leesean.net

I now have my own hosted website and domain name: leesean.net

I will continue the blog at leesean.net  and stop updating this site.

Why the move?

I want more flexibility to customize my blog.  I think WordPress is awesome, and my will continue to use it for my new site, but I want to take advantage of features and plugins that are only available on a self-hosted version of the software.  Plus, this will be a great chance for me to learn more about web design as I tinker and tweak the features on the new site.  Also, by hosting my own WordPress blog, I can also add a podcast or a videocast to the blog.  Stay tuned…

The new site also features randomized header graphics, so come back often to collect them all.  Or if you are really bored, keep on clicking the “refresh” button on your browser to reload the site for a random graphic each time.  Fun!

Also, the final reason is vanity, pure and simple.  I like the sound of leesean.net.  I want to be a first-name-only web celebrity/brand name.

The new site is still a work in progress, so bear with me while I tweak and tinker the tech and write some new content as well.

leesean.net

New York City Mix

I think I’m in love with Lady Liberty, Madame la Liberté, New York City Baby! And what a gracious, forgiving mistress she is, welcoming the freaks, the weirdos, the dreamers and the damaged people who can’t function anywhere else into her ample bosom.

Here is my iTunes playlist homage to the new woman in my life:

• 1. New York City – They Might Be Giants
• 2. New York Telephone Conversation – Lou Reed
• 3. Englishman In New York – Sting
• 4. Manhattan – Holly Cole
• 5. Teen Age Riot – Sonic Youth
• 6. Blitzkrieg Bop – The Ramones
• 7. Heart Of Glass – Blondie
• 8. La Vie Boheme – Rent Soundtrack
• 9.  Sci Fi Wasabi – Cibo Matto
• 10. Take Me Back to Manhattan – Cole Porter
• 11. Two Princes – Spin Doctors
• 12. New York – Madonna
• 13. Take the “A” Train – Duke Ellington
• 14. It’s Tricky – Run D.M.C.
• 15. Fight For Your Right – Beastie Boys

Did I miss anything? Let me know if you have any suggestions for additions to this playlist!

Tee for Terrorist?!

WE WILL NOT BE SILENT

Apparently wearing T-shirts with writing in Arabic means that you are a potential terrorist – another paranoid attack on free speech in the name of “national security.”

Does Tee Stand For Terrorist? NYC Student Stopped on Staten Island Ferry For Wearing T-Shirt Saying “We Will Not Be Silent” in Arabic

Read more or listen/watch the podcast/videocast from Democracy Now!

Iraqi Peace Activist Forced to Change T-Shirt Bearing Arabic Script Before Boarding Plane at JFK 

Read more or listen/watch the podcast/videocast from Democracy Now!

Another version of the story.

Support free speech by ordering and wearing a “We will not be silent” T-shirt here.

http://thecriticalvoice.org/ 

Marie Antoinette

I went to see Sophia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette on Friday night. The film was beautiful, cinematographic cotton candy fluff. Honey, you don’t have to be smart, you just have to be pretty. Although Marie Antoinette lacks the inspired genius of Coppola’s Lost in Translation, it does once again prove that nobody can quite capture the essence of rich young white girl angst and anomie quite like Coppola.

Marie Antoinette – the haiku:

I don’t envy your

Feathers, wigs and petticoats

But I do want cake

No War with Iran Petition

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/557411454?ltl=1161294081 

As unbelievable as it may seem, the White House has given a “prepare to deploy” order sending the USS Eisenhower to the Persian Gulf, and leaked reports are warning that the Bush Administration is making further preparations for a military strike against Iran.

Is this simply an escalation of the administration’s saber-rattling? An attempt to provoke Iran and create a Tonkin Gulf-like rationale to justify military strikes? Or is this actually the first step of planned military action against Iran, with the administration’s declarations of attempted diplomacy just as phony as they were before the Iraq war?

We cannot wait to prevent an unprovoked attack against Iran.

Military action against Iran would inevitably kill large numbers of innocent people, foster even greater hatred towards the United States, and bring international condemnation. Our own intelligence agencies have concluded the Iraq war has worsened the terrorist threat, and a war against Iran would add immeasurably more fuel to the fire.

Stand up to the Administration – Demand that there be no war in Iran!

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/557411454?ltl=1161294081 

Ceasefire Campaign: Now on Friendster, MySpace and Facebook

Help us spread the news about the Ceasefire Campaign.

You can blog about us, forward our email to your friends, and join the Ceasefire Campaign group on  Friendster, MySpace or Facebook.

Ceasefire Campaign: Talk to Iran

http://ceasefirecampaign.org/

The Res Publica, the group I am working for here in New York just launched a new campaign today urging the US to open direct talks with Iran about its nuclear program.

If you get a chance, please take a look and make your voice heard.

http://ceasefirecampaign.org/

To learn more about this issue, check out this fascinating and enlightening interview on Democracy Now! with former UN Weapons Inspector Scott Ritter:

Scott Ritter on “Target Iran: The Truth About the White House’s Plans for Regime Change”

From the Ceasefire Campaign:

North Korea’s nuclear test last week showed that policies of isolation and threats of regime change will not prevent the spread of nuclear weapons. We need to act quickly, before the Bush Administration makes the same mistakes in Iran. The UN Security Council is scheduled to discuss sanctions on Iran this week, making it critical to get as many people as possible involved in this campaign over the next few days, while world leaders are debating their options. Click below to send a message to President Bush, calling on the US to enter direct negotiations with Iran:

www.CeasefireCampaign.org

The last thing the world needs is a global nuclear arms race, so let’s seize this moment to show the Bush Administration that the world has a stake in resolving things with Iran peacefully – and will hold him accountable.

Talks between the US and Iran won’t guarantee a solution to the nuclear problem, but no talks will guarantee failure. There is no military solution to this issue, and President Bush’s aggressive policies have begun to spark a global nuclear arms race, as countries rush to build nuclear weapons. There have been several calls, even from prominent members of Bush’s own Republican Party, to change course. Join this rising chorus by clicking below:

www.CeasefireCampaign.org

The Bush Administration is starting to learn that it ignores global public opinion at its peril. Let’s send a strong message to President Bush – forward this email to your friends and family, and encourage them to help prevent the nightmare of a new global nuclear arms race from becoming reality.

Thanks!

Tranny Rock at the DUMBO Art Under The Bridge Festival

Last weekend, I walked across the Brooklyn Bridge to DUMBO for the Under the Bridge Festival. Here are some pics from a tranny rock show I wandered into.

Beck: The Information

Beck: The Information

My latest Amazon acquisition. I don’t usually buy CDs anymore, but this one comes with stickers to make your own album art and a DVD of all the tracks. Plus, I had an Amazon gift certificate from my credit card rewards points.

The review haiku:

Genre is Beck’s whore

Hip hop trailer trash bitch slap

Rimbaud with a beat

 

Brooklyn Bridge