Friday, June 02, 2006

A little something to amuse you in the meantime. . .

Wow man! I've been busy. Real busy. Fiancée, kids, kid-related and school issues, "legit" corporate gig, three active bands/music projects. . . I admit I have been neglecting this little site here. So, to salve my guilty conscience and to provide some "topical" entertainment in the meantime, check this out:

http://www.planetdan.net/pics/misc/georgie.htm

As an old friend of mine put it (thanks for sending this, Brian!): "Funny, and a great use of action scripting, if you ask me..." I tend to agree.

More news at 11. . . .

-R.k.S.

Thursday, January 12, 2006

Brokeback Nation


Some people find the new film Brokeback Mountain to be disturbing and offensive. Well, I haven't seen it, but I can tell you this. Our current presidential administration is far more disturbing and offensive. Here's a film for ya! Ok, that's enough politicizing for now. . . .
Posted by Picasa

In pursuit of art

I just wanted to say "big-up" to Ms. G. and my sis, Con. Both have turned into very fine experimentalist photographers (another art and pursuit that is near and dear to me). Check 'em out and let 'em know how you feel about their art!

Con's works can be found at:

http://cp365.blogspot.com/

And Ms. G's works can be viewed at:

http://www.homefineart.org/Artist_NinaGee.html

Excellent contributions, ladies!


-R.k.S.

Sunday, November 06, 2005


Kids Voting in America. . . I think it's a pretty neat idea. Sure beats fixing National elections, ya know? Posted by Picasa

From the mouths of babes. . .

I thought I’d try something a little different this time, and I may make it a somewhat regular part of the site. I often have lively discussions with my kids regarding current events, politics, and social issues as they relate to them in their daily environment, and all matter of other things. That’s right. . . I actually talk to my kids! But wait . . . it gets worse . . . not only do I think they have valid and valuable opinions, but I’ve challenged them to actually . . . get ready. . . WRITE THEM DOWN!! And this is in addition to their regular homework. Ok, so it doesn’t always go over well with all four of the kids, but sometimes I get some things back that I think have great potential. Such is the case here. My older step daughter, who we’ll refer to as Dezzie, has this to submit. She calls it Why Children Should be Allowed to Vote. Check it out:

I think that children should be allowed to vote because we too have perfectly good working brains. And being a child myself, this is a question I have been pondering for a long time. Now, the way I think of it is, if we have elections at school, then why not have them for kids in the real world. I don’t think that the laws in general are the way they used to be. And our president, Bush . . . gawd!! He’s made things worse in the past 5 years! The next president, I hope, will be smarter, and actually realize that kids have their own opinion on things, such as voting. I think kids today are too underestimated. Politicians think that we can’t do most of the things that we can do. That might be a little confusing, but it’s true! I really don’t think that it’s fair! I’m sure I’m not the only child that thinks this way. And one day, we will all get together and make a difference.

-Dezzie S.

Monday, October 17, 2005


Softcore amateur porn, or hardcore kill photos from the war front. I dunno, but I think the latter qualifies as truly obscene. But you be the judge. . .  Posted by Picasa

This just in . . .

Here are a couple of updates, thanks to some of my loyal readers.

1 – Regarding my 10/13 post entitled “Obscenity”, there’s been an update. This little piece dealt with the work of one Chris Wilson, who is the webmaster of a site called NowThatsFuckedUp.com. Apparently, the sanctimonious and zealously religious law enforcement officials of Polk County, Florida, have decided that the soft-core amateur pornographic content (adults and humans only, mind you) which the site offers to its members is much more obscene than the extremely graphic images of war which are also posted in some of the discussion groups on the site. And as such, Mr. Wilson has been placed under arrest. I won’t get into the details. Let’s save that for this article/interview:

http://www.orlandoweekly.com/features/story.asp?id=8406

I’d love to hear what ya’ll think after reading that. I won’t even offer up an opinion to sway yours. Incidentally, Wilson’s site is currently still operational. Big-up to Cin, once again, for doing the research and providing this information. Keep ‘em coming, girl!

2 – As for my latest post entitled “More Than a Handful”, I’d like to give a shout to the Dove Corporation for their most excellent work in promoting the virtues of true female beauty, sans size restrictions. Check this out (you may have seen their recent TV ads):

http:// www.campaignforrealbeauty.com/

Excellent. Props to Sue for bringing that to my attention.

3 – Wanna see what the Bush Administration is really up to? Care to be privy to the career atrocities that can be attributed to our auspicious President’s marauding agendas? I think you’d find it interesting to read about what it takes to have your political or bureaucratic career squashed or severely hindered at the hands of Bush and co.

http://www.commondreams.org/views05/1014-24.htm

Thanks to Mark for bringin’ it!

Sunday, October 16, 2005


Not Lame. Posted by Picasa


Lame. Posted by Picasa

More than a hand-full

Well, life is all about transition. And having said that, this next bit is a transition to a greater or lesser extent from that last pic I posted (the one with the hot Kurdish babe voting). I’ll explain:

This past week, I was sitting around with the kids trying to choose what Halloween costumes they were going to wear this year. So I had received a circular in the mail from a retail establishment known as Party City. During the fall season, they have a vast selection of Halloween costumes available for the whole family, as it were. So we were going through the circular, and I happened upon a costume called “Lots of Luv”, or something like that. This costume is actually designed for men, particularly portly men. And it consists of a velvet blue cocktail dress, and a stuffing that will give the appearance of a woman who has a large belly, ample buttocks, and very large breasts. It also comes with a blond wig. Sounds nice huh. Very funny. Well, I didn’t think so.

See, here’s the thing. Anyone who knows me and knows me well also knows that I have certain tastes and proclivities with respect to the fairer sex (girls, that is). Mainly, I enjoy “natural” women. You know, rubenesque, zaftig chicks . . . big girls – BBW’s, as guys like me call ‘em. Some would even say that I’m a “chubby chaser” (I consider that to be a derogatory term, and I recently found out that apparently this term has been adopted by the gay community for some reason, so I’m happy to say it no longer applies to me and my straight brethren). But my tastes are more than sexual, and have even extended to the socio-political realm. I’ve been into BBW’s for years, probably since I was a kid. And I’ve been involved in the BBW community to some degree or other since the mid 90’s and have been known to speak out on behalf of the rights and fair treatment of big gals, as it were. And to that end (no pun intended), that’s why I’m penning this piece.

You see, Party City, and similar retailers, not only offer the outfit I previously described, but a fair amount of similar ones, which are meant to make fun of fat chicks. For example, there’s the “Wanna Nookie”, the “Bodacious Biker Babe”, the “Tacky Tourist”, and the “Moon Over Hawaii”, just to name a few. Amazing.

Now, it seems to me that this sort of parody is just plain insensitive and mean. I mean, it’s become politically incorrect to castigate and make fun of various racial groups and ethnic groups, particularly when it comes to retail marketing. But it seems to me that one of the last bastions of social bigotry exists with regard to not just fat people, but plus-sized women in particular. Generally, it’s become acceptable for men in our country (which boasts the highest percentage of obesity on the planet too) to be overweight. They still take shit for being fat, but not so much. We guys display our lovingly cultivated beer guts with much pride. But when it comes to women, we still have a tendency to not only make fun of plus-sized women, but make great strides in many areas of American society to make women in this demographic literally feel unacceptable. It’s to the point where women even trash each other for their body types and shapes. And from my observations, women can actually be crueler than men when it comes to this sort of thing. Sad.

Although the average dress size for women in America is between a 16 and an 18, and along with that, the average cup size is a healthy D (which to me looks great on big girls and downright bizarre on skinny chicks), why is it that plus-sized fashion is an exception and not a rule? Why is it that good, current plus-sized fashions are not only comparatively rare, but significantly more expensive than the unreasonable small sizes (like sizes 2 to 8) that are widely available? That makes no sense. But I digress. With these issues on the table, why add insult to injury by making costumes like the ones I mentioned available that are meant to exclusively make fun of big girls? That sucks.

You know, just as a point of information, there is a growing plus-size modeling industry that exists. And that’s pretty fucking cool in my book. And it makes sense. It’s about time that the major modeling agencies like Ford Modeling Agency finally recognize that the overwhelming majority of women in American, who fit the plus-sized demographic, need to have current fashions and products targeted toward them and made available to them. And though it’s happening slowly, mainstream marketing is recognizing this reality. If you look, you’ll notice this here and there in TV marketing and advertising, and so forth. And there are even a fair number of women in the modeling industry who have been given the illustrious title of Plus Sized Super Models. Check this out (if you can stand it):

http://www.judgmentofparis.com/

Among the stable of prominent plus-sized women in the fashion industry and media are celebrities such as plus-sized Super Model Mia Tyler, daughter of Aerosmith front-man Steven Tyler, model and actress Christina Schmidt of Canada, musician and actress Dana Owens, a.k.a. Queen Latifah, plus-sized super model Barbara Brickner, Disney studios staple Raven Symone, and of course, plus-size modeling pioneer and Lane Bryant spokes-model Emme.

You know what I find irritating? Despite these women’s accomplishments and incredibly alluring and classic beauty, I’ll bet you any amount of money they still get dumped on for being “fat”. And of course, even fat chicks think guys like me who dig ‘em to no end, are all around freaks of nature. That always amazes me. I’m sure a fellow “FA” (that’s our secret little politically correct term for “Fat Admirer” – a guy who loves big girls) D. Trull would agree with me. Check him out.

http://www.lardbiscuit.com/

Anyway, lay off the fat chicks, folks, would ya? You’d be surprised at who you might be trashing.