On Olympics, Bids and Chicago’s Waning Gold Medal Status

The world will find out on Friday whether or not Chicago will be hosting the 2016 Olympic Games. I, for one, am rooting against the city in which I live. I love Chicago. I love the Olympics. I’m just not convinced the two belong together.

Chicago is a terrific city, but it is also a city with a whole slew of problems. This month our unemployment rate soared to 9%, the highest it has been since 1992. Chicago continues to be one of the most violent cities is America. Chicagoans pay higher sales taxes than anyone else in the United States. Our roads are a mess of potholes. Public transportation is wholly unreliable. The public school system in Chicago is in shambles. On many accounts, Chicago is a mess.

Having lived in other major cities in the United States, I know that these problems are common to a lot of urban areas. What bothers me, however, is that those other urban areas are not throwing money and time at an Olympic bid.

The way I see it, the powers that run Chicago are having a hard enough time keeping the city running as it is. I don’t see how spending the next six years gearing up for the Olympic Games is going to solve that problem.

I also have no clue what the city of Chicago plans to do when the entire world lands within its limits. I have a hard enough time getting to and from work on public transportation. How exactly is that commute going to work when I am surrounded by hundreds of thousands of visitors, many of whom may not speak English? I do speak English and half the time I can’t figure out what the conductor of my train is trying to tell me over the public announcement system.

I sincerely wish that Chicago would take a moment to assess the problems already facing its citizens. Let’s then take the millions of dollars being spent on the Olympic bid and make Chicago an even more amazing city. Let’s reopen some schools. Let’s fix the potholes. Let’s work on creating jobs that won’t disappear the minute the Olympic torch is extinguished.

Once we’ve done that, we can go back to looking at the Olympics. We can go back and show the world how far we’ve come. We can point to our hard work as just one of the many reasons Chicago deserves to host the Olympic Games.

Right now, I don’t think we deserve it. As a citizen of Chicago, I know I deserve a whole lot more than I am getting. And yet, all the money and time and power are tied up trying to secure our Olympic bid. No one really cares for the little guy. The little guy doesn’t make news. The little guy is ignored.

Meanwhile, in the eyes of this resident, Chicago is falling further and further from its gold medal status.

On Music, Memories and Celebrating Madonna

The year is 1982. A ground-breaking ceremony for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial is held in Washington, DC. Chariots of Fire wins Best Picture and three other Academy Awards. The World’s Fair is held in Knoxville, Tennessee. Prince William is born at St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington, West London. Sony launches the first consumer compact disc player (model CDP-101).

The year is 1982. Madonna releases her first single, Everybody.

Today, twenty-seven years after she first burst on to the music scene, Madonna releases Celebration. A career-spanning greatest hits package, Celebration brings listeners from Everybody through the Queen of Pop’s royal canon to her most recent chart toppers. The collection boasts thirty-four songs that, according to Warner Bros. Records, changed the world.

I won’t be so bold as to claim that Madonna “changed the world.” I will, however, be so bold as to say that Madonna most certainly changed my world. Celebration plays like the soundtrack to my life. Each song exposes a meaning only I can fully understand. Each song perfectly exemplifies a time in my life. Each song holds a memory.

I was five when I first recall being interested in Madonna. It was the spring of 1984. I was riding in my aunt’s car on the way to the San Francisco zoo. The radio DJ announced the latest Madonna single, and both my aunt and I perked up. She turned the volume up on her car stereo and Borderline took us over. From that moment on I was Madonna’s prisoner.

When her Like a Virgin album was released in 1984, I begged my mother to buy it for my dad for Christmas. We both knew that it was not my dad who wanted to own that album. My mother relented, however, and by December 26, I felt like I’d been touched for the very first time.

I was grounded in the summer of 1987 for reenacting Madonna’s Open Your Heart video in the living room. Nine-year-old boys are not supposed to dance around like strippers.

By the time Madonna was making out with a black Jesus in her Like a Prayer video in 1989, there was no denying my obsession with the Material Girl. Living in a Catholic household, however, I was banned from watching her blasphemous video. I was not allowed to own her album. My mother hated Madonna about as much as I marveled at her every move.

The ban on Madonna was lifted by 1990. For Christmas that year, I received a walkman and a cassette copy of Madonna’s first greatest hits compilation, The Immaculate Collection. I literally listened to that cassette until it snapped, despite the fact that Justify My Love was never allowed to be played in the presence of my mother.

The release of Erotica in 1993 was nicely timed to coincide with my going through puberty. The dark beats and sexual messages of that album filled my mind and bedroom as I entered high school. It was evocative and different and scary. It was exactly why I loved Madonna.

I was away at college, living on my own for the first time, when Madonna gave the world Ray of Light in 1998. Madonna was on a new path, one that was more mature and spiritual. I was also on a new path. Everything in my life was new and unexpected and difficult and exciting. And, as is often the case, Madonna was there to ride the wave with me.

By 2000, I had ridden the wave to adulthood. I was out of the closet and hitting the gay bars in Portland every weekend. Lucky for me, Madonna had also returned to the dance floor with Music. I spent many a sweaty night dancing to Music and Don’t Tell Me while I tried to make sense of my new sexuality and my new world.

In many ways, Madonna is one of my closest friends. Her music taught me to express myself. She was the first person to tell me I can dance. When my heart was shattered, she sang to me about the power of good bye. She reminded me that sorry is not always enough and that I will live on to die another day.

Warner Bros. Records wants you to know about Madonna’s cultural impact. They will list her twelve singles to reach the top of the charts. They’ll remind you that she has seven albums that have peaked at the top spot and that she recently snagged her fortieth chart-topping single on Billboard’s Hot Dance Club Play chart.

There’s no denying that Madonna is a cultural hurricane. But more than that, Madonna and her music have stood by me every step of the way. When I look back on my life, I hear Madonna. I hear Dress You Up and La Isla Bonita and Secret and Vogue and Hung Up. For me, that’s more valuable than any accolades anyone can bestow on the Queen of Pop. For at the end of the day, all that’s left is the music and the memories.

That’s why I’ll be celebrating Madonna today.

On Glee, Disappointment and Hoping I Can Once Again be Gleeful

I’d like to take a moment to alienate myself from the rest of the world and go on record as saying that I am a little more than slightly disappointed with the television show Glee.

Let the stoning commence.

When I caught the pilot episode last spring, I instantly fell in love. Here was a bold new show that not only featured brilliant musical numbers, but also tackled some rather important themes. Be yourself. Fight for what you believe in. Don’t let society tell you the role you should play in life. Don’t stop believing.

I was impressed. I was looking forward to adding this to my list of must-see shows. As it turns out, I may have been too quick to judgment.

We are now four episodes into the first season of Glee, and the show I fell in love with has virtually disappeared. In its place is an over-the-top campy mess that clearly has no clue what it wants to be. Gone are the characters I could root for. Gone are the important themes. All that’s left are pregnant teenagers, wives faking pregnancies, at least three rushed love triangles, characters that are dumb as rocks, and a plot point that’s already been played at least three too many times.

That plot point is the one in which the evil cheerleading coach tries to take down the glee club. In each episode she hatches some plan, but by the end of the hour her plan has mostly failed and the glee club is all smiles.

I don’t know about the rest of the more than six million viewers watching Glee, but I’m already over that cycle. Sure, the club needs an enemy. Yes, that enemy needs to try and squash the singers. But do we really have to live the entire cycle every week?

Outside of that cycle, we have the distinct honor of being introduced to a new protagonist each week. In the pilot episode, we were taught to root for Rachel. The over-achieving fame whore, Rachel was integral in getting the glee club on its feet. She was its shrewish backbone. She was its star.

The creators of Glee kept up that idea through the second episode, but by the fourth, Rachel was hardly on screen. Instead, the teacher who heads the glee club took center stage in the third episode. The fourth episode then centered around Kurt and his struggle to come out of the closet. Sadly, I don’t really see much of a role for Kurt in the future. Now that he’s out of the closet, his usefulness as a plot point has waned. And so, in Glee fashion, I’m sure some other character will rise to the top in the next episode, only to then be once again asked to sing backup.

It feels like the writers of Glee aren’t yet sure who they want their story to revolve around. For while this is clearly an ensemble show, even ensemble shows need anchors. Friends had Ross and Rachel. Gossip Girl has Serena and Blair. Beverly Hills 90210 had Brenda and Kelly. So far Glee has just about anyone who has ever appeared on screen.

So who am I supposed to care about? Who am I supposed to root for?

That question is difficult to answer when it comes to Glee. Rachel has become far too self-absorbed to be likable. Kurt is rather sympathetic, but, once again, I stand by my claim that he’ll soon fade from the spotlight. The other two prime contenders for the leads of this show, Will and Finn, are perhaps the dumbest men alive. And that, sadly, leads us down the soapy road Glee has taken.

Will’s wife is faking her pregnancy, right down to the padded belly she’s taken to wearing. Somehow, despite living with the woman and sharing a bed with her, Will knows nothing. Back on school grounds, Finn’s girlfriend really is pregnant. She’s also the president of the abstinence club. She tells Finn that she got pregnant that one time they were in a hot tub making out and he blew his load. And Finn believed her.

The girlfriend is actually knocked up with Finn’s best friend’s baby. Will’s wife is aware of this little problem and is clearly hatching some plot in which she will pass off the teenager’s baby as her own.

Someone may want to take this opportunity to tell the writers of Glee that this exact plot has been utilized at least six times by every major daytime soap opera that has ever been on the air. And it’s always come off as cheesy and incredible unbelievable, even for daytime soap operas.

Don’t get me wrong. I love soap operas. I love camp. A good unbelievable baby swap gets me every time. It’s just that Glee promised me so much more last spring. I feel cheated.

All that is left of the pilot I enjoyed so much are the musical numbers. And so now I tune in to Glee and wade through the ridiculous plot just so I can get to the good stuff. It’s kind of like porn, I suppose. But, like porn, even the good stuff is getting less exciting. It already feels stale. And that’s remarkably sad considering Glee really has a chance at being something fresh.

I hope that Glee will prove me wrong. I hope it gets its stride and reminds me why I waited all summer for it to hit my television screen. I hope I can soon become like everyone else on Facebook who posts multiple status updates about how amazing the show is. I hope I can be gleeful again.

For now I’ll simply take a lesson from the show I fell in love with and I won’t stop believing.

On AIDS, Walks and Knowing That Together We Will Create Change

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the estimated number of persons diagnosed with AIDS in the United States and dependent areas in 2007 was 37,041.

The cumulative estimated number of cases of AIDS through 2007 in the United States and dependent areas was 1,051,875. Of those cases, an estimated 9,209 were in children under the age of 13.

At the end of 2007, the estimated number of persons living with AIDS in the United States and dependent areas was 468,578.

The most common cause of transmission continues to be high-risk sexual contact, both homosexual and heterosexual.

In 2007, the estimated number of deaths of persons with AIDS in the United States and dependent areas was 14,561. The cumulative estimated number of deaths of persons with AIDS in the United States and dependent areas, through 2007, was 583,298.  Of those deaths, 4,891 were children under age 13 years.

On August 8, 2008, I wrote a post that mirrors this. As you can see, the AIDS crisis is far from over. In this country alone, we have lost over a half a million people to this disease. Close to another half a million people live with the disease every day. (source)

We can change that.

Next Saturday, October 3, I will once again participate in the AIDS Foundation of Chicago’s annual AIDS Run & Walk. I will once again take to the streets of Chicago to walk for a cause in which I believe deeply. It’s a day I am looking forward to because it’s a day when thousands of people come together to make a difference and rally for change.  No matter where you are on the morning of October 3, you can be a part of that change.

Please consider making a gift in support of this very worthy cause. To do so, simply click here.

The AIDS Foundation of Chicago uses the money raised to collaborate with community organizations to develop and improve HIV/AIDS services; fund and coordinate prevention, care, and advocacy projects; and champion effective, compassionate HIV/AIDS policy.

This year I am walking as a part of Team Howard Brown. Howard Brown Health Center promotes the well-being of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender persons through the provision of health care and wellness programs, including clinical, educational, social service and research activities.

I am so proud to be working on behalf of both organizations and hope you will join me in this work. In a time when health care is on everyone’s minds and lips, it’s never been more important to keep the fight against HIV and AIDS alive.

As an added incentive, for every person who contributes before September 30, I will make a gift of $5. This is not only a great way for you to empty my wallet, but it’s a real reminder that together, as a community of caring individuals, we really can create change.

If you can not contribute monetarily, I once again encourage you to find out about ways that you can support the fight against AIDS in your own communities. It’s never too late to get involved.

Just as I did last year, I thank you sincerely on behalf of the more than 468,578 individuals living with AIDS in the United States. On behalf of those individuals who will receive education about the disease and the ways in which it can be prevented, I thank you. Most importantly, on behalf of those who find support and comfort and hope through the work of the AIDS Foundation of Chicago and its many partner agencies, I thank you.

Together we will make a difference.

On Barbara, Blake and This Year’s Dismal Musical Forecast

I’m a little disappointed in this year’s fall music releases, and I’m here to gripe about it.

The fall is usually a stellar time for music releases. The record labels all want to bolster sales in the last quarter, and releasing a surefire hit before Christmas is never a bad idea. For the most part, the months of September, October and November tend to be a dream for music lover such as myself.

This year, however, the pickings are pretty damn slim.

The release that unofficially kicked off the season was a little record by a little artist known as Whitney Houston. The world waited with bated breath for Miss Thing to dump Bobby, get off the hard stuff, and get her pipes back into the studio. This was to be the comeback of a lifetime. Whitney was back, y’all. Mariah was shakin’ in her ridiculously short skirts. The angels were ready to perform backup.

And then I Look to You descended from on high only to land with a hefty thud. I’m the first to admit I’ve never been much of a Whitney fan. I was, however, willing to give the girl a chance. That chance, I’m sorry to say, proved my every doubt about Whitney’s big comeback. I Look to You offers nothing exciting or special. It’s just Whitney being Whitney. The problem is that this time around, that’s old news. And it doesn’t help that Miss Houston’s voice has sure taken some hits during her missing years.

I fear this is to be a common problem this fall. Mariah Carey has a new album coming out, which I’m sure will be a carbon copy of the last ten Mariah Carey albums. Sure, the woman knows how to ride the trends to the top of the charts, but she sure isn’t known for doing anything even remotely innovative.

And speaking of boring, Barbra Streisand also has a new album coming out this fall.

Even the one release I was looking most forward to getting my hands on proved to be a dud. I adore Mika’s first album, Life in Cartoon Motion. It’s fresh and fun and the guiltiest of pleasures. I do not, however, like it enough to want to own it twice. Sadly, that’s exactly what happened when I picked up his new release, The Boy Who Knew Too Much. As the musical advisor to Welcome to My Truth so aptly put it via text message, Mika’s new effort is “entirely indistinguishable from his first album, right down to the cover art.”

In other news, there are no new artists in the music business. Megadeth, Bruce Hornsby, Harry Connick Jr., Dan Fogelberg, Tim McGraw, the Backstreet Boys, Alice in Chains, and Sting are all releasing albums this fall. And don’t forget Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston and Barbra Streisand.

“But wait,” I can hear the masses screaming. “You forgot to mention Susan Boyle!” Yes, I forgot to mention Susan Boyle. I will mention her long enough to say that when she sits atop the Billboard album charts in late November, that will be the last piece of proof I need that those charts are dead and the American public has gone mad.

Now, I know what some of you savvier readers are thinking. You are thinking this post is all about bashing other artists so that I can have Madonna swoop in and save the day. Yes, Madonna has a release scheduled for next Tuesday. Yes, I still love Madonna. I am not, however, looking to her to save this fall’s dismal musical forecast. Madonna is releasing Celebration, a greatest hits collection that starts with her first single and brings us right through to the present day. I have no doubt it’s going to be a great compilation. But for someone who already owns all of Madonna’s hits, this release is a bit of a non-event.

To be fair, Madonna’s is not the only release that is a non-event in my world. That I know of, two of 2009’s biggest artists have plans for hopping on the train made popular most recently by Rihanna. Taylor Swift will be re-releasing her Fearless album with a bonus DVD. Lady Gaga is also rumored to be putting her album The Fame back into circulation with bonus materials and new remixes. I’m not a fan of this marketing ploy. Gives us something new. If you don’t have anything new to offer, leave us alone. Throwing some leftover songs on to an old album is insulting and, as far as I’m concerned, just shows that you’ve already gotten stale.

So where does this leave a lover of music such as myself? What will I be adding to my iPod to get me through the day? Will I be forced to become a Barbra Streisand fan?

Well, I do have one ace in the hole. Blake Lewis has a new album dropping in October, and from what I’ve heard, I won’t be disappointed. He’s taken the sound from his last album and pushed it further into the depths of some wicked new wave throwback machine. I’m pretty psyched to hear this album in full.

Other than that, I’m at a loss. That’s where you come in. What are you listening to? What funky little-known artists am I missing out on? What’s one good reason I should be running to Amazon UK?

You can save my fall yet, loyal readers.