The site for ranting and reporting by John Masters
This is for those posts that we wish to feature here at Deep Sand. It implies that these are a bit extra special.
Sunday afternoon we attended the annual holiday concert for Una Voce The Florida Men’s Chorale. This was their 10th annual holiday concert, and Lay and me have been to each of them. This might have been the best concert yet, and I had a great time. The theater was very near, if not, sold out, and I believe straight couples might have outweighed gay couples.
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I went to get a haircut Wednesday morning at the Gandy Barbershop. It’s owned by Steve, but Tony, a British guy, is the barber I use. When I was paying and getting ready to leave he showed me a framed article by a local Tampa Tribune columnist, Steve Otto, which talked about Tony and the barbershop. I got me thinking about my earliest memories of going to the barbershop. Of course I know I went before we moved to Kings Mountain, but the first memory I have of going was to Central Barbershop right downtown on Mountain Street, beside Griffin’s Drug Store.
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Not toolong ago the Teabagger crazy in the Tennessee Legislature decided it would be a good idea to roll back restrictions on where a person shouldn’t carry guns. So Rep. Curry Todd decided it would be a good idea to introduce a law allowing handgun carry permit holders to bring guns into bars. Because, you know, guns and drunks are always a successful combination…if you desire is to clean up the gene pool. Unfortunately, Rep. Todd forgot about another law in Tennessee making it illegal to be in possession of a fireman when intoxicated.
Read moreWell, Christmas 2010 has come and gone. Nothing left to do but pack up the decorations. I’d have to rate it as a pretty good Christmas. I think I managed to stick to a fairly tight budget, and despite a few arguments with Lay, we wound up with everyone getting something they really enjoyed. I got my shopping and gift wrapping done well ahead of time this year. The decorations were up right after Thanksgiving, and the Christmas Cards went out just after that, so I never felt rushed or hectic.
Read moreI noticed over at Joe My God, Joe had listed a quote of the day from Anthony Verdugo, founder of Florida’s Christian Family Coalition. I went to their website and used their contact form to send them a message. I got an email from their webmaster who accused me of cherry-picking scripture because I cited Micah 6:8, and he decided to pick about seven verses, two of them from Leviticus. No person not abiding by the entire Levitical Code has the right to cite those two verses…so I responsded.
Read moreIt’s been called Miracle on 22nd Street. A gay couple started getting hundreds of letters addressed to Santa Claus at their address on 22nd Street in New York City. They’ve been unable to figure how it was their address that got circulated as Santa’s address, but the miracle of it grew. While many so-called Christian organizations spent millions of dollars to defeat gay marriage initiatives and support themselves…FRC, AFA, Christian Family Coalition of Florida, Catholic Diocese of Minnesota, Bill Donahue of Catholic League who pays himself $400k per year, just to name a few…these two guys enlisted the help of friends and co-workers and went to work answering letters and helping children.
Read moreEach day brings even more astonishment at how low some people can go to make a buck or get their 15 minutes of fame. Certain Christianists seem hell-bent on creating a contrived “war on Christmas” where none exists all for the sake of either raising money, or making a name for themselves. And in the end, I fear it may destroy a wonderful and important time of the year.
Read moreMany years ago, when I lived here in Tampa the first time, I attended the Gay Men’s Chorus Christmas Concert at the Tampa Theater. The ceiling there is painted blue and has tiny lights in it simulating a night sky. I hadn’t noticed that until the Chorus sang this song and my eyes were drawn upward as I enjoyed the music and saw this amazing sight overhead. I think this has been my favorite carol ever since.
Read moreYou will be thrilled to know that Florida now has a member of Congress who supports forced child marriages. Incoming House Foreign Affairs chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) defeated a bill Thursday evening that would have committed the United States to combating forced child marriages abroad, by invoking concerns about the legislation’s cost and that funds could be used to promote abortion.
Read moreAs you probably know, Elizabeth Edwards, estranged wife of former presidential candidate John Edwards, lost her six year battle with cancer today. My understanding is that she was home. Only yesterday they reported that no additional treatments would help, and talked like she had weeks to live. I guess it was worse than expected. I wish the best for her family during a difficult time, and this country lost a bright light.
Read moreWell, you knew it would be just a matter of time. I think I want one of each. My personal favorite, the one about the Freedom Pat. I can see some Congressman startting to use that to justify TSA.
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