The Dictatorship Has Begun

"If this were a dictatorship, it'd be a heck of a lot easier. Just so long as I'm the dictator." - President George W. Bush

As of right now, this very moment, we are living in a dictatorship. Our full right to protest, our right to speak out against the administration, our right to demonstrate peaceful acts of contempt towards President of the United States, could be suspended by President Bush at any time. PDD 51 signed May 9th of this year literally makes the President a dictator, as well as his personal funding of the John Warner Defense Authorization Act for Domestic Oppression of the American People.

This means that President Bush can enforce martial law for as little reason as to "restore public order," and for the first time in history, it makes the definition of "public order" 100% up to him. Essentially, he can identify any of us at any time as an "enemy" if he doesn't like what we have to say. He can and detain us in Guantanamo Bay without right to lawyers. He can shut down the government of any state and enforce martial law at any time to do so.

Would he? Okay, probably not, but let's not put anything past him, right? And the point is that for the first time, he could if he wanted to. Never before has a President sought to take so much power away from individual states and/or the American people. Never before has a President found so many loopholes in a republic to twist it into a dictatorship. Never before has any President had this much power. There is a series of channels they have all had to go through. Without those channels that he is so swiftly acquiring full power over, we are electing a dictator. Our civil liberties are vanishing and the Constitution is on its way to being nothing more than a piece of paper.

Even Republican Ron Paul of Texas recently stated, "Time is short but our course of action should be clear and everyone must choose their personal course of action for themselves. Education, conventional political action or even peaceful civil disobedience to bring about necessary changes, but let it not be said that we did nothing."

What in the hell did we do? Where were we? How could the American people have made such a grievous mistake by allowing this man and his power hungry administration into office? At that time, were we really all so caught up in the Backstreet Boys and Britney and our own quest of aesthetic beauty, all things superficial and self-indulgent that we totally ignored what was happening under our noses because it wasn't "fun" to read about? Because it wasn't pretty and took some actual thought, research and public debate?

We've got to take some of the time we spend reading US Weekly, watching Entertaiment Tonight, hell visiting JasonCurious.com and spend it educating ourselves so that we can educate others.

Ron Paul said it best. Time is of the essence. We can't waste any more or the damage will be completely irreparable.

Start a blog, argue with your friends, write letters, communicate, organize rallys... preach to someone other than the choir.

My Life At The Piano

I spend about as much time at the side of James Lent's many pianos these days as I do behind my computer and THAT is just a little hug from Jesus, let me tell you. This seat rye-cheer behind the laptop has been my most frequent place of residence for way too long and as I've mentioned before, I'm looking forward to getting away from that.

First it was just a couple of rehearsals a week for my Friday night performances at The Other Side, but when we decided to combine forces for Porn Star Games at here Lounge in West Hollywood (every Wednesday from 8 pm - 10:30 pm starting this coming week!), we needed to build up a bigger library of songs and added rehearsals for the second event. Plus, James hosts a similar show called James Games at The Other Side on Tuesdays at 9:30 pm where I am also now frequently performing to promote Porn Star Games. It also serves as a good rehearsal for Friday nights because there's less of a crowd and it's easy to try new material.

It's seriously gotten to a point where someone can request a song and if we both know it well, we can just turn it out on the spot without rehearsal. It was someone's birthday the other night and they asked for "Somewhere Over The Rainbow." All I had to do was tell James, "Tori did this once on MTV's Unplugged. Slow it down, make it dark because no one can be Judy," and he freaking played it right down to his solo bridge exactly like it was in my head without him even having ever heard it that way. Bra-zill-iant. This is what you can do when you're a doctor of music. Literally. He has a PhD in music. I didn't even know you could get that.

So here's some of the songs I've been working on that you may have missed -- or if you've attended and wondered, "What the fuck song was that he just rocked out?" or even "What the fuck song was that he just ruined?" here's what we've done since we last spoke:

Tuesday, August 7th, 2007

When You're Good To Momma
How Lucky Can You Get?
I Love A Piano
Excuse Me Mr.
Somewhere Over The Rainbow
The Grass Is Always Greener (Duet w/ James Lent)


Friday, August 10th, 2007

SET ONE

When You're Good To Momma
Arthur In The Afternoon

How Lucky Can You Get?
Cry Me A River

SET TWO (w/ sax)

Sweet Transvestite
Jailhouse Rock

SET THREE

The Grass Is Always Greener (Duet w/ James Lent)

Horses

Tuesday, August 14th, 2007

Hello Bluebird
Arthur In The Afternoon
Any Place I Hang My Hat Is Home
Cry Me A River
The Grass Is Always Greener (Duet w/ James Lent)
Crucify

Tomorrow night, James will be appearing with me for a special live performance on The Jason Sechrest Show from 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm (PT) to promote Porn Star Games. And after that, of course, we'll be at The Other Side in Silverlake from 9:00 pm - 1:00 am for anyone in the Los Angeles area.

POST SCRIPT: I totally forgot the point of this blog in the first place was to mention, my two worlds are starting to collide and it is a little strange. One of Angel Benton's recent blogs goes into detail on his experience coming to see me perform at The Other Side that is actually a very positive review, but there's a voice post right above it from another night he came to see me there where he rips Tod Macofski a new asshole. Tod is another singer at the bar who actually starred in the original L.A. production of Naked Boys Singing! Angel doesn't want to see him naked anytime soon. Maybe not even singing. ... Meanwhile, it's weird seeing pics of James Lent pop up on Brandon Baker's blog now that he's attending porn events regularly and I think Andy Kirra will also be talking about his "unique" take on an evening at The Other Side in the near future, should he ever rise from the dead to update his blog with something substantial. One thing's for sure, my friends sure do support and promote me. Even when it's not their cup of tea. ;-)

How Brandon Baker Caused My Car Accident Because He Couldn't Deal With Me Not Being At The Gay Erotic Expo

So all jokes about Branson's Blog and our illegitimately ill-conceived love child aside, I really do have a deep love and admiration for my friend Brandon Baker that continues to leave us, least of all anyone else, incredibly confused.

Brandon contacted me earlier today to tell me how disappointed he was that I did not attend The Gay Erotic Expo this weekend. Disappointed as well as "disappointed in me" I should say. Not that I was scheduled to be there or anything! But for one thing, he says he just missed me being there. For another, he felt like it was rude for me to host the official pre-party and post party but not even show up at the actual event that I was making money and publicity off of. Ultimately though, he noted how confused he was as to why he even cares how I choose to do business and how unbelievable it is that he was taking the time to write a lengthy email about it.

Probably as unbelievable as all that followed on my part. Because for some strange reason, I care just as much about Brandon's opinion of me as he cares about me and my business, I decide to call my pianist and tell him I'm going to be late for a rehearsal as I need to compose an email back to Brandon immediately so that he is aware of how important his concerns are to me.

I explain in my email: You know how porn stars get so little money in this business, they need side jobs usually (or escorting) to provide for themselves? Imagine how it is for someone who is not a porn star, but just a host and journalist! Brandon has an office job with RentBoy.com and makes a weekly salary so that's a little different. In order for me to be able to have the freedom of being able to go on auditions when I need to, take weeks off to do theater, etc. I have to be freelance and work for myself. And in order to make a full living off of the entertainment industry -- mainstream and adult -- I have to book myself so heavily that I seriously average about four to five hours of sleep a night except for Saturdays which I clear to sleep all day long. Therefore, it's extremely important that the time I do have off, I spend it either sleeping, resting my voice (which has become VERY important as of late!) or just resting my brain.

Beginning next week, I host The Jason Sechrest Show via KSEX on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 4 - 6 pm in Chatsworth that takes about as long to transport to total as it does to host, I rehearse at The Other Side in Silverlake on Tuesdays for my performances on Friday nights, I host Porn Star Games at here Lounge with James Lent on Wednesdays at 8 pm and The Porno Palace at MJ's Bar on Thursdays at 10 pm. That's SEVEN regular weekly shows I'm doing in a span of only FIVE days -- every week. This does NOT include my duties as a publicist for many companies and individual performers OR the work that has to be done on my blogs and my web site on a daily basis. Nor does it include other gigs like hosting pre-parties and post parties, auditions, indie film roles, etc.

As a side note, I was told after The Gay Erotic Expo in New York that they were so happy with me, I would be hosting the Los Angeles edition along with Jackie Beat. I didn't even get so much as a press release to let me know they were coming to town, much less an offer to have a booth, a comp entry or a press pass to come cover the show. LOL... I was booked to host the pre and post party by Anthony Lopez who was put in charge of them. Saturday I had an extra rehearsal for The Other Side all day. Sunday I shot a live chat and sex show with Tiger for my web site. I'm not laying around my apartment eating bon bons laughing my way to the bank with the couple hundred in my pocket for hosting the GEE parties. I just didn't have time and I wasn't really even officially invited by anyone, not even my friends like him. So in my eyes, it couldn't have been that important that I attend.

Still, I admit, maybe Brandon has a point. Sometimes I wonder if I should take into account the public's perception a little bit more because I'm sure everyone else thought what he did and then I look like an ass. But I have tried in the past few years to really stop caring what people think, stop trying to be the "image" and just follow what I know is the truth for me. Maybe someday I'll be able to find a happy balance. I don't know, maybe I did have a responsibility to be there. But my God, I hate the idea of there being a such thing as a "social" responsibility. I feel like anything "social" or "image" based should be at the bottom of my list of priorities or I'm feeding into some superficial way of life. I might be wading in superficiality by working in this business, but I don't want to live it myself or have it be anywhere near part of the way I do business. It should be about doing good work where I'm booked to do good work. And I can't be my best if I'm exhausted.

Still, I'm sure it wouldn't have hurt if I'd shown up and said hello. And I'm sure someone would have gotten me in. I just choose happiness and a schedule that I knew would not making me a raving bitch to everyone at the post party. *shrugs*

Okay, so anyway, I jot all this off to him in an email and am now late to rehearsal which means I'm going to be late to KSEX for my show.

And yet, after the rehearsal, as I'm driving past my apartment on the way to the station, I think, "Maybe I can just stop in for a few minutes and see what he wrote me back," despite the fact that I know it will make me even later!

I do. He understands now. He can't believe how much we actually care about what the other thinks of us. We laugh about it. It's good times. I write him back. I leave again, now extremely late.

And as I'm driving, speeding no less, I think to myself, "I should really text Brandon and let him know that I emailed him back and am now on my way to the station so that if he want to call me or text me I can be reached here."

Right.

So I start to text him and speeding at 55 miles an hour run without stopping directly into a stopped car at a stop light. I hear something break. The car I have hit is a small Sedan full of Asians. I mean, like a clown car full of them. Five of which are small children who are now crying hysterically.

Amazingly, no one was hurt. Even more amazingly, neither were either of our cars. People make fun of me for having always owned Saturns, but this is why. I swear to God, they are made of Tupperware. If they dent, they just pop right back into place.

Anyway, they let me go without even taking my license plate.

I vow I will never make fun of Asians again. Even though it's the first thing I do on my show later that day.

Of course, I call Brandon immediately and scream at him that I am going to kill him, that all of this is because he couldn't deal with the fact that I didn't show my face at the fucking expo and my day and schedule would have been smooth sailing if it weren't for him, the emails and my text messaging him.

We laugh about it and say how much we love each other and hang up the phone.

And what is the first thing he does?

Texts me while I'm driving.

Happiness Is A Choice

I have said it before and I'll say it again: You can spout wisdom six ways to Sunday and read all about enlightenment until the cows come home, but it enters your being when it's ready to. It's quite a juxtaposition I feel on a regular basis, the feeling that we are all incredibly capable and yet we don't have nearly as much control over the details as we think we do. Anything can happen if we let it ...if it's the right time and the right place. We write the map of our lives, but the turns in the roads were here before we were. It's that great balance and elusive gray area again, I suppose.

I've heard it said that happiness is a choice and I've said it to others, but I had to personally be really tired of not feeling happy before I could accept this as being a choice. I am an eternal optimist in that I believe anything is possible, but I am the eternal pessimist in that I see the glass as half empty. Isn't that weird as all hell?! I believe I could sprout wings and fly if I wanted to badly enough, but I am always focusing on what didn't get done in a day, what I did wrong, what others did wrong, how things could be better, people's incompetence, their faults, etc. And it's one thing to be a perfectionist, but to let it disrupt your mood on a consistent basis is kind of a drag, don't you think? So I just got tired of it I guess.

I finally realized there's always going to be something wrong. Always. If you're looking to be angry or upset about something, or if you're just the type who waits for the other shoe to drop, trust me, you'll find it and it sure will. There's always something there. There is no such thing as perfect. We can come as close to it as we can and we can discover what we might do better next time and then we've gotta throw up our hands and love where we're standing and who we're standing there with.

Starting next week, I'm going to be booked at seven gigs in a five day span EVERY week. I can't deal with focusing only on what will go wrong during all of these events or I am going to make myself absolutely miserable. So I'm choosing not to. Out of neccessity really. And not so surprisingly, I've never been happier. Duh.

The weird thing is, it doesn't take that much. Try smiling. It can help you focus on the fun. My job is fun. My life is fun. I'm a total fool if I think it's not, really.

And I've also got to say, I'm learning that there is a place for entertainment for the sake of entertainment.

I was talking to Brad Benton about this the other day. We both agreed if we could meet up half way at our personalities, we'd be the perfect people. He could stand to be a little more introspective and think deeper thoughts. I could stand to recognize that entertainment for the sake of entertainment is fine and a much healthier escape for some people than other things, and not everything in life has to be over-analyzed. It doesn't all have to be "art" that you walk away from having learned something or thought twice upon.

There's room for both.

We live in the physical world, though the physical world is not all there is.

Though the physical world is not all there is, we live in the physical world.

Know what I mean, jellybean?

Song of the Week: "Lose That Long Face" - Judy Garland, A Star Is Born

"The blues black out when they can see a smile that says, 'Move on! No vacancy!'"

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Gay Erotic Expo Parties & Other Upcoming Events

Boy, do I have a week ahead of me! Aside from the usual three nights a week hosting The Jason Sechrest Show and singing on Friday nights at The Other Side...

I will be hosting the official pre-party for The Gay Erotic Expo on Wednesday evening, August 8th, at here Lounge in West Hollywood at 9:00 pm SHARP! Gay porn stars scheduled to attend include Blue Blake, Robert Van Damme, Cody Miller, Tory Mason, Lex Sabre, Jason Hawke, Tyler Mason and many more.

I'll also be hosting the official POST party for The Gay Erotic Expo immediately following the show on Sunday, August 12th. The event, featuring DJ Chi Chi LaRue of Dirty Deeds, will be held at MJ's in Los Angeles beginning at 6:00 pm. Rascal Exclusives Blake Riley and Eddie Diaz, plus Cole Ryder, Tyler Saint, Jayden Holloway, Tiger and many more are slated to make appearances.

I will also be announcing at the parties two new local weekly gay porn events that will begin at here Lounge on Wednesday, August 22nd and MJ's on Thursday, August 23rd. ...Stay tuned!

Song of the Week: "Putting It Together" - Barbra Streisand, The Broadway Album


"Even when you get some recognition, everything you do you still audition."

Jason Sings!: Excuse Me Mr. & I Love A Piano

I bombed so horribly tonight I would rather not even remember that the few songs I sang were...

SET ONE (w/ sax)
Crocodile Rock
When You're Good To Momma

SET TWO
Cry Me A River

Scott Boardman showed up tonight. He stayed almost the whole show and I felt so awful that he had to come on such an "off" night for me. What's more is that everyone else was SO on and brilliant (even newbies!) that it just made me the absolute worst performance of the evening. I think I sang "When You're Good To Momma" in like three different keys and dropped about three lyrics. But I will say I totally redeemed myself with "Cry Me A River."

Anyway, I'd much rather remember these highlights from two weeks back. Thanks to Paul in the audience for recording them and posting them to YouTube! I had no idea they were even up there until he told me this evening.

Paul, I needed to see these when I got home. I'm not so bad after all. Thanks. ;-)

I Love A Piano

Excuse Me Mr.