"Younger people in the left are pro-sex right now anyway. So we're using sex in new, creative ways," says activist Nathan Martin.

This summer, Martin's artist-activist collective, the Carbon Defense League, launched Fthevote.com, a campaign to defeat George Bush by offering sex to Republicans who promise to abstain from voting in the election. Fthevote is based on a simple premise touted on its web site "Let's face facts. Liberals are better-looking, sexier and more fun in bed."

"As an activist, you find ways to protest that the system can't deal with," says Martin. "You throw a brick through a window, and they immediately classify you as an angry radical. You offer to fuck them, and they're nor sure what to do."

(and so it goes)

Fthevote.com - http://www.fthevote.com/about.php

Springsteen wrote a New York Times editorial last week about why musicians speak out. He wrote, “A nation's artists and musicians have a particular place in its social and political life. Over the years I've tried to think long and hard about what it means to be American: about the distinctive identity and position we have in the world, and how that position is best carried. I've tried to write songs that speak to our pride and criticize our failures."

(and so it goes)

The rest of Springsteen's editorial - http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/05/opinion/05bruce.html

The folks over at Patriotic Punchables have created a line of Republican punching balloons.

Talk about a creative campaign!

The balloons are made to look like Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney, John Ashcroft and GW himself. The inflatable Bush is not subtle: he's clutching a tank in his right hand and to-do list in his left hand which includes checked boxes for "attack civil liberties, deceive american people, give rich friends more $".

The Bush Bop is in amongst other creative campaign products such as the "Wipe your Tush with Bush" toilet paper.

Bush Bop! - http://www.bushbop.com/

To The Reel Roundtable,

I am on your mailing list and was wondering whether
it would be possible to distribute this. The Lawyers Guild
would really apprciate it.

Thanks,
Eileen
------------------------------------------------------------------

DO YOU HAVE A VIDEO CAMERA?

DO YOU PLAN TO BE AT RNC PROTESTS?

THE NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILD NEEDS YOUR HELP!

The RNC Mass Defense Committee of the NYC Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild is recruiting and training hundreds of volunteer lawyers, law students, and legal workers to be Legal Observers (identified by neon green hats) to be in the streets during the RNC protests to document any arrests or police misconduct.

Videotapes of police actions at protests can be crucial evidence at later trials of people arrested and for subsequent civil lawsuits for police misconduct, as was dramatically shown in the wake of the FTAA protests in Miami last November.

The NLG would like to meet with video makers to share ideas and to invite anyone who may be interested in working with a team of Legal Observers.

Contact:

Bruce Bentley, RNC Mass Defense Coordinator
National Lawyers Guild, New York City Chapter
(212) 679-6018 x 16
nycmassdefense@riseup.net

For more information - http://www.nlgnyc.org/RNC.html

On Tuesday evening, we hosted a "Political Party" for filmmakers to submit their political films. The doors were open to everyone and fortunately we had a wonderful turn out.

A variety of political organizations were in attendance, most of which brought submissions.

The evening was extremely successful with a great crowd and a total of eighteen film submissions. There was also a handful of people who were in attendance because they were interested in attending the upcoming screenings.

We received submissions from organizations such as The Better Citizenship Bureau, Billionaires for Bush, OHMS Media, Green Party Office Committee, Resist, Vomitorium 2004, NYC Indy media Center and more.

The Reel Roundtable's weekly film series takes place every Monday night beginning on September 27th and running through April 25th. During the last week in August we'll be announcing the schedule for our Fall season.

The political films are scheduled to screen on Monday, October 25th & Monday, November 1st. By the middle of next week, we'll post the line-up of political films as well as some photos from Tuesday's event.

Speaking of political films....here is another hilarious short.

Will Ferrell's hysterical - http://whitehousewest.com/

Doing lines is a way of life; film festivals, the corner store, movie theaters, restaurants, bathrooms, and readings (?).

Tonight Cooper Union sponsored an event at their Great Hall, which seats 900, and is located on 7th St & Third Avenue. I have to admit they had one of the most outstanding lines I've ever seen.

Between the two major party conventions, PEN American Center presented STATE OF EMERGENCY: Unconventional Readings in support of free expression and America's core freedoms.

A distinguished lineup of writers - including Laurie Anderson, Paul Auster, Russell Banks, Michael Cunningham, Don DeLillo, Kurt Vonnegut, Salman Rushdie, Ariel Dorfman, Eve Ensler, Jonathan Safran Foer, Barbara Goldsmith, A. M. Homes, A. E. Hotchner, Margo Jefferson, Edward P. Jones, Walter Dean Myers, Francine Prose, Monique Truong and others came together to read and raise awareness about grave threats to essential freedoms in the United States.

The free event was open to the public and was on a first-come, first-served basis.

I read they opened the doors at 6:30pm, but when I passed by at 7pm, the line must have been at least 8-10 blocks long.

This has always been a common problem with The Reel Roundtable's readings, once the word gets out it's always difficult to keep the lines under ten blocks. Especially because we simply do not like to turn people away.

This summer has been like no other with such pleasant weather, almost like L.A. and the streets have never been so clean, probably similar to Seattle.

When I think about an average summer in NYC, the first thing which comes to mind is riding the subways, standing on the 100+ degree platforms, riding in cars with no air conditioning and my favorite...being surrounded by all sorts of body odor.

Prior to this summer when traveling by foot, one is usually accompanied by stinky sidewalks drenched with the lovely scent of Le Summer de Garbage, and of course the continuous "drought situation". Due to the shortage one should be recycling H2O by using one pot of water for cleansing, cooking and drinking.

Not to mention, the fire hydrants being used for cooling off by soaking people in the streets.

Although, I've only been soaked by 4ft to 6ft street-waves while hanging-ten on a sidewalk waiting for a light to change in the pouring rain.

During the average NYC summer, there's always the one friend who comes up with the brilliant idea of attending the Bryant Park Summer Film Series...hell no, I'm sticking with the freezing cold art houses...even if they are always sold out. The outdoor events on the piers are nice with steady breezes blowing in from the ocean via the Hudson River, even though the breezes can be a bit warm at times, a breeze is still a breeze.

In fact, I can't remember so many restaurants providing outdoor seating.

Last summer we were keeping track of 'restaurants with the best air conditioning' and The Crooked Tree, a tiny crepes place with two enormous sized air conditioners was by far the coolest.

The summers can be unbearably hot but still one of my favorite past times is at the end of the day when returning home to an overheated tiny apartment which never seems to reach a comfortable temperature, therefore being subjected to "the stoop" to help survive the heat.

Time spent on a stoop seems to transform a hot night into a beautiful summer evening by; providing interesting conversations, the only time of year to sit down with neighbors (unless you have a co-op), relaxation, entertainment, catching up on books and moments thinking "I wouldn't rather be anywhere else right now".

The heat is what brings everyone out. Come September the cool breeze begins to blow the "time is of the essence" way of life back into high gear, and the neighborly conversations resume until the following summer.

With the pleasant weather this summer, I recently realized that I hadn't spent any time on the stoop and I have yet to find out which color Ken in #13 decided to paint his bathroom.

The clock is ticking leaving about a month left to enjoy some quality stoop time.