Hang With Sam (on tumblr)

While I still plan to post longer pieces here from time-to-time, I'll be putting up shorter, more frequent posts at my new tumblr, Hang With Me.  Check it out!

It IS Hard to Dance with a Devil on Your Back

And I've been a fool and I've been blind,
I can never leave the past behind.
I can see no way, I can see no way.
I'm always dragging that horse around,
All of his questions, such a mournful sound.
Tonight I'm gonna bury that horse in the ground...

And it's hard to dance with a devil on your back,
And given half the chance would I take any of it back?
It's a fine romance but it's left me so undone.
It's always darkest before the dawn.

Get Off Your Damn Phone!

Pet Peeve of the Day: Guys who talk on their cell phone in the locker room. There are only about a dozen signs up all over saying not to do this, and it's not like they say "except for that one dude, you're cool." I could maybe understand if the guy on the phone was in a towel, dripping wet, and answered the phone with "Mom? What did the doctor say? Is it cancer?" But it's always some fully dressed guy who gabs for ten minutes about mundane shit like sports scores or where to go to lunch.

Perhaps they are not familiar with the shit show that is "locker room hidden camera porn," but dudes, you are totally giving cover to some asshole who isn't really on the phone, but is instead taking pictures of your ding ding and selling them on the Internet. That rule is there for a reason. So seriously, walk the 20 freaking feet and take your call outside the locker room. Kthxbai!

Somebody That I Used To Know

Well you said that we would still be friends
But I'll admit that I was glad it was over
But you didn't have to cut me off
Make out like it never happened and that we were nothing

Amazing How Tori Can Nail It

No one's picking up the phone.
Guess it's clear he's gone.
And this little masochist
Is lifting up her dress.
Guess I thought I could never feel
The things I feel and...

Hey Jupiter,
Nothing's been the same.
So are you gay?
Are you blue?
Thought we both could use
A friend to run to.
Hey Jupiter,
Nothing's been the same.
So are you safe,
Now we're through?
Thought we both could use
A friend to run to.

Hey Jupiter...

Let Them Eat Gays

When two gay tourists are arrested and charged with sodomy (or more quaintly, "buggery"), you'd expect the LGBT community to get up in arms about it. What you wouldn't expect is for the owner of the gay cruise operator the couple was traveling with to come out in defense of the virulently homophobic island nation where the couple was arrested and against his own customers. Yet that, apparently, is exactly what Atlantis Events president Rich Campbell is doing.

From the Huffington Post:

President Rich Campbell, who is aboard the cruise, said in a phone interview earlier that he thought the two men would be released. He later said in an email that the company has organized many trips to Dominica and would "happily return."

"Many countries and municipalities that gay men visit and live in have antiquated laws on their books," he said. "These statutes don't pose a concern to us in planning a tourist visit."

…

"The guests actions were unfortunate but minor in this case and have no bearing on our overall guest experience," he said via email.

The arrest of two men for a crime that can be summed up as "being gay" is definitely "unfortunate,” but Rich shouldn’t be laying the blame at the feet of his own guests. To say that he'll return to Dominica in the future immediately after this arrest (and prior to knowing whether the men will face any prison time, as the charges can carry up to six months in prison) makes him sound like a latter-day, water-logged Marie Antoinette.

Yes, there are rumors circulating in the comments sections of the cattier blogs: Were the men in their room, or on the balcony? If they were inside, were the shades open or closed? None of this matters. Why? Because they weren't charged with indecent exposure or lewd conduct or any of the other charges that could have been applied equally to straight or gay couples engaged in public sexual conduct. They were charged with “buggery,” an offense which is only a crime when it is two men having sex.

Rich’s response, which waves away a sodomy charge with a flick of the rhetorical wrist, not only trivializes the charge against his two customers, but also the real suffering of millions of LGBT people who still live under sodomy laws, in Dominica and around the world. I would have thought a man who has made a fortune off of gay men and gay dollars would be more sensitive to these issues.

Your Christians Are So Unlike Your Christ

There's a quote, questionably attributed to Ghandi, that goes like this:

“I like your Christ, but I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.”

The message, of course, being that while the teachings of Christ espouse selfless compassion and non-judgmental caring for your fellow man, so-called "Christians" often behave in ways that are highly judgmental and downright selfish. Many politicians who most loudly profess their own "Christianity" are also the most gung-ho about waging pointless wars that result in the senseless murder of tens of thousands (if not more) of our fellow human beings. Not very Christ-like, if you ask me.

My own personal run in with this is on the Twitters. Every day I get bombarded by reply Tweets from ACLU haters. A lot of them are rude and some even profess violence. This wouldn't be so surprising, except that so many of the violent ones come from self-professed "Christians." Here's a sampling from one of the worst:

Who Would Jesus Shoot, Rape, Beat Up and Stalk? Click to enlarge.

Now I know I went to a "liberal" church growing up, but I just don't remember any part of the Bible where Jesus said onto them "go forth and murder those whose politics you disagree with, and blameth the women who get stalked for their stalking, for they dresseth slutily and bringeth rape upon themselves." Seriously, dude (or dudette): Do you really think this is a "Christian" way of expressing your viewpoint? Of living your life? Doesn't seem like it to me…