Sunday, November 30, 2008

Thanksgiving Picture


Isn't this a nice picture of everyone at Thanksgiving.  It was lovely.
 

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Well, The Day the Bird Dies Occurs Soon...

Thanksgiving is coming up and I am thankful for many many things.
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My husband (still), my family and my friends. So I shall be positive and happy today - until I begin the long slog to the airport...
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Go out, eat well, buy what you can after Thanksgiving to support the economy, and remember that we are all loved by someone. Some of us, by many someones...
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xoxoxo
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Scooter
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ps.. the reason I look like the cat that ate the canary is because Trevor was not happy with me and the costume I purchased. (And I was stone cold sober).
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Going to Minnesota for Thanksgiving


Just thought I would share the weather forecast with you....

Monday, November 24, 2008

Hitting where it hurts...

Rich Cut Back on Payments to Mistresses (not so much Misters)
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You know times are tough when the rich start cutting costs on their mistresses.According to a new survey by Prince & Assoc., more than 80% of multimillionaires who had extra-marital lovers planned to cut back on their gifts and allowances. Still, only 12% of the multimillionaire cheaters said they plan to give up on their lovers altogether for financial reasons.
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Rich people are getting hit, and they're all expressing the need to curtail unnecessary spending," said Russ Alan Prince, president of Prince & Assoc., a wealth-research firm based in Connecticut. "Lovers are part of the same calculation."Of course, any study of millionaires and their mistresses should be taken with a large grain of salt.
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The survey–a subset of a larger wealth study–polled 191 individuals with a minimum net worth of $20 million who said they had lovers of at least a year or more (this to screen out the one-night stands, etc.). About two thirds of the respondents were men and one third women. All were married and all had personal control over their finances, meaning the women and men surveyed were the primary wealth holders in their homes.
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The most surprising stats in the study relate to gender and what might be termed "length of service." Fully 82% of men in the study said they planned to lower the allowances to their mistresses, while more than three quarters planned to provide fewer gifts, less expensive gifts and fewer perks, like jet rides, resort vacations and top restaurant meals.
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Women were far more generous to their paramours in the face of financial crises. Less than 20% planned to lower allowances, gifts and perks, while more than half planned to raise them.
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Susan Shapiro Barash, who teaches gender studies at Marymount Manhattan College and wrote "Little White Lies, Deep Dark Secrets," about why women lie, said women value their lovers more than men in a time of economic trouble. "For the women, lovers matter more than ever now because the rest of life is so dreary," she said. "For the men, they're just cutting across the board."
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Ms. Barash added that women may value their lovers more today because their husbands are so miserable. "If your husband lost his job on Wall Street and he's miserable, you need the escape," she says.
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The duration of the relationship also seems to play a role in the economics of high-end cavorting. The study found that more than two thirds of the millionaires who had been with their lovers for three or more years planned to cut back. That compares with less than half for those with a tenure of one to three years.
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"What we found in talking to the respondents is that the magic of the relationship with their lover fades after a while, so they're more willing to let them go," Mr. Prince says.
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The survey doesn't mean to suggest that all, most or even a large minority of rich men and women have affairs. It simply is a snapshot of a certain sample at a certain time. Yet it suggests that in a time of financial crisis, it is better to be a kept man than a compensated woman.
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UPDATE: Since so many readers asked about the survey's methodology, I called Russ Prince to get the specifics. The mistress questions were added to the end of a much larger survey on wealth and wealth management polling a control group of 518 people. Of the 518 people surveyed as part of the broader study, 191 opted to answer the mistress question. The 518 respondents were all private jet owners — since this was done in conjunction with a private-jet-related business — and all the respondents were paid for their time.

Friday, November 21, 2008

Another Entry into the Bad Baby Name.. but no winner

I give Ashlee Simpson and Peter Wientz credit for an attempt. They tried to pick the worst baby name ever.
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The picked Bronx Mongli Wientz.
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Apparently Bronx has overtaken Brooklyn as the new New York neighborhoodto be named after (sorry little Brooklyn Beckham).
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Credit to you both, Bronx Mongli Wientz is pretty bad, but it isn't the worst.
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Little Homer Heche Lamphoon is still the worst. Now even worse since the odious Anne Heche went crazy when leaving Mr. Lamphoon.

Unlucky to the End.

You must watch this (unless you are Cris and then you must not).
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Poor Sarah Palin. She gave an interview yesterday after pardoning the Thanksgiving Turkey. Unfortunately she gave the interview at the Turkey farm in front of the Turkey slaughtering device.
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Really.
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It has the worse blurred out, but the image of Sarah Palin talking about government programs "on the choping block" while a Turkey is put, literally, on the choping block is hilarious.
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Thursday, November 20, 2008

The Seagull (a dead bird)

Well, lat week I saw "the Seagull" on Broadway.  It starred Kristin Scott Thomas (with Peter Sarsgaard left) and it is a famous Chekhov play.
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To which one must say, well attention must be paid.  With that kind of pedigree, it should be faboo yes?  No.
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Do not count me as a giant fan of the famous Russian Anton Chekhov.  The play is, at a literal level, the story of a famous actress and her interactions with her son, her lover, her brother and her son's girlfriend.
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Although the pictures don't really do it justice, Kristin ST is amazing.  She brings a lively performance that is captivating.  One can't say heart warming, since it isn't entirely clear she has a heart.
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The rest of the play is a tough slog.  My guess is that this is as funny and fun as Chekhov will ever be (bar a parody, which I could see as a raucous good time).
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Suffice it to say, not so fun.
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Peter Sarsgaard (or the director) seem to have misread the actor's directions from "Stoic" to "Comatose".   The man, arguable a great actor normally, is here a great pile of whiskered boredom.  A black hole of interest, who's dynamic personality is suppose to drive the action.  He is a great writer who womanizes and fishes - and does neither particularly well.
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I assume (or hope) that it is all metaphorical for the bourgeoisie of Russia or something.  Because otherwise it is rather painful disappointment.  Every person longs for someone else, and is longed for by yet another person.  So A loves B who loves C who loves D and so on.
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The "moral" -as it were- seems to be that love sucks, so ignore it.  If you indulge, you indulge at your peril (death, lose of child, lose of family... this and many more in Chekhov's witty comedy "The Seagull").
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I would assume that is deeper than I understand, and yet maybe not.  The "Seagull" of the title is an actual bird.  Kristin ST's son kills the bird and present it as a gift to his girlfriend.  There is some boring why explanation, but it is really just there so he can leave and Peter Sarsgaard (the mother's lover) can walk by and talk to the girlfriend.  He says something fairly obvious and annoying about how the young man finds beauty and kills it, where he finds beauty and worships it.  To which I think, "Ah, this is where Steven Speilberg learned his feather light touch with metaphors."
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In between Acts 1 and 2 Peter and the girlfriend shack up, have a baby, lose the baby and break up.  In Act 2 (which might as well have big letters "EIGHT YEARS LATER") Peter is back with Kristin.  As you might have guessed, it is beyond me why anyone would want to be with the dullard.
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The son has, in the intervening 8 years, given up trying to forge a new artist vision and has stooped to writing middlebrow short stories and novels.  He is fabulously successful and fabulously  pained by the success.  Oye, I'm bourgeoise.
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It is, in short, the play is a love letter to unrequited and misunderstood artistic vision.  It is, in even shorter, annoying.
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More annoying that it goes on and on and on.  As my Grandfather said, it passed an a lot of good places to stop.
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To top it off, the names are (really) :
  • Irina Nikolayevna Arkadina — an actress
  • Konstantin Gavrilovich Treplyov — her son, a playwright
  • Peter Sorin — Arkadina's brother
  • Nina Mikhailovna Zarechnaya — daughter of a rich landowner
  • Ilya Afanasyevich Shamrayev — retired lieutenant, manager of Sorin's estate
  • Polina Andryevna — his wife
  • Masha — their daughter
  • Boris Alexeyevich Trigorin — a well-known novelist
  • Yevgeny Sergeyevich Dorn — a doctor
  • Semyon Semyonovich Medvedenko — a teacher
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To which I say, Oye.  Enough already.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

The Net is Annoying and... Lovely..

Well, sometimes the web jumps out and grabs you. Something I didn't know they had. Today, while investigating Hitler's One Big Ball, I found this. Honestly I didn't know anyone besides me had it.
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I have it on some VHS video - one of only 1 or2 I still have. It only means something to people older than Ed . It is Bette Midler on the last real Johnny Carson show.
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On the last ever Johnny Carson show, it was a scheduled tribute and clip show. But the night before, on the penultument Johnny Carson show, Robin Williams and Bette Midler were the guests. Robin was hilarious, and Bette was freakin amazing. She sang Miss Otis Regrets, then sang a poem ditty. But the thang, the coup d'ville, as it were, was One For The Road she sang at the very end of the show.
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If you remember Johnny, this means something to you. If you are a kid like my Eddie, it doesn't. So here it is for the old folks....
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Bette Was Right..

I should have never doubted that the Divine Miss Midler and thought she might have been wrong.
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Much like me, she is always correct, even when she is wrong.  If you say it loud and long enough it will come true.  Case in point.
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If you have ever seen Divine Madness (and if you haven't you should NetFlix it ASAP), you know that Bette Midler tells a story in which she travels the world doing concerts.
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Now everywhere she goes, she sings a sassy and possibly impolite song - except Germany.  Before arriving in Deustchland, she decides she should not sing the song on this stop.  Why?
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Well, the lyrics are such...
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Hitler has only one big ball,
Göring has two but very small,
Himmler has somethin' sim'lar,
But poor old Goebbels has no balls at all.
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She does of course, sing it - balls out as it were.
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But now, as it turns out, she was correct.
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ps - She had all the Germans sing the song and they loved it.
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pps - I know you may not believe this, but it is true (honestly).  My very very old boyfriend Greg and I were actually at the Pasadena Playhouse for one of the 3 tapings for the "Divine Madness" show.  She had a cold (and it shows a little on the soundtrack) and it was a long long long day and night.  But in between takes, as they set up the next shot, she would come out and tell dirty jokes.  My dears, she has a lot of dirty jokes!

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Of course I just make it up!

Over the course of this last 18 months, my company (as you may have heard) has laid off any number of people (right now I think we are at about 30- 40,000).  In doing so they also closed the LA office and moved the internal financial billing group to Blue Ash, Kentucky.
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So I fill out the billing information, which to me is like "Citibank England" or Citibank Germany".  Well I get a call from the billing gal today who says, "Do you just make up names?  I don't have a Citibank Germany."
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Well, yes I do make them up as short hand to where you need to bill.  You see pumpkin, I don't know all the right names (FYI Citibank Germany is "Citibank Privatkinden Aktiengensellschaft - Consumer Bank" - so it shouldn't be a big surprise that I don't know the official names.  That is kind of your job.)
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Apparently when new people take over the job, the old people 1/2 a continent away aren't just brimming with enthusiasm to tell them what to do.  This was particularly true in billing where the great minds behind the layoffs have figured out that if they laid off billing people in LA in May, they don't have to hire new ones until September.  
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That makes the transition questionable and takes Scooter's frayed nerves right to the breaking point.  But good job saving 4 months of pay.  The bills that go out June - September are all late and the new people don't know who to talk to.
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Id-e-ots.

Peter Schiff was early and right (from Fox News)

Where did all the wealth go? (from salon)

If you have the stomach for 10 minutes of schadenfreude, you might enjoy watching a series of clips edited together featuring Peter Schiff, president of Euro Pacific Capital, arguing about the economy with a bunch of arrogant and ignorant talking heads on Fox News and the Fox Business Channel. Thanks to Andrew Sullivan for the tip.
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The pattern keeps repeating itself: During 2006 and 2007, Schiff made a series of astonishingly prescient predictions of the peril that the economy was headed for, only to be snickered and scoffed at by the likes of
Ben Stein and my favorite supply-side genius, Arthur Laffer.
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Arthur Laffer provides a heaping load of merriment. After one typical pronouncement of doomsday, Laffer, who can barely disguise his utter scorn, delivers himself of the following (dated sometime in 2006):

Monday, November 17, 2008

The Devil You Know or..


You either live in LA and get 90F and Santa Ana wind-swept fires or you live here and get this. . 32 - 27F and Snow Flurries!
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And yes!  I know it is worst in Minnesota... and Montana... and Rochester (but it is always worse in Roch cha cha)

Yes I know he is short


I know he is short.  And he is humpy rather than debonair.  But I really like Daniel Craig as the new Bond.
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Eddie and I saw Quantum of Solace yesterday, and I really liked it.
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It got sort of cruddy reviews so I wasn't expecting much, but it turns out I thought it was really cool. 
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And it was fun to see Siena with the Horse Race in the square.  And that stupid Cathedral STILL with construction going on.  Reconstruction seems to take longer than construction with that Cathedral.
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Of course you know we saw it if you are on Facebook - as Eddie updated his status.  My Eddie has become a facebook junkie.
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I worry for him.

Always Fun to Wake Up To....


Love waking up to this...
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Actually this isn't really new news to me.  I think I am okay through this (although you never know).
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I am already on a list for next year, so I know what I have to do.
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I do like the imagery of "Banking giant struggling to steady itself after suffering big losses".  
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I can just see this giant baby waking up and trying to walk, innocently stepping on villagers are they scream to each other "run away! run away!".  And the baby going "What's happening?"  Like Citi didn't see this coming.

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Slava's Dream, Ed's Nightmare

My Eddie does not like clowns. Actually, more than dislike. They kind of give him the creeps.
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As so one must imagine as he must pass the "Slava's SnowShow" marquee everyday.
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I finally looked online and it seems that "Slava's SnowShow" is just about Ed's worst idea of a night at the theater.
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Here is some information about Slava from the web site.
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SLAVA'S STORY
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Slava Polunin was born in a very small town in Russia, far from all the big cities. All of his childhood was spent in forests, fields, and by a river. He lived in the world of fantasies, and liked to invent new things and make up stories. He would build 4-storey tree houses and snow towns, and organize funny parties for his friends. Through TV and cinema he fell in love with the great clowns and mimes. To be a clown became his biggest dream. He was so passionate about this that he could not wait until he graduated. At the age of 17, he went to Leningrad with the intention of studying engineering. Instead, he joined a mime studio and so began his long-term quest to reclaim and re-establish the art and craft of the true clown. Influenced by great artists such as Chaplin, Marcel Marceau, Engibarov, and building on his innate talents, Slava and his theatre company, founded in 1979, took clowning out of the circus onto the streets, and from there into the major theatres of the world.Slava's reputation grew rapidly and people travelled far to learn his unique mix of alternative clowning and visual theatre. Former students of Slava have now progressed to form their own companies and many have been ...

...cast in productions of Cirque du Soleil, or enjoyed successful independent careers.Slava first took his theatre to England in 1988. His three performances at the Hackney Empire were enough to establish his name overnight. Five years later he gathered together the highlights of his repertoire and the resulting show, Snowshow (formerly called Yellow), was hailed as a triumph, winning him a Time Out Award. Following this London success, he toured North America with Cirque du Soleil's production of Alegria, which continues to feature excerpts from Snowshow. He won the Olivier Award for "Best Entertainment" during a sold-out run at the Old Vic, London in 1997. Snowshow is now touring the world and has been performed in over 25 countries, to more than 1 million spectators. Following a limited season in Chicago, Snowshow premiered in New York at the Union Square Theatre on September 8, 2004. The show continues its successful run in New York with plans underway for a North American tour.





Slava's Snowstorm

Friday, November 14, 2008

One Last Thing.... (About the CMA Awards)

Okay, as a rule I do not refer people to my favorite web site, Television Without Pity.  It is kind of my personal little giggle space where they are as snarky as I.  And I can catch up on what I miss, if they happen to be reviewing it.  They have shows the capsulate every week.  But since Pushing Daises was pre-empted, they covered the Country Music Awards.
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I loved the review and so I will copy it here for you.  But honest, never again.
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What has country music come to? All the ladies last night had criminally normal hair! Hell, even Kid Rock's backup dancers looked like they'd managed to avoid draining six bottles of Aquanet and/or a visit to Dolly's wigmaker when putting together their look. We watch these things for giant hair, Nashville! Get your sides out! And speaking of things that were missing from the country music industry spectacle, the following crowd-pleasers did not take the stage and I'm steamin' mad: Tim and Faith, Dolly Parton, Dierks Bentley, Gretchen Wilson, Little Big Town, and Toby Keith (OK, maybe I didn't miss Toby Keith, per se, but for being the BMOC of Nashville, he was glaringly absent). On the upside, there was no Jessica Simpson! Ahh, that one almost makes up for the lack of Tim and Faith. Except not at all, because they are amazing shining lights of hope and everlasting love that make Brangelina look like Speidi. Anyway. 

The Hosts: Brad Paisley is known for being a big, lovable goofball (and giant sci-fi nerd -- trivia!), so it was no surprise that he was funnier than can usually be expected from most awards show hosts. What was surprising, however, was the amount of dirty jokes he got into the family-friendly show, not to mention a dig at Sarah Palin at one point (Republican-snarking at a country show?! Gasp!). The other half of the hosting duo, Carrie Underwood, was poised and beautiful and her performance of "Just a Dream" was flawless. I hate her. 

The Crowd: 
Really low energy. Painfully so. I mean, I know it's an industry event, but it's televised! Find some screaming teenagers to plop down in the front or something. This crowd was over. it. 

The Graphics:
Were hysterical. Giant boots scootin' around in the background all by their lonesome, beer pints bopping to George Strait of their own volition, giant, tacky pink hearts. It reminded me of the backgrounds we had to choose from for our Destiny's Child cover video at Grad Night '01. Truly a sight to behold. 

The Kellie Pickler:
Oh lordy. Her performance. She strutted around the stage in this biker-hooker costume, dorkily fist-pumping and posing really awkwardly, basically trying to be as awesome as Jennifer Nettles, which is never going to happen. Ahh crap, now I feel sorry for her. Let's bottle up our feelings and move on! 

The Things I Don't Get: 
Lady Antebellum and Rodney Atkins. Why are they national sensations? Why? 

The Bait and Switch:
Yeahhhh, that "surprise industry legend" closing out the show they kept insinuating was Dolly? It was Shania Twain. I watched three hours of this only to be rewarded with Shania Twain. I'm so reporting the CMA Awards to the Better Business Bureau. 

Oh, and Reba (sort of) performed, but she didn't sing "Fancy" so I was as over it as the crowd was. Your thoughts on the show? How about that fringe getup Jennifer Nettles had? Jeals.

PS I Love Jane Lynch


Never Bullshit a bullshitter boys!
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In Role Models Jane Lynch steals the show when she is in the scenes.  She plays an ex-coke head who know runs a volunteer program for troubled youth.  But she wants everyone to know that she knows what the street was like.  So don't bullshit her!
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I have loved her for a long time.  In Best in Show she was the crazy poodle professional show person.
In the 40 year old virgin she was Steve Carrel's horny boss.
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Some of her best scene stealing moments pop up in TV.  She plays the school enforcer and women's PE coach in "The New Adventures of Old Christine".  I watched her play off Julia-Louis Dryfess and Blair Underwood in that show and the 2 of them barely got through the scene.  You know it must have taken a million takes.

Role Models


Last week Eddie and I went and saw Role  Models (btw - horrible name for a movie) and we both kind of liked it.
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Which is to say it was a fun, if sporadic, good time.
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There are enough laughs to make it enjoyable.  Some huge laughs.  But it is rated R for a reason.  The humor is crude and profanity a constant part of the movie.
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One pain in my ass, (and a personal winge) since it is a Universal picture, Universal gets the prime 2 minute preview spot right before the movie.  And one of there previews is a totally gross horror /slasher pic.  It was proceeded by appropriate funny trailers, and followed by a funny movie.  But their preview really takes you out of the moment.
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This happens a lot, where the studio that owes the picture shows a preview in the prime, pre-movie spot, that is horribly inappropriate.  Usually it is R rated slashers before a R rated comedy - it happened on Nick and Nora's infinite playlist too.  If only we knew somebody in Movie Marketing....  think think think....

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Ed's Discussion with Our Neighbor

Ed spoke with our neighbor recently and she asked some questions about the marriage issue that were good questions but no one has answered so I thought I would for our families here.  (PS, no more preaching after this.)
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Q: Why must it be Marriage and not a Civil Union?  (Also asked by Elton John in England).
A1: A Civil Union is not consistent from state to state.  In California or Vermont a Civil Union had almost all the rights of marriage, but in Oregon it has different rights.  In no state was it has complete as marriage rights.
A2: It is not transferable between states, like marriage is.  If you were Civil Union'd in California and went to Vegas for the week-end and your partner was hurt, you have no rights to see him in the hospital.  If you were married in California, you have all those rights in Nevada (where Vegas is).  This is different than a Civil Union in England, Elton.

Q: Why is everyone so hot about the California law, when it passed in other states before and this election?
A: Other states it was an esoteric question.  Those states didn't recognize marriage, so removing the possibility of marriage wasn't such a big deal.  The California proposition was "Repeal the Right of Same Sex Couples to Marry."  So people spent 34 million and their votes to write retroactive discrimination into the Constitution of California.  Trying to invalidate the marriages of 22,000 people is a pretty big deal.

Q: Why are you mad at Mormons?
A: The Mormon church pushed their congregants to donate time and money to the anti-Marriage cause.  If you did so, you showed up in the newsletter as "in good standing'", if not, no such notice.  So in total they donated about 22 Million of the 34 Million to strip away our rights.  Most of that money was from out of state.
In a bigger sense, people aren't taking it out on the Mormon People, but the Mormon Temples are huge edifices of worship that are landmarks in most towns.  (Mormons must get married in  the Temple, and only Mormons are allowed in.)

Q: What is happening next?
A: The Same Sex Marriage pro group will probably put a proposition on the ballot in 2010 (which I think is our next chance), if it isn't overturned in the courts.  Court wise, California propositions often go to court because they do something that is essentially against the constitution.  The last (famous) example was a proposition that required proof of legal status to attend school.  The courts considered that to discriminatory and overturned it.  
The argument that people are making now is that the proposition did not just "amend" the constitution to add laws (which a proposition is allowed to do), but it actually overturned constitutional protections (which is how the court gave us the right to marry) and therefore had to be put on the ballot by 2/3's of the legislature.  That would never happen as the legislature and the senate have both voted for gay marriage.
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Q: What about the right of the people to pass the laws?
A: Some rights aren't allowed to be voted on.  People weren't given the right to vote on slavery.  People weren't given the right to vote on inter-racial marriage.  You could make any number of annoying propositions that would pass in one state or another.  Personally I would ban cell phone use on the sidewalks and pass a law that forbids anyone married in a Mormon church from divorcing.  Luckily it isn't up to me.
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Q: Finally, is getting married that big of a deal?
A: It wasn't, until they took the right away.  
Imagine if your marriage was suddenly void, not because of anything you did but what you and your husband or wife did in the bedroom was "icky" to someone else.  "I don't want to think about what fat people do in the bedroom. Or what redheads do in the bedroom.  Or what people over 35 do in the bedroom.  Or people under 35.  Or cheeseheads."  Honestly, thinking about other people's sex lives is icky - and not just homos. .. 
You don't believe me.  Imagine your parents doing it right this minute -if they are alive.  Icky, right?

Last Night's Touching Moment (on TV)



I don't know if you happened to see the Country Music Awards yesterday night.  We tivo'ed it and raced through it for the things Scooter likes (Sugerland, Carrie Underwood, Miranda Lambert and Kenny Chesney - I have to stop on Keith Urban for Ed).
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Anyway, the woman above introduced Carrie Underwood's song (Just A Dream) about a young woman who just got married as her husband ships off to war - and he dies not 2 weeks later.  It is a great song even though it sounds sappy.
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The woman above lost her husband in Afghanistan.  She gave a moving introduction about how the power of song helped her to cope.

 
And then Carrie Underwood came on, sang the song and made you cry.  Here it is on YouTube if you haven't seen it.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

The March in New York

So yes, we marched. I loved these 2 signs.

You know, cuz the Mormons donated so much money to Prop 8.

Speaks for itself.



And the cutest Limbo husband there is.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Just a skosh jealous


So those you who went with us to Italy might remember Micheal Bush who visited us for a night and dinner.  The picture above is a picture of Michael during the Olive harvest.
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This is a picture out the front door of their Olive Farm (in Tuscany).
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This is a picture from the back door.  
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Now I know that Tuscany is far and it looks like hard work... but it does look very cool.
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And yes, I am just a teeny tiny bit jealous.

Veteran's Day


It is Veteran's Day today. Perhaps it is a good moment to take a thought for all those men (and later women) who have fought so that we have our freedoms.
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I often get pissed about "my rights" or what the idiots in Washington are doing or even complacent about what a great place many of us live in. A lot of people have fought and many died over the years so we can enjoy our lives.
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And I enjoy my life a lot, despite my bitching. Perhaps enhanced (for me) by my bitching :-).
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So today take a moment today to quietly (or loudly) thank those people that made all this possible. And know that whatever fight you choose ( pro- or anti-, Republican or Democratic, whatever) we have those abilities to choose our battles because a lot of good people fought for our rights.
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Not the right to dawdle in the street as you look at the Chrysler Building - walk or get out of my way- but the basic American / British / Basic Human rights.
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You may wonder why the Red Poppy. Well, in England people were Red Poppys on Remembrance Day. Which is when they remember their war dead. Like our Veteran's Day, it is observed on November 11th. Because the major hostilities of World War I were formally ended at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918 with the German signing of the Armistice. (Thank you Wikipedia). (Back then called "The Great War", not because it was "great" = cool, but because it was so big people thought another one would never happen. Certainly not a mere 30 years later).
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Red Poppies bloomed on Flanders Field the year after the war. The bloomed on the graves of the dead and were an omen of piece and remembrance.

Monday, November 10, 2008

Olbermann on Proposition 8: "To me this vote is horrible. Horrible"

The Oddness of American Elections



Well this is primarily for the Brits, but the contrast if you have always lived in the US is striking.
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In many countries when you watch the election results, you see who got the most votes and they win.  Not in the US - I mean usually that is the result, but a) not always and b) that isn't how you watch the results.
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I am sure you know that our votes are tallied by state.  And each state gets 2 votes by being a state and then 1 to 53 more based on population size.  (Why 1 to 53, it is based on 435 representatives in the House and they are awarded by state population).
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Well, what is also interesting in closing times of the various state elections.  Even though the news often knows the winner is before the polls close (Hell we all knew Obama would win California 2 months ago), no one predicts a winner of a state before all the polls in the state close.  That is because in 1980 they predicted Ronald Reagan when all the polls in the Pacific were still open and a lot of people out west stopped voting.
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Side story, not me.  My first vote was cast after Jimmy the Dunce Carter already conceded so I voted my first vote for President went to John Anderson: Independent footnote of American Politics.
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Back to voting times. And in 2000 they called Florida (for Gore as it turns out incorrectly) at 7:00PM, instead of waiting for that extra sliver that votes until 7:30.  So now when you watch the results, note only do you not get really votes, the electoral (or state) votes trickle in at uneven closing times.  Tight races may have to be wait to be called until actual votes are counted (like Ohio) but states where exit polls are overwhelming (like New York or South Carolina) are called right away.
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So even thought everyone was pretty sure Obama had won when Pennsylvania and Ohio were called for him, it wasn't official until 11:00PM Eastern, when all 4 Pacific states were called for Obama at once.  By the way, this means that California, Oregon and Washington stop voting at 9PM local time and in Hawaii they have to stop at 7PM local time.
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There is this odd "no man's land" in the news about 5 minutes before the polls close, when everyone is just waiting to hear what comes next and all the different networks are just waiting for the second hand to call some states.

Sunday, November 09, 2008

Headline: Father Lies Again: It is Hell not Limbo for me...

(I just reread this, and it while true it should be read with a wry and world weary smile. To me, this is a funny story not a boo de hoo story...)
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Well, it turns out once again my father, who as I said used to lie for the fun of it, made a nincompoop out of me. This is the story my father told me - and like a schmuck I believed him.
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I never got baptized because my mom had me about the same time her brother had a little boy. We were going to get baptized together, but my cousin died. So, in deference to the family, it was cancelled and never rescheduled.
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As far as why you weren't baptized, that is a great story. Who would make that up?!?
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Who? My father, who never let the truth interfere with a good story.
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After I posted the Limbo tale, my mother wrote me. I shall copy the correspondence.
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I'm sure you were just "going on" about limbo, but you do know you were baptized by none other than, your grandfather. Who always swore he loved you more than anyone else, just didn't want you to "suffer" . He really believed homosexuality and alcoholism were a choice. Unbelievable for as educated man as he was. Times change, he would have been thrilled by our new President !!Love you tubs also, Mom
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Get out of here!!! I thought I wasn't baptized because Rick had a child that passed away so it got cancelled. Of course now that I remember, it was probably our Mitch McCain that told me :-). I hate it when I go ... duh, I should have figured dad told me. Scott
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From the grave, or wherever, Jerry strikes again. It makes me wonder what else we are going to find out, post Jerry and Zela..I would have never let your baptism be cancelled, you were 2 and 1/2 when Randy (Rick and Nancy De Young) who I think was actually a Jr. was born, then died 58 days later on Christmas Day,1961 (I think that was the year, and you were baptized when you were a baby, Do you have your scrapbook,? It was among the pictures and mementos of you that dear ol Jerry stole from me when they visited in Hawaii.** The Baptismal Certificate was in it.I have your Baby Book (which you may have) but I checked it and it just said see scrapbook. Shit. Just proves that old adage, only the good die young, is a crock. Love you, Mom
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** My father and his then wife (7th) once visited my mom and her then husband (only 3) in Hawaii. The trip went more smoothly than you would think, until my mom discovered after they left my dad stole a bunch of pictures and a scrapbook about me from mom. By the by, my father left wife number 7 later and left all the stolen mementos with her. She returned nothing since he celebrated their separation by sleeping with her best friend.
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End of story, no Limbo for me. But hey, I'm a Methodist.

Christmas Picture Preview


Well, on the card, you may not have the up close and personal touch that Santa's Christmas Elf clearly wants to bring you.

Saturday, November 08, 2008

Friday, November 07, 2008

Oh.. so that is what optimism means?


This is funny.  You don't have to read the story to get the gist.

"Limbo"

"Oh Lord.. back in Limbo again"  (Sung to the tune of Back in Lodi Again).
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So this is funny... well not funny "ha ha", but funny "karma".
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I don't know if ya'll recall when the new Pope put the kibosh on "limbo" early this year.  I wrote about it -although you will be forgiven if you don't remember - I tend to ramble a bit.
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Previously "limbo" was where unbaptized babies went, and since my baptism was unexpectedly cancelled, I was figuring limbo was my best bet to avoid, you know, Hell.  (The place, not the curse word..)
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So I made some funny jokes about the sad demise of Limbo (funny ha-ha, not funny karma).
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Well, after this election there are stories about the 18,000 marriages in California that were performed going into Limbo.  Since Eddie and I were one of those, get this, I am back in "Limbo" only actually, not metaphorically.  Which is funny karma, not funny ha-ha.
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And yet the funny karma is, in a karma-kinda way, kinda funny ha-ha. - if you choose to view it that way.
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And the fact that I choose to view it in a funny "ha-ha" kind of way is a giant step forward for Scooter (you know karma-wise).

Thursday, November 06, 2008

Obama Win - Why it is great


What I think was really great and amazing in the election was kind of the back story.
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We (the US) elected what I believe is the most even keeled and thoughtful man in a long long time. That we as a people saw through skin color and stupid comments to the person was amazing.
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He inspires blacks. He inspires young people. To hear him talk is to hear a true orator in the mood of pre-scandal Bill Clinton and pre-Alzheimer Ronald Reagan.
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But that wouldn't have been enough in this election. For the true middle of the country (and hard as it is to believe that I figure I am part of the middle of the country politically) to vote for him, he had to show more. He had to be stable and steady. We have had enough of government by over-reaction and policy driven by anger, revenge and volume. For the big middle we passed the stereotype of the Angry Black Politician (and Obama had to be wary of that every step of the way) to see the measured thoughtful man who happened to be African American.
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Right after the election I was annoyed by the constant hunting of the media to capture the comments and feelings of black Americans - almost to the exclusion of whites, latinos and asians. But I have since thought about it. If Catholics had been green skinned, they would have hunted them down after John F. Kennedy won. If McCain had won, they would have hunted down veterans. The media goes after the easy story like cracked on lemmings after a dealer has jumped over a cliff.
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Add to the easy media job is the true life story of honest progress blacks have made in this country since we have all been born. No one alive here was responsible for slavery, but if your relatives were slaves that is a lot of memory to hold on to and anger that is hard to let go of. I think this allowed a lot of African Americas (espically elder blacks) to watch those memories pass into a further distance , less fearful and hopefully less painful.
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It is a great time right now. I hope he grows into the job - as I don't think anyone is really "ready" to be President until they get there. All our Presidents grow and change in the position, shaped by events and unseen circumstances. I think we elected the man we felt would grow and respond the best.
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So good for us.

Wednesday, November 05, 2008

We Are Trying to take the High Road...

..but we are clearly saddened that the great State of California has decided to pass Proposition 8. As you can imagine, it is difficult not to take this very personally. As I said when I first wrote to each of you asking for your financial contribution to fight against the Proposition, I have no idea how Scott and I having the legal protections and our own marriage has anything to do with anyone that voted to pass this nonsense.
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With that however, we want to thank you for giving some of your hard earned money to help fight this fight. No one knows where this goes from here...other than to court.
The high road...we got to get married and share it with all of you. As to whether or not we stay that way remains to be seen. Two steps forward, one step back.
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Peace,
Ed and Scott
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(from a note Ed sent to people)

Off for a Day Long Meeting

I am off to Hicksville for a day long meeting this morning. Obama won convincingly last night.  I hope that the next few months everyone plays nice for the handoff.
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It was an ugly election.
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Proposition 8 is leading, which means that Ed and my marriage may be short lived (or we may drive up to Connecticut later this month and do it up there).  I will save my boo-de-hoo for later when the race is called (still "too tight" at 6:30 AM EST).
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I am very painfully sad about this.  I told you I was over-invested.

Tuesday, November 04, 2008

Crazy NY voting story

In line...here is what we hear...

"Yes, the name above mine was my husband...he died in 1988. February of 1988, I remember because there were 29 days in February that year. Yep, he's really dead."

Glad that the voter roles are up to date.

Ed

Well done!

Regardless of your orientation (Barak or McCain) this is a pretty darn good video version of One Day More.

From Les Miz (FYI).

New York Voting is Nincompoopery

The picture above is a voting machine in New York.  I don't know how old the picture is, but the same voting machines are in use now.
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And I don't think they have built these machines since like the 1930s.  Our polling place had two, one of which was broken the whole time.
And you can (or probably cannot) imagine how slow the line moves with one mechanical machine.  It was asinine.  And New York has no absentee requests like California has.  
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It was very frustrating.

Aaron Tveit


Just so you know, I almost had Aaron Tviet as the Mascot of the Month, but I was afraid I would be called for youth.
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Aaron, however, is a find. I saw him first in "Next to Normal", where he was AMAZING. I have included a small YouTube below, which doesn't really capture it - but comes close. I also saw him in "Saved" with Gail. He was just Fiero in Wicked (picture above), but I think he is reprising the role in "Next To Normal" in Washington.
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I am hoping that it is prior to a Broadway run. I saw it off Broadway and loved it.
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The cool thing about living here is that you get to see some great talent that may or may not make it later. I mean it is sad that these people might not get big - but to witness them performing is cool.
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FYI - Aaron doesn't come into the video for about 90 seconds - you just have to put up with it to see him.
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Mascot for November: Wonderment

I know that"Wonderment" sounds like a horrible joke as a mascot, but its my mascot - so tough. :-).

This is a "Clouded Snow Leopard" JUST discovered in Borneo. Isn't that cool. I think it is amazing that after hundreds of years of us, mankind as it were, filing and listing animals - things like this pop up.
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Come on it is wonderful isn't it. What else might be out there.

These are newly discovered mammals in New Guinea. A Tree Kangaroo (bigger picture at the bottom), a newly discovered fruit bat and an echinda (a egg laying animal that looks like a little porcupine).
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Above are newly found species of Crested Victoria Pigeon, a Short Tail Spotted Cuscus and a new orchid. Isn't that a great name.."short tail spotted cuscus".
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It is so new Wikipedia only has the common spotted cuscus listed!


This is a larger picture of the ring tailed tree kangaroo.
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You can see these and get info at the World Wildlife Fund. It is totally the best.
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And you see if we can find new wonders like these, just lying around the forest in New Guinea or Borneo - what amazing other things can we find, build or discover if we put our minds to it.
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I can get so frustrated, worried, nervous, anxious and other -ious's that I forget that the world is full of wonder. And if that ever some how dries up, we can capable of imagination and wonder within ourselves.
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End of new age blah blah.

Monday, November 03, 2008

Latest Pics of Ronnie Roo

So, while we were in Chicago we saw Little Ron.

He is looking just fine and living with Miss Abby. As we remember, Miss Abby is the rescue that Ronnie Roo is taking care of.
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By the by, Miss Abby was spoiled when her previous owner used to cook Chicken and Rice for her. Ron went to the Vet, and the Vet said he didn't have to do that. But, that little dogs can be very stubborn and might not eat for 5 days.
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Ron felt horrible at day 4 and cooked Rice and Chicken. He said Miss Abby did a happy dance and now all is good.

This is me (HORRIBLE picture) and Little Ron - who still photographs well. You can't see it but he has gained about 50 pounds.

One More Day

Until our long election is over and the fight for 2012 starts. Argh... Just let it end.

Sunday, November 02, 2008

Back from Chicago


So, we were in Chicago for Patti's (something)ith birthday. It was a lot of fun. More later, but I thought I would share a great picture from dinner. It was at a Beni Hana type place that was a kick.