Our New Animation!

Whaaab!! Whaaaab! Whaaab!

Hat On Jacket Off

This is a great little bit made by some local yokels.



We'll be launching a series of Marginal Way animations next month. Stay tuned!

The Mallett Brothers Band // Little Bit Of Mud (Official Video)

Workers of the Hive Unite!

"All I know is that I didn't do nuthin!"

Maine Pride 2012

Participants in the 2012 Southern Maine Pride Parade

Yesterday afternoon I headed into Portland for the 26th Annual Southern Maine Pride Parade & Festival. I had attended pride parades in Taipei, but never in my own state and I was amazed at the sheer number of marchers and attendees cheering on the sidewalks - around 7000 by the estimates. State legislators, a libertarian US senate candidate, and Portland Mayor Michael Brennan marched with the procession. Portland Police Chief Mike Sauschuck rode in an open Mercedes coupe convertible as a parade grand marshal.

When I was really young, I don't remember hearing my parents describe anyone as "gay," but there were always friends and family who came around with their "partners."  There was the kindly old couple down the road who owned the Beach Store and used to have us over for Christmas parties. My cousin would often come to visit with his "friend." The only discussion of the issue I remember was mention of Charlie Howard, a young gay man who was murdered by teenagers in Bangor back in 1984.

Then came middle school and words like gay, queer, and fag became part of everyone's general vocabulary. In the 1990's there was a series of local battles over adding sexual orientation to the Maine Human Rights Act. I remember thinking how ridiculous it was that they didn't have those rights already, but I also remember the kids at the back of the bus making nasty remarks about it and I never spoke up about it. In fact, I hardly remember anyone saying anything when someone was ridiculed and called a "faggot," except a very few, usually girls who didn't put up with much crap from the bullies as a rule. However, I never knew anyone who was "out" in school and even those who I kind of figured might have been gay, didn't come out until college or later.

 I also never really understood what that must been like for them until years later when a friend admitted he was gay in a letter and at the end said, "I hope we can still be friends, but I understand if you don't want to be."

What I found most amazing yesterday was the number of kids in the parade, high school kids and even younger, marching behind banners with the names of pride organizations like Out As I Want to Be, Outright Lewiston Auburn, Proud Rainbow Youth of Southern Maine, and Omicron Delti Pi: Maine's First LGBT Fraternity. They were backed up by other organizations like PFLAG: Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays along with countless churches and religious groups.

They chanted slogans like, "1,2,3,4 - Open up the closet door! 5,6,7,8 - Don't assume your kids are straight!"

Two teenage girls standing and watching the procession next to me. "I have two cousins who are gay," one said.

Two middle aged women holding hands next to me were equally in awe. "Look at all of the kids!"

Her partner smiled and said, "This isn't controversial for them."

 During my first month in the legislature, when LD 1020 An Act to End Discrimination in Civil Marriage and Affirm Religious Freedom was submitted, I signed on as a co-sponsor. But when the first email came from a constituent telling me very bluntly that she opposed the bill and would watch how I voted, I was caught off guard. For some reason I thought of the kids on the bus all of those years ago. Back then, the idea of gay marriage was hardly even discussed when even granting other basic human rights like protection from workplace discrimination was so controversial.

A few of my older gay friends were a little aprehensive about the bill because they had lived through the sixties, seventies and eighties, often having sat in churches and listened to anti-gay sermons. One woman told me she was sick to think about having to endure a public discussion of what should be her legal right and all of the fearful rhetoric and hurtful dialogue that would likely come with it.

 But then came the flood of messages from supporters living in towns throughout my district. One began, "As you know, Lincolnville has a sizeable LGBT community..." At first I kind of laughed because I had never heard anyone say that, but I thought of all of my friends in our little rural, coastal community, all of the people involved in local business, church, and town affairs, all of the couples I had met at doors campaigning and the dozens of emails I received, and I realized, "Hmm...I think he's right!"

The day we voted on LD 1020 was full of emotional testimony. The level of support for the measure could almost be measured by the number of blue Equality Maine postcards from supportive constituents. The Portland and Southern Maine reps' piles overflowed, while a friend from a northern rural district who voted for the bill had a bundle of about two neatly tied with a ribbon.

Legislators told stories of having gay relatives and two told us about what it was like being gay themselves. There was talk about making history, but as my friend Rep. Steve Butterfield of Bangor said at the time, "The question is not about whether we are going to make history, but whether we are going to step aside and let history be made."

The next day I received this email thanking me for the support:

The legislation--if it holds--will mean that my partner of 22 years and I will now be able to enjoy the same legal rights as our straight married friends. I thought I didn't really care all that much about this--after all we'd managed all these years without it. But when I heard it had been signed I actually got teary for a moment. It's a big step in the right direction, isn't it!

There was a flurry of elation after the vote, but it was quickly tempered by the inevitable repeal petition, which came almost immediately. We were back in campaign mode. The divisive debate in the legislature was brought into communities across the state as determined signature gatherers went out soliciting support for a citizen referendum. At our own town meeting, tensions rose dramatically as our focus was drawn from routine municipal budget matters to the signature gatherer in the corner. Lesbian and gay residents in attendance painfully watched as their neighbors voted to take away the right they had just been legally granted.

 It wasn't a pleasant time and although initially I didn't receive nearly as many messages against the bill as I had from supporters, I could feel some resentment from a few. One religious conservative neighbor crossed out my last name on a large sign in his front yard, which I assumed had something to do with my vote.

We worked hard to defeat the bill and we came close. The hardest part was watching the returns on TV with two friends who intended to finally have their marriage legally recognized if the referendum was defeated. The only consolation was knowing that our little town voted to support marriage equality and even my conservative district narrowly defeated the repeal by 87 votes.

The wind certainly seems to be at our backs as we go for another attempt at passing marriage equality. Supporters have been out in force, raising money and pounding the pavement to convince undecided voters.

Attitudes are certainly changing rapidly, as is revealed in recent polling at  55% in support and 36% against. This is encouraging as the repeal of marriage equality lost 53-47 just three years ago.

So the nail biting begins, as we hope we can convince our friends and neighbors not to be afraid of something that is about nothing more than love and commitment. I feel for my LGTB friends who have to endure the uncertainty of knowing whether the majority of their fellow Mainers will grant them equal status and the most certainly ugly campaign that will lead up to the vote. It's hideous that they have to listen to such hateful, fear mongering  rhetoric like "sodomy-based marriage," which a prominent local marriage equality opponent has dubbed it. 

Nevertheless, I am cautiously optimistic that while Mainers can be cantankerous at times, I believe folks also strongly value fairness and equality and fear won't win this time. As conservative political operative and Gov. LePage's former communications director Dan Demeritt, tweeted last year,  "I signed the Equality Maine petition today. Tough times easier with loving spouse. I wish the same support for everyone."

This is one issue that we can finally find bi-partisan agreement this election.

The O'Chang Travelogue: South Korea

Tea time with monks on Alishan in Taiwan

We touched down at Chiang Kai Shek Airport in Taiwan at around 7 PM and Han Ji's mom met us in the lobby. Asian airports never cease to astound me. Not only how everything is free, like the luggage carts, Internet access and motorized trolleys that take you across the terminal, but it's also all so modern and high tech.

I am always impressed by the Japanese bidet toilets, which feature heated seats, soothing sounds that drown out any noise that might come from the stall, and the warm, cleansing sprays of water that can be set directionally. There's also the  EVA Airways Hello Kitty check-in:

Plane

Check-in

Flight Attendants

Yeah!!!

Coming back to Taiwan, a country where I lived for five years, after another five years is a disorienting experience, which I can only compare to returning to your old high school after graduating - there's no going back.

The first thing we did (after waking up at 4 AM due to jetlag) is go out in search of our favorite street food we had longed for the last five years. For better or worse, many of the vendors still recognized me.

"You got...STRONG!"

"Whaa! You so fat!"

"How you get so fat?"

If I went back to Taiwan, I would likely be crash dieting in no time. I've heard that in some cultures, having someone point out  your girth is a compliment.

"Fat! S'good!" they'll say, giving you a friendly pat on the tummy.

But not Taiwan. I tried on about six pairs of pants in the clothing market and nothing fit.

For our next trip, I think we'll hit Mississippi to revive my self-esteem.

I did find a nice souvenir to bring back to Maine though:

The only other state shirt they had was "Boston Massachubatts"

After staying with Hanji's mom in Taipei for a day, we embarked on the next leg of our trip: Korea. Han Ji's mom is Korean and she has been after us for years to come visit her homeland and finally we were able to make the trip.

Seoul

After arriving in Seoul, we caught a high speed rail, followed by a taxi up to the family's apartment where Han Ji's brother Chewy is currently living while he studies film.

Never been in a subway station that had emergency gas masks available...

I noticed all of the windows on one side of the family's apartment were frosted, so that we couldn't see out. Apparently, the former president, who lives next door, had all of his neighbors windows blocked the same way.

"I wonder if it's raining..."

Being that I will soon be a retired elected public official, I also share those privacy concerns and am looking into taking similar action.

The next day we decided to hit the market. Shopping in this particular Seoul was a crazy, frantic experience. The street was like a white water rip of  shoppers rapidly streaming through the market. I had never witnessed such a chaotic frenzy of economic activity on a city street before.

Mama Choi decided to stop for a round of energy drinks before we hit the shops as this had always been their shopping tradition. There were several old ladies standing around pounding the sugary sodas at the counter when we went in. As we went to buy different items like underwear in the market, the venders would give us more complimentary bottles. I suddenly noticed all of the venders had cases of the stuff under their counters. Everyone was completely wired.

Let's shop.

Some underwear for  those cursed with a flat posterior

I was curious what this thing in an aquarium outside a seafood restaurant was

Mama Choi asked an old lady sorting vegetables out front and she replied, "dog penis." (gay-bool: 게불) It's a seaworm that they slice up raw like sashime.  As are many odd and rare items (often derived from endangered critters) in Asia, from deer antlers to bear bile, the gay-bool is supposedly good for "night time stamina."

I have no idea what these guys are selling

We ended up going to Han Ji's favorite sushi restaurant for lunch. The eatery originally started as a sole food vender selling the three food components - spicy octopus, daikon and rice wrapped in seaweed - to seamen on the docks. She separated them so they didn't turn all mushy by the time it was lunchtime on the ship. Her signature dish became so popular, she eventually opened a restaurant, which flourished.

We had always wanted to try the "doctor fish" (AKA nibble fish, kangai fish, or reddish log sucker) ever since we had seen them at spas in Taiwan.

Dr. Fish

They're little fish who love nothing better than to nibble the dead skin off of your feet, leaving the healthy skin to grow. Given my foot health history, I'm sure they had a feast, though I hope the attendants did a scan for floaters before the next customer.

Yummy

Han Ji had been asking me for a while if I wanted to try dog, which I wasn't particularly anxious to sample. She said it tasted like beef, while others have told me it tastes kind of sweet or even minty. Then I saw this activist walking around the night market and decided to pass on it.

Anti-dog meat activist in the market

The next day we went out with one of Mama Choi's friends, Hyun, a Buddhist monk. Mama Choi spent ten years living in Buddhist monastery before she married Han Ji's father and moved to Taiwan. Ever since then, almost all of her friends have been monks and nuns. He took us out to an amazing traditional Korean restaurant.

The restaurant

Master Jihyun, Han Ji, Mama Choi, Chewy and me

After a night of karaoke, which fortunately we have no pictures, we set out to meet our friends from the oi punk band Captain Bootbois  down in the university district. They were playing at a concert called "Man Fest," which conjured the exact opposite image than what was intended. According to Han Ji, Koreans aren't shy about celebrating their masculinity. Homosexuality also doesn't have the same level of acceptance as it does in other Asian countries I've been to. The Korean term "penis friends" (고추 친구) simply means two very close, heterosexual male buddies.

Captain Bootbois

After we met up with Dong Hyun of Captain Bootbois and saw their raucous performance, we decided to wander around the park across the street, which grew more and more carnivalesque as the night went on. What began as an arts and crafts fair, soon evolved into several different performance spaces throughout the space and floods of young people streamed in. In one corner of the park a large group of people pounded on drums, while an impromptu rave with a DJ and strobes started up in another. Toward the back, several bands queued up to rock out.

 Forgot this crust punk band's name

 Drum circle

 Rave

We talked briefly to a group of expats who were hanging out on the concrete wall drinking beer. An Australian named Tom was playing in some anarcho-crust punk playing that night and we happened to have mutual friends in the Asian punk scene (it's actual a small continent when it comes to punk music). He and a couple of Americans talked about their jobs and their prospects back home. Everyone agreed it was best to hold on to their employment, since there wasn't much waiting for them back home. A skinhead named Chuck from Portland Oregon was on his second stint in Korea. He recently returned after searching for a job for eight months back home. As much I don't miss the expat English teaching scene, if I was facing the same prospects after finishing my term in the legislature, I'd probably want to go back as well.

Local character

Makgeolli cart

Suddenly the Makgeolli Man appeared out of nowhere pulling his hand cart full of plastic bottles and it was all over for us. He weaved in out of the crowd shouting "Maaaaaak-geolli!!!! Maaaaaak-geolli!!!!"

"Are you AMERICAN?!" the Makgeolli Man asked excitedly. "I LOVE AMERICA!!! Have some more mmmmmaaaak-geoli!!!"

He immediately started filling up several paper cups and planted them in our hands and arms. After watching a couple of songs from a punk band playing in the park and finishing the cups, we turned around to see the grinning makgeolli man behind us.

"More mmmaaaak-geolli!" he shouted, filling up several more cups and thrusting them at us. "I love America!"

A Canadian musician standing on the corner saw us with all of the cups and shook his head. "I'd be careful with the makgeolli man. He's famous and he's bad news."

I had grown up constantly hearing stories about makgeolli from my father who had been stationed in Korea during the late 1950's. Pretty much all of his army stories started involved, "I could fill up my canteen with makgeolli for 50 cents!"

Makgeolli is liquor that is made from a distilled mixture of rice and wheat. Farmers often drank it, so it is also known as "farmer liquor." According to wikipedia, "The winner of a public contest by the Korean Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries for the selection of an English name for makgeolli was "drunken rice," with the Ministry reasoning that foreigners would understand it is a type of liquor made from rice." It has a short shelf life, so I'm not sure if it will ever gain much of a foothold in the market over here though.

The taste is a little sweet and a little sour and has a milky white appearance. It's actually tastes very similar to the millet wine that Taiwanese aborigines drink. It also gives you a raging headache like Taiwanese millet wine, which we learned all too well the next day.

"Oh have you seen the makgeolli man, the makgeolli man, the makgeolli man..."

Mama Choi packed a few bottles of makgeolli for my dad to bring home. He eagerly consumed it with his neighbor Richard out in the front yard on Memorial Day. And it apparently brought back memories as he began spinning some yarns about his military days.

"It's just like I remember it - though with less chunks! Did I ever tell you about the time I lost my underwear in a typhoon?"

On Sunday we took a train out to Ttukseom Park to meet some Filipino migrant workers. My friend Gi, a migrant worker organizer I knew from Taiwan, gave me the contact information for these factory workers who had been fighting for equal protection under Korea's labor laws. Just a week before I had arrived, Migrant Trade Union leader Michel Catuira had been deported because of his organizing activities. Interestingly, the MTU is part of the umbrella organization the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, as Korean union workers have recognized that having solidarity with marginalized and often exploited foreign workers is in their interest.

Michel Catuira speaking at a rally

There are currently 12.5 million Filipinos living and working outside of the country, amounting to 11% of its population. Remittances from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) amounts to US $10 billion or 13.5% of the Philippines GDP. We met up with the group of mostly women factory workers in the park and we had a little picnic of Filipino food. It being Mother's Day, they formed a circle and talked about what it was like to have children living back in the Philippines, while they had to work in Korea to provide for them.

Korea Federation of Trade Unions with Migrant Trade Union at solidarity protest

Needless to say, many tissues were used up during that session. Afterwards all of the women and Han Ji played a bunch of games, like a hula hoop contest and a sack race. I had a few beers with the guys and they updated me on what was going on the labor front. As with most wealthier industrialized countries facing tough economic times, the government has been introducing more protectionist measures and scapegoating foreign guest workers. Of course, as in other countries, government officials have to face the fact that the jobs being taken by migrants are not easily filled by local workers. As Alabama's agriculture sector struggles to remain afloat in the wake of the enactment of their draconian immigration law, South Korea had similar results after the government experimented with eliminating it's foreign workforce several years ago.

Setting up the picnic

Children of one of the women married to a migrant worker

I just realized, I kind of look like a cult leader in some of these photos.

Migrant mothers

Elsewhere in the park, a group of elderly folks enjoy the afternoon with singing and copious amounts of makgeolli and soju.

The following day, we met up with another monk named Yumhay and headed to a Gyeongbok Palace (Palace of Shining Happiness), but first some spicy, cold stingray noodles. Mama Choi had been coming to this particular restaurant since she was a child.

Stingray: kind of crunchy, kind of chewy. Not bad.

Gyeongbok Palace

Gyeongbok Palace, built in 1394, was the first of the Five Grand Palaces and was built by the first monarch of the Joseon Dynasty, King Taejo. It was mostly destroyed in the Japanese invasions of 1592-1598. It remained in ruins for three centuries. After being reconstructed in 1867, the Japanese came back and after Japanese agents assassinated Empress Myeongseong in the courtyard, her husband Emperor Gojong left the palace. The imperial family never returned to Gyeongbokgung and it was destroyed by the Japanese in the early 1900s. I guess I can understand why so many Koreans resent the Japanese even to this day.

The throne

Master Yumhay

The wives' quarters

The wives' quarters

The South Korean government began restoring the palace in 1989 and it's a sight to behold. It seemed like half of the enormous palace was devoted to his hundreds of wives and Mama Choi said that's part of the reason none of the kings seemed to live beyond 40.

Inside the wives' quarters

The palace uses ondol heating, an underfloor heating system which uses direct heat transfer from wood smoke to the underside of a thick masonry floor in traditional Korean architecture.

Hyangwonjeong Pavilion, is a small, two-story hexagonal pavilion built around 1873 by the order of King Golong

 Afterwards we hit the market to pick up Han Ji's favorite dish, Korean blood sausage. Can't say I'm a fan...

Blood sausage stand

And some sticky rice in chili sauce.

And fried soybean cakes.

Other scenes from the market:

The meal

 On our last day, we went to the Korean Folk Village, living museum outside of Seoul featuring traditionally built houses and farming. There was also traditional Korean dancing, music and acrobats.

Having some periwinkles for lunch

But first, another traditional Korean lunch with makgeolli. I can't remember the last time I had periwinkles, even though they're all over the place back in Maine - not bad. I also saw some elvers, which local fishermen in Maine get 1000 bucks a pound from buyers in Asia, but I didn't get to try them.


Scenes from the Korean Folk Village:

Cool way to carry eggs

Blacksmith shop - Master Yumhay bought me a beautiful gardening implement

The furnace

Loom

How they used to iron clothes

I would love to build one of these in the garden for rabbit and coon spotting

On the way home, Han Ji started to act kind of strangely. When we stopped at the market, she started wandering around aimlessly, uttering nonsense words and speaking incoherently. We spent the rest of the evening panicking over what was going on. At one point, she took a shower and came out asking why it was so dark since it was morning, even though it was 9 at night. Turned out she had overdosed herself on motion sickness patches and apparently, the active ingredient scopolamine can lead to "mental confusion." Now, whenever we see someone acting strangely or say something crazy, we just say, "must be on the patch."

Kids, stay as far away as you can from this stuff. We're using Dramamine next time!

Cheers!

Next up: Taiwan!