Day of Decision

As I'm sure you know by now, yesterday the CA Supreme Court ruled that Prop 8 will remain valid, while the 18,000 same-sex marriages performed last year will also remain valid.


GLBT organizations are already starting a campaign to put an initiative on the ballot in 2010 that will repeal Prop 8. In the meantime, they are recruiting volunteers to go door-to-door to talk to voters about the issue. According to one volunteer I spoke with, they have already changed the minds of 15% of the population. I don't have anything to substantiate this claim, but it would be excellent if true...


Last night I attended the West Hollywood rally and march. Celebrity sightings included Drew Barrymore and Kathy Griffin (I saw Kathy but not Drew). I heard there were 5,000 people in attendance, which is considered a good turnout (although if you compare that to the number of people who attend L.A. Pride, there's a huge discrepancy). The thing that struck me the most was the lack of energy I felt compared to the protests that followed the passage of Prop 8 last November. When I arrived, the rally (which means an organized thing with speakers) was going on and while a huge segment of people had broken off to go march/protest, the police were blocking the road so we all just sort of stood around idly for an hour until we could get through (after that it got dark, so I had trouble getting good photos).



Nevertheless, everyone seems to be looking forward to the prospects in 2010. And there are so many other politically promising things going on around the country for GLBT rights - the "don't ask, don't tell" policy has been brought to the forefront and may change under Obama's term in office, the Oregon Senate just passed legislation that protects GLBT students in schools, New York and New Jersey have been making headway on same-sex marriage legislation, some recent success has happened with hate crime legislation that protects GLBT people, D.C. started recognizing same-sex marriages from other states a couple of months ago, we had a recent marriage victory in Maine - so much is going on across the country, it's hard to keep up. But one thing is certain - things are moving, and quickly.

I have some more photos I will post soon. In the meantime, check out my favorite sign below, on the far right -

The GAYme Show Network

Last Saturday I videotaped some red carpet interviews for the first annual Game Show Network Awards. A friend of mine does freelance work as an interviewer/on-screen personality for various events, and he asked me if I could shoot some interviews for him. I've never shot a red carpet before, and it was actually quite fun.

While there were several cameras trying to get interviews (we weren't affiliated with the network - they had their own crew), we managed to talk to a good amount of people - the goth couple from "Amazing Race," the kids from "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?", a lady from the show "The Office," the host from "Dancing with the Stars," a lady from "Mad TV," one of the "Brady Bunch" guys (OK, so you can tell I'm not a "name" person), Cloris Leechman, Carnie Wilson, George Wallace, and I think Melissa Rivers. Bob Barker was also somewhere to be found, as was Alan Thicke from "Growing Pains," but we didn't get a chance to interview them.


Since I don't have a TV, I didn't know that Ross the Intern is now a host on the network (not that I would know that if I did have a TV, but I guess you never know).


I didn't recognize him at first and I couldn't help but think how interesting it was that they had this flaming queer as a host (he's no "Anderson Cooper," if you know what I mean).


But he's definitely a cutie, and props to the GSN for bringing him on board. Game shows are already so gay - it's about time they start embracing this rather than casting overly-sexed straight men (have you seen the old "Family Feud" shows where the host actually kisses all the women contestants on the lips? Talk about EWW, gross, sexual harassment, and herpes).


The awards show airs June 6th, and is hosted by Howie Mandel. You can even vote for your favorites on their website here. (Actually, I just went to the site and voting is closed, which of course makes sense since they already gave out the awards, but you can still take a look at the nominees).


And in typical game show style, as a parting gift for the event, we got to take home a box of good ol' fashioned rice-a-roni.


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Erasing the "Huh?" from Abstract Art

I recently visited the MOCA (Museum of Contemporary Art) for the first time and loved it. If you go, go to the downtown location on Grand Ave. The MOCA has two other locations in L.A. besides the one on Grand - one is currently closed, and the other one is in WeHo next to the Pacific Design Center.


The WeHo one is free but it only has one small room that at this time has only one large piece of art (seen below).


I was ready to go in about 2 minutes, but my Dad sat and stared at it for at least thirty. It was actually quite cute - he would look at it with a very pensive look on his face, scanning it as if doing some sort of mathematical equation in his head.

After that, we headed over to the one downtown. Below is the sculpture they have out front, made from the parts of planes and other industrial things.



The exhibit inside was great - they have a temporary exhibit from one artist and a more permanent collection from several different ones. The best part was the tour we went on for the temporary exhibit - it really gave us a perspective on how to look at the art and what ideas the artist was exploring with his work. What I learned most from the tour was learning how to appreciate art as an experience and not necessarily as an intellectual exercise.

For example, when looking at a Jackson Pollock (the guy who dribbles paint on a canvas), don't necessarily think "What does this mean? What is the artist trying to say?" Look at it and feel something - the passion, the energy, the movement. The way the artist seems to erase all barriers between himself and his work - his experience painting it becomes what we see in the work. Of course, there's more to his notoriety in terms of doing something groundbreaking in the history of art, but I think the art should be more than just something "never done before." I think what matters is how I feel when I look at it, and any art class I've taken has always shied away from teaching that. I understand that you can't tell me what to feel, but it helps to be guided through the process by which we can discover what we feel, other than a simple - "Huh?"

When the process of looking at art starts to become an exploration of an experience, taking an idea and playing with it, being delighted by it, surprised, amused, entertained, or curious, it begins to resonate for me. As with the pottery exhibit in the picture above, I looked at it and just saw pottery - my Dad had an experience. Just as I started to have an experience as I explored an exhibit downtown that was comprised of glass, mirrors, and reflections - it's as if you start rediscovering and looking at the world as a child - everything is new and different. And when I go back to the MOCA I will be sure to take a tour of a new exhibit to gain some more perspective on the whole thing.