National Equality March

This weekend a massive gay rights (or LGBT rights) march and rally was held in our nations capitol. At least 250,000 people were in attendance people from all walks of life LGBT as well as straight allies such as myself. I was fortunate enough to join Bil Browning from www.bilerico.com a major blog for LGBTQ issues as their photographer as well as shooting for myself. Here are some of my photos from Sundays festivities. There were a lot of outstanding speakers and leaders there. Also check out bilerico.com for more information as well as more of my photos.

Believe it or not the march began with a rainbow in the sky. A definite sign if I have ever seen one.

One of the many kids in attendance that were very proud of their same sex parents.

Marching past the Treasury.

One of the many straight allies out in support.

Cynthia Nixon speaking at the rally!!

Bil Browning of The Bilerico Project, Bilerico.com and Cleve Jones (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleve_Jones)

Lady Gaga was also one of the speakers. She wasn't one of the friendliest people there and definitely not the biggest star yet she didn't take any time to talk to the press there covering the march and rally while major stars like Cynthia Nixon spent a lot of time talking to the supporters and press and was extremely friendly.

Political Activist, author poet and amazing speaker and person Staceyann Chin. I highly recommend looking her up, watching her speak, read her work. She is very moving.

The awesome crowd!!

The extraordinary cast of HAIR closed the show Sunday (which is almost unheard of in the broadway world) and came out to support the cause and march and perform at the rally. Here they are in front of the Capitol with fellow actor Cynthia Nixon (aka Miranda from Sex and the City).

March co-chairs Kip Williams and Robin McGehee.

Chairman of the NAACP Julian Bond!! A major civil rights activist and leader!

Lt. Daniel Choi an Iraq war veteran speaking out against Don't Ask, Don't Tell.

As I mentioned HAIR was there and this is from their performance of Let the Sun Shine In. Which was out of this world and very moving especially with a crown of nearly a quarter million people singing along behind me.

Everyone was really nice and down to earth. After they performed I was able to get my picture taken with them. I actually have them to thank for my being there. They told my mother about the march and rally who told me. So, thank you HAIR!!!

This march and rally was a lot of fun and a great experience and I learned a lot. This is very important issue and I urge you all to get involved in making this change happen. Gay or Straight we should all be working towards equality. Check out some of these sites for more information: bilerico.com , equalityacrossamerica.org , www.davidmixner.com and http://www.broadwayimpact.com/.

A special thanks to Bil, Jerame and Phil from the Bilerico Project for educating me and letting me tag along with them.

Ouch!!

As I approached the GWB toll plaza on my way into the city to visit my brother at work I passed by a police car and a truck on the side of the road. As I passed the truck I saw a nice red 355 Ferrari which had sadly been hit by the truck. On our way to lunch a couple hours later, just as I was telling my brother about the hurt Ferrari and we were pulling into the place we were having lunch there it was. This was taken with my camera phone.

Big Brother at work!!

This week while I was home for Yom Kippur I visited my brother at work in the city. My brother Evan is the Web Content Producer for WCBS880.com (check it out). Here he is in the studio with fellow Penn Stater Pat Farnack (it is always great meeting fellow PSU alums). My brother who went to Emerson in Boston, MA is also a PSU fan though which is good!

Experience PRS 2009

Paul Reed Smith guitars in Stevensville, MD had an open house at their factory last week with live music, tours, food and more. Paul Reed Smith came out in a jacket made from the fabric used on their amps.

One of the many people there was Duff of Ace of Cakes. He was both performing and working on an amazing cake, which was quite good.

Here is his awesome guitar and amp cake.

Gary Grainger with his PRS Signature Bass and Bernie Marsden of Whitesnake. They were both really nice and quite talented.

John Wesley with Paul in the background.

I went on the factory tour and learned how they make these amazing instruments. Here is a shot of some guitars waiting to be stained I believe. I wanted to take them home just like that, they were already beautiful. Sadly however that was not part of the tour, no free guitars.

As anyone who knows PRS or has even seen them knows that the wood they use is a huge part of what makes them so amazing. This is part of the "Private Stock" wood library. You can come in and actually choose each piece of wood that will be used to make your custom guitar, choose the type of inlays, stain, pickups, everything. You can pretty much have them do whatever you want on your guitar. This custom route starts around $7000 I believe but don't quote me on that.

Me and Paul Reed Smith. Paul was extremely nice, and a very talented guitarist and guitar maker. He was great to watch up on stage too because he was always smiling and sometimes dancing like a kid. From what I hear he is an amazing boss to work for.

One of the evening performers was Electric Mary.

The other performance of the evening that closed out the first day was Zappa plays Zappa. Here is the son of Frank Zappa, Dweezil Zappa (yes Dweezil).

(if you are interested in seeing more photos from the day please ask)

Piggy back anyone?

Holding on Tight

My New Cousin

I finally met my new baby cousin Ariana Rose Nowak this weekend. Here she is with my Nana (her great grandmother) and my cousin Jamie her Aunt.

Rosh Hashanah Groundhog

This adorable little groundhog was outside my house before we headed over to my Uncle's. This little guy (or girl) came back everyday while I was home.

President Obama

This is a photo I took of President Obama on Memorial Day at Arlington National Cemetery. President Obama is going to be addressing a joint session of Congress next week on the topic of healthcare and I think everyone, Democrat, Republican or other should tune in and watch.

Its Says it all

Senator Kennedy

Last Saturday Senator Edward Moore Kennedy, also known as Teddy Kennedy was laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery on the hill below Robert E. Lee's home "Arlington House", next to his two slain brothers. Bobby Kennedy's grave can be seen to the right marked by the other white cross. Teddy Kennedy will surely be missed.

Gease Flying by the Monuments

Standing Guard

Guard posted at the Lincoln Memorial. He wasn't very nice.

Early Morning

Early this morning I was out by the Lincoln Memorial and here was the view around 6am.

Funny Orangutan

Taken while I was at the National Zoo a few months ago covering a Penn State Alumni Association event.

Incredible Crowd

Everyone has heard about the incredibly large crowd of people that was at the Inauguration of President Barack Obama this past January. Here is a shot I got of the crowd behind me while walking to the capitol. This was a couple miles from the capitol.

Empty Capitol Reflecting Pool

Back in June the Capitol Reflecting was emptied so that they could clean and refill it. I had never seen this reflecting pool empty before.

Iwo Jima is large

I was out by the Iwo Jima Memorial the other morning and there was a man out there changing some light bulbs. If you have never been to this memorial before, it is large and this is seen wen you look at it with a person on top.

Great Blue Heron

Great Blue Heron I saw while hiking at Great Falls in MD a few weeks ago.