I’m not the biggest college basketball fan and I’m sure the same can be said of many of you who will read this. But this is one of those stories that went beyond college basketball. Have any of you seen the video of (now former) Rutgers head basketball coach Mike Rice verbally and physically abusing his players? If you haven’t seen the video then you really need to go back and Google it and then if you are even the slightest bit human, be appalled at his behavior. For me and just about any reasonable person I know, to treat others this way is unacceptable. At least you would think it would be unacceptable and appalling.

But in our insanely divided country, there are people out there like Sean Hannity of Faux News who have the audacity to not only say this sort of behavior is acceptable but also to approve of such acts. His words were “I got hit when I was a kid and I turned out fine.” Now I know damn well that Hannity is not the only one out there who believes this way. And I’m not saying that all Republicans believe physically and verbally abusing somebody is okay. But, it is safe to say that the only people who can sit there and defend this fucker are Republicans.

I’m with Bill Maher on this one. You would think that when something like this happens we should all be able to agree that this is not right and should not be tolerated. And as Maher said, surly everybody can agree Rice is an asshole. But nope. We have to find a way to be divided on something that seems to be so seemingly and overwhelmingly wrong. I can be shocked and sit there and say what type of human being treats others this way but I’m more shocked at how many people find it completely acceptable to hit people with chairs and call them homophobic slurs. And what is even worse is that it is over something as trivial and pointless as a fucking basketball team.

It’s like we are totally wired differently. These same people who condone how Rice acted are the same people who condone torture. They are the same people who are against helping the poor and the needy. They are against helping those who can not help themselves. They are the same people who would pass laws that tie in a child’s performance in school to how much their parents can get in government aid. They are the same people who see homeless people and not just ignore them but berate them for being homeless. They are the same people who get pissed off that their tax dollars go towards helping others but yet have no problem with more of their tax dollars going towards wars. These are the types of people we are dealing with. And they are wire differently then the rest of us. They are missing any sort of semblance empathy.

Today marks the 10 year anniversary of one of the better days of my life. For decades I have always been a huge Chicago Cubs and Chicago Bulls fan. Through the years I have gone to countless Cubs games including many opening day games. As for the Bulls, I have probably been to about 10 games in my life. Which made this day all the more special.

In 2003 the Bulls were an awful team; one of the worst in the NBA. Unlike nowadays, tickets were not only easier to get but they were also much less money. In spite of their awfulness, I was still a huge fan. So when I found myself at a silent auction in March of 2003 and one of the items was four fourth row tickets to a Bulls game on April 8, I decided I would do what it took to win the tickets. After all, I had never sat that close at a Bulls game and when would I ever get a chance to sit that close again. Not only did I wind up winning the auction, but I got the tickets (and an autographed pennant signed by two players) for half the face value. I could not be anymore excited to be able to sit fourth row at a Bulls game, something I never could have done during the Jordan years, at least not for any less than my left testicle.

In 2003 I was working for AAA Chicago which had season tickets to the Cubs games that would sometime find their way down to me. I think in 2002 alone I had gone to about four games courtesy of work, all of the seats fourth row behind the visitor’s (that would be the first base side) dugout. Fortunately for me, April 2003 was a cold month, so cold that on April 7 when the Cubs were scheduled to play their home opener it snowed and the game was unable to be played until the next day. And the big wigs at work were unable to go to the game. So the tickets funneled down to my department. Somebody offered me the tickets but at first I turned them down knowing I was already going to the Bulls game that night. Then I thought about it for a second. The Cubs game started at 1:20 on the north side of Chicago. The Bulls game started at 7:30 that evening on the west side. Being a huge fan of both teams, I had to be nuts to turn down this special and very unique opportunity: sit fourth row at a Cubs game and Bulls game on the same day.

To even achieve my goal, I had to rely on a tremendous amount of good luck. First of all, the Cubs game needed to not go long. Most baseball games take upwards of three hours. Some take longer. And some games that have gone into extra innings have been known to last 4-5 hours. Also, while the distance between Wrigley Field (where the Cubs play) and the United Center (where the Bulls play) is only 5.7 miles, traffic in Chicago is often times a bitch. And traffic during rush hour? Well shit that can be a total disaster. Even if the Cubs game when a typical three hours, I would still have some issues making it to the Bulls game on time. And if it went three and a half hours, well that puts me on the road right around the height of rush hour traffic.

Being that they were snowed out the day before, the weather was quite cold as you might imagine. In fact, game time temp was probably about 32 degrees and it only seemed to get colder as the game went on. I remember being so frozen that I could barely feel my feet. I wanted the game to go quick not only because of my time constraints, but also because I was fucking freezing. And luckily for me, it did. The Cubs wound up winning and the game ended after about two and a half hours. Now the race was to have my brother drop me off downtown so I could meet up with another friend of mine so he and I could drive to the Bulls game.

We left our seats at Wrigley about 3:45. Much to my surprise, traffic on Chicago’s legendary Lake Shore Drive was not bad at all. In fact, for the most part, we zipped right across town into the heart of downtown Chicago where I met up with my friend. He then drove us to the United Center, getting there so early that the doors had not even opened up yet. By the time we got to the UC, it was only 5:15 which meant that I had gone from my seat at Wrigley to the UC in about an hour and a half. Not bad when you consider I had to get out of a packed ballpark and walk several blocks to the car before navigating rush hour traffic to get downtown.

The Bulls game was awesome. I remember security walking up to us several times asking to see our tickets to make sure we were in the right seats. The Bulls would win the game as well therefore completing what was an awesome and unforgettable day for me. I always say it was any sports fan’s dream: sitting fourth row at two sporting events in the same day. And both teams winning as well. Doesn’t get much better than that.

I feel like I have been severely neglecting Xanga in the past few weeks, either because I’ve been very busy or because my internet was down or any other reason. But the good news (or bad news depending on your viewpoint) is that I should have time to post and comment a little bit more this week. But I guess I should just briefly recap what I have been up to the past two weeks that has kept me so busy or that has not afforded me the opportunity to post:

• I’ve been very busy at work, working some 50-55 hours a week. I’ve also gone out each of the past two Wednesdays and Thursdays night which means that not only have I not been able to post those nights but also meant that I would try to work as many hours as I could (12-13 a day) the first three days of the week so that I can sleep in a little later the last two days of the week.
• I’ve been going to Second City a little bit more often to either watch shows or take fun improv classes. In fact, my class will have another show on Sunday May 5. Although it will be longer then the previous 15 minute show, it will still only be about 25 minutes long.
• I got a stupid fucking $60 parking ticket in Chicago for partially blocking the crosswalk. I guess I kinda deserved it but it still sucked.
• My car had to spend a couple of days in the shop due to some wiring issue. Fortunately it was still covered under the warranty and they give me a cool loaner as well.
• I started the remodeling of another room in my house and replaced a toilet long with some other minor work in my house. I guess I should clarify something; I really didn’t do any of it, actually my friends pretty much did it all. How’s that you ask? Well each month my friends and I take part in something called Project Days in which we do work on each other’s houses.

I think that is pretty much everything for now although I’m sure I’m leaving something out .

Holy fuck I haven’t been on here in forfuckingever! Turns out, Comcast sometimes sucks. I know this because from Tuesday until yesterday my internet, cable and home phone were all down. So how did I survive exactly? Porn. Lot’s of iPhone porn. Oh and the fact that I was so damn busy last week that I didn’t have much time for anything having to do with the internets or television. And you know what? I will be busy again this week, but someday I will be able to not only do a real post but also leave those annoying and intrusive comments that I leave on everybody else’s blogs!

I’ve always loved babies. Now since I don’t have any kids of my own, I don’t have to deal with the crying, the shitting, the vomiting, or any of the other unpleasantness that comes with babies. Sure it is easy for me to love babies if I’m able to cherry pick the good moments. But even when they are crabby they still are adorable in a way. And the tinier the more adorable. Seriously how could you not just fall in love with a little tiny, sleeping baby.  And oh my gosh the laugh. Is there anything as cute as making a baby laugh?

But another thing I love about babies is the potential. I look at the baby and think “shit, what is this baby going to see in his/her lifetime”? How much will the world change between now and when the baby grows up and lives out their lives? If I had to average out the age of the people who read this on a regular basis I would imagine it puts the median age at somewhere between 30-35. Just think about how much the world has changed in the last 30 years. And the more time goes by, the faster the world changes. By the time our lives are over the world is going to be drastically different from the world we entered.

Now think about a baby that is born this year. The world was already moving fast. Life expectancy would have that baby living until, get this, the next century. If that is the case than that baby will probably live through something like 15 U.S. presidencies. And how about the technological advances that child will see. When I was born there was no internet, no cell phones, and it was at the dawn of cable t.v. Now you can WATCH t.v. on your phone via the internet. Back then I bet there was no way anybody ever thought that would be possible. Just think of what we will be doing 80 years from now?

What about the advancements in social causes? There are people alive right now who were born before women had the right to vote. And now not only do they have the right to vote but some of them hold prominent political offices and we are probably not that far off from electing our first female president. When my oldest sibling was born in 1956, parts of the country were still segregated and blacks did not have the guaranteed right to vote. And now? We have a half black president. When I was born in 1975, being gay was still very taboo and for the most part considered wrong. And now? We are probably on the cusp of gay marriage becoming legal everywhere. Can you even possibly fathom the advancements we will make by the end of the century?

All this because of a baby. How awesome is that?

I had an interesting idea for a post which I can’t believe I’ve never written about before: What if I were straight?

I know this is a rather dangerous and rather controversial road to go down but thought it would make for an interesting post. I know that among the gay community we are supposed to have much gay pride and not have any questioning about what if and all that shit, but heck, we all think what if sometimes about many aspects of our lives. Hell, if I were straight, I have done a post asking “what if I were gay?”

First of all, I’m quite certain that if I were straight I would be a full supporter of gay rights. This is something that is fairly consistent with the rest of my uber liberal beliefs. Discrimination of any kind absolutely disgusts me on all levels. And my core belief is pretty much to each’s own; anything that doesn’t hurt other people should be legal. And when you talk about gays, well, it’s nobody’s fucking business what anybody’s sexual orientation is.

But as for my day to day life and what my life would have been like up to now, if I can possibly image that. I’d like to think I’m a good looking guy. And I’d like to think I’m funny. And although neither may be true, this much I do know throughout my life and even still today, I have had quite a few girls who have liked me. It is not a far stretch to believe that I would have been quite the, well, playa when it comes to girls. I lacked a lot of self confidence in my teens but while part of that was just who I am, a part of it was because I was gay. Take away the homosexuality and I probably would have been a lot more confident and able to get girls. Hell, I developed a lot more confidence when I finally came out in my 20s.

Which brings me to marriage. Twelve years ago I met a girl who seemed to be a female version of myself. I don’t believe in soul mates, however if I did she would be it. We hit it off perfectly and have been very close friends ever since. Another friend of mine said she is my “pseudo wife” because if I were straight I would probably be married to her. Then again, even as Illinois is poised to become the next state to legalize gay marriage, I’m still not so certain I ever want to be married. Oh sure, I want the huge kick ass wedding but marriage? Jeez, I don’t know; that is such a big thing.

Although I don’t know if her and I would have any kids yet, I’m also not so certain that I would not have knocked up anybody else along the way. Potentially, my life could have  been drastically different. I could have been ass fucking deep in child support payments, I mean who the fuck knows? Shit I have been known to sleep around now, hell if I were straight and got started when I was a teen and with the potential for pregnancy? I know I’m overall a responsible person but everybody has certain things they are irresponsible with and sex is just one of those things for me.

I guess this is just a little bit of a peek into what my life could have been if things had turned out differently. I’m kinda glad they didn’t though. In a weird way, I feel like I’ve got my freedom now. Hell I don’t have kids with a very little chance of ever having kids, that frees up a lot of time and money to do whatever the fuck I want whenever the fuck I want to do it. Although I’m quite certain being a parent is amazing and a joy, having the freedom to only be responsible for yourself is also a great thing too.

I’ve really got nothing to update but at least feel like I should write a post since it seems like it has been forever since I posted. Then again, I’ve been reading posts by people who haven’t posted in a month or so and here I go less than a week without posting and I think it’s forever.

Still though I just don’t have anything of note to really post about. Of course this happens from time to time not only me but for other people too. Its funny, sometimes I have way to much to write about and can’t seem to find the time to post it all but then other times I’ve got the time but not the ideas or thoughts. Go figure. Anywho, this is all you get for now.

Below are links to part of my show at Second City.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXHEmlfWdc4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbHMQKF1RUw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGFrjIxTU_k&feature=youtu.be

I read this article today (here http://finance.yahoo.com/news/pentagon-needs-12-6-billion-222706531.html should you want to read it) about how the military needs to budget $12.6 BILLION each year through 2037 to pay for the F-35 fighter jets it plans to buy. I have long complained about the amount of money our military spends and quite frankly, wastes. Now I’m not saying that these jets are a waste of money but it just goes to show you just how out of hand military spending has gotten. And this is just for one type of jet. Keep in mind we spend about two billion a week in Afghanistan.

Republicans like to complain and bitch about our nations debt and about the Democrats and Obama’s wild spending. I agree we all need to be very concerned about our debt and our spending. But spending on social programs are not what is driving the debt. It’s not even close. It is all the military, plain and simple. Yet, Republicans remain vastly silent our wild overspending on the military. I’ve said it before and I will say it again and again and again and again til I’m a heavy shade of deep blue in the face: you can’t be taken seriously about our debt unless you are willing to acknowledge and reform our military spending.

We recently had health care reform or Obamacare as people like to call it in our country that depending on who you ask, either saves or costs us a ton of money. And there is talk of immigration reform. And Wall Street reform. Well maybe now it is time for military reform. Certainly there has got to be a better way than paying a defense contractor $103 to do one load of laundry or $48 for a case of soda. If the deficit hawks like the Paul Ryans and Rand Pauls of Congress are actually serious about wanting to cut the debt, than perhaps they should comb through the military budget and find real solutions to drastically cut the cost of the military. Of course, the Republicans excuse is we can’t hurt military readiness by cutting the budget but honestly, are we vastly unprepared if the laundry costs $10 a load instead of $103?

Of course, I’m not an expert in the least on any of this. And I’m quite certain I’ve got very limited facts on military spending. And I certainly don’t know much about how our military budget is divided up. But all I’m saying is that is it honestly right to cut the heat for poor families while the behemoth that is the military goes on lining the pockets of evil defense contractors on the backs of the American taxpayer?

I watched Argo today. For those of you that might not have seen it, you might want to stop reading, go and watch then come back and finish reading because I’m probably going to give away much of the moving, including the ending. Did you know Ben Affleck beats the shit out of an old lady at the end of the movie?

Okay there, so now now we have gotten rid of all the people who didn’t want to read this post which is most of you. The movie is the true story about how the CIA created a fake movie studio and pretended to be making a movie to rescue six Americans from Iran during the Iranian hostage crisis in 1979-1980. Anyway, as we all know by now the movie won best picture at the Oscars just a couple of weeks ago. There is no surprise as to why it won best pic, after all Hollywood LOVES to pat itself on the back and brag about how great they are and this movie does showcase just how WONDERFUL Hollywood can be at times. Although that sounds like I’m being cynical and jaded (and I am), I did actually love the movie. It was very tense and quite the story.

I was blown away by the whole plot and thought of the movie. Honestly, it just sounds made up and like a totally dumb fucking idea. But yet, not only was it true but it also happened to work. And the amazing part is that the whole rescue was kept classified and top secret for 16 years! And while the whole Iranian hostage situation was an amazing and interesting story, I think this might have been more of an interesting story than the story of the 50 others that were held hostage.

The Iranian hostage crisis was the first story I ever remember hearing about when I was a kid. The situation started when I was only four years old and lasted until I was five. It was the earliest memory I have of seeing a news story on t.v. so I guess in a way, it is the start of my formation of understanding current events, even though I did not understand it in the least at the time. I just remember the news reports. It was kind of cool to watch the movie and see some actual archival news footage of that time and be able to fully understand now what happened. And it was even more amazing to know that there was this whole other aspect of the situation that nobody knew about.

As for the movie itself, check it out, you probably won’t be disappointed. Unless you are.