So it’s been awhile since I posted. Been sort of busy lately.

That was because of LGBT Pride celebrations here in Providence and in NYC.

So we arrived in New York City, Manhattan to be precise Saturday morning. We stayed at the Edison Hotel. It wasn’t inexpensive but a good basic hotel. All the common areas are one of my favorite styles, Art Deco.

We were all checked in but we were hungry. We went to the Chevy’s on Times Square. Well, didn’t stay long enough to order because Keyron spotted a huge rat emerging from behind the bar. Went over to Smith’s instead. Much better. Keyron needed some alcoholic libations so he got three very strong Long Island Iced Teas.

We meandered between Times Square area where the hotel was located to the Village and back on Saturday. Had dinner at the Garage and the tab was about $137 for three people. Not too bad.

Let me get this out right now. I no longer want to stay in RI. Why? First off our politicians are in a few words, assholes and idiots or combinations thereof.

Many of the things I experienced in NYC like the professionalism of the police, the stores open after midnight on a Sunday, the mixture of people. The relatively inexpensive taxi fares. On that last, to go between Times Square and Greenwich Village center cost $6.90. To go 1.2 miles here in Providence was nearly $8. You see what I’m getting at it. I don’t want to stay in RI. I want o live and work somewhere where I’m EQUAL, not quasi-EQUAL.

Sunday was the big day, the day of the NYC LGBT Pride Parade for 2011. We staked out a spot between W. 34th and W. 33rd streets and 5th Avenue. Got right up to the front of the gate. By about 11:20AM the entire street was packed.

The parade was incredible. Over 3 hours of motorcyles, marchers, and floats.

And one thing struck me. Here in RI we might get a Latino Pride ‘float’. In NYC, you get the distinct sub groups marching. There were Uruguyans, Peruvians, Colombians, Puerto Ricans, Brazilians, you name it they marched.

Plenty of eye candy to be seen. Once I process all of it I’ll link it on here.

How do I begin. No Mr. President, this is precisely the juncture at which the Executive of the United States should step forward and say the following:

“DOMA is unconstitutional, not just the 3rd section, but all of it. And while we’re at it, my parents met and married, and I was born, before Loving v. Virginia even occurred. It took the U.S. Supreme Court to say that people of different races could marry. And once again I believe the U.S. Supreme Court will ultimately be the last stop before full marriage equality!”

But no, it’s a state’s rights issue? Come on Mr. President, you made all sorts of noises in support of the LGBT community on the campaign trail and now you throw us under the bus? Sure, DADT is almost gone, but we still don’t have a federal ENDA, and the odious DOMA still exists.

Mr. President, you were a Constitutional Law professor. I’m sure you see the ludicrousness of your saying this is a state’s rights issue. That 14th Amendment says we’re all EQUAL under the law. Yet by your words, some are more equal than others and that’s just fine with you.

But I think I know what’s going on, you’re gearing up for 2012. Heaven forbid you express any kind of support for marriage equality in NY for it might damage you politically.

And when you are re-elected and are then term limited, you’ll come out swinging for the LGBT folks. I know the pattern, I’ve seen it many times before. I just wish it weren’t my life you’re playing with here through your inaction.

I just got the news, Netroots Nation is going to be held in Providence, RI in 2012. I love it, because more than likely it will be held at the Rhode Island Convention Center/Complex.

This is great news. I plan on participating in this one. And I don’t have to travel to do it, I can walk to the venue, it’s about 12 minutes walk from the house.

Apparently our junior Senator, Sheldon Whitehouse and junior Representative David Cicilline have tipped it. Love it, love it, love it. This is a great opportunity to hobnob with progressives, politicians, etc. I’ll be in my glory!

So we attended the Providence Gay Pride Parade again this year. The route changed up because Weybosset St. in Providence, is all torn up in preparation to make it two way traffic.

The parade route staged on Greene St., came down the upper part of Weybosset and then turned onto Empire St. It then proceeded to Washington St, then to Dorrance and finally back to Weybosset in the downtown section.

The pix, well I didn’t get many pix. Did get quite a bit of video that I’m still uploading.

A few noteworthy things about the parade:

1) There was this chariot carrying I believe Miss Gay RI. When we’d gotten down to Dorrance and Westminster Streets, the chariot was parked and Miss Gay RI was left all alone in it. The next moment we looked the chariot is tipping over and she’s tipping with it. She didn’t think to jump out and so fell on the ground. Of course prior there were comments made about the budge for said chariot. I estimated $25. Short span between the wheels. You just know that was a recipe for disaster.

2) We noticed the boys dancing on the floats were a bit more full bodied. If you’ve read my posts in the past you’d realize I’m not a fan of the anorexic look so this is a nice change.

3) This year they didn’t throw out as many beads but they did throw out these little plastic eggs with whistles inside. You guessed it, lots of noise.

4) I got approached by MERI staff both current and former as well as board members. Apparently NOBODY is happy about what’s happened to MERI and they’re happy I’m dinging their Ersatz leader, Ray Sullivan on a regular basis. I feel it’s my duty.

5) The Big Apple Corps were there in full regalia. What can I say, I love the big bands, it’s the repressed musician in me. As they passed us they were playing Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing”, yes the Glee reference was there.

6) Another band in attendance was a local one, the Extraordinary Rendition Band. And example below:

Here they are from last night:

7) I’ll update this post with the videos I took. I used my cell phone this time around as it does better in low light than my camera. Here is a teaser. I should also mention all the video was shot with an Android phone.

I had heard through the grapevine that Marriage Equality Rhode Island Ersatz Campaign Leader Ray Sullivan was supposed to staff the MERI booth at the RI Pride Festival today. I went specifically to give him an earful.

But lo and behold, he wasn’t there. It’s then I get the text, he was ‘sick’. More likely he knew he’d be ambushed by people pissed about what happened to the marriage equality movement here in RI this year.

Fucker knows we’re pissed. Hell, when I went by HRC’s booth I shouted “Get the fuck out of Rhode Island!”

So it is official, Congressman Anthony Weiner is stepping down from his seat.

It makes me sad because he obviously has close advisers that have no idea how to defeat the media echo chamber.

For example, I would have advised him to be mostly defiant and stood up and owned his alleged misdeeds. Because he never dipped the old wick in any old pussy. It was all cybersex. In this day and age, it is in essence much ado about nothing. I don’t think you could spin around with a dead cat and not hit 50% or more people who have engaged in a little cyber every now and again.

Cenk Uygur wrote about this years ago, it’s part of the Republican tactic to discredit their enemies. Get the media to yammer on about it ad nauseum. And in this case it did the trick, Weiner resigned.

But what Weiner should have done is go Biblical, let he who is without sin cast the first stone, or use the phrase “People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.”, that’s the sort of defiance he should have used.

That he didn’t is a loss to we progressives that are sick of the Republican Echo Chamber taking precedence.

One other thing, the original twitter exchange piques my interest because the woman in question didn’t have a camera? It’s the year 2,011 and cameras are ubiquitous. How did she not have a photo of herself? It’s because I suspect that she was actually a he and that he was a Republican operative or trixter akin to that O’Keefe fellow.

In essence I smell a rather large rat here.

***UPDATAE*** That rat I said I smelled, read on.

It’s looking more and more like entrapment/setup than anything else now. I would hope Weiner reconsiders.

Apparently Tea Bagger Darling Rep. Doreen Costa has proposed drug testing for recipients of benefits.

I would say to Rep. Costa that while you do that, you should also test your fellow legislators. After all, we just saw Rep. Watson test positive for cocaine and THC. Should he be a state representative while using those substances, which by the way are still against the law?

You know that verse in the Bible, the one about the beam in ones eye? It’s for people like you Rep. Costa. For reference, it’s Matthew 7:5, “Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.”

Before pushing this bill forward Rep. Costa, please make sure that your own house is in order. I’ll give you another one, people who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.

Congressman Weiner:

I am dismayed by your decision to step down from congress. You sir are the antidote to the Republican idiocy. I will really miss you calling them out on their ludicrous behavior.

Perhaps you should reconsider. After all you have colleagues in the House that have committed sins of far more gravity than what you have done. For example, some are/were clients of local Madams a euphemism for a female pimp. E.g. Sentator David Vitter. Some have cheated on their sick wives, E.g. Newt Gingrich, John Edwards and the list goes on.

It didn’t end their political careers. And your sexual proclivities shouldn’t end yours either.

Here’s to hoping you will run for mayor of NYC and that you don’t leave politics. You’re far too smart than to do that.

It’s looking increasingly as though New York is going to get marriage equality. So now pretty much ALL of the northeast with the exception of Rhode Island and Maine will have full equality.

Buona Fortuna to my brothers and sisters in the fight in New York. And who knows, maybe at some point I’ll be in the city and be able to cheer with you. In fact I’ll be there for the Gay Pride celebration. Look forward to meeting some of you active in the fight.

So here I am, fully reclined and I’ve got the set of Subjekt cans on my head.

I’ve got Pandora up in another tab and it’s flowing FINE right now. I had forgotten what a half decent set of cans sounded like with some classic and even new music.

For example, thus far it’s spooled through Funkadelic’s “Electric Spanking of War Babies”, Marvin Gaye’s “I Heard it Through The Grape Vine”, John Legend’s “This Time”, and right now it’s Curtis Mayfield with “New World Order”.

Just kicking my head back, my eyes covered and just let the music flow through me, from my ears down to my toes. I love it. I did a quick tally and I’ve got music playing into my head at least 8 to 9 hours a day.

And I’ll close this post out with George Duke’s “Chillin'”.