Friday, October 21, 2011

NOTABLE EVENTS AND DIZZY GILLESPE'S BIRTHDAY



Happy Birthday to a wonderful musician of our past: Mr. Dizzy Gillespe: American trumpeter, composer and band leader . And on this day in 1879, dear old Thomas Edison first saw the light by inventing the first workable light bulb in 1879. It's been an interesting few days. The world has lost a blood thirsty dictator (thank God) The President has decided he's going to keep a campaign promise he made in 2007 and bring home the troops from Iraq and end this senseless war. It's interesting that the president made this decision or declaration of this decision on the same day that our troops first saw action of World War One. Interesting coincidence ninety four years apart. And I'm quite sure that God had a good laugh today because the promised rapture didn't happen ether. Mark Twain was so right "Man is the only animal that blushes or needs to". Oh yes, its also the birthday of one of favorite poets: Mr. Samuel Coleridge. He lived only sixty one years, but he wrote enough poetry like the "The Rhine of the Ancient Mariner" that certainly taught me a lot about poetry and eventually all the lyric that I've written in my life. Eight hundred songs and counting and my three sisters probably couldn't name one of them. They just don't understand creativity and the certainly don't understand what I do and the special gift that God has given me all of these many years. Maybe we can get Edison to come back to earth on a future birthday so that he can make a larger light bulb so that they can. Oh well, I love them. And good to hear that Zsa Zsa Gabor has made it out of the hospital alive once again. She may be down to one leg, but she's got some real ballsy spirit-- you gotta admit that one. I find it amusing that Ghadaffi's family is demanding his body back. Hey guys, I'm pretty sure he's dead already. I'm sure he and Bin Laden are walking the streets of hell right now. Oh well, so much for that promised reward of forty precious virgins!

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

NOT SO HAPPY HALLOWEEN



I found this really cute picture on the Internet and i thought I would share it with you all. It looks like the poor pumpkin had way too much to drink. But I really love creative expression like this. It's the kind of picture that could replace that proverbial thousand words. John and I are hoping that this is our last holiday in the same place for eleven years. John Nugent and I really are so eager for "First Mother" to be accepted by Fox Network. It's so crazy, but this property actually dates back to the early 1990's back when everyone we talked to was saying that it was impossible for a Jew to become President of the United States. Well that was long before Obama and here we are! I find the presidential debates absolutely fascinating. The Herman Cain 999 plan sounds very problem solving, but here's the big wicket in the plan: Herman Cain says that it will be an even 999 plan or twenty-seven percent. The national sales tax is an interesting idea but what about the states (like Oregon, Nevada and New Hampshire) who at this moment don't have a sales or income tax. All of a sudden they are going to have one. You can't count that the lack of payroll taxes will make up for that because you shouldn't be using that money anyway. You are going to pay 9% income tax and 9% national sales tax. It's like spending the money you have saved for property taxes which aren't going away ether or your kids college funds And remember, friends the interest that you pay on your home or condo now WILL NOT be deductible under Mr. Cain's plan. Only charities. Now that sounds wonderful for charities, but there's only so much that you can give away. It's interesting also that the plan excludes used goods. That means the sale of used cars, boats, furniture and clothing is going to sky rocket. But what about new cars whose sales are sluggish today at best? Now consider states like California. Do you really think that the Golden State is going to give up it's precious sales or income tax? ADD IT UP 999 plus 8.75% plus 8-10% personal income tax? That's almost 46%. Now lets say that the states get 50% of the national sales tax. That's cool. Maybe California will lower it's sales tax? It's only a maybe. Now here's a solution that would penalize only the folks who break the law. If you're a resident of North Carolina you may already know about this because it is currently the law there. Suppose that every time you got a ticket for speeding (let's say we give a first timer a break) that you owed the same money to the United States government? Or even 50%. Imagine if you will just how many actual speeding (not parking) tickets are given daily throughout the nation? In California, it's six hundred thousand per anum. The average ticket is $330.00. Add just 50% of that amount due to the Federal Government and you wouldn't need 9% national sales tax. And only those who break the law are penalized. Your insurance goes up every ticket that you get. Nobody howls about that changes anything. Amazing just how simple that would be. The state would collect the money for the Federal Government. Justification-- who supplied most of the money for the interstate highway system in the first place? You choose to break the law? You endanger lives on the highway? You clog up the courts appealing your cry baby amount that you pay and guess what you bear the tax burden. The Post Office can't pay its costs-- the solution is to charge a $25.00 per anum delivery tax. Don't want to pay the tax? Go to the post office rent a post office box. Better yet, use the Internet to pay bills on line-- all FREE. It's time that each American pays a fair share to run the country. This is the greatest country on Earth. But freedom isn't FREE. Only blue sky and sunsets and rainbows. We need to stop cry babying about what things cost and do our best to contribute to it. Otherwise we're like the guy who goes in for a group lunch or dinner and the dining place only takes a maximum of three credit cards. This happened at my own birthday party. The attitude with four of the invited guests was "Well, it's not my fault that they only three credit cards per group. I don't carry cash any more. " I actually had people who "snuck out" without paying using this as their justification to do so. Thank goodness the tip was already included in the bill or the poor waitress would have made damn little. Let's concentrate on sharing the weight and not sitting down on the weight while the poor country tries to move it along!

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

ELEVEN YEARS TOGETHER




I can't believe that soon John Long and I will be celebrating our 11th anniversary together. That date is October 31st. Halloween Day. We had a formal ceremony with a big party and Rick Carlson and Jimmy Chapel and Mara were there. And it was a grand event. This picture was taken that day. John has been my true soul mate and friend and partner and the odds against our meeting were one jillion gillion to one. After all my last man in my life turned out to be a disaster and was from Arizona. John was from Arizona and had just broken up with his current boy friend. What amazing progression the Gay movement has made in eleven years. John is my perfect partner and is the most


amazing balance. I turned sixty four on September 24th and I've been writing this blog for six years. I haven't written for a while. The WE ARE DIFFERENT SHOW was an artistic success, and did make a $500 profit, but the theatre (THE CAP THEATRE) turned out to be a very crooked and cheatful experience. They took over my box office, wanted a cut of my caterer's fee (which we made no profit on in the first place) and were unbelievably rude to my actors, staff and manager. I had a mild heart attack because of the bad experience and as my partner has said he wouldn't walk back into that theatre with a Molotov Cocktail-- it will spoil the reputation of the Molotov Cocktail. These guys are so slick they could grease a cake pan without Crisco. Stay away from these people in Sherman Oaks, Ca. I am going to try and write more here from now on as this represents a great therapy for me. John Nugent and I are awaiting word on our "First Mother" TV series which has Lainie Kazan attached to star. We've written seven episodes of the series together. Also on the creative menu is four episodes of a new series idea called "SENIOR HIGH DROP OUTS". The idea is simple. A gay third grade teacher is fired for spanking a little girl after she sets fire to a picture of George Washington. He begs for a second chance and finally gets one teaching senior citizens so that they can get their long neglected high school diplomas. Funny stuff. Great potential.