Friday, December 31, 2010

Battle Of the Bluegrass At The KFC Yum Center

Another one of the things I miss about Da Ville is the Rivalry Week hype surrounding the annual basketball hatefest between the Kentucky Wildcats and the Louisville Cardinals. 

Come to think of it, any sport that UK and UL play against each other is a red and blue hatefest.

This day on the calendar has been circled ever since the schedules for both teams were released a few months ago.


The nationally televised 2010 edition of the 'Battle of the Bluegrass' taking place later today in Louisville has the added significance of being the first showdown in this hotly contested series that will be played at the Cards new arena, the KFC Yum Center.

The Cards definitely have added incentive to make sure that the first time they play the Wildcats in their new playpen is a successful one.   The Cats want to make sure they spoil the party for the portion of the 22,000 people in attendance that bleed Cardinal red.

I have friends on both sides of the Red and Blue divide who tried for eight years with the zeal of missionaries to get me to join either Cardinal Nation or Wildcat Nation to no avail. 


Yep, should be a fun game   As to which team I'm rooting for, I'm officially neutral.       

Seriously.

Thursday, December 30, 2010

Pat Robertson...Wow

Just when Pat Robertson has a broken clock moment about legalizing marijuana, he reverts back to Shut Up Fool Lifetime Achievement award nomination form   But before I delve into his latest WTF moment, let me allow you TransGriot readers to peruse what he had to say during the 666 Club's (oops 700 Club's) December 28 broadcast about the repeal of marijuana laws.

"I believe that criminalizing marijuana, and the possession of a few ounces of pot is costing us a fortune," Robertson reasoned. "It's ruining young people, [who] go into prisons as youths and come out as hardened criminals, and that's not a good thing."




Like I said..a broken clock is right twice a day..

But the eyebrow raiser was Pat allegedly parting his lips to say that the recent 'snowpocalypse' that smacked the Northeast US and Atlantic coast was God's way of keeping gay activities from happening in the United States.


Rev. Robertson said, “Because of the bad road conditions the Almighty has made, any gay activities that people were planning on doing will have to be postponed by a day or two.”
…As for the millions of straight people in New York City who were also grounded by the bad weather, the televangelist said, “I think God probably wonders, if these people are really straight, then what are they doing in New York?”

Umm hmm.  Right Pat.  Explain all those gay couples stuck at home who were snuggled up under a warm blanket at home with hot chocolate or whatever alcohol du jour and ....

Well, you get the picture.

TransGriot Update:  Should have know something was up when I couldn't find the 666 Club video for the second one and the other comment allegedly attributed to Pat was from satirist Andy Borowitz.   Pat has said enough bizarre and foul stuff over the years to make him an easy target for satirist like Borowitz.





Happy Kwanzaa Black Trans Style-Nia

TransGriot Note:   On each night of the Kwanzaa celebration this year, I'm going to write about each one of those principles and explain how it applies to the chocolate trans community and our cis African descended brothers and sisters.  


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Nia (Purpose): To make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness.

Haban gani?    What's the news?    


It's time to light the fifth candle on the Kinara and ponder the fifth principle of the seven celebrated during Kwanzaa.


Nia.   Purpose.   Another of the principles that neatly ties in with what we are seeking to do as African descended transpeople.    'Making our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness'. 

Got that right.    And we needed to get started on that like yesterday.

One of the major problems in the African American trans community has been we are disconnected from our history.   As Dr. Carter G. Woodson stated in 1922,  "The case of the Negro is well taken care of when it is shown how he has far influenced the development of civilization."  

The trans African-American has influenced the development of our community.   The trans African-American has been instrumental in fighting for this community's civil rights with the Dewey's Lunch Counter Sit In, Lady Java's work in Los Angeles to take down the odious Rule Number 9, Stonewall Rebellion veterans such as Miss Major, and Marsha P. Johnson's contributions to shape the nascent trans rights movement being prima facie evidence of that.

We are not only emerging from the shadows, but we recognize in this decade and for decades to come, we must live up to the nia principle.   

We need to get to work as soon as possible building a FUBU trans community that reflects and respects our history, our values and our traditions and allows us to determine our political destiny in order to close ranks and make ourselves stronger.

It's something chocolate transpeople have needed to do for a long time, especially since it has become crystal clear that the white run trans one doesn't want to work and play well with non white trans others. 

So yes, it's time to in conjunction within our African American family to build community together that helps lift us up as full fledged partners, and restores our people and the chocolate trans community to our traditional greatness.