Been away from LJ for a while, as I still try to figure out what I want to do with my blog given the rapidly evolving status of things going on in my life right now. I've still be snapping away with my camera, of course, with the results going up on my Flickr; and I've been busy on Facebook as well, which whilst inferior to LJ in terms of blogging ability, is pretty addictive in terms of instant networking.

That said, I figured LJ might be the best space to post a little serious post, pertinent to today being the official memorial ceremony for the tragedy at Fort Hood last week in which the traitor Major Nidal Malik Hasan murdered 13 soldiers and wounded 30 more. The details of the events are sickening enough. Of the 13 victims, the youngest was just 19 years old. One was even pregnant. That they were killed in what should have been the safest place for them, by a doctor no less, is a mindfuck on many levels and is a disturbing commentary on life in these United States.

But want to know what's even more sickening to me? What's more sickening to me is that every year the Department of Defense spends millions of dollars and thousands of manhours to investigate, hunt down, and expel gay and lesbian servicemembers -- loyal, patriotic Americans whose only 'crime' or qualifier as a 'national security threat' is to be queer -- but, apparently, the military, the CIA and the FBI couldn't be fucking bothered to deeply investigate when Nidal Malik Hasan was busy sending love notes to radical Al Qaeda-aligned clerics in Yemen or expressing support for Islamic suicide bombing and showing other signs of radicalism and/or mental illness. I suppose the Department of Defense, the CIA, the FBI, Congress, and our 'beloved' President Obama (who hasn't done shit for gay rights!) all support this status of affairs because in their minds, and in the minds of the majority of Americans, gay folks are apparently a greater threat to national security and the safety of our military than a fundamentalist crazy-ass asshole with access to weaponry and to our soldiers when they are at their most vulnerable. That is, at the least, the lesson that I have in particular have learned from the Fort Hood tragedy. And it enrages me to no end.

That the media isn't focusing on the hypocrisy inherent in the military with regards to how they dropped the ball when it came to investigating an actual national security threat, but who continue to investigate and punish queer soldiers, is likewise infuriating. That they and our government opt to instead pontificate and lecture us about fears of backlash against Islam (which is all fine and fucking dandy), but make no mention of the continuing 'backlash' and oppression of GLBT Americans and servicemembers is absolutely vile. Our rights are apparently able to be written off because we're invisible or something. Or maybe because we don't go around murdering people in hails of gunfire and blowing up planes and buildings? Really, what else am I supposed to take away from the course of events than assuming the absolute worst about the ongoing hypocrisy from this country's government, military, and straight population?

At this stage of events, I really want to honestly know what I should expect from hereon. I have never felt more discouraged and more enraged than now. And the longer the status quo remains the same, the angrier I'm going to get.

Probably not the post anyone expected or wanted, but that's how I feel at the moment. And LJ allows me the best opportunity to type in out in full. Until next time, folks.

Tap tap -- this thing on?

Well howdy there, hard to believe it's been almost a month since I've posted last. As one can figure, things have been pretty busy, and I'm finding my time and attention being scattered in a lot of different directions lately: new Obama-appointed bosses have altered some aspects of my job, I've been spending time with a very special bubbalicious boyfriend, and I've been doing a lot of weekend traveling and photography -- all of which has kept me off the intarwebs for whole days at a time. Time spent Livejournaling, alas, has suffered as a result.

Of course, this time away from LJ has also given me room to ruminate on just what I would like to continue blogging about. In the last year there's been a lot of changes in my relation to the usual subjects of my photography; no longer are many of these cops just anonymous officers -- I know them now, and that sort of changes how I would prefer to present their images. And it changes what are appropriate comments said about them in a public forum (At least from my P.O.V.) I've also been finding a lot of X-rated blogs and groups using my photos (without asking) as part of hardcore (and absolutely horribly edited) pastiches, which is non-kosher (or more accurately, treif) in my book. I'm trying to track down the DOMA DMCA rules, but the procedures vary across the board based on which blog host they use and it's a slow and frustrating process.

With these developments, my instincts are to pull back a bit across the board and to finally make this journal 'friends only'...but at this point (after 4 years of largely public posting) that seems silly. Still, I do take pause at just where this is all leading, and as I approach 30 years of age I'm finding a distinct pull toward adopting a more reserved e-behavior and persona. I won't be leaving LJ (my account here is permanent, thanks to the kind largess of a friend), but there will be changes to my blog, both hereon and retroactively as I work to catalog and re-classify past entries. We'll see where it all leads to! I'm unsure of where it'll be headed, but I hope it's anything but boring.

So that's what's up from my corner of the world; back to the grindstone for now. I do hope to spot some of y'all in the Federal City this weekend at the National Equality March on the 11th. Gimme a shout if you're attending!

[In the meantime, I'm still available elsewhere on the interwebs: my FaceSpace account can be found here and my Flickr account is here.]

This past long weekend's visit to Boston probably couldn't have been better. Not only did I get to celebrate my bud Dave's birthday, I also got to stuff my face with insanely good Italian food from the North End, re-visit some of my favorite spots in the Hub and Cambridge during some spectacularly sunny weather, and do some serious lug-spotting on the streets and in the bars. As a insanely cool bonus, on Labor Day itself there was a pro-health care reform rally on the Boston Common...which -- after some slight readjustment of my travel plans -- meant I also got to snap Boston PD motorbulls working the event. I'm still uploading all the glorious pics to my Flickr here -- just gimme a day or two more to finish up processing them all. Suffice it to say, I aim to return to Boston as soon as I can...just preferably when there's not a Nor'easter slamming the city :-p

In other news, I probably won't have time this week to do a proper 'Name the Bullgoon!' poll seeing as on Friday I'll be off to the Jersey shore/Atlantic City for some rest and relaxation with friends from high school and a certain Suthrobubba I met back in August. But don't worry -- it'll return in good time!

Ugh, it's Monday morning, y'all. It was kind of a struggle to rise and shine after a kickass weekend and the cloudy, almost chilly weather when I awoke didn't make things any easier. Summer is clearly winding down, alas.

In other news, the latest results from the seventh 'Name the Bullgoon!' poll of '09 have come in. Winning with a landslide was 'Big Country' at 30.8% of the tally; in second place was 'Inkpup' at 21.2%. And tied for third were 'Ruffstuff' and 'Tattgrunt' at 17.3% each. Thanks to all who voted and keep tuned for the next poll, which may be delayed until the middle of next week due to trips to NY/MA/NJ the next two Fridays.

Have to cut it short here as it's now off to a rather busy grind this morning coordinating with the new Obama-appointees in the office. My agency is lucky, though -- just 43% of all presidential-appointed positions in the government have been filled heretofore.

Oh yeah, more travel opportunities have popped up for late summer; they are as follows:

June 27-28: THE MEADOWLANDS / NJ
July 3: NEW YORK / NY
July 4-5: PHILADELPHIA / PA
July 9-15: LONDON / UK
July 24-27: NEW HAVEN / CT
August 8-9: REHOBOTH BEACH / DE
September 4: NEW YORK / NY
September 5-7: BOSTON / MA
September 11-13: ATLANTIC CITY / NJ
September 19: CULPEPER / VA [Mid-Atlantic Motor Rodeo, w00t!]
September 26: HARRISBURG / PA [?]
October 3-4: PHILADELPHIA / PA [?]

Anyone got the scoop on cool places to go, particularly in Boston or Atlantic City? Haven't been to Boston in years and am curious where else there is other than the Ramrod now that the Eagle's closed :-p

This edition of 'Daily Landscapes' focuses on just a couple of shots of some sweaty midsummer days in the Federal City and a brief escape to the shore. I can't believe summer's almost over already. Does anyone else think it went by way way too fast? :/





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SHORE LEAVE
JULY 28-AUGUST 11, 2009
THE FEDERAL CITY | QUEEN ANNE, MD | REHOBOTH BEACH, DE

Didn't get to do a proper 'Name the Bullgoon!' photo and poll post this week, largely because of doing some sudden rapid fire work shuttling between my agency and the State Dept. But no worries, one's in the works for next Friday!

In the meantime, counting down to Happy Hour at Motley and a rare weekend of enjoying DC after a whole heckuva lotta (fun!) travels since June.

Ahh, it's once more Monday morning in the Federal City, signaling a return to the grind after a kickass weekend on the Delaware shore with good friends, great beers, and sunny weather. Kind of anticlimactic to be back at work, but them's the breaks. I'll try to put up a 'Daily Landscapes' post soon with shots from the beach, but if anyone's so inclined, the shots are already up on my Flickr here.

In 'Name the Bullgoon!' news, we have a new nickname winner for Friday's latest model. With 25% of the vote, 'Bubbapup' is the winning nick; 'Boomer' clocked in at second place with 17.3% of the vote, and 'Slab,' 'Babe' and 'Gunner' all came in for a three-way tie at 13.5% each. Thanks, y'all, for voting!

In the meantime, stay cool out there, folks! Looks like the roasting days of summer have finally arrived on the Eastern Seaboard, with temps approaching 100 degrees and a similar level of humidity. Blech! I think I'm gonna hunker down at my desk until this heatwave passes.

It's the first Monday in August in the Federal City, which means it's the beginning of the truly humid dog days of summer here and the start of the evacuation of the district by politicos and their entourages as they head out for vacation and constituent hobnobbing. As such, there's an eerie quiet in the air and on the streets. It's kinda like Night of the Comet but with less zombies.

Anyways, as per usual, Monday also marks the closing of the latest 'Name the Bullgoon!' poll. Friday's latest bull on the beat created some fierce competition. The winning nick was ultimately 'Junior' with 30.4% of the vote; in second place was 'Babyface' with 23.9%. However, a great honorable mention has to be made for grumblor's write-in of 'Cheeks' which garnered multiple votes and was so perfectly apt that many voters opted to change their votes once they read it. Thanks, y'all, for voting and stay tuned for this Friday's poll.

In the meantime, back to the Monday grind here and watching the Fahrenheit rise steadily after what was a cool, breezy weekend largely spent in Maryland. Hope y'all have a good one out there!

It's been a pretty wild month of protests, travel, tourism and bullgoons, and I've only now finally finished processing and uploading the full photographic record of it all. Behind the merciful LJ-cut is a quick glimpse at where I've been and what I've seen in the form of a Daily Landscapes post boiling down the month into a mere 22 images. Links to the original pics as hosted on Flickr are below each pic, as per usual (You can also surf by month -- June or July -- if you prefer to see the full scope of everything!)



( A Whirlwind Month to Be Sure )

Cheers in the meantime as I hunker down a bit for a busy remainder of the week. I'll try my best to do a proper 'Name the Bullgoon!' post before I'm off to my old home-state (Connecticut, w00t!) for the weekend.

The summer travel season is just starting to wind down for me, albeit I've still got a few stops left on my agenda:

June 27-28: THE MEADOWLANDS / NJ
July 3: NEW YORK / NY
July 4-5: PHILADELPHIA / PA
July 9-15: LONDON / UK
July 24-27: NEW HAVEN / CT
August 8-9: REHOBOTH BEACH / DE

In the meantime, I've finally finished my pics from the 4th; they can be found here. I haven't even touched the next 1,000 pics from Londontown, though I will try to put 'em up sometime this weekend. At this rate, I think my cam's gonna hit 30,000 total pics waaaaaaaaay sooner than I ever expected. Sheesh!

Phew. Made it in a bit late last night from attending the 2009 New Jersey Law Enforcement Motorcop Skills event up near the Meadowlands, but the trip was well worth it to hang out with friends (including mikefrommars) as well as scope out the first motor rodeo of the season. It also gave me an opportunity to try out the 8GB memory card I picked up for my camera, which now will allow me to pretty much snap away with no limits at future events (no more running out of room and scrambling to erase bad pics to free up space, woohoo!) As such, I took a little more than 1,000(!) shots at the NJ rodeo and it'll take me some time to go through, process, and upload 'em to my Flickr. I'm aiming to finish it up before my next big trip this coming holiday weekend when I'll be jaunting up to Philadelphia for a strongman show starring none other than Gerard Benderoth! Anyone else gonna be in metro-Philly for the 4th?

In the meantime, the latest 'Name the Bullgoon!' poll featuring a big HnT'd NYPD HWY patrolbull has been closed, and the winning nick -- with 28.6% of the vote -- is 'Spud'! In second place was 'Big Irish' (19%) and in third was 'Cleft' (16.7%). Thanks to all who voted, and do note that 'Name the Bullgoon!' will be on hiatus until July 17th when I will be back in DC after all my travels. Look for it then, as I'm sure I'll have a stalwart example from this weekend's motor rodeo in the competition.

In the meantime, off to enjoy some Five Guys lunch on a gorgeous morning here in the Federal City. Blue skies, no humidity, and a short work week are all 'very good things' I say!

It's a bit spooky when, as soon as the calendar enters Summer proper, the weather forecast flips like a switch from gray and rainy to this:







Awesomeness! Here's to hoping this good weather likewise spreads up to Northeastern Sector when I jaunt up to New Jersey next weekend for my first motor rodeo of the season out by the Meadowlands (For a preview of what y'all can expect, pics of last year's rodeo can be found here.)

In other news, we have a new winning nick in the third 'Name the Bullgoon!' poll of '09. The winning goon sobriquet is...'Brick' with 22.4% of the vote! 'Big Rig,' 'Monty,' and 'Ox' all tied for second at 17.2%, and 'Bullyboy' was a distant third with 13.8% of the tally. Thanks to y'all for voting, and stay tuned for this Friday's poll, which will most likely feature this strapping patrolbull with the NYPD HWY Patrol; nickname suggestions for him are more than welcome!

Other than that, it's a pretty quiet Monday morning and the sunshine is pretty friggin' gorgeous. I'm looking forward to rocking my Oakleys when I walk around at lunch today!

SRSLY, what is in the water in Louisiana? Their roster of big stud-bubba lawmen down there is beyond impressive, including this motorman from NOLA PD I found on Flickr:





The tight breeches, cleft chin and farmer's motorgoon's tan are especially spectacular :D

Thank to those of y'all who voted in the latest 'Name the Bullgoon!' poll from this past Friday. The winning nick this round was 'Doublestuff' clocking in at a whopping 29.8%, easily beating the next contestants of Pickles (17.5%), Peaches (15.8%) and Tubby (15.8%). Stay tuned in the meantime for this Friday's upcoming round of nickname-polling.

In other news, time is flying by in the Federal City. Between some crazy news-worthy incidents here, Capital Pride, and a big work project, it feels as if the first weeks of June have slipped through my fingers. Luckily I at least had my camera on me to record some of it as it raced by:



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IN THE CITY OF CAMERAS AND FACES, AND FACES THAT KNOW CAMERAS, AND CAMERAS THAT KNOW MORE THAN WE THINK
JUNE 3-14, 2009

Best part may be the extended Starbucks breakdown (even though it's actually Falls Church [where I live] that has the most Starbucks per capita in the entire world), or the general yuppie hilarity. Scarily enough, I pass by every place in this video on a daily basis:

After the shooting at the U.S. Holocaust Museum this afternoon, the downtown sector of Federal City seems to be under a crazy lockdown. Constitution Ave., 15th Street, NW and the rest of downtown routes are pretty much FUCKED, and the Mall is filled with dazed tourists and media vultures (including me, briefly!) Pretty weird stuff for an otherwise stifling humid, quiet day here.

Well, the first 'Name the Bullgoon!' poll of 2009 has come to a close with a big ol' bunch of y'all participating. The runaway winning nick this time was 'Roadblock' with 35.9% of the vote, trailed closely by 'Porkloin' at 25% and 'Jumbolaya' at 20.3%. Thanks to all for voting, and stay tuned for another poll this Friday, which will either feature a local motorlug or another lawman who was in town for Police Week. (And, as per a recommendation from mikefrommars, any new suggestions for nicks to use in future polls are heartily encouraged!)

In the meantime, I'm hella miffed at the continuing onslaught of weekday rain which has hovered over the Federal City for the last three weeks or so. This morning's dosage of deluge-tasticness came in the form of a rip-roaring thunderstorm at 0600h, providing a kind of natural alarm clock of thunderclaps and car alarms. Fun times. This afternoon risks more chances of t-storms, just like every other weekday as of late, putting a real damper on my photography opps. Harumph!

Other than that it's back to the Federal grind for now.

...in all their infinite wisdom and glory:

-- In Europe, they're getting all Norsefire-y.

-- In Eastasia, they're super busy showing the depths of progressive people's democratic justice. Can you say 'human bargaining chips,' anyone?

-- In the ever peaceful and religiously advanced MidEast, they're still being intolerable ethnoreligious-supremacist assholes who pretty much deserve one another (and who both deserve to be cut off from the teat of the US Treasury like useless limbs need tourniquets [Why the fuck do we pay these folks billions of $ which could go to Haiti, Honduras or Michigan, SRSLY?]) And why do I doubt a pretty speech in Cairo will prompt cretins to stop being cretinous?

-- Africa, oh LOL. Post-colonialism will forever eat its children and any concept of human rights, full stop.

-- And in Latin America, another day, another tick in the progression of Mexico from semi-First World basketcase to straight-out postmodern narcostate. Pass the coke and headless tourists!

There's too many other acerbic things to say here other than I'm glad I did not pursue a career in my major, because I'd be too busy laughing in foreigners' faces for all the wrong reasons. I'm just not diplomatic I guess! I'll remember to keep my mouth shut in London other than when I giggle and point [not at the British in particular, but at various things].

Meanwhile, do vote in the 'Name the Bullgoon!' poll whilst you still can; currently 'Roadblock' is in the lead above 'Porkloin' and 'Jumbolaya,' but there could be enough sleeper votes to make it a close race!

So recently I went on a semi-major shopping trip to Tysons Corner, specifically Tysons Corner Center, to stock up on summery stuff and also buy some new shoes for work. Oy vey.

I know I'm not exactly a very trendy dresser (I think all my hanging around cops has given me a predilection toward having a very coppish lack of fashion sense) but I was honestly pretty bummed out by the summer offerings. After wandering through more than a dozen stores -- Hollister, Gap, Abercrombie, Express for Men, Aeropostale, American Eagle, L.L. Bean, Eddie Bauer, Banana Republic, Benetton, Lucky Brand Jeans, Old Navy, etc. -- it was pretty apparent that summer clothes for men have been boiled down to an almost Soviet-like level of similarity. Everywhere I turned, it was all striped polo shirts in various primary colors (or polo shirts with little corporate logos on the chest -- like a seagull, or an eagle, or the store's name), chunky/too-loose cargo shorts that looked like they'd been washed too many times, plaid long sleeve shirts with hideous faux-pearl buttons with sleeves you were supposed to roll up (which is a ridiculous thing to wear in DC humidity), or t-shirts with hideous logos or brand names made out of floppy abrasive cloth stitched over the front. Blech. Took me 4 hours just to find cargo shorts that looked sturdy and not threadbare, a polo shirt that wasn't some striped/corporate mess, and a print tee that actually was both visually fun (a black on red silhouette of a sunglassed woman on the Venice Beach boardwalk proffering a martini) and comfortable to wear. And worst of all: there wasn't even any fun goony eye-candy along the way. Harrumph!

Anyways, I think this all just tells me I need to break out of my suburban instincts and find better places to shop. Where do y'all go when you're looking for fun summery stuff to sport?

A photo-dump of various scenes from May, excepting National Police Week, as I try to get back into the swing of things on LJ. Can't believe it's been a whole month since my last Daily Landscapes post!

In other news, had a great time at the Motley Bar beer bust on Friday and also have to thank my buddy Joe for introducing me to the Altman-esque '90s classic Dazed and Confused, which had heretofore been an odd lacuna in my cinematic repetoire. I think I may have to make it my standard 'start-of-summer movie' to re-watch over and over each May :-p


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MAY DAZE
MAY 3-30, 2009
REHOBOTH BEACH, DE | CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP, PA | SOMERSET, PA | THE FEDERAL CITY

Apologies for not posting much as of late, but since I've been pretty much dividing my time these days into three basic tasks -- sleeping, working, and running amok at National Police Week -- it's at least understandable that I haven't been able to pop on LJ as much as I'm used to. Suffice it to say, it's the madcap craziest time of year for me right now, doing eighty different things at once at work and then running outside at quitting time to romp with the seemingly endless amounts of high-and-tight'd, swaggering cops in town for NPW. It is awesomeness.

More to come once things calm down, but rest assured my camera has been equally busy as me (my Flickrstream is struggling to keep up with all the pics I'm snapping!) At least tomorrow I get to take the day off of work and relax a bit more at an event at the Capitol and then a stop by over at the Nats game to watch a demo by the Philly Highway Patrol Drill Team. Then it's another ramp up of my schedule with a trip to PGH on the weekend! W00t!

Been socked up as expected with work; 10 days 'til one major hurdle is passed and another 20 until the biggest one can be put to rest. And, of course, my busiest time at work dovetails up precisely with National Police Week, which is almost upon the Federal City with its promises of badged bulls swaggering in the streets, the roar of Harleys echoing off the monuments, and the Irish pubs filled to capacity. It's gonna be interesting to try and keep up with both my job and play schedules! :-p

Meanwhile, it's been protest season here in DC, which has been giving me ample practice in my photography as of late:


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PROTEST SEASON
APRIL 23-30, 2009
BALLSTON--ARLINGTON, VA | THE FEDERAL CITY

It's been steady busy craziness at work this week -- which has prevented me from posting much -- and I've been enjoying a pretty hectic non-work schedule as well. Last Friday I had an awesome time at Jimmy V's, and on Sunday got to take in The Flaming Lips' performance at Earth Day on the National Mall (With a dose of USPP motorbruiser goodness to boot!) This weekend has me set in taking in an azalea-filled picnic at the National Arboretum with Joe/jacked01 and Bruce/sinterbear and enjoying the first warm weather of the year. Good times!

Oddly enough, even though I've recently been reading Livejournal less (or maybe because I have), I've definitely noticed the growing trend of folks drifting inexorably away from this site toward the event horizon of the ever-embiggening Facebook (Heck, I signed up a while back, too.) I suppose this trend is inevitable in some ways due to FB's higher level of social networking and the new modern predilection toward quick updates and snappy synopses of daily happenings. But while it's sad to see the increase in 'final posts' on LJ, I think this site will retain the more journal-y members who enjoy LJ's connectivity as well as the ability to fully post what's on their minds in a brave resistance against the allure of reducing everything one does to a few lines. Not that there's anything wrong with that -- but it's nice to read lengthy posts, too.

Anyways, that's what I've been up to as late! I'll endeavor to post more in the slacktime between now and Memorial Day...and maybe I'll have to revive the 'Name the Bullgoon!' posts now that warmer weather is drawing out the lugs. Have a great weekend in the meantime, y'all!

Went to the DC version of the Tea Party protests at lunch -- to take pics, not to participate. I correctly assumed there'd be some Republibubbas in the crowd as well as motorcops doing protest duty...and the protest antics from a side of the spectrum which usually doesn't protest much in DC were interesting to witness. Sadly I missed the whole hilarious clusterfuck that went down around 1330h when some moron decided to lob a box of tea over the White House's north fence, thus prompting an immediate shutdown and evacuation of Penn. Ave. and Lafayette Park by the Secret Service and ending the protest way earlier than originally intended. Brilliant thinking there, folks.

Anyways, I'm puttering around the house tonight and after finishing with Lost, I turned on Fox News to see their take on what I witnessed today as a (literally) soggy, incoherent (The US is Cuba! Ron Paul! Kill the Federal Reserve! Check out my Cabbage Patch doll collection!), kind of sad protest. What comes on but Greta van Susteren (who I've always found tacky and merciless) screeching her way through a chat with Glenn Beck, my favorite formerly-alcoholic ex-morning DJ, who's 'reporting' from a rather sun-dappled and large Tea Party at the Alamo in San Antonio, TX. Toward the end of the 'interview,' Greta adopts this smarmy little smirk-tone and says cattily, 'Not to sound overdramatic or anything, but it almost looks like Texas is ready to secede!' to which the assembled Tea Party crowd cheers loudly (she's piped in to entertain them, of course.) Did this stupid bitch just fan the flames of secession? Doesn't this go against the whole last 8 years of 'United We Stand'? And just to add to the complete mixed messaging of this whole Tea Party mess, not thirty seconds after the crowd cheers for Texas to leave the Union, the same exact crowd begins chanting 'U-S-A! U-S-A!' Make up your fucking minds, folks!

Blech, now she's reporting on the DC protest -- and claiming 2,000 folks showed up. Do these people inhabit a parallel universe or something? WTF?