Does Safeway Have An Obligation to Keep Erica C Barnett Out of the Wine Section of their Stores?

Yes.

ECB sticks her STUPID, STUPID FOOT, in her STUPID, STUPID MOUTH, yet again.

Reading that post has made me insanely angry at her for being such a stupid, selfish, mean, self-centered asshat. (I refrained from using the b-word, so as to NOT give her ammunition, but she does fit the definition...)

She really needs to go...there's dozens of unemployed journalists out there with more talent and common sense than ECB. Also, it's time that The Stranger had some new blood; things are getting dull and stale over there.

Her continued employment at The Stranger must mean she has incriminating photos/tapes of Keck and/or Savage.

My Arch Nemesis just won't give it up...

@ Mr. Michael Strangeways....
You would know how to spell Magli, you elitist prick, even if you can't get your sources right. Hitchens, Hayes, it don't matter. Nice backtracking you fucking douche.
What you consider an 'odd view of America' is reality for those of us who have to live it. BTW... good job w/ statistics from 2004. They are really relevant today.
Posted by michael strangeways is an elitist prick | August 1, 2008 1:17 AM

60
Well, my last post seems to have disappeared, but....
@ Mr. Michael Strangeways... you would know how to spell Magli correctly, wouldn't you.Nice backtracking you fucking douche. What you consider 'an odd view' is a reality for those of us who live it. Just shut the fuck up you elitist prick, and shove yer Chuck Taylors up yer ass.
Actually, just shut the fuck up.
Posted by michael strangeways is an elitist prick | August 1, 2008 1:42 AM

61
Hey now... there it is.
Now I'll shut the fuck up.
But Mr. Michael Strangeways, you still are an elitist prick.
Posted by michael strangeways is an elitist prick | August 1, 2008 1:47 AM

AND, of course because I just don't let things go, here's my response...

ouch.
And stop being obsessed with my prick...i know it's thick and juicy and very, very tempting but HAND'S OFF!
You wanna piece, it's going to cost you the price of a new pair of shoes...EXPENSIVE-ass shoes, motherfucker.
Posted by michael strangeways | August 1, 2008 9:58 AM

I'm not sure if this person is on the up and up, or if it's someone being funny, or someone I know BEING funny, or maybe they just have a huge crush on me...He/She DOES seem to be obsessed with my prick and ass...

ZEXY PSYCHO CRUSH!!!

Hee-hee; I'm an "Elitist Prick"!

There's a very lame hoo-haw on Slog concerning John McCain's $500 shoes. Eli Sanders originally posted a quote from Christopher Hayes, where Hayes wonders why some Democrat blogger doesn't make a stink about the high price of said shoes and implying that if the shoe were on the other foot, (meaning if Obama was displaying inappropriate signs of wealth and priviledge), the Republicans would be all over it.

Here's the link to the original Slog post: http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/shoes

I responded with this comment:

Lame. The reason that this isn't a story, is that $500 for a pair of shoes isn't that big of a deal for most Americans. Lots of blue collar types have athletic shoes that cost over a $100 and many people own boots up in that range.

Hitchens is an ass.

Posted by michael strangeways | July 30, 2008 2:50 PM

Quite a few other people agreed with me, that this was NOT a big deal, but a few were outraged:

I am distressed that anyone would spend $500 for a pair of shoes. SHOES?! What the fuck is wrong with you people?

Posted by Greg | July 30, 2008 3:45 PM

"$500 for a pair of shoes isn't that big of a deal for most Americans"

Did you mean to say "most gay Americans?"

Posted by rjh | July 30, 2008 4:24 PM

I can't believe the number of people here who think $500 "isn't much" for shoes? Where do you people work? And can I have some of your extra scratch?

Posted by Andrew | July 30, 2008 5:38 PM

This next one, is either posted by my arch-nemesis, or someone being funny:

@8 Hey Mr. Michael Strangeways.... you're an out of touch jackass. Most Americans these days can barely afford their basic bills, let alone buy $500 shoes. Do you understand what this economy is doing to middle and lower class people?

Apparently not, if you think blowing $500 on a pair of fucking shoes is 'no big deal for most Americans'.

Fuck you and yer Bruno Malis or whatever the fuck they are, you elitist prick. Shove 'em up yer kiester. How out of touch with the real world are you?

You're an ass.

Posted by michael strangeways is an elitist prick | July 30, 2008 11:24 PM

Obviously, I HAD to respond to that vicious attack:

uh, I make $15 an hour and my primary pair of shoes are Chuck Taylor knock-offs from Payless that have holes in the soles. The most expensive shoes I own are $200 Kenneth Cole boots I bought 15 years ago in NYC. The very attractive shirt I'm wearing today, I took from my apartment building's laundry room after it had been abandoned for three months. I don't own a car and have considerable debt.

Sounds pretty elitist to me.

Some of you have an odd view of America as a nation of people living on the edge of poverty. We're very much a middle class country. As of 2004, the median household income was $43,389. The vast majority of Americans are probably unlikely to pay $500 for a pair of shoes, but a majority of Americans COULD afford to BUY a pair of $500 shoes, once a year, if they so desired.

$500 dress shoes worn by a millionaire are not that shocking or insulting. I think you'd have to hit the $1k mark and have them made out of stem cells before you'd get much public outcry over a pair of goddamned shoes.

Posted by michael strangeways | July 31, 2008 9:49 AM

oh, and dude, it's Bruno MAGLI.

UPDATE: I misread the original post and thought that it was a quote from Christopher HITCHENS and not Christopher HAYES, from The Nation. I apologize to Mr Hitchens and stand corrected.

Queerfest 2008

The SGN reported that the Seattle LGBT Center has announced that Queerfest will be greatly reduced from previous years and will not feature a parade or rally in Volunteer Park, but instead:

[Ivan Wright, newly elected co-president], explained the Center’s new plans for this year’s event. “What we’re trying to put together now is a Queerfest event throughout the month of June, which will be held & certainly at Neighbours—they’re one of the sponsors of the event—and beyond that I’m not sure. We’re still very early into this in terms of bringing it together, but we’re hoping to get several venues around Capitol Hill and beyond.”

Mr Savage comments on all this on Slog:

Capitol Hill and beyond? Beyond Capitol Hill? As in, “off Capitol Hill”? Excuse me for bringing this up, but the whole point of Queerfest—and the divisions it created, and the money it lost, and the community center is caused to implode—was to keep Seattle’s gay pride events on Capitol Hill where the shriekers insisted they belonged.

Hey, SGN! The LGBT Center is moving Queerfest—bits and pieces of it—off the hill! Where are the charges of betrayal and heresy? Where are the furious letters from the gay community’s outraged spokesdouches? What? No quotes from angry bar owners? No calls for the board of the LGBT Center to resign? What gives?

I also commented on Slog, part of which were replies to things that other people had posted:

1)Don't know about a Neighbor's payback. I think it's a situation where Neighbor's contribution has earned them the right to be an official sponsor of the Center's events for a very long time...
2)FYI: There are no paychecks at the center to protect or money being hoarded. They have very little money, (and could use a LOT more) and ONE part time paid co-ordinator. The Board is NOT paid, and the Center hasn't had a paid Director for months. The Board's decision to do a greatly scaled back Queerfest, was a sound decision to make, both financially and for the well-being of the community.
3)If they're ever able to put on a full scale Queerfest, I would personally recommend they DON'T do it concurrently with official Pride in June, but hold it in August and make it ARTS based instead of political. A queerer, artier version of Capitol Hill Block Party held on Pike Street and Cal Anderson Park with an emphasis on this city's vast pool of queer and queer friendly talent could be a huge success and a hell of a lot of fun.

Steven Blum Hijacked by Pornographers...STRAIGHT pornographers!! (shudder)

The adorable ex Public Intern at the Stranger has had his excellent blog, http://www.ohmygodsouthafrica.blogspot.com/ hijacked by pornographers!!!

I hope this never happens to me. Or if it does, that I'm hijacked by hunky, hairy chested, large schlonged gay pornographers.

Sad

Dan Savage's mom Judy, died on Monday.

I don't do the hopes and prayers thing, 'cause it would be hypocritical of me, but offer some major condolences. As someone who's already gone down this road, I can imagine what they're going through and his family has my sympathies. For most folks, losing your mom is a hard, hard thing to go through and I think for a lot of gay men, who frequently have closer than average relationships with their moms, it can be especially tough.

And here's a link to the beautiful tribute that Dan wrote to his mom in Savage Love:

http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/SavageLove

A toast to Judy Savage.

Sorry, but Strangeways/Sideshow was FAAAAR more entertaining than Slog's Freaky Friday...

I'm not usually a cocky kind of guy, but I did have some good shit on my blog today, including a quote from a fringe celebrity. The best the freaky Sloggers could come up with, were pieces on parking and water bottles and lots of assorted crap....

Grade wise, here's how it went down:

Mr Poe and It's Mark Mitchell: A- for levity and humor. Of course, the whole gay thing helps, too. Gotta look out for my limp wristed bruthas.
Big Sven: B- cause the thing about his mom made me cry. He had some other good posts, too.
Aislinn: C and only because she's adorable and talked to me last night. Her posts were ok, but the late start hurt her.
Everyone else: D for Dull

UPDATE: Aislinn got bizzy late in the day with some good stuff so she gets upgraded to a B-
Geoffrey Infrequent gets upgraded to a C 'cause he posted cute pix of himself and a kitten
Excelelizabeth did a good piece on hookers and the divine Bob Ross so she goes to a B-

Thanks to Amy Kate for the link to me!!

I love you all...but in my own way.

And yes, a tiny number of people do read my inane little blog, so raspberries to my frenemies...

Slog is a bit....

dull today...Freaky Friday is always a bit of a snooze. Lots of high hopes, but ultimately, a lot of disappointment.

Blogging is not that hard, people...

But apparently, being interesting, is....

Well, I did go to the SLOG party last night...

and it was fun...scary, but fun. I went to the gym at Seattle Central after work and managed to generate enough endorphins to get me motivated to head over to Havana at about 7pm or so...I ordered a Mojito and nervously stood around for awhile, because I'm NOT good in social situations where I don't know anyone. I'm an extroverted bigmouth with my friends, and I have no problems being on stage or speaking in public, but I'm awful at one on one with strangers, or group/social things which would help explain why I bomb at job interviews and finding dates...

After awhile, I found the pile of nametags and properly labeled myself, (which I'll cherish forever; the tag has a place of honor in my wallet, next to some elderly condoms...) and Gillian Anderson, the copy editor, came over and introduced herself and that, and the mojito, got me relaxed enough to get in the swing of things. I chatted with several Sloggers and Strangers and enjoyed my ONE drink and managed to make it home in time to see the tailend of Survivor, (thank god they booted the useless gay coughdrop known as Chet, and boo-hoo that Jonathan had to quit due to an amputated leg) and was comfortably situated for some intense "Lost" viewing. All in all, it was a good night.

Here are some pictures and observations of the people I spoke with...

Gillian

She is charming, and we had nice, long conversation about "Lost" which confirmed that we are, indeed, both geeks...but, adorable lovable geeks, not the kind that decapitate chickens...

Amy Kate

Amy Kate is one of those pocket people. They're so fabulous, you want to put them in your pocket and keep them forever...which is also sort of creepy when you think about it...I also think I horrified her with a long pointless story that involved the making of pornographic films, so I've pretty much clinched, not ever being asked to Freaky Friday...

Rainman

A witty fellow, who looks NOTHING like Dustin Hoffman...and, he has dual citizenship...zexy!!

Paul Constant

He's exactly what you would expect a Book Editor to be...

Mr Poe

I'm not easily intimidated, but Mr Poe IS a little intense...If Mr Poe had been around in the 1880's he would have either been Oscar Wilde's greatest friend, or most bitter enemy...

Ecce Homo

Word of warning: if you type in "Mr Burns naked" into Google Image, you get some very, very disturbing results...people are fucking SICK, man...

Sorry but sometimes I write things on Slog I want to put on my own blog...

So please excuse the repeat..

The Ballard Denny's Landmark Designation discussion has officially entered the Slog Overkill Hall of Fame. It was joyously welcomed to the club by "ECB's Bird Flu: It's Gonna Gitcha!", "Mudede's Photos of Hot African Babes", "Various Sundry Vicious and Potentially Misogynistic Attacks Against ECB" and lots and lots of stories about "Pit Bulls and Negligent Parents: Who's Putting the Baby in the Microwave?"

All involved had a party at Moe's and got drunk and tried to take advantage of "Christopher Frizzelle's Big Penis".
Several West Seattle threads bitterly complained that the Slog Overkill Hall of Fame NEVER has events in West Seattle and vowed to stay home next time, but no one cared. Oh, and "Various Semi-Nude Pictures of Hot Men" drank too many Manhattans and ended up going home with a tired, clapped out "Monorail: the Future of Seattle!" and "Liberty: Best Bar on 15th Street!" and had a nasty threeway which ended badly and flaccidly for all those involved.

Posted by michael strangeways | February 21, 2008 3:44 PM

Amazon.com fires dude for blogging...

the story is at the Stranger: http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/amazoncom_fires_stranger_blogger

I dunno. I used to think Amazon.com was a smart company. I don't know how smart it is to fire someone for a harmless blog post when the blogger did NOT name the company he was working for, and has a p/t gig blogging for a media outlet. I read the post in question and assumed it was referring to an event that happened at the Stranger offices. And now they've pissed off the said media outlet, who of course is going to run a story on it which puts Amazon in a bad light. I think the smarter act would have been to talk to and write up the employee instead of firing him. Now, if the post had been talking about some topsecret Amazon project, that would be a different story. But I don't think a snarky "review" of a Billy Ray Cyrus mini-concert in an office conference room is really grounds for dismissing someone for violating their PDA especially when the company is not named and the average reader is going to believe this is a thinly veiled story about the Stranger, and not Amazon.com.

Jerks.



Here's a picture of alien overload Jeff Bezos loading newly legal dildos for shipment to Texas. (is it just me or is there a gay thing with Bezos? My 'dar always goes off when I see him, yet I've never heard any rumors...or is it just my Nerd-dar going off and I'm confusing it with my Gaydar?)

Odd; Schmader posted a piece about Chi Chi LaRue

on Slog yesterday and Chi Chi's new safe sex PSA. Some doofus with the improbable name Manu Maltes then posted a comment that was a long, incoherent, rant against Chi Chi specifically and the porn industry in general. In my comment, defending Chi Chi, I attacked Manu and sarcastically asked if he was a failed porn star. After I posted that, just for kix, I Googled Manu Maltes and low and be hold, he IS a gay porn star!! A very, very busy porn star and all the links about him were definitely NSFW. So that raises the question, why is this guy now so anti-porn and how did he see the original post? Is he one of those porn stars who's seen the error of his ways? A surprising large amount of gay porn stars have found the Lord; is this guy one of them? Does he live around here, or does he read SLOG from afar? Or is this guy some nut who's constantly doing search queries to find these kinds of articles? Is it really Manu Maltes, or some nut pretending to be him? Judging by the bad writing, (it really is incoherent and makes no sense) it could have been written by someone who doesn't speak English as their first language. Allegedly, Manu is from Malta, of all places, which would account for the name, which I'm guessing, might be something along the lines of "Maltese Stud Man". Regardless, the guy is a putz and deserves to be punished...so in retaliation I'm going to post a relatively tame picture of him!!
Take that, Manu Maltes!!



(oh, here's the link to the original post at the Stranger: http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/01/chi_chi_larue_fights_the_good_fight)

Confidential to Dr Awesome:

Isn't "Strangeways Enterprises" a (mythical) front corporation for one of James Bond's evil arch-nemeses? So is Michael Strangeways really a James Bond arch-villain? What kinda stuff does an arch-villain blog about?

Posted by Dr_Awesome | January 27, 2008 9:53 PM

yes, yes, and read for yourself...cheers!

and now for some random James Bond imagery, most of it from Goldfinger

I'm confused; Savage was a jerk to me on SLOG

and now my dumb little blog is listed as a Friend of Slog at the Slog website. What does that mean? Is it a sarcastic slam, or is it a nice thing? Did Dan do it to make up for being a dick to me? It's Friday, and my tired little head can't process too much information...so here's some confused pictures to look at...

Well, on my blog I can say what I want,

so, in my opinion, Ericka C Barnett is a wanker...."wah,wah, people said mean stuff about me, so I'm going to yank it from SLOG and then chew people out for being so mean!"

She really is awful. She's a boring writer who seems to have about three themes she sticks to: bird flu, bikes/transit and Hillary. And I've known people who've had to encounter her in their daily lives, and they weren't impressed. I've been told a couple mean stories about her, (no, nothing THAT juicy), but I'm not going to repeat them because I don't want it to come back to haunt the person who told them to me.

Apparently, much of the Stranger staff hates the Slog and the people who write on it. Yeah, it can be really childish, but I think a big chunk of the problem is, there's probably a dozen decent writers on SLOG who could do the jobs of most of the paid editorial staff at the Stranger, and that idea probably makes them a little uncomfortable. The only brilliant person there is Savage, and that's just because he learned how to market himself and not because of his writing skills...I'm not knocking the Stranger staff; I think most of them are great, but some of them could really lose their churlish, pouty attitude towards Slog and the Sloggers.

Idiots on SLOG

Bellevue Ave is having a tantrum on the Heath Ledger threads because people are wasting their time commenting on that tragedy instead of focusing on more important issues like the economy...he hates the thread, yet he has his ass parked on it and is practically foaming at the mouth. He's like a three year old, who doesn't like the game that everyone's playing so insists that everyone come play HIS game, and when no one responds, proceeds to have a hissy fit. It's a classic, "hey, everyone, look at me!" ploy. It's so fucking juvenile.

Here's what I posted:

as i pointed out earlier: IF YOU DON'T FUCKING LIKE A THREAD, THEN STOP READING IT, AND STOP COMMENTING ON IT!!

This is fucking SLOG at the Stranger, it covers ALL sorts of crap but tends to dwell a lot on local shit, and pop culture...if this was a blog on Business Week and a bunch of nimrods started posting stuff about dead actors, and hairless twinks and the size of presidential candidate's wive's hooters, then you'd have every right to rant and rave...

but it's not, and you don't, so quit being a dumbass troll.

what a tool...

Posted by michael strangeways | January 22, 2008 3:33 PM

Heath Ledger is dead at age 28.

Body found in NYC apartment, allegedly belonging to Mary-Kate Olsen; pills are believed to have played a role....Really sad and really fucked up...a talented actor with a lot left to accomplish.

UPDATE

An idiot on SLOG was bitching that the death of an actor was gathering more attention than the economy...I HAD to respond:

I think he's been "dating" the Olson thing...which might explain what he was doing in her apartment...or maybe he was subletting.

really, really fucked up. he WAS a good actor.

and, discussions about the economy and discussions about politics AND discussions about dead artists can all occupy the same sphere of being...one doesn't preclude the other. And a dead actor DOES effect the economy. If he wasn't done with the Batman movie, that causes a financial impact to a multi million dollar project AND his death is very likely to add to the gross of a multi million dollar project...

everything IS money.

besides, I don't understand people who don't approve of certain threads, but then continue to lurk around and comment on them. If you don't like a thread, then don't read it.

Posted by michael strangeways | January 22, 2008 2:45 PM

Nader to run again?

SLOG reports that it's looking like Nader may run again...naturally, all the Naderites are coming out of the woodwork to rejoice at this news. It remains to be seen if Nader will be as viable as he was 4 and 8 years ago, but this isn't good news for the Democrats. At best, it's an irritation and at worst, it could cost the Dems the election which would hand the White House to President McCain or President Hucklebee....

oh, here's what I said on SLOG:

On a slightly more serious note, I don't have any problem with the IDEA of fringe party candidates, but in reality they're only a nuisance, and sometimes a dangerous one. Unless an actual new political party is formed and elects a sizable number of senators and representatives to Washington, a third party candidate is unelectable. And even if some nutty, fluke thing happened and one were to win, NOTHING would be accomplished. If Nader were to freakishly win in November, he would have NO base of power in Washington, which means he would have no way to actually make very many of his policies and promises come to fruition.

And yeah, Nader DID contribute to Gore losing the election, (well, that and the perfidy in Florida and the Supreme Court).

Posted by michael strangeways | January 22, 2008 1:05 PM

Here's a pic of Nader attempting to kill a little girl...

SLOG and the WGA Strike

There's some people on SLOG giving Savage a hard time because he appeared on the Bill Maher show this weekend, despite the fact that the Maher show is a WGA union show and technically, even though there wasn't an actual picket line, Savage crossed a picket line and is therefore, a scab. Savage argues, that the Maher show is largely an unscripted news show, not that much different than appearing on "Meet the Press" or any news panel show on CNN or MSNBC or FoxNews.

I kind of agree with him on this; I don't think it's the end of the world that he appeared on the show, but he is on some shakey ground, morally speaking. But, it's also really annoying to hear the usual idiots pointing their boney little fingers and making the usual bleeding heart bleeting sounds and making dumb accusations when they really aren't any more morally superior than those they accuse. I had this to point out:

hmmmm....actually, technically, we are ALL scabs. Everytime we WATCH television, (regardless if it's a rerun or not, or a scripted or a non-scripted program), or pay to see a film, you're supporting the management of the multi-national media companies that the writer's are striking against. TV makes its money from ads, and the rates they charge are determined by the number of viewers. So even if you're watching a non-WGA show like "American Idol" or "Project Runway" or even a re-run of "Ugly Betty" you're still putting money into the pockets of Fox and Universal and Disney who own those shows.

It doesn't really stop with tv and film since all the big media conglomerates also own web based companies, book and magazine publishers, video game companies, etc...I'm guessing that over 90% of ALL entertainment is either partially or completely owned or affliated with these companies, so we're all guilty of not supporting the writers everytime we buy a Simon & Schuster published book (Viacom) or the new Hannah Montana album (Disney).

just sayin'....

Posted by michael strangeways | January 21, 2008 1:57 PM

UPDATE

once again, don't see much distinction from appearing on "Real Time with Bill Maher" from appearing on a CNN show from contributing to a piece in Time magazine. They're ALL owned by Time-Warner and every time you support ANY of their products, you support the parent company and therefore are undermining the cause of the Writer's Guild. So unless y'all are boycotting ALL media products produced by the big media giants and quietly sitting at home watching good ole American made porn, (non-union AND independently owned, well, at least owned by relatively small corporations), you shouldn't be so quick to judge.

Posted by michael strangeways | January 21, 2008 4:12 PM