Tag: Louis Brown

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Don’t! by Lewis Brown

When I was in a Methodist Church last September 2016, many people in the congregation were becoming overly excited by the American election events. One of the lady parishioners, Kim, stood up and said “We go to church to worship God, that is we do not [Don’t] put our trust and hope in the princes of this world but in God only.” On one level, I agree with her. Donald Trump, as hostile as he is, is only a paper tiger as Mao Tse-Tung would have said.


Last Sunday I attended the Congregational Meeting of the Metropolitan Community Church of the Rockies (MCCR). The pastor, Rev. Dr. Gail Atchison said they were having severe financial problems. I learned for instance that the large commercial gas oven in the kitchen had “blown up,” so that they did not even have a functioning kitchen for catering and hosting events.

To be realistic, looking around, the only gay businesses that actually have any big bucks is the gay porno industry. And they would love to contribute to gay social agencies but cannot since they are considered, fairly or unfairly, to be moral if not legal criminals. The answer is a clever business man takes the contributions and launders the money legally of course and makes the cash available to our worthy causes. In the past the gay porno industry has contributed generously to AIDS related service and health agencies. Why not a new commercial gas stove for MCCR?

Some of the gay porno companies are Titan Men, Falcon Video, Raging Stallions and Hot House Videos. They have become big businesses.

At the MCCR Congregational Meeting we also discussed the currently proposed Mission Statement which, unlike the previous more militant Mission Statement, did not say “to develop a sense of community and the building up of the gay and Lesbian community.” It did speak of advocating for poor people and the homeless but was not much different from what a Congregational Church would have in its Mission Statement.

The pastor Gail Atkinson also stated that she was trying (I think heroically) to get more parishioners by scouring local community organizations one of which was the Denver Gay and Lesbian Community Center. She said that when she went there, no one had ever heard of the Metropolitan Community Church of the Rockies or of the denomination Metropolitan Community Church. Imagine, the Gay and Lesbian Center’s staff members did not even know that the gay and Lesbian Church was located about 10 blocks away from the Center building. The right hand did not know what the left had was doing. Mind-boggling. The Center staff members were also quite hesitant to promise to refer any young gay and Lesbian people to a “church” or to any church, given the assumed hostility of most churches to gay people.

Consider the Hassidic Jewish community in Brooklyn, New York. They are well organized. Their business leaders have cornered the market on the local photograph apparatus business, including the new digital cameras, and are well established in the diamond trade business, both of these businesses have become profitable. The typical Hassidic family therefore has an income from one of these businesses and lives in an apartment building owned by a Hassidic Jew so that the landlord – tenant hostility is avoided. The landlord wants the tenant to survive and thrive – for religious reasons.

So, when I hear phrases like “organize and empower the Lesbian and gay community,” I think this is what I mean. Organize like the Hassidic community in Brooklyn. They have successfully organized and the whole community has found a way to survive and thrive despite the hostility of our current politicians and hostile politicians of the past.

© 22 May 2017

About the Author

I was born in 1944, I lived most of my life in New York City, Queens County. I still commute there. I worked for many years as a Caseworker for New York City Human Resources Administration, dealing with mentally impaired clients, then as a social work Supervisor dealing with homeless PWA’s. I have an apartment in Wheat Ridge, CO. I retired in 2002. I have a few interesting stories to tell. My boyfriend Kevin lives in New York City. I graduated Queens College, CUNY, in 1967.

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Sorting it Out, by Louis Brown

“Sorting it Out” for me,
means tying up some loose strings.
Some other final thoughts
on The Red Tent by Anita Diamant:
(1)           
Circumcision:
the whole ritual becomes a symbol or precursor of mass murder or genocide.
Three of Dinah’s brothers – Simon, Levy, and Reuben – hire a small army of
goons and invade the walled city of Shechem at night and kill almost all of the
Egyptian men by slitting their throats. To please their king, Hamor, all the male
inhabitants of Shechem had been circumcised and had agreed to this because King
Hamor’s son Shalem wanted to marry Dinah, the Jewish Isaac’s granddaughter.
Hamor and Shalem were also circumcised, which they agreed to as a peace gesture
and soon after were murdered by Simon, Levy, and Reuben and their goons.
I think the author’s intent was to portray
men as having a bad killing instinct whereas women are life-givers and
nurturers. Men have it in their DNA to kill and, if able, to commit genocide. I
think the author was being a little too pessimistic. Although I note the
popularity of boxing and that of the John Wayne style of Western in which it
was perfectly OK for white people to plan the extermination of the native
American population, and earlier the Pilgrims doing pretty much the same thing.
(2)           
The once-a-month menstrual cycle explains
why all the ancient moon deities were women: Innana, Diana, Luna, etc. The
monthly cycle of the moon includes: no moon, crescent moon, half-moon, ¾-moon,
full moon, and it takes one month.   
(3)           
In the ancient tribe of Jacob in the tents
of Mamre, children with birth defects were left in the desert to die.
(4)           
I asked the Librarian, Della, at the
Lakewood Library if they had a gay and Lesbian book section. Della said not
exactly but gay and Lesbian literature, fiction, and non-fiction, has its own
Dewey decimal number so can be researched. I said most of gay literature that I
had read so far was either extremely politically polemic or just plain gossipy.
Della recommended:
(a)     I left it on the Mountain by Kevin
Sessums (2015) – the psychological and spiritual journey of an AIDS patient.
(b)           
“And the Band played on.” Starring Matthew
Modine. In a word, The French (Institute Pasteur) discovered the AIDS virus
first. Dr. Gallo of the American CDC claimed otherwise.
(c)     Sarah Waters who wrote the novel The
Paying Guests (published 2014). This is a Lesbian murder mystery. 
© 8 May 2017  
About
the Author  
I was born in 1944, I lived most of my life in New York City,
Queens County. I still commute there. I worked for many years as a Caseworker
for New York City Human Resources Administration, dealing with mentally
impaired clients, then as a social work Supervisor dealing with homeless PWA’s.
I have an apartment in Wheat Ridge, CO. I retired in 2002. I have a few
interesting stories to tell. My boyfriend Kevin lives in New York City. I
graduated Queens College, CUNY, in 1967.
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Resist-Opposition to Donald Trump, Louis Brown

“Resist” is the newest
rallying cry for those opposed to the Trump political and social agenda.  
This gives us the
opportunity to update our observations on the current political situation in
Washington, D. C.
(1)          Did you notice that Colorado Senator Michael
Bennet plans to vote yes for Trump’s pick for the U. S. Supreme Court, Neil
Gorsuch? I guess that means we can safely scratch Michael Bennet’s name off of
our list.
(2)          According to many historians and
scholars of political and economic science, capitalism inevitably grows more
and more corrupt. The upper 1% of the upper 1% grab more and more of the
nation’s wealth and purchase politicians and elections. And they are the only
ones who benefit from this arrangement. Eventually the victims of their austerity
programs try at least to fight back.
(3)          I remember when Ronald Reagan was
president, the news media went on a frenetic promote-Reagan campaign, calling
him one of the greatest of U. S. Presidents. This was deceptive journalism.
President Reagan’s greatest accomplishment was to impoverish the American
middle class. And on a personal level, he was painfully ignorant. A lot of
people noticed. On the positive side, he was patriotic, and he was not as evil
as Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.
(4)          Bernie Sanders has said that he fears
that the United States is becoming an “oligarchy”; this is an extremely polite
way of saying that the U. S. is becoming a fascist state.
(5)          If you compare the careers and
personalities of Donald Trump and Benito Mussolini, you will be struck by the
similarities. Now Donald Trump’s version of fascism is (not yet anyway) as
harsh as that of Mussolini, but many of the same basic underlying suppositions
apply.
(6)          In both cases, the upper classes feel
threatened so put up an authoritarian leader to suppress dissent and a
militaristic government dedicated to suppressing any real version of democracy.
The government’s credibility declines, and the public slowly but surely stops
believing anything the government has to say. This results in more suppression
of democracy.
(7)          In Italy, the upper classes felt
threatened by communism. In the United States now, the public not only has
stopped believing anything our government says, we mostly do not support our
foreign policy, and we want something radically different.
(8)          I think therefore that progressives can
make deals with certain Tea Party organizations, many of whom want to
“overthrow” Paul Ryan. So, do we.
(9)          Actually, morally speaking, Paul Ryan
is much worse than Donald Trump, in my opinion. Donald Trump has some redeeming
qualities, Paul Ryan does not.
(10)                 
Progressives can also work with Senator
Rand Paul who has a very appealing isolationist foreign policy. I never understood
why, when someone calls him an “isolationist,” he denies it. At some points in
history, it is a very good thing to be an “isolationist.” At these same moments
in history, it is good to be a “pacifist” – like now for instance. The American
public is deriving little or no benefit from the perpetual wars in Afghanistan
and Iraq. Let us take advantage of the broad-based public disapproval.
(11)                 
The other morally reprehensible fascistic
or at least authoritarian leader on the current international scene is Vladimir
Putin. Have you noticed how Mr. Putin supports far-right movements in most of
the countries in Western Europe? And then there is his homophobia.
© 10 Apr 2017  
About
the Author  
I was born in 1944, I lived most of my life in New York City,
Queens County. I still commute there. I worked for many years as a Caseworker
for New York City Human Resources Administration, dealing with mentally
impaired clients, then as a social work Supervisor dealing with homeless PWA’s.
I have an apartment in Wheat Ridge, CO. I retired in 2002. I have a few
interesting stories to tell. My boyfriend Kevin lives in New York City. I
graduated Queens College, CUNY, in 1967.
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Limerick, by Louis Brown

In Honor of Brendan Fay
There was a gay libber from Gotham,
He was Irish from his top to his bottom,
They told him no parade,
He screamed, “What a charade!”
That Irish gay libber from Gotham.
For many years I
followed the radical career of Brendan Fay. We always seemed to be going to the
same protest marches. In fact, I knew him when he was quite young. He was
good-looking, somewhat short, his ears stuck out just enough to make him look
like a leprechaun. He was a great impassioned public speaker.
For many years the
Hibernian Society that was in charge of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in New
York City refused to let any gay group march under their own banners. The Irish
Lesbian Gay Association went to federal court and claimed that since the St.
Pat’s day parade was a public accommodation, the Hibernian Society could not
exclude any group. ILGA lost the lawsuit. So, every year ILGA members and many
gay and Lesbian Irish stood on the sidewalks and protested.
Eventually the
local politicians became more supportive of the gay and Lesbian Irish people’s
cause, and the mayor and the governor stopped attending the St. Pat’s day
parade. Three or four years ago, the Hibernian Society permitted gay and
lesbian military veterans to march under their own banner. Though that was
progress, it was not good enough. “If we can march in Dublin and Cork, why
can’t we march right here in New York?” Brendan Fay made frequent visits to Ireland
especially when there were legal cases involving homophobia or legal
restrictions on abortion.
ILGA once
advocated interrupting Catholic masses to remind the faithful of the Catholic
Church’s homophobic policies. And in general, ILGA was too radical for Brendan
Fay so he set up a more liberal organization the Lavender and Green Alliance
which sponsored the setting up of an inclusive Saint Patrick’s Day parade in
Woodside, in Queens County. This parade has become extremely popular and
well-attended over the years.
Brendan Fay married Dr.
Thomas Moulton in Toronto, Canada, in 1995, and Brendan’s last name is Celtic
for “fairy.” At these many demonstrations over the years, I also met Ms.
Barbara Mohr, half Puerto Rican, half Irish. Ms. Mohr (née Hefernan) who also
worked hard for all of Brendan’s causes, including Dignity NY. Of course, she
is gone now.
Question: Are any gay or
Lesbian groups marching under their own banners in the annual Denver Saint
Patrick’s Day Parade? Did any gay group every try? Was it an issue?
Then there is Daniel
Dromm, another gay Irishman on the New York City scene. NYC Council Member
Daniel Dromm set up and still supports Queens Lesbian and Gay Democratic Club
which meets in Jackson Heights and also founded the Queens Lesbian and Gay
Pride March Committee. This annual march is very well attended and is followed
by a rally and entertainment.  
© 15 Mar 2017  
About
the Author  
I was born in 1944, I lived most of my life in New York City,
Queens County. I still commute there. I worked for many years as a Caseworker
for New York City Human Resources Administration, dealing with mentally
impaired clients, then as a social work Supervisor dealing with homeless PWA’s.
I have an apartment in Wheat Ridge, CO. I retired in 2002. I have a few
interesting stories to tell. My boyfriend Kevin lives in New York City. I
graduated Queens College, CUNY, in 1967.
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Where I Was when Kennedy Was Shot, by Louis Brown

Wikipedia: On November 22, 1963, John F. Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States, was fatally shot in Dallas, Texas while riding in a motorcade in Dallas’ Dealey Plaza, at 12:30 p.m. Central Standard Time.[1]

On that date I was a sophomore at Queens College, located in Flushing, Queens, NY. I was on my way to a swimming class in a gym building that looked like and still looks like an airplane hangar. As I was approaching the front door of the building another student told me what happened and we both walked over to a car parked in the parking lot in front of the gym-swimming pool building, and the owner of the car put his car radio on leaving the front door open; and we all listened. It was horrifying and frightening, of course.

Politically, I would say that, in the USA, it has been downhill ever since. And with the exception of Jimmy Carter, we really have not had any president with as much potential and enlightened attitude, as shown by John Kennedy, since. At least Jimmy Carter had morals. Barack Obama was good for the first 6 years then he conked out when he got enthused about TPP.

The whole nation was dazzled when John F. Kennedy was elected. One reason for Kennedy’s power was his granting a seat to the AFL-CIO at the table of power-making decisions. And the AFL-CIO delivered in those days. Working people had protections, status and reason to believe in a better future. About two years ago I called the AFL-CIO of Colorado, and they said they are not on speaking terms with the Democratic Party. To state the obvious, when the Democratic Party decided to stop advocating for working people, they got massacred by the wealthier, very nasty Republican Party. If the Democratic Party does return to advocating for working people and really listens to the AFL-CIO, they will become the majority party again. Otherwise they will shrink even further.

John Kennedy valued working people, granted appropriate power to the AFL-CIO, he valued college graduates. He believed our educational system should be well-financed and respected. Back in the early 1960’s the American educational system was number one in the world. Today it is about number 38 and declining.

Mrs. John F. Kennedy, Jacqueline née Bouvier (later Onassis) was not only beautiful but knew how to decorate mansion interiors and so decorated the White House with a French accent. The Kennedy’s were fabulously popular in Europe and Latin America. Americans were proud of their political leaders, of course, now we are ashamed and embarrassed, really ashamed.

Although I am a Bernie Sanders/Jill Stein fan, I think we should continue along the path of enlightened capitalism, as advocated by John F. Kennedy. Although I don’t have a phobia of socialism that the establishment constantly promotes, John F. Kennedy’s economic philosophy actually worked for the vast majority of Americans.

+++++++++++++++++=

3-17-13 Thinking of the Kennedy’s on St. Patrick’s Day

It must have been in the late 1990’s, when I was working as a caseworker for the NYC Human Resources Administration, I was sent to Headquarters at 330 Church Street in way downtown New York, that is to say Manhattan. Back then I could easily see the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center. I had a Citibank checking account, and there was an ATM about 2 blocks around the corner from where I would go about 3 times a week to get lunch money. One afternoon I went, and I noticed an extremely handsome Irish-looking fellow. It took a few seconds, but I realized that the other young man was John F. Kennedy, Jr. Like any “peasant”, JFK Jr. went to the ATM and did his routine to withdraw what I presume was a small sum of money to get through his day.

Occasionally, he was accompanied by a tall pretty woman who dressed like a hippy. Back then all I had to do was watch the news and I learned that she was Carolyn née Bessette Kennedy. As the months passed, I saw both of them frequently. I learned why they were using that particular ATM. It was located in SoHo which at that time was undergoing gentrification, and John and Carolyn had purchased an expensive condo in one of the tall apartment buildings nearby. The two of them were actually my “neighbors” for the duration of my assignment downtown. I never got up the nerve to say “hello” or “hi there”, but occasionally I would roll my eyes at another person waiting to use the ATM to indicate there was someone famous in front of us.

Eventually, my assignment ended, and I no longer got to ogle the handsome Kennedy couple. Then about a year later I heard he and Carolyn had died in an airplane crash, actually, July 16, 1999, Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard. The news of this accident really saddened me.

Some speak of the “curse of the Kennedy’s”. It could be a curse, I guess, or is something going on behind the scenes that the public is not aware of?

© 2 April 2017

About the Author

I was born in 1944, I lived most of my life in New York City, Queens County. I still commute there. I worked for many years as a Caseworker for New York City Human Resources Administration, dealing with mentally impaired clients, then as a social work Supervisor dealing with homeless PWA’s. I have an apartment in Wheat Ridge, CO. I retired in 2002. I have a few interesting stories to tell. My boyfriend Kevin lives in New York City. I graduated Queens College, CUNY, in 1967.

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Ghosts: Aaron Burr, Patrick Swayze, etc. by Louis Brown

Aaron Burr’s mother was Esther Edwards (my great, great XXXX Aunt)

Aaron Burr Jr. (February 6, 1756 – September 14, 1836) was an American politician. He was the third vice president of the United States (1801–1805), serving during President Thomas Jefferson’s first term. Burr served as a Continental Army officer in the Revolutionary War, after which he became a successful lawyer and politician. He was elected twice to the New York State Assembly (1784–1785, 1798–1799),[1] was appointed New York state attorney general (1789–1791), was chosen as a United States senator (1791–1797) from the state of New York, and reached the apex of his career as vice president.

Born Gore Vidal = Eugene Louis Vidal October 3, 1925 West Point, New York, U.S.
Died July 31, 2012 (aged 86) Hollywood Hills, California, U.S. Nationality American
Other names Eugene Luther Vidal, Jr.
Education Phillips Exeter Academy
Occupation Writer, novelist, essayist, playwright, screenwriter, actor
Known for The City and the Pillar (1948) Julian (1964) Myra Breckinridge (1968) Burr (1973) Lincoln (1984)
Political party Democratic

Movement Postmodernism Ghost is a 1990 American romantic fantasy thriller film starring Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore, Whoopi Goldberg, Tony Goldwyn, and Rick Aviles. It was written by Bruce Joel Rubin and directed by Jerry Zucker.[3] Of course, poor Patrick Swayze is dead.
Born Patrick Wayne Swayze August 18, 1952 Houston, Texas, U.S.
Died September 14, 2009 (aged 57) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Cause of death Pancreatic cancer
Resting place Ashes scattered in New Mexico ranch
Nationality American
Alma mater Coastal Carolina University
Occupation * Actor * dancer * singer-songwriter
Years active 1979–2009
Spouse(s) Lisa Niemi (m. 1975; his death 2009)

**********************************************

I, Louis L. Brown, qualify as being a ghost since, in a bicycle accident 3 years ago, after I was taken via ambulance to the ICU at Denver Health Center, technically I died, according to the woman doctor, Dr. Johnson, who described what happened to me since personally I do not recall any of the trauma I suffered. I was bicycling in Wheat Ridge, near 52nd Avenue and Chase Street, and to judge by the bending and denting of my bicycle chain guard, I must have been hit by a car or truck or some vehicle.

Dr. Johnson said she did not personally save me, it was a medical technician. While in the ICU, I did not have the energy to ask to meet and thank the medical technician. I was there 3 weeks then I was transferred to Presbyterian Medical

Center in Denver, and, from there, I was transferred to Briarwood Rehab Center for another three weeks. The second half of my stay at Briarwood was quite pleasant and the food was very good. During the first half of my stay there I was fed through a stomach tube. I did not really adjust to that, so I barfed a a lot. Boo!

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Another interesting “ghost” for me is my deceased brother Thomas D. Brown who, for 2 years while he was attending Queens College (in New York City), reacted to the War in Vietnam by applying for status as conscientious objector. At the end of the 2 years, the military denied his claim to be a conscientious objector but gave him a I-Y status (like I have). If necessary, I would have applied for status as a conscientious objector, but things did not go that way in my case. A lot of draft eligible men resettled in Canada. Eventually Thomas D. Brown died of lung cancer. He smoked too many cigarettes.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Another interesting ghost for me is my other younger brother, Charles F. Brown who worked as a manager in the 42nd Street Library in Manhattan. Like both of my parents, he was also against the War in Vietnam. He had an exceptionally beautiful Italian boyfriend, Pat Marra; they lived in the Bronx. Pat looked like a DaVinci painting. His hands were a work of art. Charlie died from drinking too many whiskey sours and Manhattans and Martini’s, etc. Pat Marra died from an overdose of cocaine.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

My parents, DeWitt Brown and Elinor Brown were also interesting characters who are no longer alive, but I will save them for another prompt in the future.

© 24 April 2017

About the Author

I was born in 1944, I lived most of my life in New York City, Queens County. I still commute there. I worked for many years as a Caseworker for New York City Human Resources Administration, dealing with mentally impaired clients, then as a social work Supervisor dealing with homeless PWA’s. I have an apartment in Wheat Ridge, CO. I retired in 2002. I have a few interesting stories to tell. My boyfriend Kevin lives in New York City. I graduated Queens College, CUNY, in 1967.

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Maps: Scotland and the Presbyterian Church by Louis Brown

Last week one of our fellow authors made a harmless remark about the Presbyterian Church. I know Telling Your Story does not actually have a religious purpose. Nevertheless, a few interesting things have been happening in the world of American Christian churchdom. To celebrate this month, Women’s History Month, March 2017, you might want to choose to read The Red Tent (1997) by Anita Diamant. It is the story of Dinah, daughter of Jacob, and the plot takes place in the pre-Decalogue days of ancient Jewish history. Women had to go to live in the Red Tent once a month during menstruation and to go there to have their babies with the assistance of the numerous midwives.

Dinah was a midwife. Dinah finally decides to marry Shalem, son of the king of Shechem, fortified city in Egypt. Shalem and a large number of the adult men in Schechem are murdered by Simon and Reuben, two of Jacob’s sons. These two also strip brother Joseph of his colorful coat and toss him into a well. Joseph has the power of interpreting dreams so is taken up by the king of Egypt and is made into a Vizier. The Pharaohs come later. The plot goes on and on with war, betrayal, murder and generally a picture of a really blood-stained history of primitive society. It is an extremely well-written book and celebrates women, all women.

Another religious book worth noting is The Shack (2007) by William Paul Young. A 50 year old religious man, Mackenzie Phillips (“Mack”) whose wife Nan refers to God as Papa, goes on an outing with his three children in an Oregon woods near Multnomah Falls, and a murderer abducts his 6 year old daughter Melissa and murders her. Local Police and even the FBI go on a search for the girl and find her blood-stained dress in a Shack. Mack looks at the red dress and is horrified. Mack gets very angry with God for permitting such a crime to have taken place. Why wasn’t God there to protect his daughter? A few months later Mack received a short note from “Papa” (from God?) asking him to come to the Shack, the scene of the last sign of Missy (Melissa) was found.

Mack doubted the note actually came from God but accepted the invitation, and went with a gun in case the note was a ruse, a note sent by the murderer of Melissa or other malefactor. Once Mack gets to the Shack, he falls asleep and has a dream in which he visits with God, a black woman, the Holy Spirit, an Asian woman and with Jesus. He quarrels with God, but assists Sarayu, the Holy Spirit, with arrangements for his daughter’s burial. He finds the location of his daughter’s cadaver by following red signs on rocks and trees that the murderer had previously placed there. The new male God assists Jake with this discovery.

Mack wakes up from his dream, goes with the local police and discovers Missy’s body lying in a cave. I saw the movie of this book and everybody wept when Missy gets buried in a graveyard that was heavily decorated with flowers bay Sarayu. The Shack was an unusually well-written story. It discusses Christianity honestly.

If you recall, the other religious work that impressed me was the poetry of Rumi. Last night on MSNBC I saw a documentary about a Scottish doctor who got a job with his wife Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The Scottish doctor was gay. When he got to Riyadh, he was forced to live in a dirty apartment, and, when he tried to make contact with any of a large number of willing same-sex partners, the religious police caught on to him, they spied on him, then threatened to send him to jail. Arabian homophobia does not come from the Koran, in my opinion, it comes from the Arabian government trying to brown-nose Queen Victoria, our true larger enemy.

Speaking of Scotland, the Church of Scotland is the Presbyterian Church. Donald Trump is a Scottish Presbyterian whereas my family were English Presbyterians. The Presbyterian Church is said to be the boring church. I am spiritually a Presbyterian, although, since I do not own property or have a million dollars in the bank, I actually do not qualify to become a “real” member of the Presbyterian Church which is ever so slightly snobby. But I am still knocking on their doors.

I descend from the Reverend Robert Brown who obtained his MDiv (Master of Divinity) from the University of Glasgow in 1725 and also from the right reverend James Bishop Wilcox who established the Presbyterian seminary in Middlebury, Vermont around 1830. Reverend Robert Brown became an itinerant minister in Northern Ireland. James Bishop Wilcox married a certain Prudence Aldrich and had many children, however, many of these children were still-born. In the daguerreotype from around 1835 I used to have of Prudence Aldrich, she looked very bitter in a Puritanical sort of way. My grandmother told me that was because of the many miscarriages she suffered.

© 20 March 2017

About the Author

I was born in 1944, I lived most of my life in New York City, Queens County. I still commute there. I worked for many years as a Caseworker for New York City Human Resources Administration, dealing with mentally impaired clients, then as a social work Supervisor dealing with homeless PWA’s. I have an apartment in Wheat Ridge, CO. I retired in 2002. I have a few interesting stories to tell. My boyfriend Kevin lives in New York City. I graduated Queens College, CUNY, in 1967.

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Why Donald Trump getting elected POTUS is not the Apocalypse or End of Days, as so many liberals claim, by Louis Brown

(1)                       
Most Democratic politicians and rank and
file Dems. Are “devastated” by DT’s victory. I’m not.
(2)                       
When I could not vote for Bernie Sanders,
I chose Jill Stein. But even she is overreacting in her revulsion for DT
(3)                       
DT claimed, for example, he is going to
impose tariffs on products, especially on automobiles that are imported here
from foreign countries especially when those products could/should have been
produced here. Buy American!
(4)                       
The allegedly pro-Labor Democrats claim
that protectionism is in the long run counterproductive because it impedes free
trade. Well, yes, when so-called free trade makes companies profitable, which
it does do, 99.9% of the profits, however, go to the upper 1/10 of 1% of the
population. The American working class gets unemployed and impoverished on a
massive scale.
(5)                       
Also, DT has hinted that he is going to
adopt Rand Paul’s isolationist foreign policy. I he does, that means peace for
a change. All we are saying is give peace a chance. What is the actual
difference between left-wing pacifism and rightwing isolationism anyway?
(6)                       
DT said he will do business with Bernie
Sanders when the time comes.
(7)                       
Most everyone has noticed that Hillary
Clinton goes to war at the drop of a hat while Barack Obama has fallen head
over heel in love with perpetual war in Afghanistan. The American people do not
want this war at least not forever. If HC got into office again, it would have
meant more and bigger wars and endless hostile trade deals.
(8)                       
In other words, DT is promising (at least)
important concessions to the real liberal left. We should be gratified not
“devastated.”
(9)                       
Over my life time, I have been told that
protectionism and isolationism are unworkable and extremely destructive in the
long run. Considering everything, this is exactly what we desperately need
right now.
(10)                 
Did you notice that Hillary Clinton’s campaign
attracted the approval and support of three undesirables: Meg Whitman, Michael
Bloomberg and Henry Kissinger? That should make you suspicious. “Be afraid, be
very afraid!” as Rachel Maddow puts it.
(11)                 
Bernie Sanders heroically and ultimately
unsuccessfully tried to dissuade HC from courting the favor of Wall Street and
its leaders. I think Bernie Sanders should think in terms of starting a third
political party, he should abandon the sinking ship that is and will be soon be
the “new” conservative Democratic Party, as it becomes more bellicose and
hostile to American working people, the Dem. Party will, next election,
definitely shrink dramatically in size and influence.
(12)                 
I thought the election campaign went on
too long; the word “hate” was used much too often.
(13)                 
Of course, Hillary Clinton did get more
votes than DT, yet DT is going to be President. That does seem unfair.
(14)                 
Anti-Trump Democrats repeated endlessly
that DT was a racist and hated and disrespected women. Personally, that did not
ring true at least not to my ears. DT is not a racist and he does not hate
women. In fact, in general, DT seems broad-minded and willing to negotiate.
(15)                 
My elder and elderly brother, until this
last election, voted Democratic, Democratic, Democratic in almost all
Presidential elections. In this past election, he voted for DT. DT appears to
be actually less of a rightwing reactionary than Hillary, if he follows through
with his campaign promises. If he does keep his promises, he will be reelected
easily 4 years from now.
© 12 Nov 2016 
About
the Author 

I was born in 1944, I lived most of my life in New York City,
Queens County. I still commute there. I worked for many years as a Caseworker
for New York City Human Resources Administration, dealing with mentally
impaired clients, then as a social work Supervisor dealing with homeless PWA’s.
I have an apartment in Wheat Ridge, CO. I retired in 2002. I have a few
interesting stories to tell. My boyfriend Kevin lives in New York City. I
graduated Queens College, CUNY, in 1967.
Posted on

Celebrate Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas, by Louis Brown

I know it is difficult to
think about Celebrating when there is a storm cloud hanging over the United
States. But remember the candidate who gets fewer votes wins the White House,
that is the new normal. So Washington will continue to be Alice in Wonderland,
where up is down, left is right, backward is forward, ignorance is cherished, love
America means hate America, etc. Still we survived the hostile presidency of
George W. Bush. And we shouldn’t stop celebrating our holidays.
(1)
On Oct. 28, 2016, 7 p.m. at Saint John’s
Episcopal Cathedral, located at 14 Street and Washington Street, there was a
Halloween organ recital, that is, there was a showing of a German silent horror
movie, “Nosferatu,” Angela Papadakos was the organist. She started by playing
Bach’s Toccata and Fugue. (hum a few bars), spooky in itself. Then she
continued playing matching the mood of the scenes and her musical accompaniment.
Some people in attendance were wearing Halloween costumes, so I put on my
diminutive black top hat, and my neighbor, a young woman, in the audience told
me my hat was “awesome.” That made my evening.
(2)
Read flyer for Holiday Luncheon. Also I am
thankful for Prime Timers, and I met Joseph Bump at the luncheon who evaluated
my home situation about 7 or 8 years ago when Prime Timers was meeting in a
restaurant on West Colfax Avenue, which is in my neighborhood. Prime Timers
members keep track of each other (without being busy bodies). So if one ember
is having difficulty, if possible, Prime Timers helps him out. I wonder why I
do not recall any elderly women participating. It wasn’t a male-only club.
(3)
Read copy of E-Mail from Danny Dromm re
Gay History.
(4)
In New York City, gay libbers celebrate
Christmas by attending the Christmas chorale as performed by the NYC Gay Men’s
Chorus at Carnegie Hall. Does Denver Colorado have something analogous? I hope
so.

© 19 Nov 2016  
About
the Author 
I was born in 1944, I lived most of my life in New York City,
Queens County. I still commute there. I worked for many years as a Caseworker
for New York City Human Resources Administration, dealing with mentally
impaired clients, then as a social work Supervisor dealing with homeless PWA’s.
I have an apartment in Wheat Ridge, CO. I retired in 2002. I have a few
interesting stories to tell. My boyfriend Kevin lives in New York City. I
graduated Queens College, CUNY, in 1967.
Posted on

The Drain, by Louis Brown

The Drain and Psycho film of Alfred Hitchcock

(1) Brain Drain

(2) Donald Trump said he is going to drain the swamp in Washington D. C., meaning he intends to curtail the all-pervasive power of the lobbyists. Unfortunately I think that means he is going to give them even more power, and the voice of the advocates for working people and the American public will grow even weaker.

(3) People in the government or commentators who still can be believed:
     (a) Van Jones
     (b) Elizabeth Warren
     (c) Bernie Sanders
     (d) Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii
     (e) Nina Turner

(4) 11-22-2012 Psycho (1960 film), 

     produced by Alfred Hitchcock (who died in 1980)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia This article is about the 1960 film. For the sequels, see Psycho (franchise). For the 1998 remake, see Psycho (1998 film). Psycho is a 1960 American psychological horror film directed and produced by Alfred Hitchcock, and written by Joseph Stefano, starring Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, John Gavin, Vera Miles and Martin Balsam, and was based on the 1959 novel of the same name by Robert Bloch. The film centers on the encounter between a secretary, Marion Crane (Leigh), who ends up at a secluded motel after stealing money from her employer, and the motel’s disturbed owner-manager, Norman Bates (Perkins), and its aftermath.[4]

… slasher film genre.

Plot During a lunchtime tryst in Phoenix, Arizona, a real estate secretary named Marion Crane discusses with her boyfriend, Sam Loomis, how they cannot afford to get married because of Sam’s debts. After lunch, Marion returns to work, where a client drops off a $40,000 cash payment on a property. Her boss asks her to deposit the money in the bank, and she asks if she can take the rest of the afternoon off. Returning home, she begins to pack for an unplanned trip, deciding to steal the money and give it to Sam in Fairvale, California. Driving on, Marion encounters a sudden rainstorm and decides to stop for the night at the Bates Motel; the proprietor, Norman Bates, invites her to a light dinner after she checks in. She accepts, but then hears an argument between Norman and his mother about bringing a woman into her house. They eat in the motel parlor, where he tells her about his hobby of taxidermy and his life with his mother, who is mentally ill and forbids him to have a life outside of her. Returning to her room, Marion decides to go back to Phoenix to return the stolen money. She prepares to take a shower, unaware that Norman is spying on her. * [The Prompt] As she [Janet Leigh as Marion Crane] is showering, a shadowy female figure suddenly comes in and stabs her to death with a chef’s knife. [the viewer looks at her blood flow down the shower drain.] Norman discovers the murder and meticulously cleans up the crime scene, putting Marion’s corpse and her possessions—including the embezzled money—into the trunk of her car and sinking it in the swamps near the motel. A week later, Marion’s sister Lila arrives in Fairvale and confronts Sam about the whereabouts of her sister. A private investigator named Arbogast approaches them and confirms that Marion is wanted for stealing the $40,000 from her employer. He eventually comes across the Bates Motel, where Norman’s behavior arouses his suspicions. After hearing that Marion had met with Norman’s mother, he asks to speak with her, but Norman refuses. Arbogast calls Lila and Sam, informing them of what he has discovered and saying he intends to speak with Norman’s mother. He goes to the Bates’ home in search of her; as he reaches the top of the stairs, Mrs. Bates suddenly appears from the bedroom and murders him. When Lila and Sam do not hear from Arbogast, they go to the local sheriff, who informs them that Mrs. Bates has been dead for ten years; she had killed herself and her lover. Concerned, Lila and Sam make their way to the motel. Norman takes his unwilling mother from her room, telling her he needs to hide her for a while in the fruit cellar.

At the motel, Lila and Sam meet Norman. Sam distracts him by striking up a conversation while Lila sneaks up to the house. When Norman eventually realizes what they want, he knocks Sam out and rushes to the house. Lila sees Norman approaching and attempts to hide by going down steps that lead to a cellar. There she finds Mrs. Bates sitting in a chair. Lila turns her around and discovers that she is in fact a mummified corpse. Lila screams as a figure comes running into the cellar: Norman, holding a chef’s knife and wearing his mother’s clothes and a wig. Before Norman can attack Lila, Sam, having regained consciousness, subdues him.

At the local courthouse, a psychiatrist explains that Norman had murdered Mrs. Bates and her lover 10 years prior out of jealousy. Before, they had been living a solitary life together after his father’s death, until she met this new man. Unable to bear the guilt, he exhumed her corpse and began to treat it as if she were still alive. In order to preserve that illusion, he recreated his mother in his own mind as an alternate personality, often dressing in her clothes and talking to himself in her voice. The “Mother” personality is as jealous and possessive as the real Mrs. Bates had been: Whenever Norman feels attracted to another woman, “Mother” flies into a rage and kills her. As “Mother”, Norman had killed two missing girls prior to Marion, as well as Arbogast. The psychiatrist then says the “Mother” personality has taken permanent hold of Norman’s mind. While Norman sits in a holding cell, Mrs. Bates’ voice is heard protesting that the murders were Norman’s doing and that she “wouldn’t even harm a fly.” Meanwhile, Marion’s car is pulled out of the swamp.

Cast * Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates * Janet Leigh as Marion Crane * Vera Miles as Lila Crane * John Gavin as Sam Loomis * Martin Balsam as Detective Milton Arbogast * John McIntire as Al Chambers * Simon Oakland as Dr. Fred Richmond * Frank Albertson as Tom Cassidy * Pat Hitchcock as Caroline * Vaughn Taylor as George Lowery * Lurene Tuttle as Mrs. Chambers * John Anderson as California Charlie (used car salesman) * Mort Mills as Highway Patrol Officer * Virginia Gregg, Jeanette Nolan, and Paul Jasmin as voice of Norma Bates

Janet Leigh
Leigh in The Naked Spur (1953)
Born Jeanette Helen Morrison July 6, 1927 Merced, California, U.S.
Died October 3, 2004 (aged 77) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Cause of death Heart attack
Resting place Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery
Occupation Actress
Years active 1947–2004

Spouse(s) John Carlisle (1942; annulled) Stanley Reames (1945–1949; divorced) Tony Curtis (1951–1962; divorced) Robert Brandt (1962-2004; her death)
Children Kelly Curtis Jamie Lee
Janet Leigh (born Jeanette Helen Morrison; July 6, 1927 – October 3, 2004) was an American actress and author. She is best remembered for her performance in Psycho, for which she was awarded the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress and received an Academy Award nomination. She was the first wife of actor Tony Curtis and the mother of Kelly Curtis and Jamie Lee .

Anthony Perkins
Anthony Perkins in 1975, by Allan Warren
Born April 4, 1932
New York, New York, U.S.
Died September 12, 1992 (aged 60) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Cause of death AIDS-related pneumonia
Nationality American
Occupation Actor, musician
Years active 1953–1992
Spouse(s) Berry Berenson (1973–1992, his death)
Children Oz Perkins Elvis Perkins
Parent(s) Osgood Perkins Janet Esselstyn Rane
Anthony Perkins (April 4, 1932 – September 12, 1992) was an American actor and singer. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his second film, Friendly Persuasion but is best known for playing Norman Bates in Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho and its three sequels. His other films include The Trial, Phaedra, Fear Strikes Out, Tall Story, The Matchmaker, Pretty Poison, North Sea Hijack, Five Miles to Midnight, The Black Hole, Murder on the Orient Express, Mahogany, and Crimes of Passion.
Early Life Perkins was born in New York City, son of stage and film actor Osgood Perkins and his wife, Janet Esselstyn (née Rane). His paternal great-grandfather was wood engraver Andrew Varick Stout Anthony.[1] He was five when his father died.[2] Perkins was a descendant of a Mayflower passenger, John Howland. He attended Brooks School, Browne & Nichols School, Columbia University and Rollins College, having moved to Boston in 1942.[3]

Jamie Lee Curtis (born November 22, 1958) is an American actress and author. She made her film debut in 1978 by starring as Laurie Strode in John Carpenter’s Halloween (1978). A big hit, the film established her as a notable actress in horror, and she subsequently starred in Halloween II (1981), The Fog (1980), Prom Night (1980), Terror Train (1980), and Roadgames (1981), gaining the status of “scream queen” to mainstream audiences. Curtis has since compiled a body of work that spans many genres, including the cult comedy films Trading Places (1983), for which she won a BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role, A Fish Called Wanda (1988), and True Lies (1994), for which she won a Golden Globe for Best Actress in Musical or Comedy.

I occasionally saw Anthony Perkins walking around Greenwich Village

© 22 November 2016

I was born in 1944, I lived most of my life in New York City, Queens County. I still commute there. I worked for many years as a Caseworker for New York City Human Resources Administration, dealing with mentally impaired clients, then as a social work Supervisor dealing with homeless PWA’s. I have an apartment in Wheat Ridge, CO. I retired in 2002. I have a few interesting stories to tell. My boyfriend Kevin lives in New York City. I graduated Queens College, CUNY, in 1967.