The Dooryard

Example of veiled bias in the media

This is an example of why I believe there is a bias in the media that favors Democrats over Republicans. I have watched for years how the party affiliation of politicians involved in "positive" stories and "negative" stories is identified. I've long noticed a trend: That the party affiliation of Democrats in negative stories is buried, while the party affiliation of Republicans in negative stories is generally in the first reference to the person.

The latest story is one of a New York state senator who has been indicted on assault charges. A journalist is supposed to mention the politician's party affiliation (you often see it as D-NY or something like that) early on. Instead, this reporter waited until the last paragraph in the whole article, and even then referenced his "fellow Democrats."

I don't have quantitative evidence of this, but over the years I've noticed this trend over and over.

Recycling and helping poor people at the same time

For some reason, my building does not have recycling. Only seven or eight people live in the building, but still, it's surprising and disappointing.

Today as I was leaving, I noticed a disheveled man pushing a shopping cart laden with bottles, cans and plastic bags full of plastic bottles. I asked him if he was looking for items to recycle, and he said he was: Anything metal, glass or plastic. Dan and I had been saving all of our recycling for the last two months, so we actually have bags and bags of it! He was thrilled, and now we're going to leave our recycling out for him.

For those places with no recycling, this could be a wonderful solution. Many states pay some refund for returned recyclables. And many people are hurting in this economy. Someone in or near your neighborhood may be looking to find recyclables, whether they're a neighbor or homeless. Track them down. Help them out. These days, every penny counts for a lot of people, and recycling can help us all.

Another bad pro-gay-marriage commercial

After Prop 8 passed in California, there was an outpouring of thought about what to do next. The terrible TV commercials that the pro-gay-rights side aired were targeted and the people who led to their creation were blamed. There were marches, letters, conferences, symposiums, meetings, phone calls. After taking all of that in, Equality California has come out with another TV ad - and it's as though they weren't listening.

Actually, listening to the wrong people. There was a chorus after the election saying the mistake was not putting more gay people in the ads: Harvey Milk would have put gay people in the ads, so that was the mistake that was made. So what does EqCa do? They put Harvey Milk and gay people in the commercial. That's not enough; They need to change their message!

But the commercial misses the mark completely because it harps on the same old tired theme of "we're right and you're wrong." Telling people they have to give you something is no way to get them to give it to you; In fact, it often makes them want to keep it from you that much more. This commercial says "we deserve this" and "you can't keep us from it anymore." It mentions Jerry Falwell by name and identifies him as an enemy; Why would you want to alienate his friends and allies? How is that changing people's hearts and minds? It's more stomping feet and throwing a tantrum. That this is what they came up with after four months of listening is very, very sad.

Where was the outrage over Bush-chimp analogy?

 There has been recent outrage from the PC police over some recent cartoons and comments linking Barack Obama and members of his Administration to monkeys and chimps. Screams of racism are coming down from on high, while the Elitist Left continues to play the race card and push racial tension in this country.

So where was this outrage when George Bush was called a chimp (for his entire 8 years in office), cartoons were drawn depicting him as a chimp, photos of him were morphed into a chimp, and all of this was being done by many of the same people who are up in arms over the same thing happening to Obama and people in his Administration. In fact, the same disgusting Huffington Post that was outraged over a DOCTORED comment by John Gibson relating Eric holder to a chimp posted a column in 2007 saying a study proved the Bush was a chimp!!! The Elitist Left even created a Web site called Bush Or Chimp!!

People should have the decency to not call the President of the United States a chimp, whoever it is. But this reaction from the Elitist Left is another example of the increasingly tired mantra they preach (and what makes them so elitist): What's OK for us to do isn't OK for other people to do.

Back in L.A.

It's been a couple months since I last wrote, but that's for good reason. On Dec. 17, Dan and I packed our car and headed West. It's been a return to Los Angeles for me after five years in New York City. For Dan, it's his first time living here. We've only been here about seven weeks, but it's already crystal clear to both of us that this was a great decision.

For one, the weather here really is spectacular. It rained all of yesterday, and it was a welcome break from the six straight weeks of sun and 65-70 degrees we had had. The people are so friendly here: They hold the door for you, say please and thank you, let you out into busy traffic, and they smile. The topography is beautiful, the light is amazing (yeah, the sunlight - it's just different here somehow), there is green everywhere. I went hiking in the Hollywood Hills about a week after moving here and saw two deer. I watched them grazing along the hill about 50 feet away from me. I hadn't seen something like that in a long time.

I'm hoping that I'll be writing more here in the coming months. With all the writing I'm doing elsewhere it's a little tough, but I'm going to try. I'm most interested in seeing if a theory of mine holds true in my upcoming posts. I'm actually rather anxious to find out.

'Slumdog Millionaire' is a must-see

I am in a constant search for movies that move me. I will make them after I move to Los Angeles. But even when I'm making them, finding films that linger with me for days after I see them is one of the great treasures of my life. In recent years, that short list has included Titanic, The Matrix, Million Dollar Baby and Crash. I now add Slumdog Millionaire to that list.

The story centers around a boy from the slums of Bombay (now called Mumbai) who wins millions of rupees on the Indian version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire. The show's producer believes he cheated, so he is subjected to torture to try to get the "truth" out of him. It is his telling of that truth that tells the incredibly story of the journey of one boy from destitute poverty to the toast of India.

The writing is immaculate. The performances are gripping. The music is beautiful. There are a couple top-rated movies I haven't seen so far this year, but of what I have seen (including Milk and The Dark Knight), this is my favorite. If you like a moving story that highlights the fortitude of the human spirit, you must see this movie.

'Love For All'

Leave it to a straight man to figure out how to say send a message about same-sex love that no gay person has been able to figure out. Tennis great Bjorn Borg's new commercial promoting his underwear line and matchmaking service brought me to tears this morning as I watched it. So powerfuly simple and real. So pure. Perfect.

Its simplicity and perfection is in the expression on the face of the two men. Relief. Joy. Love. And with the haunting version of "True Colors" underneath, it built in me a wonderful emotional reaction. I've now watched it five times, and I'm going to watch it again after I hit "publish" here.

Toys For Tots NYC 2008

Every year I get tons of requests for info about the gay Toys for Tots party in New York City. So, if you're looking for that info, here it is. You have to buy a ticket this year (as you did last year), and space is limited. So buy your tickets here.

The 23rd Annual Toys for Tots
Sunday, December 7th, 2008   5-9pm
Chelsea Piers - Pier 60
W. 23rd Street & West Side Highway
www.piersixty.com
Tickets $35

The negativity of same-sex protests is only hurting us

I went to the same-sex marriage protest in Manhattan on Wednesday night where (in my humble estimate) about 5,000 people demonstrated. While it was nice to see so many people standing up for marriage rights, I left very quickly quite disappointed and with a reinforced notion that protests just don't do much good.

My biggest problem with them in general (and this one reinforced it) is the tone. I heard over and over and over about the "protest." The word protest is inherently negative. It means you're going to demonstrate AGAINST something, not FOR it. To me, the word "rally" is much better, as it is proactive and reflects positive movement forward, that you're going to gather and RALLY FOR something, not PROTEST AGAINST something. It may sound trivial, but I think it's an important distinction that sets the tone for these events.

I was also quite disappointed to see how much hate the protestors brought to the event. Signs that castigated the Mormon church the same way they have castigated us. Someone writing things on the sidewalk in chalk, equating Catholics and Mormons with Nazis. This is not the way we affect change. This is mean-spirited preaching to the converted. And what it's done is give social-conservative pundits like Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity footage with which to turn their viewers against gay people.

My hope is that more and more of the demonstrators will start talking about the positive aspects of these events, start carrying positive signs and sending a positive message, and use these events to speak to people whose minds we need to shift. Doing what ultra-Leftist Manhattanites want us to do simply won't get us what we seek.

Tips on driving from NY to LA?

I moved to New York City five years ago to be with Dan. It was an amazing time in my life. I had met the person I'll spend the rest of my life with and a new city meant new and wonderful opportunities.

In December, we will return to Los Angeles, and I can't wait. I love L.A. It's my favorite place I've ever been. I love the weather, the people, the light, the industry, the space. Yes, there's traffic. But the traffic doesn't bother me: Whether I'm going from Chelsea to the Lower East Side or West Hollywood to Downtown, it takes the same amount of time.

To get back to L.A., we'll be driving, and I would love your tips on places to stop and things to see along the way. We're taking a southern route, stopping in North Carolina, Tennesee, Dallas, Santa Fe, Southern Utah, and Vegas along the way. We're taking two weeks, so we have lots of time to stop and see the sites. If you have any must-sees or restaurants we should try to hit up, please do leave a comment here. Thanks!