Week Ending 15 June

This week was packed with various operatic elements and social engagements.

Workin' It

This week I went to a "personalized job search workshop" at the Employment Development Department. If I ever thought the government was inefficient and totally inept, this experience proves it. The "workshop" which was nothing more than a lady telling me everything I read on their website and in their brochures was anything but "personal". I was herded into a room with close to one hundred other jobless people and handed a folder of materials that contained flyers and other information to supposedly help us secure a new job. I didn't see my name on the folder and asked if I had the correct one. I was told that they were all the same. Obviously, they don't know the meaning of the word, "personal". Inside the folder, I checked out their booklets. One was dedicated to fashion tips for job interviews and the other was about how to complete the weekly reporting forms correctly. Seeing how I've been completing the forms correctly for well over 20 months, I flipped through the fashion one first. The graphics showed drawings of people in flared out leisure suits straight out of some 1970s Blaxsploitation flick. I looked at the copyright information and the booklet was last updated in 1981. The rest of the information in the presentation/lecture (I can't call it a "workshop" because that would imply interaction or at least a level of audience participation that was totally absent from this experience) was equally redundant or outdated except a notice about the Private Industry Council's training programs. The EDD will extend benefits to jobless folk enrolled in one of their pre-approved job training programs. I was excited as I've been checking out training programs on my own and realized this might be a great resource. Then I got outraged that the EDD didn't tell me about this last year when my first claim amount was at the maximum level. Now that they've reduced my benefit amount in my second 365-day-long claim they're notifying me of this opportunity. To rub salt in my wounds, the lady said that once you're accepted into this program, they pay for the classes too. I just paid for a year of college tuition out of my own pocket! F*ckers! Is there any wonder that over half of the American populace hates the government?

I also checked out a job fair this week. It was sponsored by the local viewspaper (If you've ever read the SF Chronicle you couldn't really call it "news" either). There were about five tables pushing gun jobs, the army, navy, and several local police jurisdictions with high crime rates like Oakland and Sacramento. There were numerous "entrepreneurial opportunities" i.e. outside sales jobs where they expect you to have a home office and work on commission after some weak-ass training. There were several hospital and medical groups recruiting for highly specific, technical jobs and about four or five tables of placement agencies advertising nothing specific, but obviously trying to plump up their databases. Hooters was supposed to be there, but for some reason pulled out at the last minute. Given their customer base, that's a great strategy for their organization to promote.

The queue was well over a city-block long for over an hour. The organizers estimate that they had over 3,000 people there. I wish I didn't go because it was pathetic to see so many desperate people fighting over business cards the way seagulls fight over discards at the beach.

Doin' Dinner

I haven't seen my little straight friend Sean for far too long. He and his wife bought a condo in Pacifica last year and I've been threatening to go down there and check it out. Tuesday night, with BART ticket in hand, I went home with Sean for a little barbecue fun at their new pad. We talked about improving the website that I built for him last year.

Opera Part One

Wednesday night, I saw a dress rehearsal of IL Trovatore. My pal Ggreg's been working with them for a few events and he kicked me down with some box seats. It was quite a score and I really loved the experience, though I'm still not a big fan of the medium. I guess I shouldn't have picked a female heavy story for my first time considering the fact that I hate the sound of sopranos. The post-post modern sets lacked the impact needed to retain my attention, especially if people are going to stand stationary for so long and just sing. There were some innovative moments when panels in the grey, cave-like background slid to the side to reveal more depth and detail. Sadly, they were too few and far between for me. I figured out the ending in like the first twenty minutes and spend the rest of the two hours wishing they could speed things along a bit.

The Red Chairs
Over-thinking the placement of the straight-backed red velvet chairs occupied a good deal of time as at first I thought they represented the five main character's inner identity. The blood red chairs symbolizing their blood ties to each other. As one or another would sit in a chair and sing, I told myslef they were obviously revealing their inner turmoil and red-hot passion for one another. All of my theories were blown out of the water after the intermission of course, when the placement of a single red chair on its side got moved off stage by a stage hand. (That type of thing happens during these dress rehersals). Later when I was impatiently waiting for Manrico to shut up and get killed, I was back to my original hypothesys because he was imprisoned and standing in a corner with an inverted red chair attached to the wall above him. It's legs were all bent and truncated which mirrored his inability to run when he had the chance. All the pre-murder monologues sung syllable by syllable left me wondering why I hadn't run out at intermission when I had the chance...

All in all, this experience taught me that I like faster paced entertainment. I'm part of the Sesame Street generation after all, I need movement and dancing with my singing and a much better story that unfolds for the audience along with the characters. Maybe I'll stick to musical theatre and the live dramatic arts. Several people have suggested that I might enjoy more contemporary pieces and I'd like to think that I'm still open to additional exposure to this ancient art form.

Opera Part Two

Saturday night, my pal Ggreg roped me into helping him out with his warehouse dance party called, "Forgotten Opera". It was a masked costume ball and the whole place was decked out with props borrowed from the San Francisco Opera. I coordinated the security and was on the door most of the night, checking IDs. I got to see almost everyone as they went into the party and about 95% of the people were decked out in some form of costume. Check out the photo links below to see some of the creative and outrageous costumes people threw together.

Here's some pix of the action:

Puppy's Birthday BBQ

Before work, I had a couple of veggie burgers at Puppy's birthday barbecue. While they were cooked on a grill contaminated by dead animal products, I thought it best not to make mention of that fact. I knew most of the crowd and I was surprised by how mellow and relaxed the vibe was for the few hours I was there. Last year's party was a bit more rambunctious. It may have been the fact that this year's party was an afternoon affair, or the fact that Puppy's lived in San Francisco long enough to establish real friendships with people instead of recruiting a bunch of 'bar-friends' for free booze and cake. Y'know the costume aspect of last year's party may have contributed to the wild atmosphere... Whatever the cause, the end result was a great day out and a very happy birthday for my pal Puppy.

Queer Film Festival Begins

This year due to joblessness, I've had to cut back drastically on the number of films I'm seeing in the festival. While I've only got tickets to see three programs, you know I've still got an opinion about them all...

Queer Equality Gains a Stronghold in North America

This week, the Superior Court in Ontario Canada said that the government's ban on same sex marriage was illegal. Other provincial courts have allowed local jurisdictions to have time to sort out a way to instigate equality. Ontario however, had only 24 hours to set things right. The ruling affects the whole country. Fearing other provinces would be too slow to initiate change, thousands of people in same sex relationships flooded Ontario to claim equal status for their loving relationships. Apparently there were many Americans mixed in as well and it will be interesting to see how their Canadian weddings will be regarded once they return home to the US.

Credibility Under Attack (again)

This section was started last week and will be continued as more items come to my attention.

Case four
The pentagon released a report on Monday of their prewar"evidence" for WMDs in Iraq. It was full of "maybes" and "probably's". The Bush Administration's response, they ARE there and they will be found (just as soon as the CIA and Special Ops can manufacture them)

Case Five
The Scottish press reported that Bush & Blair invaded Sadam at the bequest of Ariel Sharron. The papers point out that after the war he was quick to sit down and sign on to the "roadmap" peace deal. If this is true and the truth comes out, it could spell the end of Blair's political career and would paint Bush as a lapdog for the Jewish extremist.

Case Six
The American government's credibility on the issue of equality under law came under attack this week as Canada legalized gay marriage. This development further increases the difficulty with which the US justifies its tax penalties and total disrespect of committed, loving relationships.

The Age of Imperialism

Death Toll Mounts
Reports issued to the media on Tuesday claimed that 205 US soldiers to date have been killed in Iraq. To know that they've needlessly died to satisfy Bush's blood lust is heart wrenching enough. What made the report down right tragic is the news that 70 of those soldiers were killed by "friendly fire" or accidents. What a waste of human life and that's just on the American side. The report failed to indicate how many perished on the Iraqi side.

Ironic Twist
Hans Blix this week pointed out that the US and Britain are calling for patience in the search for WMDs in Iraq but when he asked for patience, they not only denied it, they claimed a greater imperative for military action. Oh how the tables have turned... this could be another Watergate situation if the media ever finds out who got the bee up their but for the whole war thing as people are starting to say, "what did the president know and when did he know it?"

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