Jeez Jon

Carrie Prejean Vs. The Word "Appropriate"

Carrie Prejean, the former Miss California USA, is on a tour publicizing her new book, Still Standing.  [No, I'm not linking to it. -ed.]  You may have heard that she was suing the Miss USA pageant for wrongful termination.  Prejean claims it was for her bone-headed statement regarding gay marriage while the Miss USA organization said she wasn't showing up for work.  So, when Miss Prejean met with the reps from the Miss USA people about settling her $1 million suit, they played their trump card:  her sex tape.  And because of her little one-woman show, she settled. 

Back to her tour.  After hitting up the Today Show and The View, she appeared on Larry King's show.  And she took umbrage to Larry King asking her questions about the sex tape.  So, she acted in as professional manner as she could... which means she was highly, highly unprofessional.  Take a gander:

I seriously doubt that the reason why Miss Ladyfingers (tm Joe.My.God) settled is considered "confidential". And to take her mic off just as a gay man called in to ask her a question is also total bullshit.  If you can't handle questions from Larry King, then you really, really have a problem.   

Prejean's book is supposedly about the 1st Amendment, and how she was "attacked for saying her beliefs."  Lemme explain something about the 1st Amendment: I have the right to my opinion, and you have the right to voice your opinion on my opinion.  That's how an open society works.  It's call free discourse.  Yes, you can say whatever you want, but you are also held accountable for what you say.  That's also part of being an adult.

Acting like a spoiled brat on national television is not "appropriate".  Being routinely curt and pissy with a host on a TV show that you are using to hawk your damn book is so not "appropriate".  Turning off your mic while you are on camera is also not "appropriate".  So, Miss Prejean, it's time to put the web camera down and pick up a dictionary.  'Cause your behavior -- not Larry King's -- is inappropriate. 

[Huge hat tip to Joe.My.God.]

Agnostically Yours

This past weekend, my uncle Al treated Tom and I went to the AAIC 09  in Burbank, CA.  For the uninitiated, AAIC is the yearly conference for the  Atheist Alliance International organization.  My uncle has been a die-hard atheist since he was a kid, and since he retired from being a mechanical engineer many moons ago, he spends his time now going to different Atheist conventions and meetings around the world.  Since Tom and I had a good time at the conference last year on the Queen Mary, we decided to give it a go this year.

Let me tell you what actually happens at an atheist conference.  It's not a bunch of sour old men sitting around complaining.  It's a three day event with talks and lectures on science to comedy to the ongoing fight by the Religious Right to take evolution out of schools. Tom and I went on Saturday, which had some great lectures by astronomer Carolyn Porco, biology professor and author Jerry Coyne, and philosopher Daniel Dennett.  While Porco's and Coyne's lectures stayed on the science end of things, Dennett's talk was more on deconstructing religion. The headliner was Richard Dawkins, the closest thing modern atheism has to a rock star. 

His last book, The God Delusion, has sold over 1.5 million copies.  At the conference, he did a reading from his new book The Greatest Show On Earth, using the beauty and multitude of life on Earth as a defense of Evolution.  To show you how popular he is, Dawkins did a book signing after his talk.  This was the line:

It went around the corner as well:

Richard Dawkins is so famous and influential that the guys at South Park even put him into two episodes.  (Voice not actually Richard Dawkins, natch.)

The majority of the people we met at the convention were nice, pleasant, and great to talk to. One of the guys who ate at our table for dinner -- let's call him Steve -- told us how he was a conservative Christian touring musician for the first 30 years of his life, hell-bent on converting his friends.  On a bus-and-truck musical theater tour, Steve roomed with an atheist.  Seeing this as a challenge, he decided to bring his friend "over to the light", and prove that atheism is wrong by reading one of his roommate's atheism books.  Steve read the book from cover to cover, and he couldn't prove it wrong.  In the span of a few weeks, he went from Bible-thumper to atheist.  Others told stories of how they just started questioning their own religious beliefs and after a while, they abandoned them all together. 

You might be asking yourself now "Jon, are you an atheist?"  Well, I've been agnostic since high school.  Coming to terms and accepting my sexuality as well put me squarely at odds with the Catholic Church (in which I was raised) and a lot of other organized religions. Even as a kid, I could never square the circle on God being wrathful or angry.  It didn't make any sense to me that He needed to be praised every five minutes.  If He's a higher being, is he so neurotic that he has to have constant compliments?  Does he need to be told he doesn't look fat in his robe?  I don't think so.  I also don't believe that going to a church is the only way to be a good person. Lots of people hide behind religion to put forth ugly and hateful rhetoric and actions.  Being ethical and being religious aren't one and the same. 

Yes, I know that there are plenty of people who are religious and are indeed good, loving people.  Quite a few of them are in my life, and I do feel that my life is enriched by their presence.  But conversely, I don't feel that I have to do what they do in order to be ethical and kind.  You don't need religion to guide you generally in life. At least I don't.

While there is a lot of atheism that I do find attractive, I don't want to necessarily rule out that there's something more to this life as well.  I guess I want to keep my options open.  I do know that I want to keep reading and keep exploring.

And I finally want to give a thank you to my uncle Al.  Tom and I had a great time with him during his visit (which included such non-atheist activities like going to a taping of Craig Ferguson's show and seeing Capitalism: A Love Story).  Thanks, Al!

Oh, and one final note.  A convention is a convention, which means that among the normal people are always a few crazies.  Notice this guy's... blouse:

Seriously, dude, I know you don't believe in a supreme being, but leopard print?  Really?

Hometown Pride?

It's not every day that my hometown makes the news.  Apparently a reporter from one paper videotaped another reporter from the rival paper asleep at a city council meeting. The video is below:

I found this out on Gawker today.  Kinda surreal when the inside-baseball happenings of my hometown's only two newspapers makes national news.  Strange...

Ups And Down About Living In L.A.

In good news, I have job.  Yay!  It starts the middle of next month on a new show... and that's all I can say right now.  Obviously, once it's underway and I know what the sitch is, I'll pass along the info to you all.  It could be the worst show in the history of reality television (which would be saying something) but honestly, I don't care.  It's a job, it's employment, and that's all I care about.  So, keep your fingers crossed.  I won't exhale really until my first paycheck clears.  And this honestly comes at a great time.  Apparently, the unemployment rate in California is now 10.1%.  Yikes.  That is scary stuff. That's not good news.  The state finally got around to getting a budget signed, trying to close up a $42 billion shortfall.  Couple massive cuts with lots of unemployment in the Golden State equals a not terribly pleasant situation.  So, again, very, very happy I have a job. 

In the surreal portion of living here, at Trader Joe's in Eagle Rock today, I saw Colin Ferguson, the lead on SciFi's Eureka.  Like most TV actors, he's shorter than I figured (which means, shorter than me), but still very handsome in person.  I kept a very respectful distance, and geeked out quietly to myself.  I've lived here for almost 10 years now, and seeing celebrities are still neat for me.  I keep my distance, I don't say anything, I am respectful, but I can't help looking.  It reminds me that I hope to be that person that one day, in someone's blog, they can write "Hey, I saw that funny Jon guy at the Trader Joe's.  He's a bit shorter in person, but it was cool seeing him nonetheless."  Now, like the rest of us out here in La-La Land, I just have to weather through this financial crapstorm first.  Yikes.

The "P" Is For the Rest of Us

RIP Jesse Helms, you horrible, horrible human being.  What I said about Jerry Falwell's passing goes double for you.  I hope whatever issue you that made you such a hateful person gets worked out in your next life. 

Enjoy a peaceful 4th, everyone!

Finally, California Does Something Right

The California Supreme Court has ruled that gay marriage bans are unconstitutional, paving the way for full marriage equality here in America's most populous state.  This is huge.  Massive. Awesome. But, we're not out of the woods yet.  There's a push to change the California Constitution to ban gay marriage. Fortunately, there's a lot of people against that, including our governator:

I respect the Court’s decision and as Governor, I will uphold its ruling.  Also, as I have said in the past, I will not support an amendment to the constitution that would overturn this state Supreme Court ruling.

[Link courtesy of Andrew Sullivan]

So, for the time being, this is fantastic news. 

A Sad Day In Nerdiana

Gary Gygax, creator of Dungeons & Dragons, passed away today at the age of 69.  'Tis a sad day in the land.  All the elves, bards, gnomes, dwarves, and arcane prestige classes salute you, Gary.  And a special shout out from me, for giving me the inspiration for my movie. 

Disappointment -- Now Tempered And Level

Sen. Obama has a great interview with the Advocate about his recent addition of Rev. Donnie McClurkin to his gospel tour of South Carolina. He has stated that he's against Rev. McClurkin's views on homosexuality, and has said this can lead to dialogue. Now, at this point, I do think that Sen. Obama is being sincere with his feelings and intentions of wanting to bridge the gaps between church goers and the LGBT community. Not that Rev. Donnie McClurkin has backed off from his views during his tour.

I think it's the fact that Obama did react swiftly to this tempest-in-a-eapot that impressed me the most. While I'm disappointed that Rev. McClurkin was still involved, I no longer feel disappointed with Obama. He's still in the running for my vote.

Smoke Gets In Your... Well, Everything

The wildfires that have been ravaging Southern California have left the bulk of Los Angeles alone for the time being. So, for all those who have inquired as per Tom's and my status, we're fine. The air quality, however, is awful. I got a cold a week ago, and all the crap in the air is not helping at all. I lost my voice over the weekend, and it started coming back Monday, when the fires kicked in in earnest. The cough has been lingering, as you can imagine. Like others, I've also been getting headaches, some congestion, and some lack of sleep. One of other weird effects of all the fires around us is that everyone now and then, I'll get an intense scent of burning wood. Other times, the sky will just be full of smoke and haze, and not just the usual LA smog. I think the red sunset we had on Tuesday was by far the eeriest sight I've seen in a while.

One side effect of the fires is that the farm where we get our weekly veggies is in the evacuation zone. So, no big bag of carrots, bok choy, and radishes this week. Obviously, I hope everyone on the farm is okay, and that there is no damage to it. If you guys want to help, the Los Angeles Times has great listing of organizations helping fire victims. That can be found here.

PC To The Nth Degree

You may have heard of a middle school in Illinois that recently banned hugging because the principal found it inappropriate and apparently, it was making kids late for class.  The salt in the wound here?  It's my middle school alma mater.  Talk about embarrassing. 

I mean, it's hugging, people.  Hugging.  Is hugging now considered the gateway gesture that leads to a slippery slope of side hugs, high fives and -- God forbid -- group hugs?  Seriously, there are more things to be worried about than kids hugging. 

(I'll finish up the tale of Evil Swine soon, I swear.)