Forever A Fangirl

'Homeland' and 'Dexter' Recap: Both End with a BIG Bang #homeland #dexter

 

Yvonne Strahovski as 'Hannah McKay' on DEXTER 'Do The Wrong Thing' on SHOWTIME

If you tuned into SHOWTIME'S two marquee series last night you don't need no stinking recap for them. One writer though, Drusilla Moorehouse, actually has a witty style of writing (and a sharp eye for details for what she's recapping) which makes her day-after blogs stand out from most of the rest. Even she however, missed what I consider to be the worst moment in the 7-year history of Dexter.

DEXTER/'Dexter' (Michael C. Hall) is deliciously twisted-- a big part of our fascination with the show. He has also been pretty asexual, which set up a sort of innocent paradox to his serial-killer persona.

Casting former "Chuck" fanboy goddess Yvonne Strahovski, to play Dexter's prey seemed pretty awesome--if Dex hadn't decided, after trussing her up on a kill table, to nix knifing her through the heart and instead untruss her with his knife and go all stabby with his throbbing member.

Of couse, being a 'sick fuck,' as his sister Deb might call her, 'Hannah McKay' was aroused by her near-death experience with Dexter and intiated the use of sex as a weapon. But, it was way too rape-like for me. It was repulsive and seemed written for cheap shock value. In three words: I hated it.

Here's a short bit from Moorehouse's 'Do The Wrong Thing' recap which you should read in it's entirety by clicking the link that follows it:

 

Meanwhile, Hannah gets her own flirt on with Dexter, dropping by his apartment with a more appropriate house plant: a spotted phalaenopsis, an orchid whose coloring resembles blood spatter. Placing it in his bedroom, Hannah says provocatively, "Now you can look at it when you wake up and when you go to bed." No wonder she agrees to Dexter's offer to "take [her] out," although she definitely expects the evening to end differently. Or maybe not. "This is what I need to fill my emptiness," marvels Hannah at a closed-down carnival where Dexter had surprised her, a substitute for Santa's Holiday Adventure, where Wayne promised to take her during their crime spree. Instead, she wakes up on Dexter's killing table. And as he holds a knife to her throat, she says fearlessly, "Do what you gotta do." And did he ever. 

Killer Quotes"Something planty." --Dexter, when Hannah asks what kind of décor he's looking for "Don't be a cop tease," Deb when Sal hints at his theory about Hannah "I'd really like to avoid killing anyone in here -- they can get in the way of my being released," Isaak, warning George to get him out of jail "Guess I'm maybe kind of a morbid guy" --Dexter

CREDIT: Dexter excerpt:

 'Dexter' - 'Do the Wrong Thing' recap: Dexter's shocking tableau for two

 

Damian Lewis and Claire Danes star in HOMELAND on Showtime

Last night's episode of HOMELAND was far superior to anything Dexter was offering, despite the nit-picking going on with reviewers who, since they can't find much to criticize about the near-perfect offering, are instead seeking out 'experts in field' to debunk how the real CIA and FBI would do things and how the show, you know, isn't like real life. Note to all of you: It is precisely that reason why we watch television dramas--we get enough real-life in our every breathing moment not watching television. Remember, escapism is fun. Small children call it 'pretending'--it's really quite OK and in the hands of Homeland's makers quite excellent.

Here's a short excerpt from Moorehouse's 'A Gettysburg Address' recap which you should read in it's entirety by clicking the link that follows it:  

 ...So Carrie summons Brody back to Langley to help out, where he admits to killing Bassel the tailor. While a forensics team plans to search his shop, the CIA orders Brody to meet with Roya. This time the task force manages to listen to the entire conversation ... or so it seems. 

When Roya bristles at Brody initiating contact, he tells her that he's sleeping with Carrie, at her suggestion, and overheard Carrie mentioning Hezbollah during a phone call. Roya tells Brody she knows about Gettysburg (the mole strikes again?) and hints that they might find something in the tailor's shop. The task force is unnerved by an extended period of silence between the two -- ostensibly because of a bystander. But could they be communicating via other signals? Remember, this is the guy whom Carrie caught tapping out code on national TV "when everyone else was calling him the patriot of the century." 

While Carrie stays in Washington, Quinn (Rupert Friend) joins the Gettysburg group. He's just about to discover Bassel the tailor's secret hiding place behind a wall when Hezbollah agents brazenly storm the shop, open fire on the agents, tear down the wall and walk out with a giant crate of no good. 

In her grief and rage, Carrie confronts Rep. Brody at his office -- who of course denies any involvement in a setup. In the end, the anguished CIA agent ends up sobbing in his arms -- consoled by the man who not only murdered the Gettysburg tailor and almost detonated one of his suicide vests, but may have played a role in the latest attack. 

 

CREDIT: Homeland excerpt: 'Homeland' - 'A Gettysburg Address' recap: Is Brody to blame for another terrorist attack?

Photo/Video credit: Showtime

Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry - Spring Break Family Fun Times

 

'Bodyworks' - View Preserved Corpses Performing Amazing Feats of Physicality!:

CLICK THROUGH FOR VIDEOS

In our family, spring break means a trip to the city of Chicago, not that there's no other time but I'm not at all inclined to brave the lake effect during the depths of winter unless I have to and summertime can get crazy with tourists.

This was a nice, late-March day albeit only about 40°F so the utterly fantastic underground parking at the Museum of Science and Industry was super-welcome. (The added benefit is you leave your coat n' stuff in the car.) All aspects of a trip to the city, even to a very specific destination need to have to have additional niceties that I consider when making the trip. Easy access is a very big plus.

That said, since it is spring break for my son, he picks out the museum/activity of choice and he inevitably chooses the Museum of Science and Industry. If I want to go to the Art Institute for example, I'm on my own (which does not ever stop me--I sort of like going to the Art Institute in particular, by myself so I can unselfconsciously linger where I please). I digress.

We caught glimpses of some cool Chicago sights on the way and saw plenty of great stuff when we got there including the current Bodyworks exhibit. Though no hands-on activities there (they are real bodies), otherwise this Museum is known for having some very cool either hands-on or 'living' activities as well, which is perhaps why I've not been able to convince 'junior' to return to the Field Museum where everything is 'dead.' The hands-on stuff can be quite sophisticated so you'll see less tiny kids and more adults participating which I admit, I prefer. There is a farm area that I think the tots gravitate towards though. One visit to the huge, fake pig and her 'suckling' piglets as well as the fake cow giving milk was enough for me.

One caveat, and I suppose this can be said of any activity in the city. It has gotten super-expensive. We paid general admission plus 1 special exhibit (there are a number from which to chose). Adult admission was $30 each.** There is no public trans that is going to get us there from here in the northwest suburbs to the south side of Chicago in under 2 hours so car is the way to go. That was another $20-something bucks in parking. We bought nothing at the museum, no food, drink, or souvenirs (we can get them online), instead stopping on the way home to clog our arteries at Outback Steakhouse (we do this no more than once per year, which is good because I still felt full the next day).

All-in all a perfect spring break day spent with spouse and son.

**there are so-called 'free days' but they are very irregular and spotty throughout the year, with long periods where there are none--specifically school break times and tourist season(s).

(I'm Not) Kicking The Blog Habit (Yet) - 2004 Repost

I published this in January of 2004. I write very differently now, almost never anything personal. Many times the thought crosses my mind to blog but then I think, why bother? If I want to get my thoughts down in writing I have no more need to share them with the universe. On another note, I wrote this before Facebook, before Twitter, before the vast majority of social media was out there. It seems rather quaint in retrospect. 1/2004

Too bad redesigning one's blog doesn't burn calories.
If so, the four hours I just spent doing it would have done me good.

A short, boring list of what I've ingested since the beginning of the Season of Overindulgence, which begins with American Thanksgiving, includes stuffing/dressing, (my) birthday cake, stuffing/dressing, candy, candy, fruitcake, candy (Christmas), booze, cheese, crackers, little sausagey things, cheese, cheese, cheese, guacamole & salsa dip, chips, and booze (New Year's). That pretty well sums up why I feel like crud.

So what's a good thing to do on New Year's afternoon, after having one too many kamikaze shooters on New Year's Eve? My idea of a "good thing" was an attempt to focus on my web page redesign. I use the term loosely, because I'm only a second-tier TypePad member and therefore can only monkey with the design/layout to a point. Colours though--what fun! I can choose any colours I want. So despite feeling very fuzzy, I plunged in. First, I changed my banner. The old banner was a stock pic I found when I moved from Blogger to TypePad, just over 2 months ago. It had been rather a rush job. My intent was to warn anyone with youngsters hanging over their shoulder, that I have some R-rated content here.

Even though at first glance the couple in my previous banner looked perfect, upon scrutiny one noticed that she'd been in the lake fully clothed including her socks, and they were all bunched up and goofy-looking. I like when something that you would think is perfect turns out to have flaws.

I've noticed that other bloggers seemed to going through some changes as well. Maybe an end-of-year ritual purging of the old?

Some bloggers are taking the purging thing to the extreme--they are using the end of the year as an opportunity to kick the blog habit. Yup. They are quitting--going off into the great land of RL.
I say, good for them. Most seem happy about it. Reasons cited include having said all they feel they can say, blogging taking away too much time from other activities/commitments, and blogging having taken on an addictive quality.

I shan't call the kettle black, as the old phrase goes, because I spend a lot of time blogging. I also spend a lot of time doing other things. If I had to pick one activity that I do less of because I blog, it's housework. I've fobbed some of it off on my two kids who are ages 11, and almost 21. The 11 y.o. had chores already, so I haven't given him much else to do--the occasional mopping of the floor, some vacuuming. The older one is on a very short leash right now. In the past, he wouldn't do his share--he did nothing to contribute to the maintenance of the house. He knows now that if he doesn't help, he doesn't live here.

The other activity that I do less of (though I wasn't doing much of it before) is watch television. Because of blogging, I forget to watch what were my favorite shows--and I really don't care, because I'm choosing between passively sitting in front of the tube, versus composing, working on my photography and reading--all on-line. I'm thinking the computer time wins out. Do I goof off on-line? Absolutely. When I'm finished with everything else, I'll go to FARK or elsewhere for diversion.

Well, this has turned out to be a exercise in navel gazing. It's about as good a thing to do with my spare time as anything else.

The Muskie Show or, Fish out of Water (Repost 2004)

Today as I drove into the college parking lot and headed towards the fitness center to go lap swimming, I noticed signs saying 'The Muskie Show.' Hmm, I thought, muskie? The only 'muskie' I could think of was the big, ugly fish, but why would there be a 'show' about said fish?

The lot was jammed with pick-up trucks and SUV's, and on the frigid trek to the fitness center I noticed many folks wearing baseball caps. I began thinking maybe this was indeed a show devoted to a large, unnattractive fish. Upon entering the building and observing that the entire crowd had baseball caps on (part of the uniform of the American fisherman) I discarded my doubts and gave in to the realization that hundreds of people had paid money to go to a show starring an uncomely, untasty, aquatic creature.

Typical Muskie Enthusiasts

The swimming pool and the gymnasiums are on basement level--that's where I was headed and that's where the muskie show was taking place. One has the option of taking the elevator, but I take a narrow staircase. In my haste to get away from the crowds mingling upstairs and into the women's locker room, I failed to notice that the stairs were very slick from all the traffic.

On the second tier of stairs mid-way down, my feet went out from under me and I fell.
I had been grasping the handrail with my right hand, and I don't think I let go as I went thumping down what must have only been about 4 stairs. My left hip took the brunt of the fall and both ankles and my left wrist took the impact of "braking." The hip immediately began to throb. Amazingly, given how many people were in the building, there was only one on the stairs with me. Behind me was an Asian fellow sans baseball cap, so I don't think he was a muskie devoteé. He asked me if I was okay and I quickly responded with an affirmative thank you. At that point I wasn't really sure how okay I was, but nothing was broken, nor was I bleeding, the two criteria that I've always applied to 'Is it serious?,' so I headed on into the women's locker room.

I already had my suit on under my clothes so it didn't take me long to get into the pool. The hip continued to throb, but I didn't feel much else until the third lap (yeah, I count 'em), at which point my right ankle started pulsing in pain. Following that, was my right shoulder which must have been yanked as I clutched the handrail to stop myself from going ass-over-teakettle down the entire flight of stairs.

Fortunately, the lack of needing to bear much weight whilst swimming was in my favor.

My mind was taken off my woes somewhat when I caught sight of a group of muskie fans, rods in hand, on their way to approach the lifeguard. I couldn't hear much of the conversation, but I did hear the word 'ain't' a lot. Come to find out, they wished to cast their lines into the pool! Okay, so there wasn't anyone on the side of the pool that they wanted to play-fish in, but Christ Almighty, don't people have any inhibitions?!

The Muskie-ites stood about 6 feet from the end of my lane for about 15 minutes, playing with their rods and reels and lures and what-have-you. When they were finished, they started on their way, clomping down the length of my lane wearing their big, dirty, shit-kickin' boots whilst the lifeguard scanned the pool to make sure they hadn't left behind any fishing paraphernalia.
I'm nothing to gawk at, but I could feel them taking a good look at my Speedo-clad body, as they made their way to exit through the men's locker room.
My damaged body parts were speaking much too loudly right then for me to consider the notion that they were inbred, redneck asshats.

I managed to complete my workout, relishing the thought of a hot shower, but dreading the thought of the hell-walk through the parking lot in the crisp 20-degree-with-a-wind-chill-of-zero weather.
I came home and warmed up while the hurt parts of my body throbbed with more gusto--both wrists, one elbow, both ankles and my hip. It's a bitch to type. It's worse to walk.

My husband is working tonight, and my son has a video game that he's entranced by, so I'm going to make myself cozy and watch the following film--which somehow I missed on it's first run. I'm intruiged because I've never read of a character in a film described as a 'spunky extraterrestrial.'

120 mins.

A cop (Joe Cortese) and a spunky extraterrestrial (Maryam d'Abo) track a killer alien on the loose. Pilot for the short-lived series. Rick Baker and John Dykstra won Emmys for designing the creature and the special effects. Mandy: Kim Delaney. Frank: George Dzundza. Estabrook: Robert Webber. Victor: Gregory Sierra. Emmy for special effects.

Cast: George Dzundza, Joe Cortese, Maryam d'Abo, Kim Delaney

Category: Movie, Sci-fi

Release Year: 1988

True Blood Wins Big At 2010 Spike Scream Awards (Update 10.17.10)

True Blood took home some of the highest honours given out at the 5th annual Spike Scream Awards on Oct 16. I'll have some more details later but the winners and some comments they made when accepting are below.

QUOTEWORTHY

Alan Ball as he accepted the Best Television Show Award: "One question I get asked a lot is why do people like vampires so much, and I have no f***ing idea."
Haha. Love Alan Ball. Every time he opens his mouth what he says is quote-worthy.

Steven Moyer as he accepted "Holy Sh!t Scene of the Year" for True Blood - Twisted Sex : "I don't know what all the fuss is about. Doesn't everyone have sex like that?"
Steve is another walking quote machine. So witty. And extra super-cute without the vampire makeup.

Among the many stars partaking in the annual Halloween-time event, Alexander Skarsgård made an appearance at Spike TV's Scream 2010 Awards in Los Angeles, California on Saturday night (October 16). The "True Blood" hunk skipped out on the arrivals carpet at the Greek Theatre venue, but was among those taking the stage - as he ended up winning the Best Horror Actor trophy which was presented to him by Kelly Osbourne. Giving fans plenty of action, the 2010 Scream Awards feature a tribute to the end of “Lost,” the premiere of footage from Scream 4, a 25th-anniversary celebration of Back to the Future and a musical performance by M.I.A. The not-to-be-missed event airs on Spike TV on Tuesday, October 19 at 9PM ET/PT.

Pairing up for a red carpet evening, Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer were side-by-side at Spike TV's Scream 2010 Awards in Los Angeles, California on Saturday night (October 16). Held at The Greek Theatre, the "True Blood" couple mingled with fellow guests in the arrivals area before taking their seats for the taping of the annual ceremony. Not leaving empty-handed, Mr Moyer took the stage during the course of the night - as he won the Holy Sh*t! Scene Of The Year award. Gossip Center

What it is all about:
"Scream 2010 celebrates the hottest films, TV shows, comics, actors, creators, icons, and pioneers who have influenced and shaped the industry.

Ballots were sent out to Spike TV’s "SCREAM 2010" advisory board, consisting of some of the most respected and well-known members of the horror, sci-fi, fantasy, and comic book worlds, who were responsible for advising on categories and determining nominees in each category. All films, television shows, and comic books were deemed eligible for inclusion if they were released between July 16, 2009, and July 16, 2010, and were representative of the genres listed.

HBO’s “True Blood” had the most nominations of any television series with 10.

Esteemed members of this year’s advisory board include Tim Burton, John Carpenter, Wes Craven, Damon Lindelof, Ridley Scott, Quentin Tarantino, and Joss Whedon.

Look for the televised version on Spike TV on Tuesday, October 19, at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT. "

Below are the True Blood Winners and the presenters for each award:

Best Horror Actor: Alexander Skarsgård -- True Blood -- Presenter: Kelly Osbourne -- Accepting: Alexander Skarsgård

[caption id="attachment_9886" align="aligncenter" width="420" caption="Kelly Osbourne presents Alexander Skarsgård with the 'Best Horror Actor' Award"][/caption]

Best TV Show: True Blood -- Presenter: Marilyn Manson -- Accepting: Alan Ball

[caption id="attachment_9887" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Marilyn Manson present the Best TV Show award to Alan Ball for True Blood as Anna Paquin looks on"][/caption]

Holy Sh!t Scene of the Year True Blood - Twisted Sex -- Presenter: Rainn Wilson -- Accepting Stephen Moyer

Best Horror Actress: Anna Paquin -- True Blood -- Presenter: The Vampire Diaries stars (Nina Dobrev, Paul Westley & Ian Somerhalder) -- Accepting: Anna Paquin

I've been a science fiction and fantasy fan since age 4 (Twilight Zone, Outer Limits) as well as "horror" if it's done with humour (think Eric Northman of True Blood, season 2 in his dungeon going all primal on a redneck who has just "(done) silver to (him)," then immediately switching gears to consulting with the shackled and terrified Lafayette worrying if his highlights foils got blood in them, fretting that "Pam is going to kill me," so I think its fantastic that media for this genre is being singled out and recognized for excellence. I hate to complain but I have to state that SPIKE TV needs to become more inclusive about "who" is in their demographic. I've read that in the past few years the number of women enjoying the Sci-fi/Fantasy/Horror genre has skyrocketed from 10% to almost 50%. Obviously, True Blood has had a lot to do with this as well as those "other" vamp series both on film and TV (wisely labeled "fantasy" at the Spike Awards).

I never thought that science fiction or fantasy belonged to guys. I just knew that there were not too many girls with my tastes in superheroes, film and television shows. As an adult, other than once a year, I never watch SPIKE TV because they make such a whoop-de-do deal about being for guys. I think they should wise up, look at the female faces in their audience and then take the logical next step. Programming guys, are you listening? Otherwise, I'd like to see a basic cable network that already knows what the girls like, SyFy, pick up the slack and get it's own awards show going.

John & Yoko's Peace Tower Video - Better Dayz by 2Pac/ Marvin Gaye FREE Download

Y0K0ON0 | September 12, 2009

IMAGINE PEACE TOWER is an outdoor work of art conceived by Yoko Ono in memory of John Lennon. It is situated on Viðey Island in Reykjavík, Iceland. The artwork was dedicated to John by Yoko at its unveiling on October 9th 2007, John Lennons 67th birthday.

IMAGINE PEACE TOWER symbolizes Lennons and Onos continuing campaign for world peace - which began in the sixties, was sealed by their marriage in 1969 and will continue forever.

The words IMAGINE PEACE are inscribed on the Well in 24 different languages.

IMAGINE PEACE TOWER is composed of a tall shimmering tower of light that will appear every year and be visible from October 9th (Johns birthday) until December 8th (the anniversary of his passing).

In addition, the Tower will illuminate from Winter Solstice (December 21st 28th), on New Years Eve (December 31st) and the first week of spring (March 21st -28th). It is lit from 2 hours after sunset until midnight, and until dawn on New Years Day.

On 9th October, John Lennons birthday, Yoko Ono asks the people of Iceland to join her and many others across the rest of the world in praying for peace and stability.

At 8pm, as IMAGINE PEACE TOWER is illuminated on the island of Viðey, in Reykjavik, Iceland, she asks everyone to join together and let the power of light and prayer become a collective expression of the desire for peace and harmony on our planet.

Dear Friends,

Please join me not only in remembering John on October 9th but also in spreading the message of peace. This is something that was so important to John - the fact that we could all work together for the positive good of our planet. He would have loved how we are all mobilizing ourselves in thought and in action.

It's time for Action and the Action is PEACE!

with love, yoko

Thirty years later, I still can't get through listening to "Imagine" w/out crying. I couldn't get through Yoko's message tear-free either, but it is a critical one sp please listen. Its not about "just" ending war against one another, its about ending our destruction of planet Earth in every way. I cannot phrase it any better than Yoko does when she says, "we (can) all work together for the positive good of our planet." We must.

I made this blend of Tupac's "Better Dayz" with Marvin Gaye's jam "Inner City Blues" after a request from Afeni Shakur (Tupac's mom!). It's supposed to be a conversation between the two artists... Hope you enjoy it... credits released 13 September 2010

Perfect timing on this FREE download. I think Tupac & John Lennon could have made some amazing music together. This song just gets better upon repeat listening, in no small part due to the seamless mixing of the legendary Marvin Gaye's contribution of "Inner City Blues." Enjoy it and hare!

johnlennon | October 06, 2010

Submit your own video: www.youtube.com/johnlennon

Join us in celebrating John Lennon's 70th birthday!

Give peace a chance.

 

 

 Please join Yoko in dedicating this light tower in honor of John Lennon. In 1967, he conveyed his wishes to Yoko for a light tower to be constructed in his garden. In Yoko's words, it just came together in the past few years. Watch the video and you will see why she chose this place for the light tower. John's 70th birthday would have been tomorrow, October 9. Thanks.

"http://imaginepeacetower.com/"

TypePad Sells Self To Video Egg "Nothing In TypePad Changes Today"

I haven't done much personal blogging on TypePad for some time. Just the same, hearing today that TypePad has sold out is quite a shock--even though in hindsight, I suppose it shouldn't be.

This is partly my comment in response to the official announcement which ominously stated that "nothing in TypePad changes today." (my italics).

This is pretty sad for us long-time TypePad bloggers. I've been reading how this "merger" was reported in the news. Here's the NYTimes link: Blogging Pioneer Bought by Video Ad Firm - NYTimes.com http://nyti.ms/alenoC.

It's a bit more...direct in stating what is going on.

I've been w/TypePad since 2003. A Movable Type user suggested you as I'm not a techie-type (or I thought I wasn't). TypePad worked out smashingly for me. I so loved it here and I was pretty happy for you in your successes through the years.

Yeah, I tried Vox when you asked, I did the BETA thing, even sat on a TypePad consumer panel for a year. I've felt the shift. You're very, very interested in "big" bloggers. I'm totally not and I never will be because I hate selling myself. Monetizing a blog successfully is incredibly difficult. EVERYONE knows that. So one either goes for the bucks or blogs for free.

There's no point in regular bloggers staying with not-Six Apart. Monetizers--big bucks bloggers like HuffPost perhaps will find not-6A appealing.

After seven years I hate to leave and certainly I'll try whatever is coming but this is not good news at all for me. Please, one request, give me time to migrate my 7 years worth of writing to another host.

Best of luck,

Cyn

EDIT/ This is not meant to be an indignant rant. I realize that I've only been renting space from you. I own the content--you own the space. You are now selling the space. Your space, your choice.

Yay! Weeds this Monday - Cast Interviews - The Croquet Mallet - Memory Loss with the Cast of Weeds - Season 6 Teasers - Weeds Season 6 Behind the Scenes

Mary Louise Parker as "Nancy Botwin" on Showtime's "Weeds"

 

Seems it is the season of "the Croquet Mallet" on the upcoming Season 6 Weeds.

Just when you thought Nancy and the kids' lives could not be more eff'ed after Shane got winged in the arm by a bullet meant for his mother, Nancy.

It's really hard not to judge Nancy's horribly bad choices in regard to her family and her life in general (dealing, running weapons, assorted other stuff) but she certainly has tought them tenacity and self-reliance. <sigh>

Still, Mary Louise Parker is winning as the ever-losing Nancy Botwin-- widow,mother,outlaw and she has a great cast that help keep Nancy in the game, so to speak. I need to do a little pictorial of her soon.

Aug 10: E!Online Kristen scoop:

Q:So excited for Weeds to come back! I'll give you a high five if you give me the lowdown on the season premiere.

A: The star of the first episode back is, undisputedly, the croquet mallet. Whether it's being clutched by Shane as he explains his murder style to his bro Silas or being used by Nancy in other acts of vandalism...you must remember, this is not just "a stick". It is evidence, and the final scene of the episode (starring the mallet!) eerily marks the beginning of a long road of running for the Botwins. ... SHOWTIME | Season 6 Ep. 0 | Added: July 21, 2010 Weeds Season 6! The Botwins are back for an all new season of Weeds, and this time they are leaving their past behind. New season begins August 16th.

SHOWTIME | Season 6 Ep. 0 | Added: July 19, 2010

Weeds season 6 trailer. The Botwins are back and they're hitting the road. The new season premieres August 16th at 10PM ET/PT.

I Don't Like Labels The Botwins get ready to hit the road.

SHOWTIME | Season 6 Ep. 0 | Added: July 12, 2010

The Weeds cast's memory is tested with trivia from past seasons.

SHOWTIME | Season 6 Ep. 0 | Added: June 01, 2010

Weeds Season 6. The plot deepens August 16 on Showtime.

'Spanish Buzz' - Toy Story 3 - 'Made For Each Other' Barbie & Ken Meet (Videos)

... Toystory

Saw Toy Story 3  (in regular 'D') on Sunday night:

Ken (of Barbie and...) was amusing but also sinister. I'll never look at/ think of a Ken doll in quite the same way again. Barbie was more like I would expect (sort of a bubblehead). Ken was positively evil at times and I don't agree with the excuse that "Lotso" turned Ken bad. Spanish Buzz Lightyear was truly funny.

I hope they integrate some Spanish Buzz on one of the Toy Story/Buzz Lightyear rides at Disneyland.

Do that and skip the truly lame idea of a LOST ride. Three Cap'n Jacks on a single ride (Pirates of the Caribbean) was a big enough gaffe. One Depp doppleganger would've been fine. Three was (were?) jarring. LOST--a teevee show that...I'll just say not enough mass appeal/understanding of the show to warrant a Disneyland ride. I hate to put it this way but LOST was too 'niche.'

... Toystory |

Hell Yeah, Toy Story 3!

My spouse's 49 th birthday (again) is on Friday and being the Disney-Pixar fanatics we are we (my son and I) decided that what he wanted was to see is Toy Story 3. IMO, what is just as fun and fascinating about the creative genius of a finished Disney-Pixar project is what the creators were going for when they dreamed up what (or perhaps more properly, "who") came to end up on the screen. In a recent NYTimes online interview with Toy Story 3's director Lee Unkrich, who has been with the Toy Story franchise since the beginning, he explains the painstaking process of choosing a new character--and there are 14 added this time to the original 12 (my fave original, hands down--Mr. Potato Head) reminds me of how the Disney "Imagineers" explain how they do what they do. A common theme is that they retain the ability to see the world through the eyes of a child. It's something that adults either get or do not because generally we are discouraged by the world at large to allow our imaginations to exist unfettered and so we give up our childish things. We are the same people who no matter what our age get tremendously excited at the prospect of several days in Disneyland. I'm missing my family trips to the Land of the Mouse for a few years whilst my son is in college however Toy Story 3 will help bridge the gap between everyday reality and the world of Disney-(Pixar).

From: To the Second Sequel, and Beyond!

Choosing "Ken"

Since he liked the appearance of Barbie in “Toy Story 2,” Mr. Unkrich was interested in having her be a part of the new film. “Then very quickly on the heels of that decision, we thought well, if we have Barbie, we had to have Ken,” he said. “I literally went through the catalog of every Ken from the ’60s to now and looked at them all. And the one that absolutely stood out for me is this one Ken from the late ’80s called Animal Lovin’ Ken.” The safari-print shirt and short shorts are part of the exact outfit from that particular version of Ken. Naturally, he has frequent costume changes throughout the film, allowing the filmmakers to snatch clothing designs from his history. “We could have made up outfits,” Mr. Unkrich said, “but I don’t think we could have come up with anything as outlandish or as garish as the real outfits that have existed over the years.”

Reflective, Conflicted / My Mustang GT

Industrial area building distortion.

Separated at birth?

Sears (now Willis) Tower as seen from the Kennedy Expressway.

The other tall building around here--the John Hancock has the unfortunate distinction of having been the tallest structure in the USA--then it lost it's title to the World Trade Center. I'm guessing I don't have to say more other than the John Hancock Tower is the tallest man-made structure in the USA.

Just a quick homage to my 2003 Zinc Yellow Mustang GT.

I think I took my last top down ride for the year--that was two in the first week of November.

People hesitate to buy a convertible whilst living in a place like here with less than ideal--crap--weather for a good chunk of the year. The answer is a) it's too fun not to, and b) you can do it 7 months of the year.

I love my car for what it is every. single. ride.  A fun machine.

(Repost above from 11/2006)

2.18.10

I realize I don't post _anything_ personal anymore. I remember enjoying interacting with the dozens of people I met online and regarded as friends. Now I think I need to "say something" before I blog and think if I wrote what I feel I'd offend so I self-censor. Conversely, if I don't write what I feel I get no feedback nor satisfaction having gotten it down.

Yes. I suppose I am feeling reflective and conflicted.

Happy 60th Birthday, Bruce Springsteen! You've Always Had Plenty of That "Human Touch"

BruceSpringsteen

About the video; "Following Saturday's appearance at the Glastonbury Festival, Bruce appeared on Sunday, June 28, at the Hard Rock Calling Festival in London's Hyde Park. Like Glastonbury, this turned into another magical show making the back-to-back U.K. festival appearances an all time highlight for Bruce and the Band. Here, in full, is the opening song from Bruce's set, "London Calling." (Joe Strummer/Mick Jones)."

Bruce and E Street crank out a credible version of the Clash's classic call to arms.

It's Bruce Springsteen's 60th birthday today and I have no idea what a popular culture icon/music master such as he could possibly want or need as a gift. He's shared with me and millions of others so much of himself over the past 40 years. Not being able to offer him anything for his 60th b-day, instead I'll share some of what he's shared in his sublime command of imagery and artistry.

Bruce does indeed grace the September/October issue of AARP, the Magazine, published by the organization formerly known as the American Association of Retired Persons, now simply known by their initials. "Red, White, and Bruce" here.

Two Springsteen-based re-posts of mine:

Now that it's 2008 I can say that I'm seeing Bruce in the spring which is something that makes me happy. This is one of my favourite of his many songs that touched me--maybe more so now than years ago. Anyway, the lyrics started playing in my head tonight, especially these:

Oh girl that feeling of safety that you prize
Well it comes at a hard hard price
You can't shut off the risk and the pain
Without losing the love that remains
Were all riders on this train

<awesome guitar break>

So you've been broken and youve been hurt
Show me somebody who ain't
Yeah, I know I ain't nobodys bargain
But, hell, a little touch up and a little paint...

The entire lyrics are after the video which has a definite mid-1980's feel to it. Bruce does look pretty great in it though I miss "Miami" Steve Van Zant and Clarence Clemons on camera. I'm curious too who is doing the female vocals. edit/checked--some were (now wife) Patti's.

bruce springsteen "human touch"
Uploaded by miklo

You and me we were the pretenders
We let it all slip away
In the end what you don't surrender
Well the world just strips away

Girl, aint no kindness in the face of strangers
Aint gonna find no miracles here
Well you can wait on your blesses my darlin'
But I got a deal for you right here

I ain't looking for praise or pity
I ain't coming 'round searchin' for a crutch
I just want someone to talk to
And a little of that Human Touch
Just a little of that Human Touch

Ain't no mercy on the streets of this town
Ain't no bread from heavenly skies
Ain't nobody drawing wine from this blood
Its just you and me tonight

Tell me, in a world without pity
Do you think what I'm askin's too much
I just want something to hold on to
And a little of that Human Touch
Just a little of that Human Touch

Oh girl that feeling of safety that you prize
Well it comes at a hard hard price
You can't shut off the risk and the pain
Without losin' the love that remains
We're all riders on this train

So you've been broken and you've been hurt
Show me somebody who ain't
Yeah, I know I ain't nobody's bargain
But, hell, a little touch up and a little paint...

You might need somethin' to hold on to
When all the answers, they don't amount to much
Somebody that you could just to talk to
And a little of that Human Touch

Baby, in a world without pity
Do you think what I'm askin's too much
I just want to feel you in my arms
Share a little of that Human Touch
Feel a little of that Human Touch
Give me a little of that Human Touch

Copyright © Bruce Springsteen (ASCAP)

Update/Danny Federici, Springsteen and E Street's Longtime Keyboardist, Dies At 58

More after the jump...

Addicted to Disney: Only Nine More Months 'Till Toy Story III Comes Out!

TheFilmStage

"Directed by Lee Unkrich. The creators of the beloved "Toy Story" films re-open the toy box and bring moviegoers back to the delightful world of Woody, Buzz and our favorite gang of toy characters in "Toy Story 3." Lee Unkrich (co-director of "Toy Story 2" and "Finding Nemo") directs this highly anticipated film, and Michael Arndt, the Academy Award®-winning screenwriter of "Little Miss Sunshine," brings his unique talents and comedic sensibilities to the proceedings. Hits theaters June 18, 2010 in Disney Digital 3-D."

You would totally not see me gushing about Toy Story III without my experiences at Disneyland this April past.

First, let me tell you about me, my family, & Disneyland.

I'd wanted to go to Disneyland my whole life but lived on the east coast and had parents that  were not at all interested in the idea(!) Even though I knew a fair number of kids that went to what we then called "Epcot," an adjunct to Disney World in Florida along with Disney World, I hadn't wanted to go there anywhere near as much as I wanted to go to the original Disneyland.

When I was 19 y.o. I moved to Southern California, eventually settling in Huntington Beach and as often as I could afford it I went  to Disneyland and a few years later I married a guy whose Mom worked for Disney and who could bring her family to the Disneyland Park for free--anytime!

Dream come true! I went often and solidified my love for the Disneyland Park.

Life circumstances forced a move to the Chicago area, which though a great place to bring up my kids left us way too far from Disneyland. Also, I did not bring my then spouse, whose best qualities it turned out, began and ended with a mom who worked at Disneyland (j/k but only slightly).

Since I've lived in the Chicago area I've again met lots of folks who've travelled to Disney World which I still have zero interest in, and few that have been to Disneyland. They don't realize that it costs the same or less to vacation at Disneyland as it does Disney World.

Why? Because often, it is nearly the same airfare from here to Disneyland as it is to Disney World and definitely the configuration of Disneyland being in the center of a regular suburb where you can run out and get all of your day-to-day necessities and save a ton of money-- eating out less often (for example, continental breakfast at the motel, pack sandwiches, snacks and drinks in your backpack for lunch, a nice dinner--and a chance to rest in the park) versus Disney World which was plunked way out where you pretty much have no choice or need to be very inventive about saving money on meals and anything else you need to run to the store for.

So to the point, I'm sort of on a fixed income due to heart failure and so we really, really pinch pennies to be able to go to Disneyland so it is a really big deal $$$ to go but it's been a priority of mine to expose my sons to it as it is truly magical in the realm of man-made wonders. My now-17 y.o. gets excited about very little but Disneyland is one place that he honestly loves and even his like-minded father loves going. I gave them the opportunity to get hooked--which once inside the gates took no effort at all. We spend about 4 days in the park and break it up with trips to the beach or San Diego or L.A. or Hollywood--tons of stuff to do in So.Cal.

This time--April 2009, as you probably recall, the economy was going down the tubes fast. The airlines had increased fares and fees and overall, it was a much bigger challenge to pull off this trip but it had been tradition to go every two years and this time we stretched it to 2.5 years and I just wasn't waiting any longer.

I'm so glad we went (though that is my normal reaction)! They've done a bunch of things to add spit and polish to Disneyland proper (ongoing) and all the main attractions were open. It's the adjoining park to Disneyland that is going through a really radical change and based on the blueprints I've seen--and they are proudly showing off plans that will continue for years--the park is going to be what Walt Disney himself would have imagined.

I'd thought California Adventure was just fine and really love some of its awesome attractions both big and small. Soaring Over California--not to be missed, Grizzly River Run--my son's favourite ride in the park and way fun as long as you wear your swimsuit under whatever else you don't care about getting wet. You also need to go on it at least 10 times in a row or more. Crush! Turtle Talk with Crush is awesome, dude! All of the sometimes-overlooked Disney Animation section is great--and constantly being updated.

But!The biggest surprise and the most satisfying ride in California Adventure was one of the first of many changes to come, with a name that needs more zing, Toy Story Midway Mania!

OMG! This is the "funnest" ride since I stumbled across Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters in the Fantasyland section of Disneyland. To call Midway Mania a "4-D attraction" really gives you no clue about how immersed you get in it and how incredibly fun and addictive it is.You really feel a part of the game-ride which involved all the characters from Toy Story in different settings that look straight out of a Toy Story movie and has you trying to take them out with a paint gun whilst in a car moving along, making it way more difficult to do so. As per usual Disney, there are little tricks and shortcuts that you can find and utilize to your advantage though some not so easy to pull off--you must be very quick and accurate.

Midway Mania is perfect for gamer people with their stellar shooting accuracy, but it pulls in a complete non-gamer like me because of the interactiveness and because I'm shooting paint balls, not clicking a keyboard, though I admit my hand got sore after a couple of days of going on it. It encompasses everything the Imagineers and the Pixar people have learned and turned it into an experience that is fun every time. The original Toy Story attraction in the adjacent Disneyland is somewhat similar but on a bigger scale and utilizes "laser" guns. I had actually passed it up the first time out there--didn't go on it once, decided 2 years later to give it a shot and it immediately became my favourite Disneyland attraction. I went on Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters a bazillion times.

So this is a long-winded way of saying that the Pixar people and Disney Imagineers just keep getting better and I'm truly looking forward to Toy Story III as a way to get a taste of the fun of the rides and to appreciate the continuing evolution of Disney/Pixar animation.

I've added on the current promo materials for Toy Story III (premiere: June, 2010) but plan to incorporate Disney's near complete re-thinking of California Adventure and the progress of the changes in the next few years with an additional photo album.

I have all the "blueprints" that were on display at Disney and I'm putting them together and will include them in a post to come so you can have a better idea about how Disney is able to integrate the worlds of our reality with the brilliant minds of Disney Pixar and their resulting mind-blowing interactive creations.

Cont. after Jump: Toy Story 3 - Footage Revealed

NEW! True Blood - Season 2 SPOILERS - LA Times Feature Story, Cast Interviews

Photo credit : John P. Johnson / HBO

Really fun feature story on True Blood coming out in Sunday's L.A.Times. The article is available online for those of us who don't buy the Times. There are spoilers in the article penned by Jessica Gelt, which pertain  to the latter half of Season 2.

Since True Blood interviews have saturated the Internet and will continue on the airwaves this week coming with Stephen Moyer appearing Wednesday on both the ABC daytime chat-fest, The View, and late that night on Jimmy Fallon (check your local listings for info) , I was a bit more interested in things that have not yet caught my eye. Like for example the incredible access that fan-site truebloodnet.com gets is due to it now being pseudo-sponsored by HBO which "helps secure interviews for (them)," even taking one of the webmasters "on a guided tour of the show's set."

Since the interview also plugs "Bill's Babes," which originates from the website The Vault, 

my money is on the likelihood that they too have a "special relationship" with HBO.

That's all well and good IMO--anything that promotes the show--though the lines are getting blurry as to what is official and what isn't. This reflects in part the breakneck-speed changes in how we distribute and assimilate media. That sort of works in the favour of people like me who approach the show from a different perspective but like to have access to information surrounding it.

Since Ms. Gelt, the women of truebloodnet.com, and even True Blood showrunner Alan Ball seem to feel that True Blood is a women's show, I won't take issue with that but it is not why I tuned in. (I also suspect that because of the show's tolerance of all forms of sexuality--male-female,male-male, etc. that it may have a larger gay-bi-lesbian following than anyone is talking about publicly. Six Feet Under was also very tolerant, portraying a realistic long-term homosexual relationship--one of the things that contributed to its greatness, I think.)

I saw the adverts for True Blood a week or two before it's debut in 2008. It was marketed as "from the maker of Six Feet Under" which made me sit up and notice and "starring Anna Paquin." With that, I decided on the spot that I'd give it a go and I was fairly certain after being wrapped up in Alan Ball's Six Feet Under for it's entire run that True Blood would be good, if not great, too.

I've been a vampire lover since reading Bram Stoker's Dracula at age 9. My father, who is a big science fiction and to a lessor extent, fantasy reader had it on the bookshelf and it looked intriguing. I read it right through--twice and even at that young age I was aware of the sensuous undertones. Much later came Anne Rice and The Vampire Lestat and though I enjoyed several of Ms. Rice's books it wasn't until Brad Pitt did his turn as the tortured, beautiful vampire "Louis" in the film "Interview With The Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles" that I truly got sucked in (no pun intended) to the notion that as Mr. Ball puts it, "Vampires are sex."

"True Blood" on HBO follows the romance between waitress Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin) and her soul mate, 173- year-old vampire Bill Compton (Stephen Moyer).
The bomb that shattered the living room left carnage in its wake. The floor is slick with blood, tattered bodies litter the room, entrails dangle from the ceiling and an unrecognizable mass of goo stuck to the wall erratically spurts jets of mauve blood.

"I'm gonna ask everyone to clear the set who is not actually dying on it," yells Scottie Gissel, a first assistant director for HBO's hit vampire series " True Blood," which launches into its second season of sensational Gothic gore and lusty, undead romance next Sunday. (Viewers will see the scene of explosive destruction that Gissel is stage-managing late in the season.)
On this sunny afternoon, the cast and crew work in overdrive on a gloomy, fog-soaked soundstage at the Lot on Santa Monica and Formosa. They labor with the assuredness of a project vindicated. After getting off to a rocky start critically last fall, "True Blood," based on the books by Charlaine Harris and created by Alan Ball, who created "Six Feet Under" and wrote "American Beauty," steadily built its audience to emerge as HBO's most popular show in recent years, with an average of 7.8 million viewers watching each episode by the end of Season 1.
With a fervent fan base, including nearly half a dozen fan-run websites that HBO -- in a forward-thinking approach to managing public opinion -- actively fosters, "True Blood" is hoping to prove with its sophomore season that even in the "Twilight" age of vampire overkill, it can maintain its success.

Unrest hits undead

"True Blood" takes place in a world where vampires have come out of the coffin , so to speak, aided by the invention of a synthetic blood substitute called Tru Blood that helps keep their primal appetites at bay. Still, prejudice against the undead abounds, with many of the show's human characters motivated by a hate and fear that is as gruesomely destructive as that of even the most unrepentant bloodsucker.
Season 1 established the main action: "True Blood" is set in the fictional backwater town of Bon Temps, La., where a telepathic good girl named Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin) works as a waitress in a raucous bar called Merlotte's. When a mysterious vampire named Bill Compton (Stephen Moyer) comes to town, Sookie falls in love with him. A high body count and muddy graveside sex ensue....

As he leads an on-set tour of Bill's cryptic, mossy mansion, Moyer says that he and Paquin were in England when Season 1 first aired, so they never got the chance to watch it.
In the real world, the pair are dating and live together. They kept their romance a secret for 10 months before coming out with it on set; its inception was aided by the fact that during filming for the pilot "HBO very stupidly put us in the same hotel," says Moyer, adding that he knew "True Blood" was building a fan base but didn't realize the scope of it until someone sent Paquin a shirt emblazoned with the words, Bill's Babes."

"She was like, 'I'm the original Bill's babe,' and she would occasionally wear the shirt around the house," says Moyer... 
... Ball says... says, although... deeper topics are definitely present, the show, its fans and its creator are primarily concerned with campy glee.
"I needed fun," he says. " 'Six Feet Under' was a really gratifying emotional and artistic experience, but it's hard to spend five years peering into that existential abyss. This one is just fun. It's so much fun."

Paquin thinks so too. Walking around the set in a dirt-and-blood-stained white coat and high heels, her shiny blond hair matted and fake glass sticking out of her slender calves, Paquin asks the crew and visitors for hugs and jokes about how fabulous she looks...
What fans are responding to, says Paquin, is the fact that "True Blood" is an "exciting, big-concept, plot-driven, really high-class soap opera."
And like in any good soap opera, Moyer knows that no matter how you chew on the show's politics, it all really comes back to sex. Biting, specifically. His dark eyes glittering with mischief, he says: "There wasn't a hole there before and there's a hole there now. It's sexy. There's no getting away from it. If you want to scrape away at it, scrape away, but it's really sexy stuff."

Read entire article: 'True Blood' devotees are thirsty for more

Gawker and BloodCopy - A Marriage Made in Advertising Heaven or Hell?

"The blogging empire is temporarily welcoming a new site into its fold that’s written and paid for by HBO to promote the network’s noir vampire drama, True Blood. And the word “advertisement” won’t appear anywhere in the project’s vicinity."

I'm gonna say it. 

Wowsa.

I've been blogging in the "sponsored post" arena since November 2007, and there has not been one minute that it has not been controversial. Initially and I was late to the party by at least 18 months, all sponsored posting was baaaad. Only bad people with bad intentions did paid blogging without the blog post itself screaming "I'm an advert!!! She's getting money to write this!"

I admit I had not thought through what the ethical implications were to writing short blog posts which pushed products. I didn't think it was doing any harm as I talked about what I thought of the product or simply talked about the product in the days where I was assigned work that if I turned it down I would get no further work.

That company literally did not care what I wrote. They simply wanted me to insert a link. So for example, if I had to write about a diet supplement I would talk of the dangers of dieting and if you ever did use a product like "X" do so only under your doctor's care.

Frankly, I was glad when that company told me to choose them or another another company to work for.  The other other company told me to work for whomever I pleased. Guess who I chose?  At the same time, in fact years before, Google was getting very agitated because companies that had bloggers share their opinions about products got free "Google" juice when a "do follow" link was used in the post. That means, to make it very simple, that the company pushing a product was in direct competition with Google's Adsense when it came to search engine results that Internet users would get.

Huge no-no in the land of GOOG. Again, I totally had no idea that what I was doing was in violation of Google search engine rules. They stripped me of PageRank which is a metric which is considered to be a short-hand way of telling the world what your blog is worth.

Since 11/2007, I've made over $4000 doing paid blogging some with "do follow" links and here now only with "nofollow" links. There are no ads on this blog that violate Google's policy. I only very occasionally write adverts here and all of them have a big honking in-post badge saying I got paid, along with the non-Google juice producing nofollow links. I might add that I'm offered many posts per pay for decent money but the advertisers do not want me to disclose that I'm writing an advert. So I never write them. For one, I'm acutely aware that I'm being used (for my Page Rank! I feel so dirty!). They want to take advantage of my PageRank so they get sweeter link juice--for about a week--because that's when Google will strip me of my PageRank and if I have anything to say about that, it's not going to happen. I know better now.

If you read an ad on this blog you'll know it's an ad. And this is important, too: I hand-pick all my ads. As I said, I turn down money each day--and that's really painful, believe me. But I'm preserving my PageRank and my integrity.That's the other part of Gawker's experiment (their wording) that I find intriguing. Will they too lose PageRank? One would think that the Blood Copy ads will be in violation of Google's rules. I know I'm staying tuned in order to see what happens when one of the big guys does what the little guys got crushed for.

 

Lastly, Gawker is utilizing paid blogging to advertise one of my favourite shows. I have to be honest. I'm excited about this. I'm interested to see how it plays out, yes and I'm curious to hear what kind of reception the advertising gets from various fronts but most importantly from the consumer because friends, despite being told as we grew up that the Hokey-Pokey was what "it" is all about, that is simply not true. In this great land of consumers what it is all about is selling stuff, the more stuff the better. The ways of selling are changing at a dizzying rate. With newspapers, magazines, and television losing ground in the advertising wars, those that want to sell stuff need to be willing to experiment with a variety of venues. That's what it's all about, folks.

From: Gawker VP says sponsored posts will bring in majority of revenue one day

Entries from the blog, BloodCopy, will appear as cross-posts in the mix of Gawker Media’s eight verticals, which include Gizmodo, Kotaku, and the flagship. They’ll be set off by a border and labeled as BloodCopy posts but otherwise indistinguishable from editorial content — except that the blog is written by an undead, bloodsucking ghoul.

“With vampires, we thought we could be a little looser with the disclosure and create some disbelief,” Chris Batty, Gawker’s vice president of sales and marketing, told me yesterday, dismissing critics of the advertorial as “humorless.” He also made a bold prediction that surprised me so much I made sure to confirm I’d heard correctly:

 “If we’re around in three or four years,” Batty said, “the majority of our advertising revenue will be in sponsored posts like this.”

       

Everything Is New Again at Typepad... or, Who loves ya, baby?

..or at least that's how it feels. In a good way! There are just all kinds of new features that the talented, smart, and creative team at Six Apart have been offering up that really lend themselves to easy and painless customization and making and joining conversation with some fascinating folks and other good stuff--like this fun Q and A from TypePad.

I think it's another new feature here at TypePad but I loved a similar one at Vox (which I must say I'm not getting over to as much as I 'd like).

Here's the Q:
Blockbuster season starts this weekend with the release of X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Next up: Angels & Demons, The Transformers, Harry Potter, Star Trek and Land of the Lost. Which summer mega-hit are you most looking forward to?

Star Trek: My dad, nerdy science dude that he is/was "force-fed" the original Star Trek series to me. It was on in the morning, I think on a UHF station(!) The concept of a peaceful universe, beaming up and phasers and the Prime Directive was cool but I was not a big fan of the show. Later, I enjoyed most of TNG and the often-ignored Deep Space Nine. I didn't initially watch the first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation because I disliked the original Star Trek, most especially Shatner as Kirk. I'm being truthful when I say he makes me gag. Spock was always cool and Scotty and McCoy were amusing. Not seeing it unless someone I know is dying to see it.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine: How big a part does Dom Monaghan have? I miss him since he was killed off LOST. Hugh Jackman is cute n' angsty but he alone couldn't get me in the theater to watch it. Possibly, I may take my kid if he wants to go. The one Jackman did with Anna Paquin (were there two?) was OK.

Transformers: Probably yeah 'cos my first son was devoted to the original TV show when he was little so I watched, too (spent a fortune on transforming cars and trucks) and I've seen newer incarnations through my younger son. I've always dug the transforming sound and that cars and trucks could turn into robots. It was a pretty cool show. I'm curious to know if they'll keep Shia's seriously busted-up hand hidden as he broke it off-set, but while filming, I believe. Still gets surgery on it. Yikes.

Angels & Demons: No.

Harry Potter: Have read and watched the film series so far so, yes.

EDIT/Igot this confused with Land of the Giants.

The plot of land of the Lost appears the similar except this is a Will Ferrell comedy./end edit

Land of the Lost: Did not even hear about this one 'till the other day.
I watched the teevee show (again, in the mornings on UHF, the public television channel). Depends on who is in it and what the reviews are like. I haven't missed the show but they could probably do some cool things with it.

TVGuide video interview with Dom Monaghan about Wolverine and his "Easter Egg" part in it.

Irony on top of tragedy: Triple murderer in Hoffman Estates police custody just an hour before the killings began

Yesterday, my son came home from high school and he did what he always does. The routine each day after school is for him and me to go through his day, recounting what he did in his classes. When he got to his Engineering class, he mentioned something odd in the instruction that his teacher gave in regard to how my son's class should interact via Internet (Skype) with students from another District 211 high school, Conant H.S., with whom they are collaborating on a major project. His class was told to be careful how they interacted with the Conant High School kids who were just returning to school after the weekend in which they learned that a senior Conant girl and her family had been brutally stabbed by the girl's older sister's boyfriend.

I've been out on the loop on local news and had missed the story but my son had printed out a couple of articles off the nets before leaving school yesterday and I read the story with great sadness. The sadness turn to anger however when I read that already the perpetrator's court-appointed lawyer was "spinning" his client's tale of woe--child welfare case messed up in the system.
Take a look at a snap of the man that stabbed an entire family. For one thing he's not a child, he's 20 y.o.--old enough to have made the choice not to stab an entire family because you were pissed at the world.

Does he look like he's really suffering or demented? (This is a mug shot from another crime of his.)

My younger son has construed a general notion of what would be his ideal of a justice system that works. He calls it the "iron fist" justice system though he doesn't have all the details worked out--much would have to change. Broadly speaking, we stop going all soft on violent offenders. Ultimately, garbage like the person who essentially killed a whole family would be tossed.

I'm also mad at the sister who had a kid with this guy, a convicted, violent sexual predictor. I know she'll feel bad that she is ultimately the reason why that man was anywhere near her family. I'm just really mad and I can't even blog openly about my feelings about how society makes excuses for the "D'Andre Howards" of the world. A thug is a thug and as such is a threat to society.

It's now up to the only physically unscathed member of this family besides older sis with the murderous bf, the guy in the photo, age 20 that sort of looks like Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters circa his Nirvana era. He was at a good university, editor of the college paper, finishing out his junior year when he was informed on his family's demise. Now he gets to cope with this and hope his mom pulls through all right. Otherwise, he's left only with his dumbass sister who brought the documented convicted felon into her bed, ultimately sending their dad, little sister, and grandmother to their graves.
I'm really angry. And sad.

From the Chicago Sun-Times

Before going to the Hoffman Estates home where he allegedly stabbed three people to death, 20-year-old D’Andre Howard went to the suburb’s police station, authorities said Monday.

Howard was arrested early Friday on a traffic warrant by Hoffman Estates police, but was released from custody barely an hour later after posting bail, police said....

The Engelhardt family: Father, Alan, and his wife, Shelly, Laura (center), Amanda (left) and Jeff Englehardt. D’Andre Howard is charged with stabbing and slashing three members of girlfriend Amanda's family.
(Courtesy ABC7 Chicago)

Howard is charged with murdering his girlfriend’s younger sister, 18-year-old Laura Engelhardt; her father, 57-year-old Alan Engelhardt; and her grandmother, 73-year-old Marlene Gacek.

Howard — the father of the couple’s 8-month-old daughter — also is charged with critically wounding 52-year-old Shelly Engelhardt, his girlfriend’s mother.

Neither his girlfriend nor daughter was harmed, authorities said.

Howard and Amanda Engelhardt had quarreled earlier that night at their Hoffman Estates apartment, but Engelhardt had taken their daughter and gone to her parents’ nearby home, authorities have said

From the Chicago Tribune

At Hoffman Estates' Conant High School, senior Laura Engelhardt would lean against a locker in the morning, ready to make her friends laugh.

There was a lot to be happy about. Engelhardt was an A student who had just chosen a college. She enjoyed a close bond with her father. And in recent days, she began dating a boy on whom she had long harbored a crush.

When school  began Friday, though, she wasn't at her locker.

"I just thought, 'Oh, you get a boyfriend and forget about your friends,' and laughed about it," said her friend Jenny Earl, 17.

Engelhardt, her father and grandmother were stabbed to death Friday in the family home in Hoffman Estates, authorities said. D'Andre Howard, 20, a man who had a relationship with Engelhardt's older sister, has been charged with their slayings.

Disneyland and Laguna Beach Family Vacation 04/09- Part 1

Last big family trip until the youngest is done with uni. Thank the powers that we have Maple Lake. I'll put up a few more after I go through them. There are some interesting ones of the open-in-2012 "Cars" section of the park. Nifty models and colour plans.

My new favourite Disneyland (California Adventure) ride- "Pixar's Toy Story Midway Madness." <exhale>
Mr. Potato Head is animatronic and interactive. Keeps you company in the line--which we found later can be bypassed by riding single rider--no line at all. I sucked at this paintball shooting game but it was big fun. Lots of people said they liked it more than Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters in Disneyland but they are really different.

I love Disney but I could have stayed here for a week, just chillin'. It's south Laguna Beach at sunset.

I have a ton of Disneyland shots but this too is in Disney's California Adventure whcih they are in the process of a near-complete makeover after only 8 years(!).There were flowers everywhere and after the long Chicago winter everything looked so _alive_.

Friday Flower*

Rosa RadRazz roses 10.16.08~

Inspired by RedPen

Happy Friday.

Ugh. Long week.

Flower shot taken in back of house on Thursday, 10.16.08.  The hard freeze is due any time. It's chilly--putting on layers-- so these are the last blush.

Salt Creek Breaches It's Banks

clipped from www.cnn.com

Chicago seeks aid after worst rain in at least 137 years

• Story Highlights
• Records kept since 1871 say Saturday's rain marks worst in more than century
  
• Heavy rain more related to Tropical Storm Lowell in Pacific than Gulf Coast's Ike
  
• Commissioner: Chicago River flowed "down the 5000 block of North Monticello"
  
• Authorities say 90 billion gallons of water fell on the city's water district

OK. Only 33 more days to go with the raining for 40 days and nights. They *say* it's supposed to not rain tomorrow, that we will get a break for a couple days.

All I know is I'm not mentally prepared to never see the sun again. And now that the floodwaters are receding some of my neighborhood has a funny smell.

I bought sort-of-boots today. I'm not running around in the mud here in the 'burbs and really, clogs don't cut it for the terrain nor do my trusty Birkenstocks.

Here are some shots from our neighbourhood taken on Sunday, Sept 14,2008.  Pictured are houses adjacent to Salt Creek, which breached its banks (to different ends depending where among it's many miles you consider).

We got lucky. Plus, we didn't buy on a flood plain.

QotD: Did you go to summer camp?

 If you didn't go to camp, do you feel like you missed out?

I spent the summers of my youth at Maple Lake , however I did go camping in Connecticut with the Girl Scouts a time or two. I don't really have an entire story to tell but my most vivid recollection involves needing to pee during the night and having been told to "always have a buddy" with you when out in the woods. I woke up my assigned camp buddy and we made our way to the outhouse. The memory I have is sitting there next to Debbie as the out house was a two-seater, and thinking that this was a completely unique experience. And it was 'cos it's never happened again.

It's the weekend, right?

Happy weekend, everyone.

It's been an unusual week here in my corner of the Greater Chicago Area.

I suppose the week following a holiday time-out feels a bit "off" for many folks. This however felt absolutely turned upside down and then shaken up a bit for good measure.

It started with the week not officially beginning until when I awoke Wednesday afternoon after co-driving all night into Wednesday morning. Wednesday was a wash. I felt completely drained and lacked anything resembling energy and thus motivation.

Though the boys did a good job on their own for 5 days, I'm fussy enough if it's not how would have done it, I do it over. They were at school and work so they were not aware of this, hence no bruised feelings. Besides, they both seemed really grateful that the cook (spouse) was back to magically produce a hot meal each evening after restocking the fridge.

Anyway, it's hard to know where to begin again online but for me and my dream of Disneyland it has to be getting back to work. So I jumped right in only to find a major malfunction at IZEA, preventing me from doing much work. Goggle helpfully stepped in and let their algo monkeys out too which further confused things.

The dust with IZEA finally settled yesterday. Despite my respect for the IZEA team there's no escaping the fact that this fix was slow coming and that it's time to hire staff that can be paged during non-work hours and at least assess the situation. According to what was stated by an IZEA rep they had all left for the day and it would wait until morning. Unfortunately, morning came and went two more times before a final fix was rendered.

All is good at the moment however as I just got an independent offer to write for an advertiser! It's my first one--and in truth I never even tried to do this aspect of blogging because it seemed rather pie in the sky. However it's happened for real. I'm jazzed actually because it means someone took notice of my work and sought it out specifically.

Overshare

Not quite finished steps to cottage

 

Aug 26, 2008 at 3:45 AM

Did you know I see a shrink once every 3 months? Now you do. I saw him today. I never stay longer than 5 minutes. He makes upwards of $100 for 5 minutes though I think he can only squeeze in maybe 6 patients per hour, leaving the rest for quickly-scrawled mandatory paperwork. Dx: Depression w/anxiety though I think I've had a handle on the depression for about 5 years now. Prior to that other long stretches as well. First time I've been diagnosed with anxiety but it practically ruled my life prior to the heart failure. (Yes, I've wondered if there was a connection as my heart failure was of unknown causes (kinda spooky, not knowing). Anyway Dr. P. is doing medication management--but forgot to ask about that today. ;)

New store with my name...where's the apostrophe?!

 

OK. Gotta go. Twitter updates and Photoshop just to give you something. I'll be back

*Smooches*

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New store with my name...where's the apostrophe?!

I'm not sure if I over-shared this. The Lake had more rain this summer and spring past than it's had in 70 years. That's' before my dad--who is the patriarch--started going up there--before the cottages were built.

My week alone...before spouse groomed the bank ;)

Lake Bottom and my personal flotation device (raft)

Got a little yucky for a short while after storms

 

Twitterific: 8/25/08

Comment spamming my personal blog, catching up. I'm terribly behind.
Twitter is too much for me! Do not deserve the noble moniker "blogger." 10
minutes ago from web

Must finish the great dig--my email--before our trek north Fri to Maple Lake, Ontario, CA. Cottage closing, saying goodbye to the Lake :( (about 2 hours ago from web)

 

Also, I need to drop email from my life completely, forever. *sigh* A fond daydream.

 

Time to make Earl Grey and watch Weeds! about 2 hours ago from web

 

Remembering that I forgot to celebrate 10 yr Anni of not dying from heart failure. Aug 19-a fun day spent at Gameworks for 16 y.o.son's b-day about 2 hours ago from web

Aug 2: Sunset--exactly as it was

 

Days gone bye

Four of them have and I've not got a lot to show for it.
Took son school supply shopping ostensibly for just his engineering class. Dropped $50 in the blink of a eye. Haven't gotten the supply lists for other classes but he thinks that we may not have to purchase 4 extra books for English again this year (we didn't have to but it was suggested so that when mid-term test time rolled around he'd have the books from which a chunk of it was based on).
Remember when all you needed to purchase for school supplies was a pencil and later, a pen? No? Then you are too young to relate. Modern parents buy a tons of stuff and then pay hundreds in book fees.

The second day home I took son and two of his long-times buddies to Gameworks from early afternoon through evening.

Son's 16th birthday and first day of school were yesterday and by then I felt like a wet dish-rag. The long drive home alone from the doesn't really hit me until a day or two later--and that's when (in my fantasies) I chill at home leisurely unpacking. There's been no chilling and nothing leisurely. Also no unpacking.

However I was reminded today of how much I missed the school-day "debriefings" son and I do immediately after school. I get to hear the news of the day whilst it is still fresh and he reinforces what is on his plate for each class. He really doesn't seem to mind it though it came about as a way for him to be better organized/us better informed.

So far, he's really digging his AP Physics and AP Trig and Calc classes. With the exception of one or two friends he's got a goodly amount in each class so the social aspect seems to be off to a good start, too.
Apologies to anyone who I've neglected online. It's just a pretty big deal to go away for a month but leave one person here--one person who does not really clean--yet didn't do anything strikingly bad either. I just have to wipe off everything before I touch it which was exactly as I did for the first week in the cottage after it was sealed up tightly for nine months.
Plus, no person of the male persuation in this house can "see" dust collecting EVERYWHERE.
Housework should be called house hard labour.

So OK, here I am about to attack the gmail. Stay tuned for some graphics of why my drive home took 1.5 hours longer than it should have (14 hours, total).

From Battle Creek to Climax to Kalamazoo, Michigan--one lane highway--many big trucks--top speed 20 mph. Usually 5 or 10 mph. The truckers, me, and other souls who had to shift gears were not really thrilled with this. Burned a quarter tank of gas.

Oh Detroit, what can one say that hasn't already been said? Who made the detour so I had to fear for my life to be able to get back in to the US? It's just a big circle! And my, what a lovely little tour of the city one gets! The construction mini-highway signs seemed to be directing me correctly but as I saw the last choice --94 East and no sign that said 94 West, I pulled into a well-lit Marathon station. The bullet-proof glass looked like it would be highly effective. The nice man inside quickly verified that I just needed to continue down the road and the on-ramp would be on my left. Then he added a grave-sounding "Be careful!" Holy moley. I was being careful--did not need confirmation that this was a scary place. I was sincerely trying get the heck out of there as quickly as my 5-speed would let me. So home is where I am, feeling sort of normal, finally. Still haven't unpacked my suitcase though I've been cheating and getting clothes to wear each day from it so I'll have less to drag out of there.

Think I smell dinner. Hasta.

Happy 16th Birthday, Chris!!!

Chris Turns 16 from Cynthia McCrackan on Vimeo.

 

The "little guy" turned 16 year-old today--plus started his first day of junior year in high school.

School seemed uneventful. I was a bit annoyed that we didn't coordinates things so Chris could get something to eat at school. He has no official lunch period--just half of AP physics, second half--and no one remembered that his lunch card, paid up as it is, wasn't usable until he'd gotten a new mugshot and that was later in the day, during gym class.

He seemed to have a good time with his two good buds yesterday when everyone got an all you can spend card for Gameworks. Plus they left after over 3 hours of play and still had more than half the game time available to them on their game cards--for another day.

Zen and the Art of Canoe Paddling

We bought a canoe at the end of last season with the plan being to use it this season. As luck would have it, the weather has not cooperated, with lots of choppy not-canoe friendly waves on the Lake on most days.
Yesterday, however looked pretty calm so whilst spouse went to town I put the waterproof housing on the camera and headed out.

I did pretty well until I rounded a small point and paddled into a bigger cove and the lake current spun the canoe 90 degrees and then quickly another ninety degrees. At first, I corrected this situation but quickly found myself being spun about repeatedly. I didn't panic as I had all the gear I was supposed to--but this was perhaps the fourth time I've ever been in a canoe in my life. I just had no idea how strong the currents on the seemingly calm lake could be.

I should have realized though with the crazy weather--the 70-year record rainfall--that the lake which is quite deep this year, could behave unpredictably. Anyway it was a learning experience. Our canoe is a light one. Two people would have given it a bit more stability. Also, fighting it is dumb. As soon as I reverted to a more Zen approach which was, "OK it seems the current is taking me this way--I'll go with it until it doesn't and try another way when it stops being so strong," things got a lot better. I ended up coming in from being stuck in the middle of the lake on a diagonal then in more shallow water regaining control of exactly where I needed to go. Still, it took at least a half-dozen attempts to make it in to our beach. 

I noticed a number of beach-goers seemingly watching and I fervently hoped they would not ask me if I needed help. At one point when the current calmed but was still too rough in the direction I wished to go I just pulled out the camera and acted nonchalant. At worst I thought I'll just get in the water and swim, towing the canoe behind me. But it did not come to that and I got off a couple of good snaps with the best being after I landed back on our beach.

Four Days

 

Above: the artist's community here in Haliburton County, Ontario is really blossoming. This is a lovely wood piece at The Art Hive, an Artist's Collective on the other side of Maple Lake from me. She is life-size! The lady who was working today is one of the artists and she couldn't have been nicer and more down to earth.They have a coffee bar there so I have an excuse to wander in whenever. Lovely stop.

Previous post on my Maple Lake Ontario blog with much more info about The Artist's Collective.

Well,it's five days actually that I've been here at the cottage but I slept the entire first day so that doesn't really count.
It was so quiet here all week--peaceful.
However that has changed as of this a.m. when my perpetually in motion weekend neighbour mowed his grass and woke me up. Bless him , he never starts really early but I'd stayed up late watching a terrible online copy of "Hancock" though it was good enough that I'd like to see it in our local (20 miles away) multiplex after the guys get here..

Just spoke with them and it looks like I'll have another two days on my own. Son has his monthly blood test in the morning tomorrow and spouse has shopping and bills to pay so no getaway until Sunday a.m. I think it's better to tie up all loose ends than rush out of there especially since it's a 3-week trip, It'll be different but nicer once my guys get here though.

Must keep the unibrow at bay!

Today I drove top down through the countryside in the sweltering sauna that was this part of the world purely for vanity --to get my roots touched up before taking off to go up north. I only see the folks  that I do once a year--so yeah, don't want them counting back and remembering how old I am even though they know exactly how old I am. Vanity...a very stubborn trait for me. I don't even quit with the eyebrow plucking up there. Really silly standing around tweezing when the outdoors is calling but must keep the unibrow at bay!

Originally posted on theloveumake.vox.com

Strange day.

I was working here at the computer when I looked up and out the window, which I admit I do more than I  probably should.

A silver glint caught my eye. A split second later it was no longer a glint but a street light post toppling over. At the same time a car was driving by and in that second, the street light post and the car made a connection at the point where the back bumper was attached to the car. The car continued on but not far, dozens of feet maybe, lurching over onto the grass, nearly hitting a medium-size tree, and finally with the bumper torn completely off, to a stop on the sidewalk.

No one got hurt thankfully, but it was the first time that I've witnessed a car accident from start to finish.

Continuing with the strange theme, spouse is worried that his new baby "purple" tree will be mistaken by the landscaping guys as a bush so before he left for work today he did this:

Is there a link between Aluminium and Parabens in Antiperspirants and Deodorants?

Pit stains

I was asked to provide my honest opinion about the questions revolving around if there is a correlation between cancer and using parabens and aluminum in cosmetics, antiperspirants and deodorants.

Firstly it goes without saying that we all have an expiration date. The question we are asking is will using "X" cause your expiration date to come sooner than it would have had you not used "X."

To that I have no answer. Certainly on the surface it doesn't sound like a good thing to plug your sweat glands with aluminum compounds, which when activated by your sweat break up into ions to form a plug in the duct of the sweat gland.

However, if you have a job in a setting that is corporate casual and above I can guarantee you that massive sweat stains on your clothes are not going to help your career and hence your ability to make a living and support yourself. If you are not able to work because people in this Western culture are offended by armpit hair on women you won't really fret about the ingredients in your pit stick. You'll be worrying about how you'll keep a roof over your head. 

If it were socially acceptable to leave your armpit hair in place the need for antiperspirants would be eliminated all together and the argument could be put to rest.

My opinion is let people have freedom of choice to use potential cancer-causing agents be they cigarettes, bacon, or anti-perspirants and meanwhile get creative with solutions. If tomorrow it became socially accepted for my pits to do what they should naturally, as soon as my hair grew out, I'd toss the antiperspirant.

In re: paraben. I would encourage people to read the labels on their cosmetics. If you are not comfortable using a product that uses it, stop using it. But again it is not socially acceptable in most work environments for  women to appear at work with a bare face, especially older women. 

The use of aluminum and paraben in cosmetics is a societal issue that is very much worth discussion but  for now it remains a matter of personal choice about how far one is willing to buck what society dictates.

 

A moment or two in my garden of life~ 06.22.08

Drove almost to Wisconsin to our 2 y.o. nephew's birthday party and his bro's baptism dinner. ZOMG! Top down in the Mustang through the country was awesome. Spouse picked up his aunt in his car as we couldn't all fit n the 'stang.

Got great gas mileage even for an 8 cylinder stick!
I am totally needing a shower!

(Below) Our garden pics snapped at 8 p.m.
I love natural light!

It Takes A Village-- and a Ballista

The District 211 Gifted Expo is tonight! My son made a working replica of a Ballista, a war weapon made by the Greeks. The theme of the expo? It Takes A Village.


I suppose Chris will be defending the village?
I would say "a funny story" goes along with this  subject but I don't think at this stage of the game anyone is laughing.

Son dropped the ball during the research phase of this--a culmination of two year's learning with the last half of this school year supposedly dedicated to a project worthy of "the village."
I think it's fair to say that son got overwhelmed and due to pride, immaturity, and/or lack of common sense, he failed to tell us.
He left that up to his teacher, a very well-regarded chap who has been running the Critical Thinking program at Fremd High School since it's inception about 20 years ago (he retires this year). Chris's teacher called me about 3 weeks ago with the bad news that to him, Chris had "given up" on the project. I asked what to do and teacher advised conjuring a miracle or dropping the class.

When I talked to son I gave him the options and surprising me, he chose to attempt a miracle. So, for the past three weeks every spare minute has been dedicated to this project with completion just happening 10 minutes before he needed to leave to get to the event 2 hours before it commences, during which all the kids will check out each other's projects and have a meal together.

Spouse, in the construction of the Ballista, must have "run to" Home Depot at least two dozen times. Not exaggerating. This was a huge, hairy deal. It was also very costly though spouse gets to keep lots of shiny new tools.
I had nothing to do with the making of the weapon except for the mom thing. I had a lot more input into teaching Chris some Photoshop tricks for the photos he took of his creation, stage by stage.
He was quite surprised at the length of time one can pour into such endeavors.
Getting the Ballista to function correctly was one thing but the presentation board was a large component as well. Oh yeah. This time I thoroughly vetted the clothes he was to wear. His brother even gave him a shirt that is quite styish. :)

On none of it did his dad or I overtly try to manipulate the project. It is after all, his.
Son and spouse just went ripping out of here so I haven't even seen the finished presentation board. I'll see it at the show for which I now must go get ready and get myself suburban mom-looking.
Cheers!

Mini Golf~ Memorial Day Weekend

The Affair Is Over

I've never made cookies from scratch but it was cookie day in advanced chemistry for younger son and he and his lab partners chose white chocolate Macadamia nut cookies to make variations of. At home.

He did most of the work but until yesterday had no clue about how to crack an egg w/out it dripping goo everywhere.

The cookies were a big hit but truly, when are homemade cookies not? Each kid brought a 2 dozen or more cookies of different flavours from mocha chip to sugar to oatmeal raisin and then shared but, "What of the excess?", I asked.

In my son's case he brought his extra cookies to his English class where people "swarmed" around him and by luck, there was enough for all. I asked him if there was any point in terms of learning and he said no, it was just cookie day, though he did learn how to properly crack an egg. :)

On the topic of sweet stuff however, oldest son chose to give me my Mother's Day present early--a fancy- wrapped box of Godiva chocolates in a pretty gift bag, which though welcome, got snarfed pretty quickly. Glad the box was small-ish.

I don't know if it's just me but Godiva milk chocolate has a bit too much of a creamy, almost fatty, mouth feel. It's definitely not something I'd want too often. I'm more a Snickers type of chocolate eater. Never really got down with expensive candy <shrug>. I did use to love chocolate but it appears the affair is over.

Update/Danny Federici, Springsteen and E Street's Longtime Keyboardist, Dies At 58

Update from the Funeral Home (below) Also, from Danny's family: The Danny Federici Melanoma Fund

"Fourth Of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)" featuring Danny Federici, Bruce and E Street, Indianapolis 3/2008.

Danny rejoined the band one last time.

Hard to watch but lovely performance. At the very end of the song Bruces gives Danny a buss on the cheek and says "I love you."

When I saw Springsteen and The E Street Band last month in Milwaukee it was clear to me that I'd missed my last chance to see and hear Danny Federici with the full band.

When Bruce spoke about Danny, he did so briefly but meaningfully. I happened to be watching the monitor with the huge image of Bruce from the shoulders up as he took a short break to explain Danny's absence and to urge folks in the audience to give to the Food Bank in the lobby. When he mentioned that they "hoped" to have Danny "back on the next leg of the tour," a flash of sadness etched Bruce's face. I knew in that moment just about a month ago, that Springsteen knew how grave Danny's condition was. Even when you "know" someone will be dying soon, you often still hope against hope for a miracle. It truly appeared that Bruce was heartbroken but showman that he is, he stashed away that part of himself for the show's duration.

Sadly, Danny Federici's life and so his gift of music, was truncated after he succumbed on Thursday after years of battling melanoma.

RIP (Rock on In Peace), Danny

Federici, left, with the E Street Band.

Photo: Supplied

April 18, 2008 - 2:49PM

Danny Federici, the longtime keyboard player for Bruce Springsteen whose stylish work helped define the E Street Band's sound on hits from Hungry Heart through The Rising has died. He was 58.

Federici, who had battled melanoma for three years, died at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centre in New York on Thursday.

News of his death was posted on Springsteen's official website.

He last performed with Springsteen and the band last month, appearing during portions of a March 20 show in Indianapolis.

"Danny and I worked together for 40 years - he was the most wonderfully fluid keyboard player and a pure natural musician. I loved him very much ... we grew up together," Springsteen said in a statement posted on his website.

Springsteen concerts scheduled for Friday in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and Saturday in Orlando were postponed.

Federici was born in Flemington, New Jersey, a long car ride from the Jersey shore haunts where he first met kindred musical spirit Springsteen in the late 1960s.

The pair often jammed at the Upstage Club in Asbury Park, New Jersey, a now-defunct after-hours club that hosted the best musicians in the state.

It was Federici, along with original E Street Band drummer Vini Lopez, who first invited Springsteen to join their band.

By 1969, the self-effacing Federici - often introduced in concert by Springsteen as Phantom Dan - was playing with the Boss in a band called Child.

Over the years, Federici joined his friend in acclaimed shore bands Steel Mill, Dr Zoom and the Sonic Boom and the Bruce Springsteen Band.

Federici became a stalwart in the E Street Band as Springsteen rocketed from the boardwalk to international stardom. Springsteen split from the E Streeters in the late '80s, but they reunited for a hugely successful tour in 1999.

"Bruce has been supportive throughout my life," Federici said in a recent interview with Backstreets magazine.

"I've had my ups and downs, and I've certainly given him a run for his money, and he's always been there for me."

Federici played accordion on the wistful 4th Of July, Asbury Park (Sandy) from Springsteen's second album, and his organ solo was a highlight of Springsteen's first top 10 hit, Hungry Heart.

His organ coda on the 9/11-inspired Springsteen song You're Missing provided one of the more heart-wrenching moments on The Rising in 2002.

In a band with larger-than-life characters such as saxophonist Clarence Clemons and bandanna-wrapped guitarist Little Steven Van Zandt, Federici was content to play in his familiar position to the side of the stage. But his playing was as vital to Springsteen's live show as any instrument in the band.

If you're getting one, how are you planning on spending your tax refund?

Spouse finally finished our income taxes last night and we get a refund!

Also, he informed me that the silly Economic Stimulus Act 2008 “rebate” which is 5 times the size of the tax refund is going to really help towards vacation. (We try to break even. Using the US government as a no-interest-earning savings account does not compute for us.)  It will pan out that we are going to spend most of our "big American dollars" in my native Canada.

What is that saying, "As Canada goes, so goes the United States."?

I kid, I kid. It used to be the other way around but I think in some key ways the Canada of today is more European-leaning than USA-following. IMO, the "foot down" moment was when Canada would not follow the USA into the Iraq war though they did, like a number of other countries send military support-- and bore the casualties.

I love the States. But not the "rebate."

Note to Bush: These rebates need to go to pay the quadrillion dollar National
Debt you've racked up on the war and other bad choices, dumb-a$$.

Transition/ While we were walking Raven last night spouse reminded that his itty-bitty work bonus is being distributed in a month as well. In order of size we have Geo. Bushes rebate, and both the tax refund and the work "bonus" are about the same–not very big, but together nothing to sneeze at.

I think that like many people, we’ve been spooked by the thought of gasoline prices getting even higher over the summer and how much that may curtail our usual plans. It’s with enormous relief that I can anticipate a slight financial uptick for us and have the ability to start really planning for fun times!

It’s been a long, cold, wet winter and it’s so nice to be able to realistically plan for summer vacation!/edit

We hashed out all the days off tonight. We are less restained so far this year with son only going to summer school for half the summer (driver's ed--another post) and then needing a dermatologist appt/ blood test once a month. And spouse was granted another week's vacation having been with the Company 10 years so yay! for vacation.

So we'll be merrily burning up gasoline going back and forth all summer if all goes as planned.

I''ll also need to get the Interent installed at Maple Lake if I'm staying half the summer in total~ Two long weekends  for putting together/putting away the cottage plus possibly six weeks! This is very exciting stuff.

I'm just going to fret about the Internet*** until then as it's satellite and expensive. Bleh. I'll dive into that later today.

***Long story about begging for Internet in the woods of Ontario at: My other other blog ~ Maple Lake Ontario .

Beware! Meme and Johnny Depp 2008 Ahead!

I blame Broke and Angry for all the time I spent on this. Fun, but time-consuming!

To do this meme:

Go to your search engine and type in your answer to the following questions. Then click on the "image" results and pick one photo from the first page of results.

1. Age at my next birthday (not fair! I just had a birthday!):

2. Place I'd like to travel: Paradise Island

      

                              3. My favourite place:

4. Favourite object(s): (mine is zinc yellow tho')                              

5. Favorite food (I picked holiday food):

         

Pecan pie

6. Favourite animal:

Schipperke dog

This little guy looks a lot like our Raven when she was younger. So much that I'd think it was Raven --but of course, it's not. heh. (Plus, Raven doesn't have boy parts.)

7. What my pet's name is:

I like "Raven's" cape. :)
More after jump...(Click--->)

A Study In Sleep

Well I've now visited the sleep disorder clinic that I'll be spending the night of December 11th in.

It's located on the other side of town in an area that has a slew of executive-type mo/hotels so that part seems okay. There was no one there except the doctor and the the receptionist--both not native English speaking but fluent English speakers. The doctor was very anxious for my approval on my sleeping quarters which since this is brand new clinic, looked like a model-home bedroom. But the decor--oh my. Lot of gold and red brocade. Very, very rich-looking. Makes my bedroom  at home seem vanilla in the extreme.

Kind of like this in richness. Red and gold throughout.

I am absolutely taking my camera as I've had a sleep study before and for me there was actually a minimal amount of sleep involved.

Lots of wires and machinery and--the worst part is that a dude is watching you on a monitor. Who can sleep soundly with all that going on?

I don't have issues with sleeping anymore now that I've realized that I'm not "on" Central Time. When I visit California--a two hours earlier time zone--I can get to sleep around midnight-1 a.m. which is much different than not being able to sleep much before 3 a.m. here. I just can't cotton to the notion that because one can't sleep  on a so-called normal schedule--yet one gets about eight hours each 24--that there is a problem. The only reason I awake during the 8-hours that I usually sleep is the dog barking or a quick trip to the bathroom because I take a handful of pills at bedtime (have to). Otherwise, I'm all good. I could be wrong  though so the proof should be in the results of my night in the red and gold room.

As the doc explained what would happen--including being put to bed at 9:30 p.m. and coffee brought in for  me at 6 a.m. my mind drifted to what I'm usually doing through the wee hours of the morning--working online--so I asked if there was wi-fi and he said yes--but then went on to say that Internet would interfere with their machinery-- which I understand. I guess we had a bit of a breakdown in communications but no worries--I can take one night off from work.

Cheers!

Which person from your past, who you've lost touch with, do you wonder about the most?

Jerry Goldstein, of New York City and Huntington Beach, California.                                     (webshot taken  on 11.13.07)

We met in Southern California. I was very young and on my own after moving out to California with my then-boyfriend fiancé--then splitting with him but not being able to get my own place.

Jerry was my across-the-courtyard neighbour in Huntington Beach and he kind of took me in when my ex-bf was around. He was ten years older than me, changing careers working on become a teacher, divorced with a precocious six-year-old daughter, Eve. He had visitation but other than when Eve was there every other weekend his place was an open door--to anyone who needed it. Jerry was not highly active. He liked Tai Chi, television, and Springsteen. We'd watch MASH reruns, listen to the Bruce. He had some cool friends who introduced me to Tarot. We had some good day trips to places like Santa Barbara. We all were weed smokers, not drinkers. We sat upon oversize pillows and the futon and passed the bong around. (To put this in perspective, this was the late, late 70's and possession of personal amounts was very minor, so no judging (about this) in comments, okay?)

When I was away from my family for the first time one Christmas he had me over to his place while he and Eve made Brownies. Jerry was a non-observant Jew--no Christmas either.

Anyway, I lost Jerry's friendship when I hooked up with the father of my oldest son. When he found out that I'd visited Jerry he'd knock me around. I didn't have the sense to leave that hellish relationship and once my fiance stormed into Jerry's house and dragged me out by the hair, having threatened everyone there with death if they ever contacted me, I didn't ever chance seeing Jerry again. It was and still is one of the biggest regrets of my life as Jerry was my first true-blue platonic guy friend. I can't say that I've ever had that depth of friendship with a man since. And it's a real loss.

Human Guinea Pig

Allow me to feel a wee bit sorry for myself for about five minutes.

My heart failure specialist up and took a great job on the east coast (I'm in the Midwest US). I'd trusted him for years with my health which in general, has been good. Before he left he made sure I had another doctor and set my appointment 6 months down the road. Last night around 10 p.m., as we were walking the dog, spouse joked about how early I'd have to get up today. I was pretty mystified until he explained that there was a VM message from the doc's office last night confirming my appointment for this morning.

Shit!

New doctor.

A million questions later he's ordered a sleep study (not again!) blood work, an echo cardiogram, and a return office visit in two months. Also, he doesn't like the life extension drug I'm on--wants to go back to a better one--Coreg which made me sick as they raised the levels on it when I first tried it. I didn't argue as body chemistry changes.<shrug>

And Dad, if you read this, despite not ever meeting you, my new heart failure specialist is convinced that you have sleep apnea and need treatment ASAP! Plus he'll recommend a "brilliant doctor" out of Johns Hopkins!

He was very big on genetic connections which is interesting and all but I'm more of a big picture gal.

Damn. I'm such a baby. Scrutinized. Analyzed, How much did I weigh when I graduated high school? (I went through a horrible breakup with my first love just prior to graduation and had lost weight--which number means something? I hate this stuff!)

High School Graduation

I will give myself an ever-so-slight pat on the back as I went and got stabbed directly from the doctor's office so the blood work was done but the phlebotomist was awful! Huge stabby pain, ginormous bruise now.

I had to page the sleep study doctor to make an appointment (wha?). To his credit, he returned my call fairly quickly.

Okay. I'm done with my bitch-and-moan-fest. I'll save the rest for post-sleep study.

Meanwhile, feel free to refer to me as the human guinea pig.

What Classic Movie Are You?/Moxie Saves The Day

Moxie saves the day with her test as I've had an awful time getting some phone camera pics to "travel" to the desktop Verizon account. It worked before so I..maybe I should just use what I'm used to which is the real camera. :/

I took this test a number of years ago and I did not get this result. I answered 27 questions for this which I realize is not all that scientific. :p

The weekend so far is kind of "meh" with weather to match. With any luck, tomorrow will be more upbeat. Will pro ably hit the Salt Creek Trail with son and dog. Spouse is back to working  weekends though there may be light on the horizon.  We'll see. Fingers crossed.

What Classic Movie Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

I'm going to take the longer version as I'm putting off writing adverts.

Ha! I like this one better. Forty-five questions.

What Classic Movie Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

For Good Or Ill

I spend a lot of time on line, more now than in years as I'm working as well as "playing."

I dunno. I suppose I feel a bit defensive about the amount of time I'm here because "people"  make assumptions about what being online means. These are often people who spend little to no time online--though they may sit at work on a computer all day doing stuff mostly offline. Or maybe I am feeling defensive about my lousy typing.

                                                                                                                                              Me! Why not build you?

Over the years, I've spent untold hours working on my TypePad blog. I wouldn't have had this kind of time if it were not for my heart failure and the resulting full disability. Let's just say life would have been a lot different in re: me and the Internet and leave it at that.

When I first got online all those years ago things were much less "cohesive," IMO than they are now.

I know there were and still are places like IRC and forums where people can connect but as most everyone online knows, the explosion  of "social interfaces"--blogs are an example-- has changed what it means to be online.

I shan't go into great detail at the moment other than to say it would not surprise me if  what "being online" means transforms again and again in at most, several year increments.

Meanwhile, being online for me means a lot of things: communication, making friends throughout the world, sometimes travelling to meet said friends for "meet-ups," learning of other cultures, having fun picking up British slang,  having a better understanding of how it must feel to have to communicate in a language foreign to you all the time, and feeling connected in a way that would otherwise be impossible. That's the fun stuff--for starters.

All I need to do to fully illustrate how integrated the Internet is into my life is to not have it. Comcast, our Internet cable provider, went down--again-- this week for 5 hours. I was just getting ready to file my final paid post for the day --it was written and proofread when out went the cable. In this case we lost everything--phone, television and cable Internet.

So when I went to check my iGoogle page to see what was happening news-wise? No go. (Tee-vee news? You've got to be kidding--unless you count Jon Stewart--but no teevee this time.) Going out? Check the local weather forecast to know whether I'd need a jacket? Nope. Email? Nothing there, either. None of this is "playtime" but all of it is online--and it's just for starters.

I suppose since I'm not a techie, per se--I can write enough code to install widgets and italicize but not a heckuva lot more--that I'm nowhere near fully integrated with the Internet way of life. I don't even play games online or otherwise. Still, whether it's considered a type of pathology to be online for hours on end or not, is really a mute point. The Internet is an established presence in my life for good or ill.

Some goofy "down time" stuff  I did yesterday (below and at top):

Here's a gift for you

My son age 15, is in a "special class" for the student who scored in the top five percent upon testing for entrance into high school. He will tell you that he "tests well," which is quite true and if one looks a bit more deeply he, like we lessor-gifted in test-taking folks, has some areas that need improvement.

Organisation is a big one and has been so since he first went in to elementary school gifted in grade 3. He tested well then too but his downfall so to speak, was remembering to do his homework and bring it to class on it's due date.

He's come a long way but he's still forgetful and he tends to put off things he doesn't really want to do--which is a very human thing to do, I get that.

Anyway, this week he needs to contact an Aerospace Engineer and interview him or her for 30-40 minutes about his/her job.

This is based on his stated desire to pursue an Engineering Degree with Aerospace coming out on top with eight other types of engineering--plus one that indicated he may be good at/enjoy optometry!?!

But when you think Aerospace Engineering what comes to mind in terms of an employer? The government. Our government. He wants someone from our government or a government contractor, whilst we are in the middle of an undeclared war (unless you count the war on terrorism) to talk...about anything?!

I'm fairly sure government employees/contractors throughout the spectrum have been told to clam up to interviews, never mind one that could skirt dangerously close to revealing war secrets and such.

So far, Northrup Grumman has politely said "no" and Boeing has said probably not. The paper is supposed to be completed by the end of this week and I just don't see how that is possible.

My gut feel is that he knew this was coming--just not when exactly and if he'd gotten started on it a while ago he-- "we"  more precisely, as I'm the official "can I bounce this idea off you/what do 'ya think of this?" person because a. I'm mom and b. I'm in proximity--if he'd started sooner this time-crunch thing wouldn't be such a big deal. For me.

Okay, I'm way too wound up about this. Ack! He's in second year high school and I've completely got my panties in a bunch.

No Internets?! How Will We Survive?

There were _really_ high winds today here in the Northwest (of)Chicago suburbs. It's completely flat here. There are no natural barriers to the wind like say, some good-sized hills. Hills would help a bit. We happen to live in an area where a lot of trees were planted about 35 years ago and they are rather big and seemingly, coming to the end of their life-cycles--at least that's the visual cues I pick up after a big, windy day like today.

I had the window to the house open as it was again balmy.  Papers were blowing about and the dog did not like it but it's hard for me to say goodbye to windows-open weather. I was just getting started on what is known as a "paid op" when I heard a loud crack followed almost immediately by the complete loss of power to the house.

After a couple hours the power came back up though I didn't think we'd be so lucky and was about to set out to the nearest wifi place (which turned out to be Panera Baking Company--maybe it wouldn't have been so bad). But now that I've seen the badly damaged tree that cut our electricity--it's down the street a bit--but still in front of the condo complex--I'm wondering how they got the power back on because the tree branch which is as big in circumference of some of the newer trees in the area, is still resting across on the the power line making the power line droop in an ominous-looking way. Plus, one of the "support" cables that keeps the telephone--looking pole uh, standing, is snapped right off and it's dangling. I'm a bit freaked but I was more so when I lost the Internets.

Anyway, I need to go write another op.  I got behind today due to the forces of nature.

A Treat For Me? Unheard Of!

It finally happened. I was blogging about a great coupon place and--dang!--I saw a great coupon (surprise!) and it went for something that I've been needing (avert your eyes guys, if you don't wanna know)-- bras--ten dollars off each and plus another 20% from the site itself. That takes care of shipping, tax and still saves me $20!

And while I was there I had to take a peek at the cozy sleepwear as it has gone from Marathon runner-killing heat to brrrrrr windy-wet-cold in matter of days and besides I live work in my lounge-wear.

It still was ridiculously inexpensive. I'm sure my spouse will agree. 

Secret shopping

*NOT a Sponsored piece.

How Does One Learn Fear?

Recently, I've come across a small handful of bloggers cataloging their scars, both within and without, in extraordinary detail.
It has reminded me of a simple exercise that I was asked to engage in as a post-graduate student of clinical counseling.

One way to ascertain a client's world view (or the colour of the lenses through which she sees the world), is to ask her to recall some events that stand out clearly in her mind, that had happened to her before the age of six, as well as the emotions attached to them. It is most helpful if the client can recall at least five or six separate events.

The first event that I can recall took place during the summer I was four years old, as my mother and I were traveling in our red Austin Mini from our home in a Toronto suburb, to the family cottage in the Haliburton Highlands -- a trek of about 140 miles. At some point in our journey, my mother became so annoyed with my incessant chattering that she stopped the car and put me out at the side of the road-- a remote two-lane highway edged with thick, forested hills with huge walls of granite in the places where the highway had been carved out of the countryside.

I remember being very cross with her, and I also quite clearly recall hoping for a policeman to come along, as I would flag him down and boy, would she be in big trouble.

In fact, I don't recall any cars driving by in the 20 minute period that I first stood then sat alone on a boulder, about 20 feet back from the side of the highway. When my mother returned she got the quiet she wished for, as I seethed silently for the remainder of our journey on the hilly, twisting highway leading to the cottage.

An interesting point where her and my recollections diverge, is that I recall the period that she was "missing" as being about 2 hours. She says it was twenty minutes. I guess we'll never know, but I do think it's plausible that upon backtracking, she drove by me by a number of times not seeing me because I was mostly hidden by the ground cover. I may have wanted it that way to spite her.

Though the time frame may be in dispute, I recall the rest of this incident with crystal clarity from the time she put me out of the car, until we reached the cottage ("safety," in my mind). My most potent emotions were feeling rejected and feeling angry. My mother literally tossed me away and as the minutes went by, I felt quite sure she would never return.
So what piece of my world view did I begin to acquire all those years ago?

Fear of rejection and fear of anger and avoidance of both, whenever possible.

This is just one incident, hardly enough to explain who I am or how I arrived at this point, but in continuing the exercise, other facets of one's personality can become quite clear. This little exercise is not meant to sum up one's life story. It is simply one of many useful tools to better understand yourself.

And now it's 3 a.m.

I had a great day! It was beautiful again outside--sunny and crisp. In the morning I had my coffee on my little deck in back and did an mini pedicure just so I could stay outside longer. Then I went top-down to the dentist and I left with flying colours! On the way home I ditched the rush-hour traffic and ducked into an acquaintance's little consignment shop and shopped for the first time since May (not including stops on vacation and online). I found a roomy ridiculously huge leather handbag--black with brown trim and a small silver heart embellishment.I found a wallet that's a near match, too. I love to buy throw pillows at this shop 'cos I can buy them for a song and after I've tossed them in the wash--volia! I've sorta redocorated. Plus I love to have a ton of pillows on my bed and for getting comfy with when I settle in for a movie or (much more rarely) a teevee show. I found some other things too but they are more practical. And I had a nice convo with the co-owner who I've not seen in way too long. Then I came home and took care of some gardening. (Okay, I watered the Impatiens--they were wilting in the sun.) And when I came inside and opened the mail I got a nice surprise and props from the company I do paid posts for. Neat-o!

And now it's 3 a.m. and I'm going to keep reading Harry Potter V. I'm enjoying this one the best so far  (of 5, 6 & 7).

Goodnight and have a pleasant tomorrow.

Too Much Pink!

Yesterday, despite the soaring temperatures outside, I felt like an unbearable, cold awfulness was enveloping me.

Though simplistic sounding, when bad things happen to me the sooner I can get going on something positive--move forward--beyond--the worst thing for me is to be stuck spinning my wheels going 'round and 'round with self-doubt, insecurity, fear---the sooner I can pack things up and move on, the better.

My mind has been racing so I haven't slept much at all in the last 24 hrs.

Replaying and replaying what was one of the biggest left-field occurrences to have happened to me in more than a year.

Reeling, I tried to process it all so I could let it go, move beyond it, but the grip of fear held tight.

Finally, a few hours ago this thing, this ugly good-for-nothing baggage that I was heaving around--I put it down.

I've stopped--for now anyway--trying to figure out why people do the inhumane things they do. I realize that I was let off pretty easy. I've landed on my feet, making a good recovery.

Our front "yard"-- it's a condo so technically, no. Shhh! Don't tell my spouse.

Original (framed)

Bevel Finish

Hair & *%@! Storms

Testing

I haven't set foot in a hair salon for at least 10 years--probably more. My friend does hair at a salon and "on the side" at her house in her cool little salon. Anyway I'm pretty sure she's giving me a deal ($67 for full colour, cut, highlights)as it is a huge haul to drive three counties away for the touch of her magic hands.    

Hey look there's Lake Michigan!

I may have gotten burned--even with 30 sunblock today--but it was a gorgeous top-down day.

On the way home I got bombarded by a truck full of shit something that smelt really bad and which kept whizzing by my head as it fell off the truck. It was one lane of course. I still have to transfer those photos to the computer. I'll get to it tomorrow.

Shit flying makes quite a picture.

edit/

Exhibit "A"

edit/* Though when it was actually flying I guess partial sanity kicked in so I'm disappointed to now find that I did not get a snap of the cloud of shit mulch that was hurtling by (it had nothing to do with the fact that I barely know how to use my phone camera at 55 miles per hour whilst driving a stick shift).

Kinda blonde. It should tone down.

What am I, chopped Spam?

By By John Tierney         

Every message incorporates another message in the way it is delivered, whether it’s an e-mail or a ransom note pinned to an ear... this is called metanotification, a term coined by sociologist Dan Ryan. The metamessage is usually less gruesome than a body part, although once a CC: list reaches critical mass it has a horror all its own. Dr. Ryan said that in barraging me with “friendly-fire spam,” my correspondents were also telling me:

• “I’m too busy to be bothered thinking much about whether and why you, recipient, might actually want to know this.”
• “At this moment I’m treating you just like everyone else in my address book.”
• I have this category for you — "*****" — and some really crude and naïve sense of what you must be interested in, and I think that I’m plugged into the stuff that’s going on in the world a lot better than you are, so you’re lucky that I’m your eyes and ears out here.”

“...But it’s still spam, and you don’t expect that from friends."

How does one politely decline getting spammed by friends? Filtering them seems kind of cheap but so does not telling them how irritating their unending "forwards" are. Anyone? --C.