I Didn't Say It ...

Gabby Williams, WNBA player for the Golden State Valkyries, on transgender players on her team or any other in the league:

“I think it’s trans, trans rights, right now, is our new battle. We see trans people’s rights being stripped away from them; there’s a lot of discourse around trans athletes and what they can compete in. I would welcome a trans athlete on my team or against my team, anytime. I don’t think it’s a problem in the world. It’s just another way to kind of attack trans people. We’ve seen players like Layshia Clarendon, who stepped into that forefront, and have been brave enough, and courageous enough, to step up. So I guess that’s the next battle we have to fight as athletes.”

The number of trans athletes in women’s sports is miniscule but the GOP’s fear-mongering of trans-women makes it seem like they’re taking over the world.

They want to live their lives and they choose, playing sports or not.

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Abdul El-Sayed, Democrat candidate for  Senate from Michigan, on the right using his name against him:

“When you don’t have any ideas all you have is hate. My name is not raising your gas prices. My name is not the reason we’re in an illegal war. My name is not the reason you can’t afford healthcare, rent or insurance. If the best they’ve got is to point to my name and say they can’t pronounce it, then we’re going to have a good time over the next thirteen weeks.”

Learn to say his name because you may be saying it for years to come. His name is not a crime, his religion is not a crime, and neither are responsible for the mess we’re in … that name, as we all know, is He Who Shall Not Be Mentioned.

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Jon Ossoff, Democrat Senator from Georgia, on restoring America after the midterms:

“We won’t just restore checks and balances for the next two years. We will rebuke him so decisively that no President will dare try this kind of brazen corruption and abuse for centuries.”

Work on getting things done for We The People and work on putting Cankles and his criminal regime in chains.

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Jeff Tiedrich, political blogger, on the new dead muskrat on Cankles’ head:

“I guess the fucking idiot didn’t want anyone asking him about the desiccated badger pelt he had hot-glued to his fat water-logged head, and because the fucking idiot kept himself far away from the reporters, not one of them had the opportunity to stand up and ask, ‘What the fuck is wrong with you?’”

I would have played that question on a loop forever … “Mr. President? What’s with the new rug?”

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Seth Abramson, journalist, on Iran taking a rational approach while Cankles is the unhinged despot:

“Yesterday the Islamic Republic of Iran essentially declared that [Cankles] is too mentally deranged and pathologically deceitful to negotiate with … so they won’t. And you know what? They’re right. That’s a normal, rational, adult position. So why don’t we see it in the US?”

I think many of us see it, but the GOP is too afraid of what Cankles’ might do to them to speak up, and the Cult of MAGAt is simply too stupid to realize they’re stupid.

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Joe Walsh, former GOP Congressman and talk radio host, Cankles’ crimes:

“He’s most likely a pedophile. He initiated and is overseeing a massive government coverup to keep his name and the names of all the other Epstein class predators hidden. He was handed the strongest post-COVID economy in the industrialized world and has singlehandedly fucked it up. He’s put masked federal thugs on our streets who are lawlessly terrorizing immigrants and citizens. He’s launching wars and pushing regime change all over the world. And that’s just the start. He should be in jail, not the White House.”

Everything is distraction, deflection and lies, about Epstein, jet planes, ballrooms and arches and crypto. It’s all lies.

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Van Lathan, journalist, producer, political commentator & LGBTQ+ ally, on trans acceptance:

“If you cannot gift trans people with visibility, humanity and acceptance, could you at least gift them with silence? Could you at least shut the fuck up about it.”

It’s very much like when straight people said The Gays were shoving their “lifestyle” in straight peoples’ faces when all we were doing was living our lives. Trans people are living their lives as they are, and it doesn’t hurt anyone to know that.

It’s simple respect.

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Bobservations

We’re in a bit of a fire warning stage here in South Carolina because of the heat and while Carlos and I were out running errands on Tuesday we must have seen four or five fire trucks racing down the roads and here’s what gets me …

PEOPLE DON’T GET OUT OF THE WAY!!!!!!

They speed up and maybe move slightly to the right but they keep driving and it pisses me off so I began a rant to Carlos about people not getting out of the way. As you know, my rants go on and on and on and how I think fire trucks should have cameras and any car that doesn’t get out of the way their license plate should be tagged and they should be fined. When I finished I looked at Carlos for his reaction.

Asleep.

“Are you sleeping???”

“No!”

“What did I say?”

“You were talking about the drivers.”

And so I guess he was awake but then I thought again …

“What about the drivers?”

“That they all drive too slow and brake too much.”

“And the fire trucks?”

“What fire trucks?”

Gotcha!

This Tale of Tuxedo is from January 2011 …

You know, what goes around........

Tuxedo was my feline caregiver when I was sick--with Carlos being my human nurse. He was sitting at my side, or rather, he would sit on me, leading me to think he was one of those Death Cats, waiting for me to, ahem crossover. Now, I know that all he wanted was for his Daddy to get better.

And I am getting better.

So, when Tux needed a little pampering, well, he got it. He curled up in a Afghan my mother made for me, and napped, while I periodically checked on him, and brought him snacks, and sat on him, well, by his side.

Here's to my Round-The-Clock Nurse, Tuxedo.

Ian Charleson [left] told the theater company he was recovering from sinus surgery when he was actually dying of AIDS and had just agreed to play Hamlet at the National Theatre. The part became available after Daniel Day-Lewis walked off the stage mid-run, collapsing during the scene where Hamlet meets his father's ghost; Day-Lewis later claimed he had seen his own ghost. So, Ian  Charleson took over, and outside a few close friends only the director, Richard Eyre, knew what it was costing him to stand up there.

He opened on 13 November 1989 and actor Ian McKellen was in the audience that night and so overwhelmed by Charleson’s Hamlet that gifted Charleson his own Best Actor award. But after that first night Charleson never appeared on a stage again. He died eight weeks later, on January 6, 1990 at age 40.

But this isn’t about his brilliant performance it was about what he did after he died, something nobody in Britain was doing in 1990: he left instructions that his cause of death, AIDS, be made public and his was the first show business death in the country openly attributed to AIDS.

A hero and an icon even in death.

American audiences know Charleson from Chariots of Fire, where he played Eric Liddell, the Scottish runner who wouldn't race on Sundays. And now Andrew Scott [right], an out gay actor and quite a handsome fella, is playing him now in Elsinore, the story of Charleson’s life and death, which opens in London in October and reaches US theaters in November.

I only found out the neighbors were having a party when the cake deliveries began showing up … I’m looking forward to my invitation.

I’m gagged … South Dakota ex-Governor and ex-Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi DogKiller Noem has unveiled a statue of herself.

Seriously. But the best part of all this was the influx of alternate Noem statues with her cross-dressing husband, or her love of plastic surgery, or her audition statue to play Freddy Krueger, or the one of her killing her dog.

The only one I couldn’t find was of Kristi on all fours taking it from behind by her married lover Corey Lewandowski.

Noem is said to be mulling over her future in politics but I think she’s better suited to statuary.

Recently, under orders from DUI Hire Pete Hegseth the Navy ended a 43-year contract with The Sewing Box, a Black-owned family business who made the Blue Angel uniforms. The last five-year contract with The Sewing Box paid out $400,000 to the business but rather sticking with a long-term arrangement Hegseth signed a new contract with another company and is paying them $1.69 million.

Sounds about white for a racist, misogynistic, transphobic drunken former Fox News talking head.

Taylor Fresh Foods (Taylor Farms) has issued a recall on 20 ready-to-eat products containing jalapeños due to potential Salmonella contamination. The recall follows a prior July voluntary recall of iceberg lettuce over Cyclospora concerns.

Boycott Taylor Farms until they can prove their products are safe.

It's not so much that Cankles snuck away in a catering container because of some threat that Iran was going to shoot the plane down; it's that he left the entire Air Force One crew and the innocent Press Pool behind as decoys while he crawled into a food truck.

He doesn't have a single moral fiber in his body though he does have an ass the size of a VW that had to be lubed with Hellman's Mayo to squeeze it into that food cart! 

Antonio Ortega is an international fashion model represented by top-tier agencies such as Wilhelmina, Next Management and Modelwerk; born in Mexico he is 6’1” tall with brilliant green eyes which seem to ask, Would You Hit It?

Architecture Wednesday: Roman Villa

Located along the historic and legendary Via Appia Antica, about 3 miles from the Colosseum and a 15-minute drive from the heart of Rome, is a fabulous villa, once home to famed film producer Carlo Ponti and Sophia Loren.

Designed by renowned Roman architect Busiri Vici, the main villa covers 8600 square feet over two levels, with an elevator connecting the two floors and a panoramic rooftop terrace. There are five bedrooms each with a private bathroom, powder room, library, a winter garden and a room with a bathroom reserved for service personnel … cuz you know I’d be needing service personnel, AKA Maddie-speak for Houseboys.

The heart of the residence is a majestic 3500-square-foot hall, divided into three interconnecting rooms with large windows, three fireplaces and views of the garden. The entire area is decorated with statues and original marble artifacts—some of which are over 2,400 years old—giving the house a museum-like atmosphere of great charm and cultural depth.

The main house stands on a layer of solidified lava from the nearby volcano of Castel Gandolfo, in an area that was excavated by the ancient Romans to extract basalt used in the construction of the Appian Way. The excavation created a kind of natural amphitheater that elevates the villa nearly fifty feet above the surrounding landscape, offering a dominant position over the gardens.

In is within that garden where you’ll find a second structure: a 7500-square-foot Provencal-style building that was once a stable and has been transformed into an elegant and bright residence. The heart of the space is a large 3400-square-foot open loft with high ceilings, large windows, a professional kitchen and period furnishings selected from unique Italian and Northern European pieces, ideal for private receptions, events or family time.

The garden, which covers an impressive 150,000 square feet is a true masterpiece of landscaping, personally designed and maintained by the current owner, a landscape architect. Outdoor spaces include a swimming pool, mature trees, stone pathways, private relaxation areas, a garage, technical rooms, a gardeners’ annex, and the ultimate in privacy, while remaining strategically connected to the city’s major neighborhoods, international schools, cultural sites, and the capital’s best restaurants.

This is not simply a residence, but an iconic and unrepeatable property that encapsulates the soul of ancient Rome, the elegance of Italian design and the immortal spirit of international cinema. Rich in history and incomparable in its charm, it is a home for those seeking beauty, uniqueness and a legacy to pass on. Available by private appointment only and reserved for selected clients.

I don’t know the price because, well, if you have to ask …

The Spaces