Saturday's a Rugby Day

Saturday we played in a Sevens tournament. In Sevens only 7 people are on the field instead of the normal 15. This opens the field a lot. And there's a lot of running... a lot. The game consists of two 7-minute halfs with a one minute half time. It seems short and it is--but it's a lot of sprinting, so it's harder than it seems.

We've never played Sevens before. In fact, I've never even SEEN it played before. It was a fun learning experience.

Our first game was at 8am. Normally, I don't get up until 8 during the weekdays. So, for me to get out of bed at 6 and drive myself up to Thunderbird and 59th Ave by 7:15 was a struggle.

We played three games and actually played well in two of them. The third game was against an opponent that was just super experienced. Fortunately, we didn't have to play against Tempe, Camelback or Red Mountain. Those guys had insane skills.

There is this one guy that plays on Red Mountain. He's like the Michael Jordan of rugby. He is an Olympic athlete for his home country of New Zealand and has played in many national championships for rugby. Here's his bio and a grainy pic.

Some funny things happened:

--Our guys were gawking at all of the straight shirtless rugby players on the other teams.
--Karri (one of our Storm chasers) tries to surreptitiously take a picture with her camera phone of a hot guy as he walks by our canopy. It makes the LOUDEST camera shutter noise known to man. Of course, we all busted up laughing.
--A girl dropping her beer in front of our canopy. Joe gets everyone to point at her and laugh. Girl chases Joe, threatening him.
--During one of the games I sprinted almost the entire way downfield with the ball--as I was getting tackled I tossed it to Rickie who then tossed it to Anton. Anton got intercepted. I ended up chasing the guy who intercepted the ball, back down the entire field the opposite way. Oh wait. That wasn't funny. That sucked. :-(

All in all, we had a good day. It was a bit hot in the afternoon and starting and stopping was killer on the body. Today my body aches like it normally does. I have assorted scrapes but nothing like I normally do (they had GRASS!).

Oh. On a side note. I'm still crazy in love with Joe.

And I'm no longer a red head. I got that fixed. I am starting to look like a long haired hippy. My hair has never been this long. I'm thinking at the end of the summer, I'll get dred locks.

Monday night bowling with Jeff, Paul and Tim starts up in just a few short weeks! I'm psyched. I finally got my bowling ball. I have to practice a lot because the guy drilled the holes for me to start bowling with a curve. Tuesday night (since I refuse to watch the Suns game) I'm going to start learning how to bowl with a curve instead of a straight ball. Should be interesting. 

Flashback Friday

tmobile_sda_music
Originally uploaded by veryapeaz.

I switched cellular service provider two weeks ago. I've had Verizon for two years. Despite their claims that they've got the best service in the world (which enables them to charge higher fees), I couldn't get service in certain rooms in my home. And increasingly, my text messages would not get sent. I'd have to wait three minutes before the network would be back up.

That kind of defeats the purpose of a text message. It's supposed to be instantaneous--for moments when you're thinking of someone and want to say hi or whatever.

So I called Verizon and told them I was thinking of switching carriers. I told them I could go to Cingular or T-mobile, get more minutes, unlimited text messaging and pay less money.

They came back with, "It's the service."

My reply, "Oh, the service that can't even send a text message reliably?"

Another thing that bothered me about Verizon was that they "cripple" their phones. Phone manufacturers build in a bunch of cool functions. Verizon makes those manufacturers disable that functionality.

For example, any bluetooth phone on Verizon will only allow you to use a bluetooth headset with the phone. You can't exchange data via bluetooth because Verizon wants you to have to pay for that service.

You want a phone with Wi-Fi? Sorry, you have to pay $50 a month for Verizon's Internet service. No free Wi-Fi for you.

So, I got this smoking deal on a Smartphone with T-mobile and I only had to sign up for one year! I get free Internet service (the full thing--not WAP service) at free Wi-Fi hotspots. Or I can pay extra for T-mobile's service. When I'm at SJ's, I get free service courtesy of his landlord's wireless network. (Speaking of SJ. We have a Queer and A in Echo each issue. He decided to answer the Q&A questions on his blog. It's a fun read, check it out.)

I can also transfer my own ringtones to the phone for free from my computer. I don't have to pay $2.00 for a 30-second clip of a song. I just transfer it over.

The phone allows me to watch movies, television shows and listen to music on it. And I can run programs on it. I won't be writing any columns on it, but it's handy if someone needs to e-mail me a column. I can check my e-mail, download the document it, make quick edits and send it back.

I LOVE my Smartphone. :-D

So why is today Flashback Friday?

My blogging buddy Marc is recovering from surgery. He normally plays a song and writes about why it was significant. He won't be able to do that until next Friday so I thought I'd do it for him.

I chose Faith. It's a good 80s song. George Michael was talking about faith in relationships but he could be talking about anything in life really. I have faith that Marc will have a speedy recovery. Here's to you Marc!

Oh, if the link doesn't work I'll fix it tonight. I'm at work on a stupid Mac. I HATE FUCKING MACS. What good is "elegance" if half the World Wide Web looks like crap on it and you can't do the things you can on a REAL personal computer. As much as I hate Microsoft's dominance at least it freaking works.... end of rant.

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You Give Good Love

Today (Tuesday the 25th) is SJ's birthday. I'm going over his house to make him my world famous Meal-in-a-Bag (shrimp with linguine). After that we'll have cake (which I baked) and open presents.

I'm not sure if you could tell or not but I don't cook or bake well. Tonight I tried baking SJ's cake. I bought a non-stick cake pan and some cake mix. I followed the directions to a T. I think Betty Crocker did a great job because the cake batter was very tasty!

I bought two dark 9" round cake pans. It said if you use round cake pans or dark cake pans to subtract 2 - 5 minutes of cooking time. But it never said what to do if it's both round AND dark. I think I got it out in time because it passed the toothpick test and it wasn't burned.

I waited for it to cool completely before putting the icing on it. The only problem was, both round cakes rose in the middle. I didn't know what to do. So I just put icing on top of the one and plopped the other one on top of it.

Then I started to put icing on the top cake and on the sides. But the bottom cake had such a big bump in the middle that the two didn't come together well. So there's this huge gap on the outer edges. I figured I could hide the gaps with frosting.

I thought, "Oh, he'll never notice."

But then I noticed a little fissure on the top. I smeared some more frosting to cover it and went back to the sides. After I filled in the gaps on the outer edges I was pretty happy with it. But then I noticed the top of the cake had a HUGE CANYON-LIKE CREVASSE on the top.

I just hope it tastes better than it looks. I don't remember having these problems the last time I baked a cake. Of course, I was eight and was using my sister's Easy Bake Oven, but that's besides the point.

HAPPY TUNESDAY MOTHERFUCKERS!

Everyone knows I'm a huge hard rock fan. But I'm also a huge pop lover. Unfortunately, today they don't make much pop music--it's mostly Hip-Hop. It's okay, I'm just not a fan.

But I am a fan of the very first Whitney Houston Album. It will be album #2 in my top six memorable albums.

I bought this record before Whitney fever hit. I can't remember the first single, maybe You Give Good Love, but I heard it and immediately bought the record. (Yes, the record AKA LP--that's long playing record for you youngins). That was in 1985. I can't believe it's been over 20 years. I'm fucking old.

I was immediately hooked after playing the record for the first time. I thought Whitney was so beautiful and had such an amazing voice. I listened to this record every day for probably a year. I almost always listened to it in the shower and sang along.

I haven't really thought about it or listened to it in years. But it's definitely a piece of my history. If you like your pop with a little R&B, check this record out. I'm listening to it for the first time in a long time and it still stands up pretty well. Some of the faster paced songs are really 80s, but it's still good stuff.

Here's a little dedication to SJ--You Give Good Love
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Another (Wo)Man's Treasure

We had our rummage sale Saturday morning. But let me backtrack first.

Phill (Storm coach) and John (player/president of the board) went to Hawaii last week. They said that while they were gone, Joe and I could have the place for a little retreat. They told me this about two months ago.

So, I was looking forward to this weekend as a great opportunity to celebrate Joe's birthday (it's Apr. 25th). But then it became the weekend of the rummage sale/beer bust. I was really stressed because as a member of the board, I'm obligated to help out. But as a person in love, I want my bf to be happy.

To top it off, I was going to have to meet with Buddy and some of the writers at Echo for a meeting Saturday afternoon as well. Fortunately, that got cancelled. So, I told Joe that we'd only have to go for the rummage sale and skip the beer bust part.

Both were a success. I think we raised close to $600! Tony H. did a great job organizing everything. The best part is my car is finally mine again; everyone's stuff is sold. I don't look so ghetto anymore.

Back to the incredible weekend. John and Phill live in North Scottsdale, about 3 miles south of Cave Creek. The air is crisp and clean up there. And it's desolate. So we were able to sit outside at night and look at all of the stars. There are also a lot birds that chatter and bunny rabbits bouncing around. We even saw a coyote on the side of the road.

J and P also have a hot tub and pool. So I took a little nap outside on Saturday after the sale, while Joe surfed the Web. Saturday night we headed into Cave Creek for some Mexican. Sunday I got up, made coffee and read the paper outside while SJ slept. It was really peaceful.

Unfortunately, our little weekend in paradise had to come to an end. I brought my camera to document the weekend and forgot to take pix. Here are some I took w/ my phone. The rummage sale pix are overexposed because it was so bright.
John (with beer in hand at 8:30 AM!) and Tony
Joe barely fitting into a boy's size 14 shirt from the sale
Joe heating up leftover pasta
Joe and I in the kitchen 

TomKat + TomKitten = Alpaca?

Suri_Alpaca_Jebidiah
Originally uploaded by veryapeaz.

Every day I receive dozens of press releases from various agencies hawking a client, a product, a service, etc. Everybody wants free press. I delete 99% of them after reading the first two sentences.

Honestly, why would Echo readers care about tantric sex books (written for the discriminating heterosexual) or office romances flourishing. Most of them are a big stretch.

Today I received one that had me laughing out loud. But at the same time I thought it was very clever of this person. The PR lady who wrote this should receive an award for most inventive tie-in to Pop Culture.

Here's the release:
THE RARE AND BEAUTIFUL SURI
∑ that has been around for thousands of years!

It is now well-known that Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes became parents to a beautiful baby girl on Tuesday, April 18, named Suri. The name Suri has origins in Hebrew, meaning "Princess" or in Persian, meaning "Red Rose". However, a Suri is also another rare and beautiful creature. One that has been around for thousands of years.

A Suri is a type of alpaca. Alpacas, cousins to the llama, are native to the Andean Mountain range of South America, particularly Peru, Bolivia, and Chile. Once an Incan civilization treasure, alpacas provided clothing and transportation. Their luxurious fleece was reserved for royalty and was known as the "fiber of gods".

There are two types of alpacas in the United States today. Although almost physically identical, what distinguishes the two types of alpacas is their fiber. The Huacaya (wa-Ki'-ah) is the more common of the two and has a fluffy, extremely fine coat. The Suri is the rarer of the two and has fiber that is silky and resembles pencil-locks.

The rare Suri represents less than 10% of the over 65,000 registered alpacas in the United States.

Adult Suri alpacas stand at approximately 36 inches at the withers and generally weigh between 150 and 200 pounds. They do not have horns, hooves, claws or incisors. Alpacas are alert, intelligent, curious, and predictable. Social animals that seek companionship, Suris communicate most commonly by softly humming.

Fencing is not a huge issue because Suri alpacas don't challenge fences. Alpacas require minimal acreage and food.

Making Suri alpacas even more attractive is their child-friendly nature. Though easy to manage, as with any livestock, children should always be properly supervised while working with alpacas.

Offering a high degree of personal satisfaction, Suri owners, breeders and enthusiasts believe these animals are ideal for small farms.

Suris are shorn, without harm, every twelve to eighteen months. They produced five to ten pounds of luxurious fiber. Long ago, alpaca fiber was reserved for royalty. Today it is purchased in its raw fleece form by hand-spinners and fiber artists. Knitters buy it as yarn.

Because of its soft texture, Suri fiber is sometimes compared to cashmere. Making Suri fiber even more coveted, it has the luster of silk. Suri is longer in length than most other fibers, making it easier to process and less likely to pill. Pilling of a fabric occurs when groups of short or broken fibers on the surface of the fabric become tangled together in a tiny ball.

Alpaca is stronger, warmer and yet lighter than wool. This is because alpaca fiber has a hollow core that provides it great thermal properties within extremely lightweight garments. This characteristic also allows alpaca clothing to breathe and wear more comfortably during any season. It comes in 22 natural colors, yet can be dyed any desired shade.

This fiber is organic and naturally flame retardant. Containing no lanolin, it is also naturally hypoallergenic. Most people who are sensitive to wool find that they can wear alpaca without the itching or irritation they feel from wool because alpaca fiber is smooth.

Additional performance characteristics include: stretch, water repellency, and odor reduction. For travelers, clothing made from alpaca is desirable because it is wrinkle-resistant.

Alpacas were first imported into the United States in 1984. Since then, the alpaca industry has grown steadily, on average 22 percent a year, according to the Alpaca Owners and Breeders Association (AOBA), the backbone of the alpaca industry. Current estimates total over 65,000 registered alpacas with the Alpaca Registry, Inc. (ARI) in the United States and more than 4,000 AOBA members in North America.

To find out more about Suri alpacas, or to visit a farm near you, visit www.alpacainfo.com.

###

Photos:
Suri Head:
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b108/JerrMill/surihead.jpg

Suris:
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b108/JerrMill/SuriAlpacas.jpg

Suri Body Shot:
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b108/JerrMill/Suri.jpg

Baby Suri:
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b108/JerrMill/babysuri.jpg

Come and Listen To a Story 'bout A Man Named Ted

beverly hillbillies
Originally uploaded by veryapeaz.

Saturday we're having a rummage sale/beer bust for the rugby team. I sent out an e-mail to friends who lived in the Valley to give me their crap to sell. Many responded. So now I can't see out of my rearview mirror because there is stuff EVERYWHERE: clothes, games, a steam cleaner, a chandalier!!, and soon to be -- a bunch of bridesmaid dresses with matching shoes (a drag queen or some 16-year old girl going to the prom is going to be very happy).

I've had to store some bags and boxes in my office so I can pick up more stuff.

It's kind of funny, because I have these lamps and assorted bags kind of strewn about my car. People think I'm white trash. Little do they know that they're absolutely correct!

Since it's so hot outside I've decided to forgo my shirt while driving. This enhances the whole WT motif. And of course, I've got Skynyrd blasting out of my speakers. Now if only someone had donated a Confederate flag, I could lay it in the back window -- then I'd really be set.
:-P

I'm in a good mood today. I hope everyone else is as well.
=-)

In the Evening

Last week I had a really long post for Tunesday. But Picasa ate it during transmission. I was so distraught/tired, I decided not to rewrite it or do anything.

But I'm back.

A couple of week's back, Derek posted his six favorite or most memorable records. I wanted to do that too. But I'm going to break it into the next six Tunesdsays.

But before I get to that I wanted to say what a great Easter I had. SJ and I headed up to John and Phill's house. They had the rugby crew over and some of their coworkers and friends.

Here are some pix.

So back to my first record. In Through the Out Door was Led Zeppelin's last proper album. They released one more called Coda, but it was a bunch of tracks pulled together after John Bonham's death. I LOVE this record so much but it makes me sad at the same time. It's vastly different than their other stuff and gives a hint of a new direction. Unfortunately, that new direction was never realized.

There are only seven songs on the record but they're all radically different from one another. Zeppelin had always been steered towards the blues side of rock. But here they use a lot of strings, some country flavor, heavy synth and even delve into pop. And every song is excellent.

HAPPY TUNESDAY MOTHERFUCKERS!
This record was released when I was eight years old, but it was one of my favorites. The record had a plain brown sleeve and the cardboard part that held the record slid out to reveal a picture of a man in a bar. I used to stare at it while listening to the record, wondering why that guy in the nice suit was in such a grungy bar.

In the Evening is a really cool song. Robert Plant's vocals are almost muted which is strange because he's got one of the most powerful rock voices. But I love the chugging guitars that string you along throughout the song.

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Happy Birthday to Me!

I had one of the best birthdays ever. It was such a great celebration and I just hope it portends of the upcoming year.

Saturday night I went to Joe's after the gym. He lives in a self-contained apartment attached to a main house. It was the birthday of one of the guys who lives in the main house. So we went and had a drink and talked to his landlord, also named Joe. Landlord Joe is a fascinating man and the hour went by too quickly. I'd love to have dinner with him sometime and listen to more of his stories.

Then we headed off to Apollo's to meet some friends for karaoke. We never got to sing but it was great to be surrounded by so many awesome people. There were rugby people, straight friends, gay friends. I want to give a shout out to Coach Phill and John for making the trek down from Cave Creek. And to Buddy and Richard for stopping in after being in Tucson all day. It really made me feel special that they went out of their way to wish me happy birthday.

The only problem was, there were a lot of people there. I think at one point there were probably 20 or 30 friends. I always feel bad because I get to talk to someone for 5 or 10 minutes and then it's time to move on to someone else. It's a balancing act. I want everyone to know that I appreciate them being there. So hopefully they did.

Wanna see some pictures? Here's a link to some pix I took.

Sunday was just an incredible day. Joe and I slept in until 9:30. Then we got up and drank coffee and watched the Sunday morning news shows. Then he made french toast that was SUPER DELICIOUS and then baked a yummy cake. (I've already eaten half the cake.) We just laid on the floor all day and read the paper and watched TV. It was a luxury we don't normally have because I usually have to write my freelance column. But I was able to get all the research done on Friday and Saturday, so I got to stay at Joe's til 5pm.

Joe went out of his way to make Sunday a special day. He cooked, he baked, he brought me coffee, he let me watch horror films on the TV, he let me rip off his clothes... multiple times. He's a great guy! And not only is he a great cook and baker, he's more comfortable than a Sealy Posturepedic (I fell asleep lying on top of him).

The past twelve months two wonderful things happened to me.

Last June I had to go to a dinner for Echo. It was to accept an award from the Phoenix Storm RFC. They welcomed me with open arms and invited me to practice with them. They have since brought me into their family and I'm a better man because of it.

I've also fallen in love for the third time in my life. Not only am I in love, but it's with someone with which I'm really compatible. That's not easy to find. I know I've only known Joe for 6 months, but at this point in my two previous relationships, serious red flags had already been waving. Those haven't happened yet. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that Joe is brutally honest. I'm that way with important stuff. So we talk about everything and anything without fear of hurt feelings. I like this arrangement. I see it lasting, hopefully for the rest of our lives.

I mean it's got to. Buddy called us Lesbian Life Partners. That cracked me up. But it's also kinda cool. I hope he's right (the life partners part). 

Angry Chair

Sitting on an angry chair
Angry walls that steal the air

That's the first two verses of a song by Alice in Chains called Angry Chair. Right now, I'm sitting in mine.

Why? Because the woman pictured here beat her 10-year-old son to death. You can read more about it at the Arizona Republic. The crime itself is disgusting. But what really struck me is that on the evening news tonight, the news anchor said she's the adoptive mother. Why does this piss me off more?

Because right now the Arizona legislature is set to pass a bill that would limit adoptions to married couples only (with very few exceptions). The bill was drafted by the Center for Arizona Policy. CAP is a right-wing Christian organization that introduces anti-gay bills every year. Although it's a small organization it wields a lot of power.

How do I know this adoption bill is anti-homosexual? One of the main sponsors of the bill told the Arizona Republic that he doesn't want gays to have the ability to adopt. I wrote a story on this. It comes out in tomorrow's Echo. It should be on the Web site tomorrow if you're interested in reading it.

What's even more frustrating is that when the bill was before the Family Services Committee, only THREE groups spoke out in support of it: CAP, The Catholic Church (God how much I hate that fucking institution), and some Right to Life organization. In contrast, over 20 people spoke out against the bill. Many of the speakers were from ADOPTION AGENCIES! Of course the bill passed. And it will probably be approved by the Senate and sent to the governor.

If you live in Arizona and read this, please do me a favor and go to the Arizona Human Rights Fund's Advocacy Center. All you have to do is click on Advocacy Center and then click on HB 2696. It will bring up a form that will automatically send an e-mail to the governor. In fact, even if you're not from AZ, go onto the site and write her. She can't sign this bill into law. It must be vetoed.

I get so angry writing for Echo. It'd be so nice to be oblivious to the shit that goes on everyday. But it's my job to report on it. Unfortunately, not enough people care. They read the stories but then figure, "What the hell can I do?" They can do a lot. All it takes is an e-mail, a phone call, a letter or a visit to your representative.

But back to Hulsey. It drives me nuts that the so-called "pro-family" organizations (in other words Christian fundamentalists) would rather see a kid be killed by a heterosexual woman then grow up happy and healthy in a family that has two dads. Fuck it pisses me off. I'm gonna drink some wine and hope and pray (yes, even homos have a God they can talk to) that this bill never becomes law. If it does become law, I'm going to have to turn up the timetable on my move back east. Cuz this shit's for the birds. 

Show Must Go On

Innuendo
Originally uploaded by veryapeaz.

Friday night, SJ and I headed to Glendale Arena to see Queen with Paul Rodgers. Actually, it was only Brian May and Roger Taylor with Paul Rodgers. John Deacon retired. Essentially we got Bad Queen.

Regardless, it was a good show. They played a lot of Queen’s hits and even some Bad Company. I love Paul Rodgers’ voice. Ironically, he sounded better on the Queen songs than on the Bad Company songs. Both Brian May and Roger Taylor sang leads on a few songs too. It seemed like everyone enjoyed playing and the crowd liked it.

Some standouts from the show were Bad Company, Brian May singing Love of My Life, Chuck Taylor singing Radio Ga Ga and These Are the Days of Our Lives and Paul Rodgers singing the second half of Bohemian Rhapsody (a video of Freddy singing the first half at a concert was shown).

After we got home we went straight to bed. But I couldn’t sleep because I was a little nervous about Pride (the Storm was manning a beer truck plus we had an information booth). I organized the scheduling and was afraid people wouldn’t show or something disastrous would happen. So I only got about 3 hours of sleep.

Saturday morning came. The alarm went off at 6:45. The only good part of waking up after 3 hours of sleep is seeing Joe in the bed with me. But I digress.

We marched in the parade and had a blast. We ran some drills and did some lineouts. The crowd seemed to really enjoy it—many people I knew (and didn’t know) came up to me and told me they loved watching us in the parade (I think it’s the short shorts).

I got to the beer truck at 12:30 and stayed there until 9 (except for one bathroom break and one 30-minute dinner break). It was crazy busy, but we were very successful. All of the guys worked their asses off. When guys weren’t scheduled to work, they hung out and helped out. It was really rewarding to see us do this huge task as a team.

Joe and I got home around 10. We showered and watched a little TV to decompress. Then we went to bed. I was talking to him about the day and fell asleep mid-sentence. I was pooped!

Sunday was another great day. The weather was beautiful and everyone was in a good mood.

The weekend was interesting because I discovered something. People don’t remember me.

For example, I’ve met the editor of Red Magazine on four separate occasions and have spoken to him on the phone and via e-mail several times. I saw him and Gilbert (Rickie’s roommate) on Sunday walking around. Gilbert said hello and had to re-introduce me to Chris. It was as if we’d never met.

This also happened with the owner of Hamburger Mary’s (now Burger Betty’s). I’ve been introduced to him by two friends in the past year. He’s walked up to me in a bar TWICE and given me an invitation to an annual uniform party he holds (I thought I was invited because he remembered me—guess not). I’ve also talked to him on the phone because of working at Echo. Each time, I have to reintroduce myself.

The same is true with Kyrsten Sinema—a state legislator and activist. I talk to her on the phone every two weeks for updates on a Marriage Amendment in Arizona. I also see her at every political function and interview her (in person) at said functions. She has no clue who I am.

It’s very bizarre.

HAPPY TUNESDAY MOTHERFUCKERS!

I thought I’d play a little Queen. The Show Must Go On is such a powerful song. It’s the final song on Queen’s final album with Freddy Mercury. He knew he was dying and was feverishly writing music before he succumbed to AIDS. It’s sad that he would only acknowledge that he had AIDS an hour or two before his death. The record is called appropriately Innuendo. Check it out.

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