We waited at our house for the bus to arrive and met everyone coming along for the ride.  It showed up, and we were off.  The bus made the trip to 5th and K for Bus Boys and Poets no problem at all.

Bus Boys and Poets has their new location, and it seems that no one has wasted time making it just as busy and exciting as their original U St. location.  We were escorted to a room with only a few tables.  This was because the rest of the room was a party for someone EXTREMELY popular among her friends.  We don’t know any names, but from what we could gather from our view obscured by balloons and big screen TVs showing CNN, all of her friends took a quiz to see how well they knew this woman, and only one of them came out alive.

Meanwhile we were served from a menu with ample variety both in types of food and prices - food that was both unique and accessible, with many options for vegetarians too.  The menu was also covered in art, and riddled with quotations from various writers and poets.  A huge spiral staircase stands in the center of the restaurant, leading you to an upstairs lounge, complete with comfy chairs and a variety of impressive artwork accross the walls to compliment more artworks throughout the restaurant.  Also, the restrooms are up there (WOO!).  At its heart, this is a gathering place for writers, poets, and artists.  This lounge is a perfect area to write, read, watch, and meet other like-minded people.

The bus picked us up and brought us over to The Red And The Black bar nearby.  This bar is really a dive bar that was given some character and style to give it some maturity.  It’s small inside, and the walls are covered with doors.  They’re just for decoration.  If you try to open one you are immediately told that you’re not funny by your friends (not the people who work there, the people who work there are nice).  You will tell them you weren’t trying to be funny in an effort to save your dignity.  They will write you off as drunk and they won’t talk to you for the rest of the night.  The doors do look really cool though.  Upstairs is a second bar and an intimate space for live music.  We enjoyed our free drink tickets on two floors until Lionize arrive to play a show for us.

And shit did they play.

Lionize was, in a word, trulyamazing.  In front of a sparse crowd, they played like the place was packed and they owned it.  Their sound is professional, unique, and, well, a shitload of fun.  They take classic rock and reggae to new heights, using one to tweak the other, and to string the audience along.  Their album is really well done, but you have to see these guys live.  We hung out with them for a bit afterwords too, and they really just love what they’re doing.  Well, so do we.

We rode the bus home with the new Lionize album in its CD player.  Like with the entire night, we had a bus, and we were putting it to good use.

Higher Quality Version here

Here is the poster!

Here is the facebook event

Here is an article in the hatchet

Here is more information:

While David Mamet’s “Speed-The-Plow” is currently running on Broadway, you can still come see it HERE, THIS WEEKEND!

—————————————————————
1 SHOW THURSDAY, 2 SHOWS FRIDAY/SATURDAY:
—————————————————————
Thursday, 11/20 at 8pm
Friday, 11/21 at 7pm and 10pm
Saturday, 11/22 at 7pm and 10pm
—————————————————————
Lisner Downstage
$5, Cash only
—————————————————————

In Mamet’s scathing satire of Hollywood in the ’80s, Bobby Gould is presented with a golden opportunity on his first day on the job as Head of Production at a major Hollywood studio. Charlie Fox shows up in his office with a script, a star, and a deal. Meanwhile, Karen, Gould’s temporary secretary for the day, sees an opportunity of her own.

Starring:
DARREN MILLER as BOBBY GOULD
PAT BURGWINKLE as CHARLIE FOX
and KATY DISAVINO as KAREN

His article is very, very dumb.

Am I resorting to insulting an article that has a different opinion than me?  No.  I am resorting to insulting an article that is wrong.  There is a difference.

I also will not attack his grammar, because I am also terrible at forming sentances.  However, there are a bunch of glaring errors to prove just how dumby dumb dumb dumb the piece is.

His words are quoted and indented.  Enjoy:

I’m coming out of the closet: As a Californian, I voted yes on Proposition 8 to ban gay marriage.

Tasteful.

Not because of religious reasons and not because the Bible tells me to - rather, for entirely secular reasons.

…

The 1964 Civil Rights Act gave individual human beings of all colors the fundamental human rights to equality that our Creator endowed to all of us upon birth.

This isn’t a religious issue, but the 1964 Civil Rights Act was!  God wanted equality then but not now, you see!

In contrast, the gay marriage movement is seeking rights for “couples,” a vague societal concept that is formed much later in life and easily made or broken.

Oh, okay.  Since blacks just wanted to drink from water fountains and not marry people of other races, which was also banned in many places at the time.  You’re right though Andrew, this vague idea of “couples” has no place in our law system!  This vague societal concept shouldn’t be governed over at all!  I vote “yes” on Prop 9 to BAN ALL MARRIAGE!  FUCK COUPLES!

Pushing to legalize gay marriage and the rights of couples is quite new and quite another thing.

Oh yes, this new “rights of couples” thing that pre-dates recorded history.

Let’s analyze marriage laws in the United States. Each state has its own law codes on marriage, each with requirements and restrictions. In California, the law states that anyone can get married, so long as the partner is someone of the opposite sex and above the age of 16. A marriage fee of about $40 and a blood test for HIV are required. There is no mention that this law does not apply to homosexuals or that it only applies to heterosexuals.

Okay, I’ll just tell you.  Gay people can’t get married in California.

So theoretically, a gay person and I have the exact same right under California law: We can marry someone of the opposite sex who is older than 16 if we pay 40 bucks and get tested for HIV. That gay person can’t marry a man, but I can’t do it either.

You can marry someone you love.  A gay person must marry someone he/she cannot biologically have feelings for (unless he/she finds the Creator and is converted).

So am I being discriminated against? Is he?

No. Yes.

Yes, I realize that this is odd back-door logic, but you see my point.

Yes. No.

The gay marriage movement wants to frame this issue as an oppressive struggle for freedom and equality and an end to discrimination, particularly that there is a fundamental human right to marriage. That’s simply not true.

Again, then how would you feel about a universal ban on marriage.  We can all just have civil unions.  Smaller government!

Last week, one GW columnist said that 1,138 federal rights are given to legally married couples. Again, gay marriage activists cite this as proof of discrimination and hate. Because of its emotional trigger, the one you most often hear is probably the right of couples to hospital visitation. How can you be against that? Many of these rights, however, are simply inherent in a big-government tax system that treats couples as financial entities, hardly the work of hateful discrimination.

Institutional discrimination is still discrimination.

I’m sure a ballot initiative that granted gay partners the right to hospital visitation would pass in any state.

You voted against it.

They don’t want just the couples’ rights. They want the whole tamale, title of marriage and all.

Yes, the same way you do.  You want the whole tamale too!  It’s important to heterosexuals.  Why shouldn’t it be important to homosexuals?

It’s an aggressive push on society to take the debate out of the legal realm and into the realm of history, tradition, sexual taboo, recognition and everything else that the title of a “marriage” would uncomfortably force on the rest of the population.

Just like equal rights for African Americans was UNCOMFORTABLY FORCED on the population.  Just like equal rights for women was UNCOMFORTABLY FORCED on the population.  Just like interracial marriage was UNCOMFORTABLY FORCED on the population.  This has nothing to do with comfort.  To be honest, fuck your comfort.  This is about what is right.  This is about love.  This has nothing to do with your comfort.  Get comfortable.  This is real.  Their love for one another is real.  If you don’t feel comfortable, too bad.  You aren’t going to have to kiss any men.

Gay people love just like you do.

Gay people care just like you do.

This has NOTHING to do with your comfort.  America isn’t about comfort.  It’s about life, liberty, and happiness in a place where all people are created equal.

Equal.

So when gay rights activists want to pursue actual rights, let me know. Until then, I’ll be voting yes to ban gay marriage.

And you will continue to be a backwards thinking individual tolerant of discrimination.

Comfort?  Jesus christ, think rationally.  Think emotionally.  Or just think.

Comfort? COMFORT?

We do not differ in opinions.  This isn’t about opinions.  You are wrong.  You voted wrong.

Good night and good luck.

EDIT: Friend and logic tutor Max Utzschneider wrote a comment that is precisely what I wished to have said.  For actual substance and readable content, check out the third comment down.

KIRK EDIT: Just in case no one has seen this yet:

There are limited details about the incident, but it is known that he had several children.

Our hearts go out to his family.

Hatchet has the full report.

Where we’ve been:

Kevin is directing Speed the Plow that is going up THIS WEEKEND in Lisner Downstage.  I’m sure we will make a full post about it soon.

Darren is starring in Speed the Plow.

Kirk is the stage manager for Speed the Plow.

WE ARE ALL SO BUSY.

Having spent the first half of the semester knocking down doors for President-Elect Hussein, I have been trying desperately to catch up on my work.  In addition, I’ve been rehearsing for Radio Free America, a play by GWU Professor Ally Currin.  It goes up the week after Thanksgiving and memorizing lines is difficult.

I also just decided to apply to graduate school and NYU’s application is due December 1st.  I know, right?

WE ARE ALL SO BUSY.

Articles for this blog I have started working on but will probably never finish:

• Why Andrew Clark’s Prop 8 Hatchet piece is the dumbest thing I’ve read in a long time
• What the Obama victory actually means (two weeks late)
• Why The Bitch (2145 G St) is the best thing to happen to our campus since that awesome abortion protest/counter protest two years ago
• Why NYU’s writing program is right for me
• Why I’ve fallen out of love with GW Deli’s Bacon, Egg and Cheese, but still buy it way too often
• Wine!
• Why I purchased Third Eye Blind’s new EP and what it means to me
• Why Space Jam is the Citizen Kane of our generation
• Why Space Jam is fucking incredible
• Why Space Jam is immortal
• Why I am immortal
• Why my essay for your class is three weeks late
• Is there a God, and if so, why didn’t he make a Space Jam 2

There is your content.  See you in two weeks.

Barack Obama!

BARACK OBAMA!

AMERICA!

Barack Obama just gave the most awe-inspiring, jaw-dropping, intellectually honest, honest, beautiful speech I’ve ever heard in my life.  His face, his eyes, his voice: a serrated poem of a man.

Yes we can.

Yes we did.

Yes we will.

[Travis Edit]

Here’s the footage of Obama’s Victory Speech. It’s unbelievable.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Here’s ABCNews footage of the rally at the White House tonight (featuring Colonialist Writer Kirk Larsen)

Here’s CSpan footage of me meeting Barack Obama last night (It’s at 40 minutes in).

Take your pic:

Barack Obama

or

John McCain

Leave a comment letting us know what you’re going out as!

“Why is MTV so horrible now?”

“Is this 2%? I asked for skim!”

Now all you idiots can finally shut up.  MTVMusic.com launched a few days ago and has every single music video ever on MTV.  Every single one.  Naturally Rick Astley is the highest rated video on the site thus far, but they have literally everything.  It has fairly obscure music on there as well.

If you want free streaming music, this is a site worth checking out.

Or you can Torrent your music.  But we wouldn’t do that ever cause its illegal.  Nah-uh, never.  THAT WOULD BE BAD TO DO!