While I was on my vacation, I watched a very interesting program on the history of censorship, nudity, and sex in American cinema history. I was fascinated to learn a lot of stuff I did not know previously. For example, in the early part of the 20th century, there was pretty much no precedent to follow when it came to censoring movies. So, pretty much anything went. There were movies that showed sex and nudity. And even as early as the teens they had pornos. Honestly, I thought porn didn’t come around until the 1960s, but yet here they were showing not only naked tits and pussy but full fledged cock and balls; shit they were even erect as well. And yes, they were showing actual fucking going on.

But then came the late 1920s and 1930s when Congress took note of all of the sex and that was when some guidelines were set forth, actually not by Congress but by the movie industry itself. They acted before Congress had to act. The guidelines they came up with were pretty damn tame by today’s standards. For example, kisses were not allowed to last longer then three seconds. And nudity? Shit, there was none of that, in fact they couldn’t even show silhouettes of partially naked people. It wasn’t only the visual aspect that was avoided, there were also a whole slew of words they could not say, including sex and a lot of other non swear words I can’t remember right now.

But, filmmakers would find ways around the guidelines. For example, Hitchcock would have people kiss for three seconds, briefly pull away their lips for a second and then go at it again. They also had all sorts of different ways of implying that sex had taken place, like a fadeaway or blackout or my personal favorite, and I’m not making this up, the old cliched train going through a tunnel.

It makes me appreciate how far we have come with regards to sex at least in movies. America has always been way more uptight about sex than it should be and way more free with violence than it should be. I’ve heard that Europeans are the opposite; casual about sex and more reserved about violence. Which, in my opinion, is how it should be. I mean, sex is great. Everybody loves sex; shit it might be the greatest thing in the world. Violence on the other hand, well nobody likes to be involved in some sort of violence, it is the worst thing in the world. I can’t help but think that America would be a better place with more sex and less violence.

I read an article on Yahoo that NASA has discovered another potential planet that could possibly be habitable to life just outside our solar system. The planet is 2.4 times bigger than Earth but is in an area called the Goldilocks Zone, not to be confused with the bikini zone. The Goldilocks Zone is a comfortable zone in which it is not hot enough to boil water but also not cold enough to freeze water. The surface temperature is about 72 degrees and seems to have water and rock and many other things in common with our planet.

Normally I’m a cynic, but when it comes to life not of this Earth, I am a believer. I look up at the night sky and see the massive amount of stars up there and am convinced that there is no way possible that there is not something else out there. I’m not saying it is little green men or that they have been here, but I’m just saying that the odds are overwhelming that there is some other life out there, if it is not as advanced as us or even if it is just a plant. I do believe though that there are other planets out there with people much like us. I know there are a lot of religious people who strongly and arrogantly believe that there is no way possible that there is other life out there as they insist that God made us and only us. But, that is awfully arrogant to believe that your God would only allow us to be created in spite of the fact that clearly there is a whole shitload of other planets, stars, and galaxies out there.

I wonder though, what these other worlds must be like if they do indeed have life. Do you think they have the same technologies and societies as us? Internet? Cell phones? Baseball? Orgasms? Chocolate? Spell check? Celebrities? Wars? Orgasms? Crime? Pencils? Pizza? Aluminum foil? Orgasms? Pot? Alcohol? And finally, orgasms? Is it possible that these planets are a whole lot like us or like very different with none of the above and certainly no orgasms.

Of course, like many things in life, the beauty and frustration of it all is that we might never know. Scratch that. We will probably never know. And we certainly won’t know in our lifetimes or in the lifetimes or our great great great grandkids even. But, the fascination is that there is such a curiosity factor to the whole thing and the endless possibilities. I mean really, there is no telling what is out there. Of course, science fiction and the National Enquirer believe that slimy, misshapen beings are out there and they want to do us harm. But that is probably not true. I mean, I guess it could be, but I think it is just as likely that there are more planets out there just like us and curious as to wonder if we exist. And don’t forget to them, we are aliens too.

So what do you think?

Today was my first day back to work after my 12 day vacation as the last day I worked was the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. As much as I would have liked to, I actually did not take a trip at all. Kind of ironic though, here I had 12 days off and didn’t take a trip yet earlier in the year I had four and five days off and I managed to take trips each time. So what exactly did I do with myself for 12 days? Well the first day off was spent cleaning the house for Thanksgiving. The rest of the time I watched a hell of a lot of movies and t.v. I watched at least eight movies and actually it might have been 10. Then again, one of the movies was Gone With the Fucking Wind which is like 80 damn movies in one. But, here is a summary of my time off, since you didn’t have the courage to ask:

• The best thing I did over the vacation was go to the World of Chocolate on Thursday December 1. You might have read all about that in my previous post though. 
• Went to a benefit concert featuring five bands for the family of a friend of a friend who had died.
• I hung out with a “friend one night.” Wink wink, nudge, nudge………………hey ohhhhhhh!!!!
• Went out to dinner with another friend another night, going to a place called, uhhhh………….Gordon Burch? Was that it? I don’t know but it was pretty good. 
• Watched the aforementioned Gone With The Wind. Have you seen that movie? This is my mom’s favorite movie of all time and I have always heard so much about it so I figured since I had about the longest vacation of my life I might actually have the time to watch it. Boy, I’ll tell you, that is the movie that never ends. It goes on and on and on and on and on and on. And on. And on. And just when you think it’s almost over guess what? It goes on for like another million fucking hours. And talk about the drama and the overreactions, holy shit the tears and whining of Scarlett O’Hara and some of the other characters, man I could barely stomach it. I guess it wasn’t a bad movie though. It did keep me interested which was nice since it never ends.
• Watched three Hitchcock movies, The Wrong Man, Shadow of Doubt, and the amazing North by Northwest which I feel might be the best Hitchcock movie I have seen so far. The famous crop dusting scene might be the best filmed scene in American cinema history. Everything about that scene was stunningly amazing. You might not know the exact scene but I’m sure you have seen it parodied and or copied in other movies and shows including The Simpsons and Family Guy. Next time you have even a one day vacation you should check it out. 
• Spent a few hours on the northside of Chicago in the gayberhood. It wasn’t as exciting as it seemed. I only went there to hang out and read at a Caribou Coffee and then grab a late evening meal at a local diner.
• Finished fourth in a 19 person poker tournament.

I guess I probably did some other things but that is all that comes to mind at this time. It sure sucks to be back at work though. It is a miserable thought knowing that my next week off won’t be for another three weeks until the week between Christmas and New Year’s. Geez, three weeks, I can watch most of Gone With the Wind in that time.

Last night was the World of Chocolate to benefit the AIDS Foundation of Chicago. This is always a great benefit filled with hot gay guys who never even look at me for any number of reasons among them because they probably don’t think I’m gay. So this year I tried to change that by attempting to dress gay. I had on a uniquely colored shirt which wasn’t quite pink, yet not quite purple and not quite red but some sort of mysterious, kinda gaudy with a pinkish tie. When I asked my friend’s gay brother if I looked gay he said no. I swear when it comes to dressing gay, I’m a hopeless case.

The benefit was held at the Hilton on Michigan Ave in downtown Chicago, the same place it is held every year. This year though we had some rather……………..unique company at the hotel. Turns out that there was a Republican state senate fundraiser being held at the exact same time. We all couldn’t help but laugh with irony and even took a comical picture in front of their sign, much to the annoyance of some of the Republicans at the hotel.

The benefit itself was pretty fucking cool. The chocolate was just outstanding, however it seemed like there were fewer vendors there this year than the previous two years that we had gone. They also had a prize board in which you bought a ticket for $50 and you were guaranteed a prize of at least $50. So of course I bought one and wound up getting a $30 gift certificate to the Annoyance Theater and Bar (it is more of a comedy club than bar though) and a $25 gift card to Lou Malnati’s pizza. I also bought some raffle tickets to try to win one of three trips. I won’t win, but after winning a trip to L.A. earlier this year I had to at least take a chance.

As I mentioned, this is the third year in a row I have gone to this event and once again, did not have any guy show even the slightest bit interest in me. I do recognize that most of that probably has more to do with me than anybody else. But, this place was filled with hot gay guys and I should have been able to at least make some decent conversation with at least one of them but could not. The closest I came was when I was make small talk with this very cute guy in a bow tie while we were waiting in line for a drink. I even made him laugh a few times but once I got my drink, I stupidly and regrettably walked away. Uggghhh………..I’m guessing I can probably use a good dose of confidence at this point, which is odd since I’ve  never really lacked confidence.

There is a drag queen who is at this event every year named Miss Foozie. She is probably Chicago’s most famous drag queen. I tried to steal a picture from her website but could not, so here is her link:

http://missfoozie.com/

My friend’s brother is a big fan of hers and she came up to us to talk to us. It was then that I had the best idea ever. I asked her if she would come with me downstairs to the Republican fundraiser! For some reason, she declined the offer, but honestly it would have been hilarious. What would have been even funnier is if the large black drag queen at the benefit went with me to the Republican fundraiser. See, Republicans hate gays. And regardless of what clueless people like gtt@xanga might think, there is a world of difference between Republicans and Democrats when it comes to gays. For example of this, just look at Miss Foozie’s site. There is no fewer then pictures of her with three Democratic politicians and not one Republican. Anybody who thinks Democrats are the same as Republicans when it comes to gays is either totally fucking clueless or has their head buried so far in the sand that there is no hope for them. While I certainly will not fault any gay person for wanting to be Republican and agreeing with Republican values, to go out and actually support Republicans knowing damn well that they are fighting with every thing they have to keep gays from equality is downright destructive to the gay movement and sets back gay rights 20 years. Face the facts; while we don’t have the support we desire from the Democrats, at least they are not putting in place measures to keep gays from being on the same level as heterosexuals.

Today, Thursday December 1 is World AIDS day. It is exactly what you think it is; a day to raise awareness of AIDS. Recently I’ve read some mixed news about AIDS and HIV. For starters, there are more people living with HIV now then ever before. At first though, this might sound bad, but it also means that more people are living longer with HIV because of the research that is being done and the drugs that have come out in recent years. The other news was that one out of five Americans with HIV do not they have it. Quite honestly, there is flat out no excuse for not knowing.

In Africa, AIDS and HIV is a pretty significant problem. It is made worse because people are not educated not only on AIDS or STDs but also on how to protect themselves from STDs. Here in America, we have known about AIDS for decades and know exactly how to prevent it; be safe and more importantly be smart. Look, I can be as promiscuous as anybody but I take the vital steps that are needed to be as safe as possible. Oh, and I get tested on a yearly basis. Being smart, safe, and knowing your status is the only way we can beat this thing. As great as sex is, it is simply not worth dying for or even worse yet, spreading the disease to others.

A lot of people still  believe AIDS is a gay disease. And while that might be true to an extent, gays are no longer the biggest group of people infected with the disease. Blacks in America and blacks worldwide are affected more by AIDS than any other group. To get this under control, we need to focus on raising awareness in the black community worldwide. And then take the necessary steps to prevent the spread.

Every year I take part in an AIDS fundraiser the first Thursday in December through the AIDS Foundation of Chicago. I have written about it before, it is called the World of Chocolate, which for chocolate maniacs like myself is like a chocolate heaven. Here is a link:

https://afc.aidschicago.org/netcommunity/page.aspx?pid=1390

Should be a great time, I will have to tell you all about it afterwards. In the meantime, be smart and safe.