Can we let this one die?

This is our president, Barack Hussein Obama's birth certificate.

The state of Hawaii calls that certificate a "Certification of Live Birth." That it's not labeled a "birth certificate" has given the feeble-minded a hobby for the last three years. As we gear up for the 2012 General Election, I want to know:

Why does this idiot,

or this idiot,

or any other idiot who can't deal with that get a national audience to spread their irrational lunacy?

Is having a black man, an Other, in the Oval Office so frightening that there has to be a conspiracy to explain it? Once again, here's a dismissal of the whole make-believe issue from Snopes and from the Anneneberg Foundation. Even the folks at Fox News have to admit that there's no there there even as they leave the door open for more there.

If you have an issue with the President (and I have more than a few), isn't it enough to present a counter argument? After you present a counter argument, it's incumbent on you to sell that counter argument to your fellow citizens and then to you representatives in congress. Proclaiming your opposition's illegitimacy in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary doesn't make you smart or more involved, it makes you an idiot.

The United States' political system can't work without dissent and if you have a problem with the President then by all means dissent! It's not only your right, it's your responsibility. Dissent doesn't make you a traitor, it makes you a participant. That's true no matter who's in office. Neither side has a lock on political truth and despite what the pundits say, compromise and consensus building are what makes our system work.

However, once your dissent leaves the realm of reason you lose your credibility. As much as I hated the Bush administration, my disagreements remained intellectual. George Bush and his administration represented a vision of the country I disagreed with. Period. End of story. Barack Obama presented an argument that most of the country agreed with and he won the presidency in 2008. Period. End of story. Maybe he'll present another convincing argument in 2012 and maybe a member of the opposition party will. In any case, we'll figure that out next year.

In the meantime though, we have a duly-elected, legitimate President. Deal with it.

 The US is in serious trouble. Making up stuff against the party or politician whose views run counter to yours does nothing more than make that trouble worse.

Get involved, stay rational and by all means vote. And stop paying attention to the idiots.

Support your local orchestra

As I'm wont, I went to see my beloved Florida Orchestra last night at St. Pete's spectacular Mahaffey Theater.

Prior to the performance, the Orchestra played this video on a large screen that rolled down from the ceiling over the stage.




I'm glad to see that the orchestra put together that video but showing it to an audience of your supporters isn't necessarily the best place to show it. I feel like it's my duty to spread it around.

Many times a year, I sit in this theater and get transported for a couple of hours.

I cannot think of an art form that revels in the wonder and joy of what it is to be human as profoundly as orchestral music does. Classical, orchestral music unites an audience in a shared experience and for a couple of hours a couple thousand strangers enjoy something together. The differences that divide people don't matter in a concert hall. In fact, they don't exist.

The Forida Orchestra recently announced its 2011-2012 schedule and there are still single concert seats available for the rest of the current season.

The Mahaffey sits next to the incredible, new Salvador Dali museum in the Progress Center for the Arts along the water downtown. If you're looking for a day of culture and art I can think of no better way to spend it than an afternoon at the Dali and and evening at the Mahaffey.

In a part of the country better known for drink specials and regressive politics, that these kinds of cultural assets exist in the first place is nothing short of miraculous. However, like arts organizations all over the country, their existence is a tenuous one. Public funding for the arts is under attack now like never before and it's up to individuals to keep the arts alive int he United States.

If you live in Greater Tampa, support our Florida Orchestra. While you're at it, the St. Pete Opera Company, the American Stage, the Florimezzo Orchestra, The New American Theater, the Theater @620 and the Palladium cannot make it without your support. We're fortunate to have a host of smaller theater companies, too many to list here and every one of them needs an audience.

The arts contribute to the quality of life in a community like no other asset. I believe that to the very core of my being and dragging my friends to performances is one of my highest callings I'm convinced.

Where ever you are as you sit reading this, arts organizations in your area are screaming for your support too. There is no shortage of artists, but it feels like audiences are getting harder to come by. Make it a priority to see your local symphony and to support your theaters. Don't let these assets go dark.

Benjamin Franklin

via

If you would not be forgotten, as soon as you are dead and rotten,
either write things worth reading, or do things worth the writing
(Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard's Almanac)

Yet another defense of the residential urinal

Check out the Drop urinal from Hidra.

Hidra developed the Drop specifically for the residential market, they didn't adapt a commercial one for home use. That's how most residential urinals come to be by the way. A manufacturer takes something that's meant for heavy use and scales it back a little bit.

Hidra took another tack though, and the Drop never had an incarnation as a commercial product. To make it easier to fir into existing baths, the Drop has been made slimmer and taller. It's also a pretty attractive piece of porcelain.

For the life of me, I will never understand the widespread rejection of urinals for home use. Having half the population flush 1.6 gallons of fresh, potable water down the drain every time they need to dispose of about a pint of liquid is one of the more absurd practices of modern life. It's a terrible misuse of resources and people continue to do it because of a strange unease around urinals.

Sometimes that unease is warranted but not for the reasons you may think. I was in Spain with my great friend Bob Borson earlier this year and he had encounter with a urinal in Valencia that has to be read to be appreciated.

Anyhow, back to the business of urinals. Think of it this way, if there's a man or men in the house and there's a urinal present, toilet seats can be kept down. That alone would make the divorce rate plummet.

If you're contemplating a bathroom remodel and there are men who will be affected by the renovation, consider installing a urinal in your new bath. The men involved will be thrilled and you'll cut down your water use significantly. At this stage of the game, who wouldn't welcome a lower utility bill?

You can find the Drop and more cool bath stuff on Lazio-based Hidra's website.

I don't get the skull thing

Skull motifs, which were once the sole province of biker bars and pirate costumes, have gone mainstream. Never mind that they should have stayed in the biker bars.

I can't open a catalog or a magazine without seeing them. It's one thing to see an Ofrenda on the Day of the Dead but the mainstreaming of skull decor has taken on an American-ized scrubbing and the result is a complete break with the actual significance of a skull.

They're a warning sometimes and historically, they were a kick-you-in-the teeth reminder of everyone's  mortality.

The whole thing mystifies me. However, the French design studio Pool is going to release the following plastic chair at the Milan Furniture Fair this month.

At first, I chalked it up to a de-contextualized skull to be used by the unthinking around their barbecues but then I learned its name. The name of this chair is Souviens Toi Que Tu Vas Mourir.

Extra points to whoever translates that name. I want one of these for the name alone!