stageright…stageleft


fall in minnesota
October 29, 2006, 1:51 pm
Filed under: Uncategorized

3 Comments


joyce momont
October 29, 2006, 8:43 am
Filed under: Uncategorized
in memory
joyce momont
joyce momont, committed red ribbon ride crew member and volunteer died thursday, october 19 due to complications from multiple myeloma.
the above picture was taken of joyce and myself at the closing ceremonies for the 2004 red ribbon ride.
joyce was one of the most amazing and pure souls i’ve ever had the honor of knowing. we first met on the 2002 twin cities->chicago aids ride where she was a crew member and i was crew director. then 77 years old; i was blown away by her never-ending energy and passion for the cause. she continued to crew for the inaugural red ribbon ride in ‘03. due to multiple myeloma she was unable to continue to crew the ride for the next few years, but that didn’t stop her from being the most dedicated of volunteers. every wednesday she was in the ride office stuffing envelopes, processing checks, organizing supplies and generally keeping the rest of us on our toes.
this past summer i had the pleasure of getting to know joycie in a completely different way. she agreed to speak to the riders and crew at the closing ceremonies of the 2006 red ribbon ride. during our conversations regarding what she would speak about, i learned about her daughter (who committed suicide), her acceptance of her son andy’s coming out and subsequent hiv diagnosis, her complete joy when her son met, fell in love and married his partner kim.
when so many people would choose to view these occurrences as hardships or failures, joycie chose to take the experiences and go forward. she was an ardent supporter of glbt issues, a fighter of hiv/aids and a deeply religious women who believes that god put her on earth to do good work and to honor all people.
joycies trademark was her purple sequined hat. that hat was worn whenever she was doing work in the glbt & hiv/aids community. i remember seeing her once at a benefit for minnesota aids project; i hadn’t expected to see her, but across the room, i saw that hat sparkling. her other trademark was her smile. i can honestly say in the 5 years i had the honor of knowing her, i never once saw joyce without that amazing smile.
one of my proudest moments was watching joyce speak to the riders, crew and friends and family of the ride, with andy and kim on either side of her. the support and love that that family has is one we would all be lucky to receive.
to joycie, with love – you will always be the heart and soul of the red ribbon ride and my life is better having known you.
2 Comments


once again, under the needle
October 27, 2006, 8:17 am
Filed under: Uncategorized

yup, i did it again, and i am surly going to hell for it (nevermind of course, i don’t believe in hell)… yesterday, phase 2 of my sleeve tattoo began. 3.5 hours of ink time (including a bit where i feel asleep during the tattooing) and my sleeve is finally taking shape.

to refresh your memory… here is phase 1 of my sleeve. the symbol is the 8 auspicious symbols of buddhism. these symbols are extremely personal to me and i was wanting to find something to compliment the symbols without detracting from them or pulling focus.


we (trevor, my tattoo artist and i) went down a number of different paths before we hit on this one – simple use of asian imagery for wind/air mixed with lotus flowers & cherry blossoms. when we started phase 1 (the symbols) it was important to me to make sure there was a lot of movement in the banner (the victory banner representing the victory of one’s body, speech, and mind over negative obstacles). phase 3 of the sleeve will actually go above what you see now and will be tibetan prayer flags flapping in the wind.

the bulk of phase two is monochromatic. i wanted the symbols to pop…. everything here is grey shade work with the exception of the lotus flowers and cherry blossoms which will get color on monday.

color me one very happy boy.

3 Comments


untitled
October 15, 2006, 11:15 am
Filed under: Uncategorized
i do feel it’s important to note that i’m not just being irresponsibly flip by posting such an image. i firmly believe we are closer to this than i ever thought america would be. we once were a proud, honest nation committed to trying to make the world a better place. now we’re just the bully in the playground willing to do anything to get it’s way.
it’s a sad state if you ask me.
fascism; the word has been bandied about quite a bit in the good’ole blogosphere, but what does it really mean – and are we there?
according to wikipedia: Fascism is associated by many scholars with one or more of the following characteristics: a very high degree of nationalism, economic corporatism, a powerful, dictatorial leader who portrays the nation, state or collective as superior to the individuals or groups composing it.
hmmm on a number of fronts it would certainly look like we are getting close.
you see yourself as a leader / may my thoughts be with you
if you try to divide and conquer / we’ll rise up against you
we know only the strong will survive / but the meek will inherit
so if you’ve got a coat of arms my friend / i suggest you wear it

john mellencamp / we are the people

3 Comments


battle of the bands
October 14, 2006, 8:06 pm
Filed under: Uncategorized
1 Comment


holy shit..blog of the day
October 14, 2006, 7:54 pm
Filed under: Uncategorized

from www.citypages.com:

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

9thWave is a Minneapolis production manager blogging about hypothetical married-to-Prince questions, the attractiveness of UPS drivers, and underwear fetishes at Stage Right … Stage Left.

4 Comments


green politics
October 13, 2006, 6:33 am
Filed under: Uncategorized

simply put we need more people running for office like otto

2 Comments


president or shrubbery?
October 12, 2006, 6:54 pm
Filed under: Uncategorized

brian over at cheapblueguitar.com found this… it’s brilliant.

1 Comment


i’ve been thinkin’ about you baby…come live with me
October 12, 2006, 4:01 pm
Filed under: Uncategorized

honest to god/buddha/krishna/allah nothing makes me quite as happy as new music. sliding that silver disk into the slot, or dropping the needle in the groove, or hell – even clicking on “buy song” and then wrapping the headphones ’round my ears and taking in the new tunes – it seriously turns me on.

twilight singers (referenced previously here: sr…sl/twilight) is the band of one of my favorite songwriters; greg dulli. mr. dulli used to be in a band called the afghan whigs which pretty much rocked my world. the singers, while not a “rock” band in the truest (or most obvious)sense of the word still rock my world. dulli & company have an uncanny way of wrapping a turn of phrase around a slinky bass line or driving drums or harmonic organ. more lowkey (even at their loudest moments), and certainly more electric (and eclectic) than the whigs – it’s been a fuckin’ blast to watch greg & co. on their musical journey.

october 10 marked their latest e.p. release “a stitch in time”. this 5 song disk features such alt-rock luminaries as mark lanegan (formerly of screaming trees) and joseph arthur joining the fun. the e.p. opens with the sublime ‘live with me’ originally written and performed by massive attack. that’s one of the things i really love twilight singers – they’re not afraid of playing with other musical genre’s, in this case turning an electronic tune into a killer blues rock exploration.

i’ve had this thing in my ears non-stop all day today. i’ve just burned the disk (purchased legally of course from itunes) and i’m gonna crank it all the way home when i leave work in a few. seriously fuckin’ happy. the music is great, greg’s voice is urgent and sexy and dangerous and the band sounds better than they’ve sounded in ages.

i was gonna fly to n.c. to see cb to see the band live in a couple weeks; but work calls and i won’t be able to make it – now i just gotta talk cb into a weekend trip somewhere else to see one of my top ten favorite bands rip it up live.

“…your mind don’t need to know, the blind are lead below, but baby when we close our eyes you feel the lover start to sympathise…” sublime/ twilight singers


1 Comment


big crying mess.
October 11, 2006, 6:12 pm
Filed under: Uncategorized

yup that’s what i am after watching this video. damn sweet moment.



after watching the video go here to read the article: redeyechicago.com/proposal

2 Comments

previous »
Next Page »