. No dice, say the repubs, right after passing a $130,000,000 tax cut for the wealthy and for corporations.

Here are some highlights from this stinker of a bill:

1. Public employees will take a 6% pay cut to contribute more to the pension system (which is fully funded at this time, and is one of the best-managed pension funds in the country).

2. Public employees will at least double their contributions to their health insurance plans, and the government will investigate offering high-deductible shitty insurance to the public workforce.

3. Public employee unions would be able to bargain only for wage increases up to the cost of inflation, and will not be able to collect dues through payroll deduction. Contracts would be limited to one year, and unions would require an annual re-certification process. Police and firefighter unions, who supported Walker's election campaign, are exempt. The prison guards, who supported the Democratic candidate, are not. Natch.

4. If the Governor declares a state of emergency, for whatever reason, that will empower him to fire any and all employees who have too many absences or take any work slowdown or strike action.

5. Home health care workers and family child care workers, thankless jobs if ever there were any, are no longer allowed to bargain collectively under the state Medicaid program.

6. UW Hospital employees have had their collective bargaining rights revoked, and UW faculty and academic staff are barred from forming any collective bargaining units.

7. Medicaid eligibility will be adjusted so that thousands will be thrown off the rolls. But when these uninsured people die, republicans have offered more money to the fund that pays for burial of destitute people.

8. $900 million will be slashed from the education budget for public schools, while more money will be diverted to private and charter schools. Because the teachers caused all this, of course.

9. The Governor will be empowered to sell state-owned utilities to the Koch brothers' corporation, with no-bid contracts, at pennies on the dollar.

There's more. Much, much, much more. The republican attack on education is revelatory, particularly given the fact that the current Governor was kicked out of Marquette university for cheating, had a 2.3 GPA, and never graduated. So much for preachers' kids being model students.

The republican ditto-heads also are sitting around droning on about how "elections have consequences". To a certain extent that's true, and should serve as a horrible warning against voting for a party full of corporate douchebags who don't care one whit about the best interest of the people. The republicans cite the passage of "Obamacare" as justification for passing this stinker of a bill despite overwhelming opposition. It should be noted that the passage of the health care act was done with a full quorum and in the light of day (unlike this bill's passage), and most importantly, at the end of the day, no one lost any rights. This is not at all comparable to the passage of the health care act. Not in the slightest. And the smug, idiotic, ginned-up derision and hatred being directed at the state's teachers is absolutely disgusting.

This is not about who wins and who loses. It's not even about the budget. It's about the rights of workers to have a voice in the workplace. It's about being able to bargain collectively for wages, retirement, health insurance, working conditions, unsafe or unfair labor practices. and a mechanism for the redress of grievances. Do you think that any corporate or governmental employer would have provided a retirement pension, decent wages, or health care had the labor movement not been as strong as it was? No, of course it wouldn't have. The labor movement was born in Wisconsin almost a century ago. It's part of the culture and heritage of this state. And the middle class is part of what makes this country strong and prosperous. But of course, out of a spirit of greed and malice, comes a republican party that seeks to reduce the middle class to near-poverty while enriching their corporate benefactors and wealthy donors, all while demonizing the people whose work is essential to our communities.

And people vote for these asshats... why?

The white zone is for the loading and unloading of passengers only.

I wonder sometimes if Madison will ever be a real city. Probably not.

Here you see me in the airport at Madison, waiting to leave for St. Louis for a business trip. Note the fact that it's the middle of the day and ain't nobody in the airport. You might be tempted to think that I'm in some little-known terminal used by an obscure Slavic airline. No. It's American Airlines, honey. And there's only one terminal at MSN.

Here, you see a booger that someone wiped on the outside of the window. I am in St. Louis for a meeting with my friend Edie. This was the beginning of a booze-soaked afternoon/evening extravaganza that was nothing short of legendary. St. Louis was relatively gross, at least in the downtown part where we were staying. We left early.



I'm back in Madison. What a pretty day, right? It's the middle of the afternoon. On a Sunday. You'll notice that I'm standing in the center of the road, with my back to traffic. Nothing. Nada. You could shoot a cannon down the center of the road and not hit a thing. The little skyway from the terminal to the parking ramp makes me chuckle... as if we needed something to protect pedestrians from the horde of arriving/deparing travelers.

Deaf ears.

Apparently my letter of complaint from last Friday, addressed to Jesus and discussing my disappointment in the additional 10 inches of snow we got that day, fell on deaf ears. This video, taken from the balcony of my apartment, shows what Easter afternoon looked like here in Madison.

If anyone would like to donate a trip to Puerto Vallarta, I'll gladly put out in exchange.

There is neither heaven nor earth, only snow, falling incessantly.

This is my street, on the west side of Madison. The picture was taken last week, at about 7 am, while I was driving to work (which explains the slight blue-ish tint from my windshield).

I love how the entire scene is a study in blues and blacks and whites, with the lonely pop of the red stop signs in the distance. It looks like there's nothing for miles, but there are buildings and apartment complexes all around me. The snow-covered streets (okay, ice and then snow-covered) really enhance the monochromatic look, which makes the whole image seem either peaceful or bleak, depending on whether you live in this snowy muck or are just browsing through the photograph.

I, for one, cannot wait to take this image again when the trees are in bloom. Spring approaches, and even the most stoic ones among us are awaiting its arrival with trembling anticipation.

Must remember... Wisconsin isn't that bad...

I went to Beloit on Monday for work. This is what it looked like just outside of Beloit, around noon. And people wonder why so many Wisconsin residents suffer from alcoholism.

I complain about Wisconsin frequently, but there are some really nice things about it.

Many of the people here are descended from the Germanic and Scandanavian immigrant tradition, which includes a distinct "live and let live" ethos. Being from the southern-influenced states of Oklahoma and Kentucky, it was a welcome relief to escape the overbearing influence of evangelical, sickeningly sweet, ultra-conservative politico-Christianity that has soaked through to the core of many states to our south. Wisconsin supported the birth of the progressive political movement, thanks to this immigrant population's stoicism and sensitivity to injustice. There's still a great festival here every year, Fighting Bob Fest, that celebrates the progressive movement along with the life of its founder, Robert "Fighting Bob" La Follette. It's fascinating, and utterly alien to my Oklahoma friends.

Particularly in Madison, what with its hippie-dippy-trippy history, there is a real appreciation for locally grown produce and small-batch, organic meats and dairy products. The proprietors of the local farms, dairies, and poultry/meat farms are proud of their work, and take great care to explain why their products are superior to those found in the supermarket. There are many farmers' markets sprinkled around the state, one of the most delightful being the huge market that occurs weekly on the grounds of the state capitol in Madison. The cheeses alone are worth a trip to Wisconsin. You may think you've tasted delicious cheese before, but there are some artisan dairies around Madison whose products will make your head explode. Don't even try to claim lactose intolerance here. It doesn't wash.

There's also something to be said for living in a slightly smaller city. I never have trouble parking downtown, and it usually costs me under five bucks when I choose to park in the municipal ramps. It never takes more than 30 minutes to get anywhere. Traffic is almost never nightmarish, and "rush hour" lasts just that... about an hour. The average commute time in Madison is 18 minutes, and it's exactly 2 1/2 hours from my apartment to 3246 N Halsted in Chicago. Rent here is quite reasonable, though home prices and property taxes are a bit high compared to other similarly-sized cities.

Last but not least, 48% of Madison residents hold college degrees. This is twice the national average, largely due to the dominating presence of the University of Wisconsin and the state government. It makes a real difference in the feel of the city when so many of its residents place such a high value on their own education.

So... yes. I complain about Madison sometimes. Its gay community is a bit limited compared to Minneapolis (where I lived previously). It can also be just a bit too quiet for my tastes, particularly in the winter. But spring, summer, and fall in Wisconsin are lovely, and Madison really is a nice place to live. And if I ever get a hankering for a faster pace, the Windy City is just a quick jump away.

Exclusive and restricted.

Tonight we venture out into the urban jungle that is downtown Madison. We will patronize the one gay bar there, for happy hour. Those who have yet to experience Madison gay nightlife will be pleased to know that it's a quick and easy process... one bar downtown, one bar on the west side. Since this is the least-lame of the two, we shall go here.

A year of snow, a year of plenty

To celebrate today's horrific weather forecast, I give you this little video. I love the maniacal laughter of the camera operator's friend in the background. He's clearly either super-high, or perhaps he forgot to take his thorazine. Or maybe both. Anyway, the video is of students (and some older people) falling on this patch of ice on the UW-Madison campus. No one was hurt, so go ahead and laugh.

Honestly, I don't know how much more of this winter I can take. We're already approaching the all-time heaviest snowfall totals in Madison's history, and it's not even mid-February yet. Have you ever heard an upper-midwesterner tell you (usually in a sing-song voice) that "March is the snowiest month... teehee"? It's not going to be pretty when someone says that to me this year.

Give me your pantyhose, dammit!

I had no idea until last week that there was something in the world called an "ice quake". Did you? I know Madison is much like the rest of the upper midwest... stoic and matter-of-fact when it comes to the sometimes-brutal weather that characterizes winter in this part of the country. But even I was surprised when this kind of armageddon-on-the-Isthmus happened last week.


By the way... the picture at left is of Lake Mendota, one of the several lakes that are nestled in the middle of Madison. That picture is exactly what it looks like outside today. If anyone deserves a shipment of tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches, we do. No joke.


From our local alternative weekly paper, The Isthmus:


Lake Mendota ice quake shakes UW and Madison (by David Medaris)


A UW-Madison news release reports that this afternoon's brief tremor may be attributable to an ice quake. According to the release, dozens of employees in buildings along the Lake Mendota shoreline phoned UW police and the facilities staff to ask about the shaking, which occurred at about 12:50 p.m., lasted for two or three seconds and registered on a seismometer at the geology department.


The release goes on to state that ice quakes (or a cryoseism) are often synchronized with loud cracking noises, "are caused by large shifts in ice and are most commonly triggered by drastic temperature changes" similar to the significant thermometer variations of recent days, and may result in pressure ridges or other fractures in the ice.


Such events are not without precedent. There's a lot of expansion and contraction happening out on the big ice sheets that cover Madison's lakes in winter. One of the most dramatic such occurrences happened a little before noon on Jan.15, 1948, when seismographs measured a tremor at 3.8 on the Richter scale.


That's not much by the standards of California or other active earthquake zones, but press accounts of the time noted that the shaking was "accompanied by loud reports of breaking ice fields" and "had the sound and force of a blast." An account in the American Journal of Science ascribed the quake to "an ice fracture on Lake Mendota," and noted that it "was of sufficient intensity to shake some plaster off the ceiling of an office and to crack the sewer drain of one fraternity house."


The day after that tremor of 60 years ago, a group of geology students discovered "a four-foot overthrust in ice 1-1/2 feet thick."


Today's shake-up was minuscule compared to the reports from 60 years ago: UW-Madison geology Prof. Cliff Thurber estimates today's brief tremor at less than 0.2 on the Richter scale -- enough to be noticed, but well short of calamity.


The UW-Madison news release noted no reports of damage as a result of today's tiny quake.


By the way... the quotation in the title is from the movie "Earthquake - 1974". Kudos to those who made that connection...

Not a twink, not a daddy. What do you call "in between"?

So the majority of the blogs that I read are written by folks in the NYC area. I'm not sure why that is, given that I've not really been to NYC that often. The first time I was in the city was a few years ago after C had left for the Philippines to work for a year. I needed some cheering up, and my friend Dan in Park Slope had offered to provide a lovely diversion.

It was a wonderful trip, though staying with Dan pretty much means that you're going to be stoned out of your mind for the majority of your stay. Dan's like that... he enjoys an herbal refreshment, he doesn't waste time with cheap weed, and he loves to share. (I think Dan was present when I got stoned for the very first time... a story I'll discuss later on.) So what I remember of that first trip is a somewhat limited... mercifully. There was a moment after my first trip to the back room at the Cock during which my shirt had been re-buttoned asymmetrically, my glasses were crooked, and I was all sweaty and disheveled. I had a delightful time, but it's best that I can't recall every detail.

That visit (and subsequent trips) to New York made me think about my somewhat strained relationship with my own city of residence, Madison. It's a lovely town, as you can see in the picture above. Situated on an isthmus (perhaps the gayest word in the English language) between two beautiful lakes, it's a bucolic and very progressive town that is dominated by the state government and the University of Wisconsin. Madison's reputation as a hippie enclave was well-deserved in the 1970s, but the mood has evolved over the years to create a somewhat more conservative vibe... but the hippie past continues to add a little bit of much-needed flavor to this community. Like cumin, a little hippie-dippy-trippy flava goes an awfully long way.

I pretty much judge a community by the size and vigor of its gay community and by the breadth of its performing arts options. I know it's a bit limited, but those are a couple of my primary interests. Madison has a great live music scene, with lots of indie bands and good jazz clubs. From a classical music perspective, however, it's severely lacking. There are a few organizations here, but with one or two exceptions the quality of the music is decidedly sub-optimal. I am an admitted music snob, a fact which I have only recently come to embrace. That said, after five years of living here, I'm faced with the "Sophie's Choice" moment... do I continue to hold out and not perform at all (in the hopes of eventually finding an opportunity that would meet my performance standards), or do I join a mediocre group and work to improve their musical quality? I've not made that decision yet.

The other issue at work here is the dearth of gay community. The thing about living in a relatively small city that is dominated in part by a university is the fractured nature of the gay community. There are plenty of young guys... 18 to 22-year-old undergraduates... in whom I am almost totally uninterested. There are also plenty of men over 45, most of whom are in lovely relationships and who aren't really interested in being out past 9:30. Where are all the socially active men in their thirties? I can't seem to find them. C and I have some great friends here in town, but the diameter our social circle is decidedly smaller than what we enjoyed in our previous home town of Minneapolis.

What does one do in such a situation? We should get out more, sure... but where? The gay bar options in Madison are so limited and tragic that the description would certainly require its own posting. I'm not particularly athletic, so participation in the gay softball arena isn't really for me. The difficulty I face with finding a performing outlet has also limited my social options... the music queens out there will know what I'm talking about when I say that I met the majority of my friends through those activities.

What, then, is a guy to do? The town is relatively affordable and easy to live in, and my job is awesome. The friends we have are wonderful. But the fact that this is the smallest city we've ever lived in continues to plague our social calendars. Maybe that's why I've enjoyed living somewhat vicariously through our NYC blogger buddies... but a little more gay vibe here in America's Dairyland would be a great thing.