New York Bans Smoking in All Parks

Well done New York, you beat the West Coast to it. Just today as I sipped on a cup of joe, I watched “person” after “person” throw their cigarette buts to the ground and spew vile smoke into the atmosphere and pedestrian faces, RUDE! Im so proud of you New York that I want to give you a big Bear hug and if you’re luck a reach around ( wink wink)

GOODY GOODY GUM DROPS!

Time to Enjoy Your Last Cigarette In Central Park

VIA GAWKER

New York‘s city council just banned smoking in all parks by a vote of 36-12. Signs announcing the ban will be posted within 90 days, says the AP. Now what will shirtless middle-aged dudes do while rollerblading?

Send an email to Adrian Chen, the author of this post, at adrian@gawker.com.

Punxsutawney Phil predicts an early spring

I love Science ( ?)

Punxsutawney Phil predicts an early spring on Groundhog Day 2011

VIA L.A. Unleashed

Punxsutawney Phil, America’s favorite groundhog, predicted an early spring when he failed to see his shadow Wednesday morning at Gobbler’s Knob in Punxsutawney, Pa.

Early spring predictions are rare for Phil. But Mike Johnston, vice president of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club’s Inner Circle, insisted that the groundhog’s failure to see his shadow was based solely on his accurate foreknowledge of weather trends. Reuters reported Wednesday:

Johnston said the latest prognostication will be entirely accurate, and does not reflect any desire on Phil’s part to cheer up Americans who are suffering through a grueling winter.

“There is no question that Phil is capable of feeling empathy,” Johnston said in an interview. “But he is absolutely incapable of error.”

Others doubt Phil’s infallibility, however. And his record of accuracy isn’t the only controversy that has surrounded the groundhog in recent years: In 2010, PETA protested the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club’s continued reliance on Phil as a weather predictor/tourist attraction and asked the group to move him to a sanctuary and replace him with an animatronic groundhog replica.

Phil is “forced to be on display year round at the local library and is denied the ability to prepare for and enter yearly hibernation,” PETA’s animals in entertainment specialist Gemma Vaughan wrote in a letter to Groundhog Club President William Deeley. Vaughan noted that groundhogs are typically shy creatures and the throng of spectators and bright camera flashes at the annual Gobbler’s Knob festivities are likely to cause little Phil undue stress.

Deeley, however, scoffed at the notion that Phil was unhappy, telling the Associated Press that he is “treated better than the average child in Pennsylvania” and is subject to annual inspections by Pennsylvania’s agriculture department to ensure his well-being. (Plus, according to the Groundhog Club,  the rodent receives a sip of a special “groundhog punch” — an elixir with a secret recipe that extends his life by seven years — every summer.)

But Phil’s actions may have spoken for themselves a few years back, when he made several daring attempts to escape his den at the Punxsutawney Library.

Does Phil look anxious? See for yourself in the video below:

RELATED GROUNDHOG STORIES:
• Groundhog bites New York City’s Mayor Bloomberg
• Groundhog-less Alaska celebrates its first-ever Marmot Day

— Lindsay Barnett

Photo: Phil is placed on his stump during Groundhog Day festivities in Gobbler’s Knob on Feb. 2. Credit: Keith Srakocic / Associated Press

Video: Associated Press

Related Articles

• Groundhog Day 2011: Punxsutawney Phil photos (pennlive.com)

Mapplethorpe, Scissor Sisters’ Jake Shears and Babydaddy Do it

I love worlds colliding, duets and collaboration between artists the world lost way before their time and current Artists. Get a load of this!

Scissor Sisters Curate Mapplethorpe

By Advocate.com Editors

Scissor Sisters’ Jake Shears and Babydaddy, whose most recent album cover featured a suggestive photo by the late Robert Mapplethorpe, have now curated a show of the work, reports CNN.

Members of the band were asked to curate the show after the gallery, which represents the Mapplethorpe estate in the UK, saw the cover of Nightwork, which uses a photo of the clenched buttocks of late ballet dancer Peter Reed.

Mapplethorpe, synonymous with New York’s downtown art scene in the 1970s and ’80s, died of AIDS-related causes in 1989.

“I don’t know if we really considered curating a show until the gallery approached us, actually, after putting out the record and just said, ‘We love what you’ve done with the work, we think Robert would have been a fan of his use on the album cover,'” Babbydaddy tells CNN.

READ MORE

 

A Guide: How Not To Say Stupid Stuff About Egypt (via Sarthanapalos)

Great read!

The past few days I have heard so many stupid things from friends, blogs, pundits, correspondents, politicians, experts, writers that I want to pull my hair.  So, I will not beat around the bush, I will be really blunt and give you a handy list to keep you from offending Egyptians, Arabs and the world when you discuss, blog or talk about Egypt.  Honestly, I would think most Progressives would know these things, but let’s get to it. “I am so impre … Read More

via Sarthanapalos

A Guide: How Not To Say Stupid Stuff About Egypt (via Sarthanapalos)

Great read!

The past few days I have heard so many stupid things from friends, blogs, pundits, correspondents, politicians, experts, writers that I want to pull my hair.  So, I will not beat around the bush, I will be really blunt and give you a handy list to keep you from offending Egyptians, Arabs and the world when you discuss, blog or talk about Egypt.  Honestly, I would think most Progressives would know these things, but let's get to it. "I am so impre … Read More

via Sarthanapalos

Pic of Day

business pollution II via crayonfire

All Eyes On: Georg Lester ( photographer)

Georgie Porgie Puddin’ pie, kissed the girls and made them cry…. IF THEY WERE LUCKY! Im talking about super snazzy  photo snapping San Franciscos own, Georg Lester. His photographs first caught my attention of his coverage of night club Cock Fight. The pictures appeared to taken while hanging from the rafters above by their unusual all encompassing angles. Over the years I’ve seen many of these “out on the town” sections in local gay rags where gays are “caught” looking like  hot messes. Georg from what I see ONLY captures people at their best. Being caught by his lens is like winning the lottery. This cuite-pa-tootie needs to be recognized! Can I get an AMEN!?! Following is some 411 I found on Mr. Lester.

 

 

http://www.georglester.com/

Georg Lester is a local San Francisco photographer.

He specializes in shooting portraits and events. If you are interested in an appointment, please feel free to contact me.

Regarding photos posted here, if you plan on downloading any of the images, please respect his work and give credit where credit is due. Thanks!

If you are interested in an appointment, please send him an email to georg.lester@me.com.

BIO: 411 & Personal Journey

“Things that you might want to know is that I started my business about 2 1/5 years ago after putting my passion of photography on the back burner for so many years. With that done I am pursuing my passion now and having a blast doing so. I am interested in doing portraits and events.

Photography has always been part of my life. I started in high school working on the annual staff doing page layouts, but always wanted to take pictures. After the first year on the annual staff, the teacher in charge of it knew I wanted to be a photographer and had her staff photographers show me the ropes. So the my senior year I was a staff photographer. After high school I joined the Air Force  < HOT> and put my dreams aside for the next 4-5 years. That is when I started to work in the one-hour photo lab at Wal-mart, yes Wal-mart < keeping it real>. That really brought my passion of photography back, though I did not have a good camera at the time. I got to play with my pictures with the photo equipment. That job lasted almost 4 years. I got a job with One-Hour Moto Photo as a lab technician <climbing success ladder>. The business offered one hour portraits and there is where my dreams started waking up. I did not get to work in that studio. I moved to San Diego in 1995 and got a job at the same franchise and after a few weeks there, I was asked if I had ever shot in a portrait studio, I said I had not, but really wanted to. They gave me a chance at it and within a few weeks, I was the lead photographer, YIKES! < Super Star in the making> I was so happy. That lasted about two years and from there I started to do some freelance work outside of the studio. I did not have the right equipment at the time and could not afford to buy the right stuff. So spring forward to a couple of years ago, a boss asked me why I did not have a website or business card advertising myself. I said that I could afford it at the time. He offered to pay for my first of business cards and then things got rolling. I started to donate my services to a few non profits like HRC and REAL BAD.”

• georg.lester@mac.com(AIM)
  

• http://georglester.com
• http://www.cockfightsf.com/photos/

georglester@yahoo.com georg.lester@mac.com facebook.com/georg.lester

CATCH HIM IF YOU CAN

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