text:
“Man of Steel” Changing Major Superman Storyline!?

Man of SteelPossible Spoiler Alert!!

There’s speculation that the new film “Man of Steel” is making a huge change to the Superman story. The rumor is that his planet Krypton still exists and that it was never destroyed. At the very least, this is going to make the whole idea of sticking a newborn in rocket a lot harder to explain.

Read more at io9.com

  1. Morgan : from parts unknown

    May 4, 2013 at 1:24 pm

    Superman’s parents weren’t ready for a child, because they wanted to party and do drugs. Annnnd that’s why they shipped him off to smelly earth.

    • Punk0

      May 4, 2013 at 2:49 pm

      Morgan : from parts unknown Yes.  They don’t have public assistance on Krypton, so there was really no incentive to keep him.

  2. Binary Daoist

    May 4, 2013 at 1:36 pm

    I don’t think anything can help such a stale character

  3. hackcomic

    May 4, 2013 at 1:49 pm

    who cares superman is too powerful

    He should be vulnerable to electricity and magic ( mind control ) like he used to be..
    look it up

  4. JoshFromEaston

    May 4, 2013 at 1:59 pm

    Maybe the possible destruction of Krypton was their version of the Mayan calendar thing, and his parents were just really stupid.

  5. Moe Green

    May 4, 2013 at 2:58 pm

    So Superman is a post-birth abortion?

  6. Stoops

    May 4, 2013 at 3:59 pm

    I am waiting until the new Reeve Superman comes out. Forget this nonsense.

  7. Roadrash Hicks

    May 4, 2013 at 4:18 pm

    OMG!  (not really)

  8. Beer

    May 4, 2013 at 4:44 pm

    So where is his iron suit?

  9. rexdart936

    May 4, 2013 at 4:51 pm

    it’s sad his only three career paths were crime fighting, sideshow freak and newspaper reporter.

  10. JonNockels

    May 4, 2013 at 5:27 pm

    I mean this time…if the Riddler isn’t in this one, I’m NEVER watching another movie again.

    • Mister Obvious

      May 4, 2013 at 5:28 pm

      JonNockels Who does that remind me of

  11. rexdart936

    May 4, 2013 at 5:29 pm

    i wonder how many of his blowjobs ended in the death of the hooker?

  12. vegascable

    May 4, 2013 at 6:24 pm

    Rewrite the bible why your at it why don’t you? Goddamn sacralidge

    • nullzero00

      May 4, 2013 at 7:45 pm

      vegascable why not? plenty of early popes had the bible rewritten, or entire sections removed.

  13. Anus Magillicutty

    May 4, 2013 at 6:24 pm

    If his parents didn’t want to be around him, they could have just died like hicks parents did.

  14. American First

    May 4, 2013 at 6:44 pm

    As long as it’s not some homophic writer it’s all good.

  15. Christopher Brooklyn

    May 4, 2013 at 6:56 pm

    I thought Kryton did exist..in that bottle. They have to change the story..he is invincible and nothing hurts him..yet he is the most boring character ever…and he fucks Margo Kitter..WOOF

  16. Vickroy

    May 4, 2013 at 7:12 pm

    And so Kryptonite doesn’t exist?

    • Pepper Hicks Coughing Fit

      May 5, 2013 at 3:14 am

      It exists in the imagination

  17. Badmotherrucker

    May 4, 2013 at 7:13 pm

    I don’t care. I don’t care. I don’t care. (everybody) I don’t care. I don’t care. He doesn’t care. I DON’T CARE!

  18. Delcomark

    May 4, 2013 at 10:10 pm

    Lemme guess, Fez hates


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Learn Japanese with JapanesePod101.com

View topic - Magicians

NO SPAM ALLOWED! Discuss stuff not related to Japan or Japanese. The rules are the same in this forum as in the other forums.

Postby Ino » Tue 02.27.2007 7:34 pm

So, I just recently saw the best two movies ever made, both about Magicians. The Illusionist, and The Prestige. Absolutely fantastic works of art!! So does anybody know of any movies similar to these that they absolutely love? Or, if you have seen either of them, DIDN'T YOU JUST LOVE THEM???

Anyway, thanks,

User avatar
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RE: Magicians

Postby Strawberry_Juice » Tue 02.27.2007 7:36 pm

I haven't seen The Prestige yet, but The Illusionist was pretty awesome. Even if the ending was completely corny.

Mmmmm. Eward Norton. :p
Posts: 145
Joined: Sun 12.04.2005 11:48 pm

RE: Magicians

Postby flammable hippo » Tue 02.27.2007 8:25 pm

The Prestige was ok...it wasn't too great and a lot of it seemed "out there" even though it seemed like it was supposed to have a realistic feel to it.

I haven't seen the illusionist.
Two muffins were baking in an oven. One turns to the other and says "sure is hot in here." The other replies "AH TALKING MUFFIN!"

二つのマフィンがオーブンで焼かれていた。片方のマフィンがもう一方のマフィンに向かって、"暑いね”と言った。すると、話しかけられたほうのマフィンは"アッ！喋るマフィンだ！”と驚いた。　:)
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Posts: 885
Joined: Sun 03.19.2006 4:29 pm
Native language: English
Gender: Male

RE: Magicians

Postby Kagemaru » Tue 02.27.2007 8:33 pm

I watch this guy on T.V often.
User avatar
Posts: 522
Joined: Sun 09.17.2006 8:56 am
Location: 奈良
Native language: Greek
Gender: Male

RE: Magicians

Postby aKuMu » Tue 02.27.2007 8:38 pm

Kagemaru wrote:
I watch this guy on T.V often.

Yes, the one and only ;)
Posts: 636
Joined: Sun 12.04.2005 8:19 pm
Native language: German

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urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:thejessicka and that's it. . . i'm going back to bed Jessic[k]a 2011-03-18T23:03:55Z urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:thejessicka:437534 2010 book list 2011-03-18T23:03:55Z 2011-03-18T23:03:55Z buddy holly - it's so easy 2010 Book List
01. Tamsin by Peter S. Beagle
02. Rubbish! The Archaeology of Garbage by William Rathje and Cullen Murphy
03. Hitler's Women by Guido Knopp
04. I See by my Outfit by Peter S. Beagle
05. A Fine and Private Place by Peter S. Beagle
06. The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire that Saved America by Timothy Egan
07. Aspirin: The Remarkable Story of a Wonder Drug by Diarmuid Jeffreys
08. Coraline: The Graphic Novel by P. Craig Russell
09. The Last Stand: Custer, Sitting Bull, and the Battle of the Little Bighorn by Nathaniel Philbrick
10. Blue Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson
11. Role Models by John Waters
12. Bloody Crimes: The Chase for Jefferson Davis and the Death Pageant for Lincoln's Corpse by James L. Swanson
13. Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement without Giving In by Roger Fisher
14. Folk of the Air by Peter S. Beagle
15. Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed by Jared Diamond urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:thejessicka:437248 2009 book list 2010-02-02T20:32:44Z 2010-02-02T20:32:44Z franz ferdinand - franz ferdinand 2009 Book List
01. The Line Between by Peter S. Beagle
02. Bottlemania: How Water Went on Sale and Why We Bought It by Elizabeth Royte
03. Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson
04. Opium: A History by Martin Booth
05. Feast: A History of Grand Eating by Roy Strong
06. Green Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson
07. Meet You in Hell: Andrew Carnegie, Henry Clay Frick, and the Bitter Partnership that Transformed America by Les Standiford
08. Beyond Ecophobia: Reclaiming the Heart in Nature Education by David Sobel
09. The Great Mortality: An Intimate History of the Black Death, the Most Devastating Plague of All Time by John Kelly
10. Drink: A Cultural History of Alcohol by Iain Gately
11. We Never Talk About My Brother by Peter S. Beagle
12. The Private Life of the Rabbit: An Account of the Life History and Social Behavior of the Wild Rabbit by R. M. Lockley
13. Banana: The Fate of the Fruit That Changed the World by Dan Koeppel
14. Survivor: A Novel by Chuck Palahniuk
15. The Rhinoceros who Quoted Nietzsche and Other Odd Acquaintances by Peter S. Beagle
16. The Meaning of Everything: The Story of the Oxford English Dictionary by Simon Winchester
17. Shaken and Stirred: Through the Martini Glass and Other Drinking Adventures by William L. Hamilton
18. Bolt of Fate: Benjamin Franklin and His Electric Kite Hoax by Tommy N. Tucker
19. A Lion Among Men: Volume Three in the Wicked Years by Gregory Maguire
20. Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire
21. Son of a Witch by Gregory Maguire
22. DeForest Kelley: A Harvest of Memories, My Life & Times with a Remarkable Gentleman Actor by Kristine Smith urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:thejessicka:435571 thejessicka @ 2009-07-22T08:52:00 2009-07-22T15:56:55Z 2009-07-22T15:56:55Z this friday we are doing tacos at www.underdogssf.com because the awesome miss sheri is in town and wants to check the place out. hope to see you there!

now back to work. . . urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:thejessicka:435424 thejessicka @ 2009-06-26T10:22:00 2009-06-26T17:26:48Z 2009-06-26T17:26:48Z reminder - tacos and margaritas tonight for my bd at www.underdogssf.com. text wolf (or me if you don't have his number) if you're coming. urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:thejessicka:435107 thejessicka @ 2009-06-23T08:27:00 2009-06-23T15:33:41Z 2009-06-23T15:34:45Z posting this now since who knows when i'll be able to get back online with this crazy busy new job. . . .

this friday, tacos and margaritas here for mah birthday. 6 to 6:30 margaritas are $1. they have foods and full bar all night. we'll get there around 5:30-5:45 to grab a table and will be there for a few hours. feel free to show up whenever, but shoot me or wolf a text so we know to keep an eye out for ya. i'll try to post a reminder later if i can. urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:thejessicka:434606 two things 2009-05-22T16:32:35Z 2009-05-22T16:32:35Z 1) tonight we're going to tacos and margaritas at www.underdogssf.com for wolf's birthday. we'll get there around 5:30. $1 margaritas go from 6 to 6:30. we'll probably stay until 7:30 or 8 or maybe later depending on how the night goes. text (or comment here) if you're going to come and around about what time you think you'll get there.

2) a coworker needs to find a new home for his adorable dog. conan is an 11 month old german shepherd pit bull mix. he is lovable, friendly, loves walks, absolutely loves people, and knows commands in portuguese like sit and stay. let me know if you or anyone you know wants to possibly give him a new home.

 urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:thejessicka:434431 thejessicka @ 2009-05-14T15:31:00 2009-05-14T22:36:59Z 2009-05-14T22:36:59Z notified today that i got the MST promotion effective may 12th. urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:thejessicka:433709 thejessicka @ 2009-05-03T21:18:00 2009-05-04T03:19:56Z 2009-05-04T03:19:56Z wolf and i are going to see the 8:30pm showing of star trek at the century daly city this thursday. century daly city is a very short walk from the daly city bart station. we're not going to buy tickets in advance because i doubt it will sell out. we'll probably get down there around 6:30 or 7, buy our tickets, and hit up fuddruckers if there isn't a line for the movie. anyone who wants to join is welcome. urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:thejessicka:433430 thejessicka @ 2009-04-24T14:27:00 2009-04-24T21:34:07Z 2009-04-24T21:35:23Z the sole of my super comfy cheap black and purple sneakers split this weekend. so i'm in need of new shoes (sure i have other shoes, but all hurt my feet). the problem is i have 8.5 size wide width feet and need supportive soles so cheap payless shoes and flat soled shoes like converse and slip on flats don't work for me (when i wear them i'm limping after walking a block or two, even with expensive insoles). i would actually like to buy cute shoes for a change. any suggestions of where to look? i'm sick of having my only options be sneakers, granny shoes, or boots. urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:thejessicka:433170 thejessicka @ 2009-04-23T11:05:00 2009-04-23T18:07:29Z 2009-04-23T18:11:20Z two things. . .

limited edition star trek sporks

and

hr 669 - a bill that would make owning guinea pigs illegal nationwide. sounds like a bad joke. i understand the need to make certain reptiles illegal with the problems that happen when they get out and start a population in the wild in places like florida. but all non native species? regardless of how they would impact the ecosystem if they escape/released? ridiculous! urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:thejessicka:432663 thejessicka @ 2009-04-09T08:12:00 2009-04-09T15:14:40Z 2009-04-09T15:14:40Z tacos and margaritas tomorrow! $1 margaritas from 6 to 6:30. food and full bar all night. menu can be seen at www.underdogssf.com. on irving btwn 19th and 20th aves. 71 and 28 buses and N judah muni line stop within a block. hope to see you there! urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:thejessicka:432471 thejessicka @ 2009-04-08T08:47:00 2009-04-08T15:55:52Z 2009-04-08T15:55:52Z took theamazingtalyn to the vet yesterday. we have a new vet who is totally amazing (the old one moved to the east coast). her name is patricia lowe. she knew EVERYTHING, unlike the last guy who i had to edumacate a few times. she was impressed that we had him in a cavy cage, understood (after seeing him try to assert his dominance in the room with us to prove he was in charge) and agreed with our reasons why we haven't tried to pair him up with another boar just yet, and confirmed a few things that the last vet said (that his piggie dandruff is a by product of his bad lice infestation as a baby and that the spur like thing on his front paw should be ignored). the funny thing is. . . she said talyn is a bit fat! since he's on cavy cuisine (which is just compressed pellets - no fillers or sugars) the only thing we can do is figure out an "exercise routine" and do weekly weigh-ins. like dice said "you should call it GuiniiFit". ha! i proceeded to call talyn "fatty mcchan" and "my little tub o love" all night and wolf giggled at me. was also singing the "hey fat boy" song. . .

<lj-embed id="9" /> urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:thejessicka:432380 thejessicka @ 2009-04-07T16:52:00 2009-04-07T23:54:36Z 2009-04-07T23:54:36Z we take talyn to the vet tonight for his annual "wellness visit" and a badly needed nail trim. i hate taking him to the vet b/c he gets so stressed out about it. and he stays mad at me for two days afterwards. he'll be just fine with wolf, purring up a storm and being all affectionate. but the moment i try to pet him he'll run away and chatter his teeth. :( maybe this time will be different since i'm making wolf come with us. urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:thejessicka:431985 thejessicka @ 2009-04-07T08:40:00 2009-04-07T18:12:41Z 2009-04-07T18:12:41Z last night i went to a community meeting presented by the city to discuss why they want to start charging $5 admission for the botanical gardens. background - the strybing arboretum (later renamed the san francisco botanical gardens) was donated to the city in the 40's and built with public funds. it has been free ever since. this year newsom cut the parks and rec's budget by 25% so they don't have the money to maintain the BG. they also have a whole slew of projects - new gardens, directional signage, maps, updating the gardens/paths for people with disabilities, expansion, more restrooms, 24 hr security - that could possibly be done if their admissions equal what they think it will (it is debatable if their numbers are realistic).

the room was jam packed with people. it was great to see the community turn out like that. about 80%-90% of people were opposed to the admission idea. the thing that became obvious quickly is that residents view the botanical gardens as something to be enjoyed/used on a daily (or weekly) basis by the local residents and charging a $5 fee would change it into an annual visit/tourist attraction. there were many good ideas thrown around last night including creative ways to increase volunteers, increase funding/donors, and involve the community. the best suggestion IMO on raising funds was to have a benefit concert for the gardens (parks and rec got $1.5 million from the outside lands concert series in the park - drove me and all the residents nuts but i'd suffer through another one to keep the BG free). at one point the head of the commission went up to one of the meeting coordinators and loudly whispered "is someone writing all of this down?!?" and he replied that they were taking detailed notes and pointed out two note takers. i hope they take the suggestions seriously and rethink their plan. it will take a bit more work on their part, but i think it will be worth it if they can keep the BG free (at least for SF residents) and not alienate the community. urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:thejessicka:431763 thejessicka @ 2009-04-03T14:06:00 2009-04-03T21:10:07Z 2009-04-03T21:10:07Z so we're going to skip tacos/margaritas tonight but we will be doing it next week. i'll post a reminder then. urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:thejessicka:431577 thejessicka @ 2009-04-02T10:59:00 2009-04-02T18:04:04Z 2009-04-02T18:04:04Z anyone want to come out for tacos and margaritas tomorrow? the margaritas are now $1 but you actually get a full margarita instead of a tiny cup the size of a large bar shot for 50 cents. wolf and i want to go if other ppls will be there. or we could change it up and go to milanos on 9th for their friday beer special and tasty pizza. urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:thejessicka:431223 thejessicka @ 2009-04-02T09:38:00 2009-04-02T16:40:15Z 2009-04-02T16:40:15Z did anyone else get funny things when they used their wii fit yesterday? ours acted like it was broken when wolf did his weigh in and then came back on and said april fools. when i went to do it, it said that the connection was broken and then said april fools. urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:thejessicka:431011 thejessicka @ 2009-03-27T14:15:00 2009-03-27T21:22:35Z 2009-03-27T21:22:35Z i'm having a weird computer issue and wolf (gasp!) is having a hard time figuring it out. he posted the info in his journal. help? urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:thejessicka:430832 thejessicka @ 2009-03-26T16:26:00 2009-03-26T23:31:30Z 2009-03-26T23:31:30Z tacos and margaritas tomorrow at www.underdogssf.com. 50C margaritas from 6 to 6:30. full bar and tacos/quesedillas/burritos/etc served all night. wolf and i will get there around 5:30-6 and will stay till whenever just so long as people show up. i will have my phone on me (and charged this time), and wolf (finally) has texting on his phone so text if you're running late or whatever.

i really need a taco bar icon. urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:thejessicka:430505 thejessicka @ 2009-03-24T16:23:00 2009-03-24T23:24:56Z 2009-03-25T16:22:00Z what's happening this weekend in the club world? i have a friend who (FINALLY) turned 21 today. what about next weekend?

edited to add:
she's a gothy goth who likes a little bit of ebm with her goth crap music. so i may wind up at house of voodoo depending on what sounds good to her.

also i'm in LA april 17-18 for work so i can't take her to retox or danse macabre (sp?). wah. urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:thejessicka:430200 thejessicka @ 2009-03-18T16:53:00 2009-03-19T00:03:37Z 2009-03-19T00:03:37Z i know most of you don't follow AI or Rockstar. but i have to post this. last night adam lambert did dilana's cover of "ring of fire". i can't decide which i like better or get over just how awesome that is. i <3 dilana and this has pushed me over the edge <3 adam too. i think i like them both for very different reasons.

dilana's version on rockstar supernova:
<lj-embed id="7" />

adam's version on american idol this week:
grr this is the best i can find. all the ones with video have been removed. bah! at least you get to hear it.
<lj-embed id="8" />
for those who don't follow AI, adam is a burner and there's pictures of him in full very pretty drag floating around. loved his outfit last night as well. urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:thejessicka:429970 thejessicka @ 2009-03-16T14:31:00 2009-03-16T21:32:49Z 2009-03-16T21:32:49Z does anyone know if julie's supper club takes credit cards at the bar? is there a minimum charge? urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:thejessicka:429608 you know you wanna come! 2009-03-13T16:07:04Z 2009-03-13T16:07:04Z tacos and margaritas tonight at underdogs on irving just past 19th ave.

we'll be there starting around 5:30 hopefully at one of the picnic tables towards the back. 50 cent margaritas go from 6 to 6:30. food is incredibly yummy and all organic/natural/etc ingredients.

we'll leave no later than 8:30 to make it home in time for BSG. you're welcome to join us for BSG if you don't mind the cluttered apt and our attention whore of a guinea pig. urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:thejessicka:429362 my weekend 2009-03-09T15:59:27Z 2009-03-09T16:00:18Z friday - spent the day with mom running around the east bay. hightailed it back to the city with chris for tacos and margaritas with a good group of people.

saturday - bbq in golden gate park. they played texas hold em for quite a while after eating. i don't do poker so i played my ds and drank too much wine.

sunday - watchmen. btwn the long movie, the time change, and the long wait for muni the whole day was gone by the time we got home. enjoyed the movie enough so it was worth it. saw the new trek trailer. the first half started to get me a little excited about the movie. then kirk comes on and ruins it. the stupid story line i can already see btwn spock and uhura just nails the coffin. bleh. i'll still watch it opening day, but i won't be expecting much of anything good. hopefully it'll be better than nemesis. urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:thejessicka:428955 thejessicka @ 2009-03-02T09:09:00 2009-03-02T17:11:10Z 2009-03-02T17:12:12Z las vegas star trek experience to reopen on fremont street. it's reopening will coincide with the new movie (hopefully it doesn't have too much crap from the new movie since it doesn't look too promising).


text:
a belated fourth post

America, America, God shed His Grace on Thee!

Our Founding Fathers once said:

"We Recognize No Sovereign but God, and no King but Jesus!"  -John Adams and John Hancock [April 18, 1775]

“It cannot be emphasized too clearly and too often that this nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religion, but on the gospel of Jesus Christ. For this very reason, peoples of other faiths have been afforded asylum, prosperity, and freedom of worship here.” -Patrick Henry "Orator of the Revolution" [May 1765 Speech to the House of Burgesses]

“ It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and Bible.”  -George Washington

“God who gave us life gave us liberty. And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are a gift from God? That they are not to be violated but with His wrath? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, and that His justice cannot sleep forever.” -Thomas Jefferson (excerpts are inscribed on the walls of the Jefferson Memorial in the nations capital) [Source: Merrill . D. Peterson, ed., Jefferson Writings, (New York: Literary Classics of the United States, Inc., 1984), Vol. IV, p. 289. From Jefferson’s Notes on the State of Virginia, Query XVIII, 1781.]

Kristin said...

Love those quotes!! It is so sad that so many people are trying to remove God from this country!

Lynnette Kraft said...

I always love popping by your blog. It has such a happy feel. Besides, the pictures are so charming! I'm always inspired!

I enjoyed my visit.
Love ya.

Andrea said...

Hope you had an awesome weekend.

Mikalah said...

Happy 4th, and AMEN! those quotes are perfect.

Lauren said...

I adore those quotes!!! The pictures are beautiful!

Thank you so much for your encouraging comment yesterday! It will be my joy to spur one another on in this walk of faith!!

I love your heart! :P

Kate said...

Beautiful pics!

carissa @ lowercase letters said...

such lovely pics and amen to the quotes!

Big Fat Mama said...

I included your Dropping Eaves blog into my post tonight. Thanks for the inspiration!
Big Fat Mama

lambechops said...

Love the quotes and your blog! Thanks for stopping by my blog and leaving a comment :)

Darlene said...

excellent quotes! I would love to copy them to my blog, and link to you, is that okay?

Kelly @ Sufficient Grace Ministries said...

Beautiful post...love these quotes from our founding fathers. Hope others will remember what our dear country was founded on. Happy belated fourth to you!

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Monday, June 13, 2011

Movie Monday - Surfboards, Ghostface, and Polish Elephants

I’m seriously behind in my movie reviews, so I’ve decided to combine then for the next few weeks and have shorter mini-review type reviews.

I went to see these films ages ago with my mum and just couldn’t be bothered to write a review until now. I know that this completely goes against my New Year’s Resolution... but I was too excited about BEA and getting ready for it, so many things were set aside. But here they are now.

Soul Surfer

Written by: Sean McNamara, Deborah Schwartz, Douglas Schwartz, and Michael Berk based upon the novel by Bethany Hamilton, Sheryl Berk, and Rick Bundschuh

Directed by: Sean McNamara

Released: April 8, 2011

Rating: PG

Summary: A teenage surfer girl summons the courage to go back into the ocean after losing an arm in a shark attack.

This was an amazing movie. I remember when I really found out about the girl from Hawaii whose arm had been bitten off by a shark while surfing and even then I couldn’t imagine living through something like that let alone doing what this girl does.

Great cast, great story – I almost can’t believe that it’s true – and was all-over a great movie. The fact that it was based on real-life events and the struggles that Bethany went through... wow. I don’t think that I would have done the same thing if I were to ever lose my arm. 8/10 for sure.

Scream 4

Written by: Kevin Williamson

Directed by: Wes Craven

Released: April 15, 2011

Rating: R

Summary: Sidney Prescott, now the author of a self-help book, returns home to Woodsboro on the last stop of her book tour. There she reconnects with Sheriff Dewey and Gale, who are now married, as well as her cousin Jill and her Aunt Kate. Unfortunately, Sidney's appearance also brings about the return of Ghostface, putting Sidney, Gale, and Dewey, along with Jill, her friends, and the whole town of Woodsboro in danger.

I never would have thought that a fourth movie was possible, so I didn’t know what to expect. I loved the original trilogy and I wasn’t too sure how to feel about this. But let me just say that I never saw who Ghostface was and the ending kind of blew me away.

If you’re into horror movies and you haven’t seen this one yet, be sure to at least rent it when it comes out. 7/10 for me.

Water for Elephants

Written by: Richard LaGravenese based upon the novel by Sara Gruen

Directed by: Francis Lawrence

Released: April 22, 2011

Rating: PG-13

Summary: A veterinary student abandons his studies after his parents are killed and joins a traveling circus as their vet.

It’s the age-old question; will the movie live up to the novel at all? This one was definitely a great adaptation in my books. Pattinson and Witherspoon had this amazing chemistry and even though there were changes from novel to script, they weren’t bad ones.

This is definitely one that I’m going to buy on DVD when it comes out. 9/10.

1 comment:

Ashley @ Book Labyrinth said...

Oh nice, I'm so glad you liked all of these! I definitely want to see all of them, but I haven't yet. Good to hear that they're enjoyable.


text:
Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Operation Sauce Drop

By way of a Gentle Reader, we learn of the Carolina Sauce Company's Operation Sauce Drop.

The nice folks are sending free gift boxes of sauces to our military boys and girls serving in harm's way overseas

Drop by, give them an 'Attaboy', and spread the word.

After Action Report

There are two videos that should go along with this, but the brand-new, handy-dandy, high-speed/low-drag "video" option on Blogger isn't working for me.

The videos will be posted later -- if Blogger gets the problem worked out.

A Gentle Reader sent me an e-mail detailing an encounter she had earlier this year, an encounter she believes was intended to make her a victim. Attached to the e-mail were videos from two separate security cameras, one showing the the incident and the other showing actions of ...

Since my Gentle Reader was not harmed, nor the victim of crime, we shall not refer to her opponent as "Critter". He may -- doubtful, I believe -- have been an innocent man in the wrong place, at the wrong time. While, as I stated above, I have no doubt that he did intend an assault or other crime, he did not follow through. Since everyone is innocent until proven guilty, we shall refer to him as "Person of Interest".

The camera-view of the actions of the Person of Interest -- POI -- following the incident are particularly interesting.

I have spoken with the young lady, and with her kind permission, I will reprint pertinent paragraphs of her report -- redacting personal and ID information as per usual for The LawDog Files -- and add my own commentary following.

Before we start there are two things I feel I must make clear.

The first, and least important thing is that gratitude should not be rendered to me. The young lady makes a point to thank me for advice I have written on this blog. I was not there. It was not my instincts, nor my reflexes, that carried her through the incident.

Yes, I have posted some advice -- however -- the initiative to read that advice, to remember it, and to apply it when necessary, is all hers. Not mine.

Second. Above all else, remember: she came through this incident without being harmed or victimized. Survival is not a graded test. You do not survive an encounter with an 80%, or a 90, or a 70. You either survive it, or you do not. It is, simply put, pass or fail.

My Reader passed. Which means she did everything right. As I comment on her report, I will mention things that I would wish that she had done differently; and other of my Gentle Readers will doubtlessly feel other tactics would have been more viable. Maybe so, but bear in the front of your mind: she came through the incident without being harmed and without being victimized -- therefore she did everything right.

So, we begin:

My story begins early on Friday the [redacted]th of [redacted]. I live in rural [redacted], but work in [redacted], on the edge of what is rapidly becoming known as the bad side of town. Never knowing what traffic is going to be like, I leave pretty early to make it to the office on time. This particular Friday found me arriving exceptionally early due to a lack of utter fools on the road (for once. Every once in awhile, it DOES happen!), so I decided to swing into a local establishment to grab a breakfast kolache, then head back to work. I pulled into a side of the drive that’s not normal for me and noticed a Character walking along the back edge of the lot. Not unusual as we’re pretty surrounded by apartments and we’re between them and the local bus stops. Fortunately, I have assigned covered parking at my office. Unfortunately, it’s in the back far corner of the lot from the building, and right close to where said Character is walking. I keep my eye on the guy as I pull past him and turn down my row and park.

I sincerely suggest that my Gentle Readers read Gavin de Beckers' book 'The Gift of Fear'. While I do not agree with some of Mr. de Beckers politics, his book about intuition and survival is priceless. Please do not order it from Amazon.com -- Barnes and Noble has it in their on-line section.

The intuition of my Gentle Reader is warning her about this man. Many people these days ignore that tiny voice in the back of their minds. Person of Interest is a minority male. It would be all-to-easy for the lady in this situation to write off the warning note of her intuition as being the product of stereotyping, or of unconscious racism. She did not do so, and thus managed -- in my mind -- to avoid becoming a victim.

That was my first mistake.

I should have kept driving. I drive a small Rav4, and I’ve got a huge Ford with a truck bed top parked on one side of me, and a huge suburban parked on the other side, so when I park, I can’t see anywhere but right behind me. Not sure of what the Character is doing, I decide to wait in my locked car for awhile, and watch for him to pass along the back of my Rav4 on his way (presumably) to the bus stop. I put on some lipstick. I listen to an interview on the radio. I gather all my belongings. The entire time I’m trying to watch the back of my truck in the rearview mirror to see when he passes by. He never does. So I try to look through the windows of the Ford next to me to see if I can see him. They’re tinted, and while I can barely see through them, I certainly don’t see my Character back there at all. So I make the assumption that he went a different way.

This is where things begin to go pear-shaped. The POI has broken pattern. If he had followed the pattern he was in when she first saw him, she would have seen him pass her vehicle. He didn't, and the way his pattern was broken suggest he was hiding from her. Why?

That was my second mistake.

I decide to go ahead and grab my stuff, get out, and head into work. I lock the car behind me, step out from behind my truck and make the realization that the Character had hidden on the other side of the Ford and had waited for me that entire time. I usually walk at a pretty good clip, so I was walking fast when I came out from behind the cars and I keep going. He proceeds to get in step behind me. Huge warning sirens are going off in my head. I start looking all over the parking lot. Unfortunately, I’ve timed it well. There’s no one else out there. And since he’s walking right behind me, it’s pretty obvious that he’s got something nefarious in mind. I make a point to look over my shoulder at him a couple of times so that he knows I know he’s there. That doesn’t deter him in the slightest. By now I’m starting to get frantic. I’m making sure to stay in as open an area as possible as I cut under another set of covered parking and finally get out in the open parking. I don’t know if he’s after my purse, or after me and I’m on the verge of panic. Yet, I’m also flying through things in my mind on what to do, and a lot of things start popping up. The thought crosses my mind that my body language will have a huge effect on what occurs. If I act like a victim, I’ll be one. Also, I’ve heard in situations like this that one of the best things I can do is confront the guy and a lot of times they’ll back down when they see you’re not afraid. So I pull my hands up and grab my purse strap in front of me (lesson number 1 from you: don’t leave your hands at your sides, use ANYTHING as a weapon). Then I abruptly turn around and ask “Can I help you with something?” while making sure to stare straight in his face. When I did this, I discovered he was not more than a couple steps behind me. He had gotten way too close. My abrupt turn and question caught the Character off guard. The look on his face was priceless. He managed to mumble a ‘no’ and walked past me as I stood there watching him. I let him get a bit in front of me then started walking, keeping him right in front of me and in sight until he started off to the side of the building and I turned to go into the front door.

The video shows a parking lot, bordered on the far side by a covered parking structure. The parking lot is two spaces wide, and a minimum of twelve spaces across, with five vehicles parked. Gentle Reader and POI are the only two people ever seen. The two enter the field of view at the top right, with POI about 8 to ten feet behind Gentle Reader. At the time she turns to confront him, he has advanced to somewhat under lunging distance -- well within her comfort zone.

This is a wide open outdoor parking lot. It is not a bar, checkout line or other choke-point where we accept others inside our personal space. So, why is he so far into her personal space?

She turns to confront POI, and he walks away ahead of her. I would have preferred that she wait by the end of the car where the confrontation was initiated, then leave the area 90 degrees to his route -- but she got through the incident without being injured or victimized, so my preference is only that -- a preference.

As POI exits the area, he surreptitiously removes a cell phone from a pocket on his left side -- away from Gentle Reader. This is the end of the first video.

On the second video, we see POI walking away from the camera. He operates the phone, and then begins speaking into it as he walks away. I count four glances back at Gentle Reader before POI breaks into a leisurely run and disappears off the top of the screen.

Why is he running? He is wearing khaki slacks and what looks to be a knit short-sleeved shirt. He is in the Deep South, in summer -- why run? It is not a panicked run, nor is it the run of a man responding to a threat.

My gut tells me that Person of Interest was considering an act which he believed that my Gentle Reader would probably object to. When she turned to confront him, she disrupted the flow of events that he expected to occur -- or that he had experienced conducting similar acts in the past.

When she didn't respond the way he expected -- when she became more difficult prey -- he broke off and called a friend for either back-up or a more speedy escape from the situation. The glances back were to see if Gentle Reader was doing something threatening -- calling police, summoning bystanders or the like.

Finally, unexpended adrenaline that he built up during his expectation of committing his act, together with the need to get away from his unexpectedly-difficult intended victim caused him to break into a run, evac-ing the area.

I do believe, based on the videos and on information provided by my Gentle Reader that she did, indeed, avoid an assault or other victimization.

She further identified where she thought she could have done better, and decided upon further training to increase her options, should a similar situation present itself.

She did very well, and I thank her for sharing her experience with me, and allowing me to share it with the rest of my Gentle Readers.

Edit: Finally!

Bloody hell, they're up.

One thing I should have pointed out in the original post is that the area that POI runs through at the end of video #2 is the same area that he and Gentle Reader first appeared at the beginning of video #1.

Lunar eclipse

Got up early this morning to see the lunar eclipse.

There is something about eclipses that tweaks the buried primal part of the hindbrain. I know that there is a simple, rational scientific reason for the moon fading and taking on the hue of old blood.

Well, rationally, I know this. Down in the bones, though, a teeny part of me wants to make damn sure that it isn't the result of a dragon with a celestial-sized appetite.

So, I sat on the front porch under that huge red moon and drank a glass of wine until she began to reappear from the shadow cast by her daughter, then went back to bed.

Rather nice -- although getting up this morning for work was a bit harder than usual -- but small price to pay for making sure the moon's not getting molested by assorted mythological ghoulies.

Monday, August 27, 2007

Michael Vick

I was going to write a post on Michael Vick, but Abby over at Bad Dogs and Such has expressed my thoughts on the subject better than I would have.

Go give her a read.

Sunday, August 26, 2007

That's a steak dinner.

Some time ago, I wound up -- purely by chance -- in a group discussion on TxFellowship over at BlogTalkRadio.

A friend of mine who took various Interview and Interrogation courses with me many, many moons ago stayed up to listen, and called me afterwards to ask about a couple of the other panel members. We got to postulating about verbal cues, and wound up betting the afore-mentioned steak dinner regarding those two.

Today I discover that one of us owes the other steak and taters.

Congratulations, AD and Babs, I'll think happily of you two kids as I chase my rare ribeye around the plate.

Geek cred

By way of Tolewyn, we discover the new, up-dated Geek Motivational Posters!

Ah, the good ol' days of marathon, all-night, Mountain Dew-fueled AD&D, Chill and Shadowrun sessions.

I particularly like the Evil Overlord posters.

Hi! My name is LawDog, and I'm a geek.

Ah, well.

Testing, testing

Is this bloody thing on?

Hot damn, we're back!

Thursday, August 23, 2007

Tolewyn showed me this, and I was absolutely enthralled.

Mr. McKee's CD's are available here, as are some clips of other works he's done. If the rest of his music is as good as "Drifting", I'll probably part with some of my hard-earned dosh.

Mint tea

Eight cups water
One cup mint leaves
Four tea bags
Half cup of honey

Two coffee filters

Put your eights cups of water into a pan and heat.

Put half of your mint leaves into a clean coffee filter, and tie off with clean string. Trim off excess coffee filter material. Do the same with the other half. Roll each bag of mint gently to bruise the leaves, then bung your tea bags and your improvised spice bags of mint into a container big enough to hold all the ingredients.

When the water comes to a rolling boil, whisk in your honey until dissolved. Turn off your fire and allow to cool for a couple of minutes.

Pour the honey water over the mint and tea and allow to steep to the desired strength. Fish out the tea bags and the mint bags, then serve over ice or put it in the 'fridge and pour a glass whenever the mood strikes throughout the day.

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Ye tap-dancing Gods

Okay, everyone -- repeat after me: Hearthstone can take a flying fling at a rolling doughnut.

Well, we're back.

Actually, we got back about 0130 hours on Monday morning, but it's taken a bit of time to peel ourselves off the ceiling -- metaphorically speaking.

Moving two little old ladies from one home to another, whilst simultaneously planning and conducting a 100th birthday party is not -- I say again my last, not -- for the faint of heart.

Nana's party went off rather nicely. Here's a picture of the party girl -- she's the one in the blue:

In Nana's own words: "I look pretty hot for a chick turning 100."

The Governor of Texas sent a nice little plaque:

As did the Mayor; while President and Mrs. Bush very kindly sent a card.

While Nana was being feted, the rest of us humped all of her gear out to the truck, carried it back into her new home, put it back together and fetched Nana.

The new place is rather nice -- we'll see if it suits Nana.

I'd like to extend one whopping Liverpool kiss to the upper management of Hearthstone. While the caregivers there were absolute darlings, nothing quite says, "Happy 100th Birthday!" quite like jacking up your rent by four hundred and fifty US dollars per month -- five months into your one-year contract.

I'm all for capitalism and all that -- so we'll be taking our hard-earned capital somewhere else.

And if any of my Gentle Readers are considering an assisted living facility for a loved one, I'm going to whole-heartedly suggest that you by-pass Hearthstone or Carestone facilities.

Saturday, August 18, 2007

One hundred years

Nana was born August the 21st, 1907.

To work around various schedules -- and other things -- we're celebrating her birthday a wee bit early on this weekend.

1907 to 2007. She's literally gone from horse-drawn buggies to the Space Shuttle, the abacus to the personal computer, and wood-fueled fireplaces to nuclear power.

Two world wars, inoculations, powered flight, telegraph to telephone to e-mail to the World Wide Web, the sheer amount of history and change that my little Nana has seen boggles the mind.

The President, the Governor, and various local dignitaries have sent her letters and certificates of congratulation which she has thoroughly enjoyed.

And in acknowledgement of her 100 years on this little green dirtball, the management of the facility at which she resides has jacked up her rent by $450 a month.

After the celebrating is all done, we'll be gently moving Nana to a new residence and hoping like hell it doesn't blow her mind too badly.

See you guys on Monday.

Thursday, August 16, 2007

Hey! You! Off my planet!

Just out of sense of macabre curiosity, once in a while I'll drift through Reuters "Oddly Enough" page.

Today I notice that a
Chinese couple is attempting to name their newest sprog "@".

Nope, that's not a typo. They are attempting to name their child after the "at" symbol found in e-mail addresses around the world.

This is fresh on the heels of the
New Zealand couple who, foiled in their attempt to name their child "4Real", instead named him "Superman".

Which beats out the previous contestants -- a couple in Sweden who wanted to name their baby girl "Metallica".

I suppose I shouldn't whinge -- after all, America is the home of Kal-el Coppola Cage, Moon Unit Zappa, Fifi Trixibelle Geldof, Heavenly Hiraani Tiger Lily Hutchence and last -- but certainly not least --
GoldenPalaceDotCom Silverman.

Am I the only person who foresees a crowd of grade-school kids chanting, "It's a bird! It's a plane! It's ..." just before third grader Kal-el Cage or Superman Wheaton is yard-darted into the turf from the top level of the football bleachers by a pack of sixth graders?

Children are sweet. Children in large packs are savage, vicious and sadistic little heathens who live by the Law of the Jungle.

GoldenPalaceDotCom Silverman.

Might as well tie a rib-eye around that kids neck and send him out to play with the rottweilers now -- let him get used to the treatment before he gets to elementary school.

When my legions of flying monkeys complete my Plan for World Domination, this bushwa is going to stop.

And because I will be a libertarian despotic tyrant, I won't even order folks not to hang silly-arsed names on their children.

No, I will simply open a folder for each child stuck with an unfortunately cocked-over name. Inside this folder, I will place several pre-signed, blank conspiracy warrants and two pre-signed pardons.

And every time little Kal-el gets punched in the mouth ("From Krypton, huh?" Pow! "Guess not, loser!") or young Superman gets thrown off the bleachers ("If you're really Superman, you should be able to fly!"), then Mama and Daddy get arrested for Conspiring To Make A Child's Life A Living Hell, and are punished along with the heathens.

The pardons will come into play when young GoldenPalaceDotCom Silverman finally loses his grip on his mud and sets his parents bed on fire. One pardon for one criminal act committed upon each parent.

It's only fair. Not only that, but as your Emperor, it will be my solemn duty to ensure that stupidity -- especially blatant stupidity of this calibre -- hurts.

This Is My Life, Rated
Take the Rate My Life Quiz

By way of ... well, everyone, we come across this little quiz.

Monday, August 13, 2007

That's what friends are for.

My friend Reno, seeing all of the Gentle Readers who were asking for a picture of the previously-mentioned hooking incident, graciously provided a camera-phone shot of the deed -- anonymity guaranteed:

Do I have great friends, or what?

Sunday, August 12, 2007

Oh, sonova--!

The last decade or so, it seems that as soon as I get one ER visit/hospital stay paid off, I wind up back in ER.

Friday, I got my final payment slip from the local hospital, and I stood in the living room with the cheque in one paw, and the envelope in another; and I said: "I really don't want to send in this last payment. I'm not ready to go back to the hospital yet."

Witnesses pooh-poohed.

Sunday morning, at or about 03:45, I was helping Reno strap a selection of fishing poles into the back of his pick-up in preparation for a run to Lake Texoma, when a sudden piercing pain in my face announced that Something Wasn't Quite Right.

"Reno, I think I just hooked myself."

"Oh, yeah. I hooked myself good."

Quick work with a Leatherman -- the carbon-steel American Express card -- and I hauled butt into Reno's bathroom to discover a hot-pink jig buried shank deep in the side of my nose.

Well, to make a long story short, we expended not a small amount of my blood to discover that extracting said jig was a wee bit beyond our powers.

On a side note, I can testify that Mustad makes a damned fine hook.

So, off to the local ER we go.

Thankfully at 0400 on a Sunday morning, the local Emergency Room is blessedly short of customers.

I walked up to the triage desk, and the Sweet Young Thing in the Hot Seat asks, "What is the nature of your ..."

I silently point to my now-dripping snout

"... holy [deleted]!"

Attracted by the yelp, several ER staff immediately descend upon the triage desk. "How did you ..." "You did ..." "What the hell ..." "How in the hell did you get a fishing lure stuck in the side of your nose?"

"Well," I announce, as the adrenaline started to short out the old mouth-brain connection, "There I was, minding my own business, when this little bit of pink wanders across my path, and I couldn't help myself."

Note to self: if you wander into a deserted ER at four in the morning with a fishhook sticking out of your nose --
everybody is going to come take a look.

So. There I am, on the hospital bed, surrounded by twelve -- count 'em, twelve -- nurses, paramedics, techs and such when the doctor enters the room, announces, "What do we ..."

Long pause.

Somewhere near the front of the room, I hear a late comer, "How in the hell did .."

The doctor pokes my snout a couple of times with his forefinger.

Reno murmurs, "Trolling ... pink ... jump on it every time."

Doc sayeth, "Hmm."

Doc leaves. Reno takes the opportunity to snap pics with his camera phone.

Doc comes back with an armful of stuff, suggests dryly that I might want to close my eyes.

I'll give the man props: I didn't feel the needle slide into my nose one little bit. Of course, when the local anaesthetic lit off a bonfire in my snout it kind of ruined the whole effect ...

What really concerned me was when the doctor mused, matter-of-factly, "Looks like it's already been used" just before something smelling strongly of fuel oil clamped onto the jig.

One would tend to thing that an ER would have a set of side-cutting pliers on-hand -- so to speak -- rather then having to pilfer the janitors tool box, but that's a minor quibble.

Lots of tugging as the doctor proceeded to drag me by the nose all over the bed, accompanied by a chorus of "Eep", "Ook", "Jee-zus" and the like from the twelve fascinated bystanders.

I would like to thank various approved deities for modern pharmaceuticals, because --despite the comments to the contrary from the peanut gallery -- I didn't feel a bit of pain.

I was a bit worried that the doctor was attempting to rip my nose of my face to get access to the hook, but when it became all-to-apparent that the hook wasn't coming back out the way it went in, the doctor paused his 'Dog-dragging activities, announced, "Huh", and changed grips.

A sudden firm wrench, an odd popping sensation, and I'm pretty sure we lost a tech or two when the doctor twisted the point of the hook out through the top of my snout.

Ah, well.

He clamped a gauze pad on the holes, took my hand and said, "Firm pressure here and here until the bleeding stops. Tetanus booster."

"That's it?" I asked.

"Well, and a 'scrip for antibiotics. And some lortab -- your nose is going to be bruised."

"Hell with the lortab, I'll take a tylenol. Direct pressure?"

"Anything mild enough to be treated with pressure means we can still make the lake while the fish are biting. Thanks, doc!"

You know, one wouldn't think that particular statement would generate the sheer number of rolled feminine eyes that it did, but then the distaff side of the species has always been a pleasant mystery to me.

Fishing wasn't bad, either.

Saturday, August 11, 2007

Choices, choices.

My brother and I are standing outside the Giant, Improved Cinema-World, when he turns to me and says, "Rogue super spies, or sky-pirates in blimps?"

He knows me so well -- I have a weakness for movies with air-ships. Give me a movie with witches, swordplay and air-ships -- there's no contest.

Stardust it was.

Good movie. It actually has a plot, and the Bad Guys are Bad, the Good Guys aren't, and the Good Guys win.

Advance warning: the plot is heavily romance-driven which may cause some uneasiness on the part of any stray Neanderthals, but there's more than enough humour, hocus-pocus and stray thumpings to make up for any perceived mooshy-ness.

If you didn't enjoy The Princess Bride, then this movie probably isn't for you. If you did enjoy it, go see Stardust.

Michelle Pfeiffer was deliciously evil, Bobby DeNiro appeared to be having a monumentally good time with his role, the kids were earnest without being stiff and the extras were well into the spirit of things.

This one gets the LawDog Paw of Approval.

Thursday, August 09, 2007

This is exactly what I'm talking about ...

The Mustang Ranch is back in private hands and open for business once again.

For those Gentle Readers who may be less-worldly than others, the Mustang Ranch was, at one time, the largest brothel in Nevada as well as being the first licensed bordello in that State.

However, while interesting, this is not the part of it's history that is really fascinating. What we're interested in is this little tid-bit buried way down in the article: after several years of tax shenanigans by the owner, the Mustang Ranch became the first (Official. Licensed.) brothel run by the United States Federal Government.

They lost money.

Let us allow that simple, yet profound, truth sink into our synapses, shall we?

The Federal Government of the United States can not run a bordello and make money.

One cathouse. Just one. Not "one in every state". Not "one whether you think you need it or not". Just one single legal bawdy-house with an already-established customer base.

And they couldn't keep it out of the red.

Now, this is just my opinion, but if your money-handling skills are so poor that you can't even make a profit selling sex, then you have absolutely no business getting involved in more complicated financial areas.

In other words, if "Slam, bam, thank you ma'am, here's a hundred bucks" is too complicated for you to make a profit, then you might just want to keep your meat-hooks out of, say -- health care.

So, the next time some bright-eyed little bit starts chanting about "Universal Health Care", I'm going to loudly and firmly opine that until the Federal Government is capable of running a profitable brothel ... they've got no business trying to run my health care.

Monday, August 06, 2007

Take that, eBay!

Someone possessed of a truly warped sense of humour has offered a response to eBay's moronic new policy regarding knives and parts for guns:

Behold, the auction for your very own Assault Rock!

Sunday, August 05, 2007

Cure for the blues

Turn off the phone and TeeVee, dig out three John D. MacDonald books from storage, grab a bottle of Boodles from the package store and spend the weekend at slip F-18, Bahia Mar marina, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.

That's a guaranteed cure for what ails you.

Sorry about the lack of posts, but my Sheriff announced he isn't running for re-election, which has led to a horde of folks deciding that they've always wanted to be Sheriff.

Of the five current contenders for the position, I've gotten cross-threaded with four of them.

Looks like there's a pretty good chance the ol' 'Dog is going to be moving onto greener pastures. Something I've probably needed to do for a while now -- but it still kind of bums me out a bit -- and said bumming isn't conducive to a writing frame of mind.


text:
About the Show

Anchored by Jake Tapper, The Lead airs at 4 p.m. ET on CNN.

Anchored by Jake Tapper, The Lead airs at 4 p.m. ET on CNN.

On the Next Episode of The Lead

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April 24th, 2014
11:51 AM ET

For 6th year in a row, Obama breaks promise to acknowledge Armenian genocide

By CNN chief Washington correspondent Jake Tapper

(CNN) – For the sixth year in a row, President Barack Obama has broken his promise to the Armenian community, made when seeking their votes as a senator and a presidential candidate, to use the word “genocide” to describe the massacre of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman Empire a century ago. He did this in deference to the government of Turkey, which – historical revisionism aside – the Obama administration regards as a more crucial ally.

"It's a sad spectacle to see our President, who came into office having promised to recognize the Armenian Genocide, reduced to enforcing a foreign government's gag-rule on what our country can say about a genocide so very thoroughly documented in our own nation's archives,” Armenian National Committee of America executive director Aram Hamparian said in a statement.

“We remain profoundly disappointed that he has, once again, retreated from his own promises and fallen short of the principled stand taken by previous presidents,” Hamparian said.

The President’s statement today alludes to what he actually thinks, without stating it forthrightly.

“I have consistently stated my own view of what occurred in 1915, and my view has not changed,” Obama said in a statement that avoided use of the “g” word.

The disappointment from Armenian-Americans is all the more profound because not only did then-Senator Obama promise to call the massacre a “genocide,” he held up his willingness to do so as an example of why he was the kind of candidate the nation needed, noting as a presidential candidate that in 2006 he had criticized then-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice for firing U.S. Ambassador to Armenia John Evans “after he properly used the term ‘genocide’ to describe Turkey’s slaughter of thousands of Armenians starting in 1915. I shared with Secretary Rice my firmly held conviction that the Armenian Genocide is not an allegation, a personal opinion, or a point of view, but rather a widely documented fact supported by an overwhelming body of historical evidence.”

“The facts are undeniable,” Obama said then, though today he denied them.

“America deserves a leader who speaks truthfully about the Armenian Genocide and responds forcefully to all genocides,” he said in 2008. “I intend to be that president.”

The larger issue here beyond broken promises can be seen in a January 2008 letter to the Armenian Reporter, in which Obama said he shared “with Armenian Americans — so many of whom are descended from genocide survivors — a principled commitment to commemorating and ending genocide. That starts with acknowledging the tragic instances of genocide in world history.”

The President’s current Ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for her vivid 2003 book “A Problem From Hell: America and the Age of Genocide.” In the book, Power criticized successive presidents for failing to stop genocide, with the profound conclusion that it “is daunting to acknowledge, but this country’s consistent policy of nonintervention in the face of genocide offers sad testimony not to a broken political system but to one that is ruthlessly effective. The system, as it stands now, is working. No U.S. president has ever made genocide prevention a priority, and no U.S. president has ever suffered political for his indifference to its occurrence. It is thus no coincidence that genocide rages on.”

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How Trump's Ban on Federal Student Loans Affects You

Many students are worried that new President-elect Donald Trump wants to ban Federal Student Loans, while at the same time, many investors are planning on cashing in on an opportunity. Since the election of Donald Trump as the next President of the U.S., stock values have shot up for companies in the education space. So […]


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LIC's New Money Back Plan-20 Years

Product summary

LIC's New Money Back Plan-20 years is a participating non-linked plan which offers an attractive combination of protection against death throughout the term of the plan along with the periodic payment on survival at specified durations during the term. This unique combination provides financial support for the family of the deceased policyholder any time before maturity and lump sum amount at the time of maturity for the surviving policyholders. This plan also takes care of liquidity needs through its loan facility.

Death Benefit

On death during the policy term provided the policy is in full force, death benefit, defined as sum of “Sum Assured on Death” and vested Simple Reversionary Bonuses and Final Additional Bonus, if any, shall be payable. Where, “Sum Assured on Death” is defined as higher of 125% of the Basic Sum Assured or 10 times of annualized premium. This death benefit shall not be less than 105% of the total premiums paid as on date of death.

Survival Benefits

The percentage of Sum Assured as mentioned below will be paid on survival to the end of specified durations :

  • At the end of 5th year - 20% of Sum Assured paid
  • At the end of 10th year - 20% of Sum Assured paid
  • At the end of 15th year - 20% of Sum Assured paid
  • At the end of 20th year - 40% of Sum Assured paid

Final Additional Bonus may also be declared under the policy in the year when the policy results into a claim either by death or maturity, provided the policy has run for certain minimum term.


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Tuesday, February 19, 2008

New Admins in the Awn Forum

Since I had the awn forums initially set up, I have been the only one with admin powers. I had been away from the awn project for a little period of time, and now am back, and thought if they needed something done to the forum while I was gone it couldn't have happened. So I of course appointed Neil as an admin along with, malept, gilir, and moonbeam.

So head over to the forums at awn!


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Wednesday, March 21, 2012

...and we're back

Things have been quiet around the little collection for some time.  This is in part due to some changes I felt  were necessary here, including moving the majority of my quilt blogging to Radiant Honey Quilts.  Once I did, I wondered, "Why blog here?"  Did this space still have a purpose?  So I stopped writing and thought about it.

In my time away, I found I wanted to write about the incidental things in my life that inspired or delighted, about little bits of beauty or creativity I discovered, and about moments I wanted to remember.   I thought of the bloggers I enjoy reading most who share a little glimpse of the best parts of their world and I wanted to do the same.

So, this space will continue to be a little collection of thoughts and things.  If you want to see my quilting I hope you visit here.  If you are a dear friend and want an update on my life, I hope you'll give me a call.  If you want a morsel of beauty, a tidbit of reflection or a recipe to try, I hope you'll stop back at the little collection again soon.

1 comment:

Jen said...

Great...I'll be reading!
Nice to see you back.


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Frequently asked questions

Is there parking?

No, we do not have a private lot. There is street parking all around the block or you can park in a pay lot. We do have 1 space in the alley behind the store, but that is only a temporary spot for cake pick-ups.

How do I order food/drinks, is there table service?

Our deli provides Counter Service, which means we’d like you to order your items, pay for them and then sit where ever you like. For more detailed instructions see our “How It Works” page.

I had this cake at a party, it had lots of fruit on it, but I don’t know the name. Which cake is it?

You’re probably wanting our Signature cake: The Spring Fling. It’s made with zucchini bread, cream cheese frosting, and fresh fruit in between the layers and arranged on top.

How much time do you need to order a cake?

For the Spring Fling cake we can usually make one with just 1 days’ notice, but on busy weekends and holidays we would appreciate 2 or more days. Some of the other flavors of cakes and pastries need 2 days minimum notice in order for the cake to cool or set up before we can decorate it.

*We ALWAYS recommend picking up and eating your cake the same day it’s made-ESPECIALLY for the Spring Fling. We don’t use preservatives in our cakes, so they last only as long as something you would make at home. With all that fresh fruit next to cream cheese frosting with sugar in it, they will start to break down (just like if you put a spoonful of sugar on fresh fruit and left it for a day, it starts creating its own syrup.) Other flavors like chocolate will last a bit longer.

Where do I go to pick up my cake?

Cakes are to be picked up at the Deli Cashier. After entering the front doors, go up the 5 steps and take a right. Tell the person the name and/or phone number that your order was placed under and they’ll get it for you.

Do you ship your cakes?

Sadly, no.  Because of the delicate nature of our cakes it is not possible for us to guarantee they’ll arrive at your door the way we intend, so we cannot ship them to you.

Do you have ready made cakes available?

Typically no, we really need you to place an order for a whole cake ahead of time-so it can be made fresh for you.  On occasion we’ll have a whole cake in our pastry case that hasn’t had a slice cut out of it yet, but it’s never something you should count on.  If you want/need a whole cake you’ll need to call us ahead of time and order one.

*This ESPECIALLY goes for our signature cake, the Spring Fling.  Because it’s made with fresh fruit, cream cheese frosting and is time consuming to make, we can’t just make up a bunch to have on hand and hope that we sell them all.  It isn’t cost productive.  Please call us to place your order for one.


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Attack of the Mama Guilts

Last night I felt guilty because my husband took charge of my tiny lady while I took some time away to write. Yep I felt guilty for leaving her with her loving father. Despite the fact that I could hear giggles and roars of laughter the guilt took quite a while to subside. But that’s me – guilty of a permanent sense of guilt! I even feel guilty for feeling guilty!

When I was pregnant I never understood the full and overwhelming force of Mummy Guilt. Sure I would feel guilty if I drank (slightly) more than the recommended daily caffeine limit or took some paracetemol for that raging baby back-ache but honestly that guilt was nothing to what I felt when I held that little baby in my arms. Suddenly every decision I made became riddled with the potential for a major attack of the guilts.

As a child my indecisive nature was a great joke amongst my family. They decided I should become a judge when I grew up – oh the joys of a sarcastic family! I was actually quite legendary for sweating over every little decision, getting everyone else’s opinion as if somehow everyone else knew better than me. In my eyes I suppose they did. I had little faith in my own opinion. This has only become worse since I became a mother. There are so many opinions out there and many of them differ from mine – how do I pick which is the best course of action? How do I decide? Nights spent scrolling google do not help with the decision process but that’s what I found myself doing during those endless newborn nights. Should I rock her to sleep? Should I use a soother? Should I teach her to self-soothe? I would forget amidst all the information gathering that as her mother I knew best. What works for one baby possibly won’t work for another.

But with every decision now layered with an undercurrent of guilt I just couldn’t decide what I should do; one wrong decision and I imagined I had sent my daughter hurling down the wrong path, never to return. As I grew more confident in my mummy skills the decision making did become slightly easier but the guilt never really went away.

Needless to say I have had many sleepless nights and I can’t even blame my toddler! The one thing she (usually) does well is sleep. I have a nightly battle to get her to eat her dinner but at least bedtime brings some peace. So those bags under my eyes are all completely self-inflicted. I can spend whole hours tossing and turning over the smallest of decisions. Currently I am wrangling with a pretty big decision – where to send her to school. So you can imagine the bags under my eyes are pretty huge right now.

Before I became a mother, guilt was more of a side-player in my life; only really making a grand appearance over something major like an argument with a friend. Now guilt is pretty much my side-kick; guilt and a giant cup of coffee. And guilt is such a pointless, negative emotion most of the time. Yet it seems to pervade motherhood like a bad smell. We beat ourselves up over everything and feel bad if we don’t achieve perfection. But I realised the other day perfection doesn’t really exist.

I was having a bad afternoon with my little girl – very cranky toddler, very stressed mother – so we went to the shop to get a break from the house. I watched jealously as a mother and her little boy played happily outside, the little boy beaming up at his mummy. Meanwhile my little terror was shooting mutinous looks at me because I had made her sit in her buggy. A while later, finished our shop, we passed the mother and son again. What a difference ten minutes can make. He was now wailing and his mother was trying to talk to him. Finally she huffed, grabbed him and walked off; little legs digging into her side as she went. Perfection, it seems, only exists in the moment. Within seconds it can be lost in tears and tantrums.

I probably won’t ever stop feeling the mum guilt but maybe, just maybe I will give myself a break every now and then. Maybe not every decision needs late night google sessions. Maybe I will make some bad decisions along the way. But that’s okay. Life isn’t perfect; it’s messy, loud and sometimes overwhelming. The trick is to take notice of those little moments when things are going your way, when guilt is taking a coffee break and your little tot is snuggling in for some mummy time. Those are the times that matter.IMG_2194.jpg

1 Comment

  1. C. O'D
    October 21, 2016

    Always said “Throw that guilt away!!” ….. Guess who????

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Thursday, June 14, 2007

Update to Wacky Tacky Wednesday

Okay so only Carmella's group was doing Wacky Tacky Wednesday. Beau's group was doing "Make Your Own Recyclable Hat Day". Oops.

Can you imagine what would have happened if I had made that mistake with Carmella?

Beau, of course, did not care one bit that he was dressed ridiculous and different from all the other kids. In fact, he wore his pirate hat to camp again today-- along with a long sleeved winter shirt. He told me he liked to be hot. I did put a short sleeved shirt in his back pack but his counselors said he refused to change--just like yesterday when he refused to change out of his cowboys boots and the cape--despite the blister and no matter how hot the cape made him. I guess I should be able to relate since I have several pairs of shoes that I continue to wear because they make my legs look great even though they absolutely kill my feet and make it painful to run the next day.

In other wacky Wednesday news I got in a one mile swim in the afternoon yesterday. Today I did 22 miles on the bike down by the river at an avg pace of 15.6 mph. I did do some hill work in Martin's Landing and man, my legs were dead today. It was much harder than I expected. I had planned to get off the bike and do a run but that did not happen.

And to whoever yelled out "Hey Nat!" to me on Riverside Dr--Sorry I didn't yell hey back or turn around to figure out who you were. I was trying to get my groove on and was still talking myself into the workout. Stopping probably would have ended it completely for me. Anyway, my guess is that is was Doug, Steph's husband. I think I recognized his laugh.

1 comment:

  1. You are right!

    It was Doug. He was bike/running yesterday and is still really enjoying it despite not increasing his speed from last time. Sunday is my turn to bike/run at the river.

    Make-your-own-recyclable-hat-day? That sounds pretty wacky to me anyway. ; ) I love Beau - he is the free spirit I wish I could be.


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TAKE PART: Reconfiguring Ruins Workshop at NewBridge

Reconfiguring Ruins: Materialities, Processes and Mediations
Workshop – Expressions of Interest

Monday 8 – Tuesday 9 June 2015
The NewBridge Project, Newcastle upon Tyne

Reconfiguring Ruins brings together the School of Advanced Study, University of London, the Open University, Newcastle University and Sheffield University, The NewBridge Project in Newcastle and the Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA) in London.

We invite artists whose practice is concerned with the theme of ruins to participate in a free workshop as part of Reconfiguring Ruins: Materialities, Processes and Mediations.

The workshop will investigate how ruins are re-configured across time, space and media; it will include a series of talks, presentations and critical discussions, as well as site visits to ruins, chosen for the contrast between their location and the different cultures that surround them.

The workshop will feature Dr Nick Rush-Cooper discussing the mediations of the ruins of Chernobyl in videogames and Professor Bridget Bennett discussing ideas of home and crisis through neoclassical architecture in early America.

Reconfiguring Ruins co-investigators, Dr Adam Stock and Dr Mark Pendleton will be talking about research connected to the project. Dr Adam Stock will be focusing on ruins and apocalyptic temporalities in literature and film; Dr Mark Pendleton will explore Japanese ruins, including Hashima – an island made famous in the West as a location in the James Bond film Skyfall.

Dr Thomas Edward Wainwright will lead a site visit to Dunston Staithes, exploring our relationship towards decaying structures and their potential future uses. There will also be the chance to explore part of the Locus+ archive at their offices, formerly the Northern Constitutional Club.

NewBridge artist, Ben Jeans Houghton will lead a walking tour of ruins around Newcastle using Google maps and an accompanying downloadable audio album.

Expressions of Interest:
The workshop will take place at The NewBridge Project, 12 New Bridge Street West, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 8AW on Monday 8 June 1-6pm and Tuesday 9 June 9:30-5:30pm.

If you are interested in participating in the workshop please email admin@thenewbridgeproject.com with a short paragraph outlining your interest in taking part (300words max).

Deadline: Wednesday 27 May, 5pm

More information on Reconfiguring Ruins: Materialities, Processes and Mediations:
Funded by an AHRC ‘Care for the Future’ Developmental Award, Reconfiguring Ruins brings together academics from the School of Advanced Study, University of London, the Open University, Newcastle University and Sheffield University to work across disciplines, geographies and media. Our project partners are the New Bridge Project (NBP) in Newcastle and the Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA) in London.

Our project aims to critically reflect on the contemporary explosion of interest in ruins across the arts and humanities by re-connecting the theoretical and methodological metaphors which draw on ruins and ruination (e.g. ‘excavation’, ‘archaeology’, ‘palimpsest’) with the materiality of the ruin; the processes by which ruins emerge, change, and are sustained; and the different kinds of actors that engage with ruins.

The aesthetic of ruins privileged in the romantic concept of Ruinenlust (illustrated by, among others, Tate Britain’s ‘Ruin Lust’ exhibition, March-May 2014) captures a particular Western gaze on ruins as a concept, site and process. Our cross-disciplinary and cross-period approach questions the meaningfulness of ruins from other perspectives, and asks whether the imagination of ruins can be a generative and pre-figurative means of engaging with future change as well as thinking about interactions with the past. Conversations at workshops in London (12-13 January 2015) and Newcastle (4-5 June 2015) between academics, artists and practicing archaeologists, among others, will form the basis for a range of critical and creative work.

More information on partners/presenters:
Dr Adam Stock is Co-Investigator on the ‘Re-configuring ruins’ project, in which he’s looking at apocalyptic ruins in fiction and film. His book, Modern Dystopian Fiction and Political Thought is due to be published by Routledge in 2016. Previously, he has published on topics related to the history of ideas, science fiction, modernism, and utopian/ dystopian literature. Adam is Network Facilitator for the Leverhulme International Research Network ‘Imaginaries of the Future’.

Dr Mark Pendleton is a cultural and social historian and Lecturer in Japanese Studies at the University of Sheffield. His research interests include modern and contemporary Japanese history, the politics of memory in East Asia and transnational histories of gender and sexuality. As a co-investigator on the ‘Reconfiguring Ruins’ project, Mark is researching the haikyo (ruins) boom that has emerged in Japan since the 1990s.

Dr Nick Rush-Cooper is a cultural geographer with interests in the experiences of landscape, subjectivity and practices of knowledge production. His PhD Exposures: Exploring Selves and Landscapes in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone was undertaken whilst working as a tour guide in Chernobyl. Current research examines the process by which ral world spaces are ‘translated’ into computer game spaces and how, in turn, computer game spaces shape cultural and embodied knowledge.

Bridget Bennett is Professor of American Literature and Culture at Leeds University. Her wide-ranging work moves across the disciplinary boundaries of literature, philosophy and cultural history and beyond. Bridget’s last book was entitled Transatlantic Spiritualism and Nineteenth-Century American Literature (2007). More recently, Bridget’s work has focused on ideas of home and crisis. Her new AHRC-funded Research Network project is entitled ‘Home, Crisis and the Imagination’. It examines how home and crisis are interlinked in the imagination, and will investigate the extraordinary power that home has as both a physical location and an object of representation. By investigating moments of crisis through the analysis of home, the network will show not only how ‘the’ home makes meaning through lived conditions but also how the home is itself a frequent site of crisis.

Dr Thomas Edward Wainwright has a background in architectural design and temporary installations, having worked in Berlin and New York on research-led projects, and a doctoral degree in applied architectural research. He has experience in working with leading artists, architects, planners, designers and educators to produce projects, research and provide analysis, writing and design services to all sectors of the built and physical environment.

Reconfiguring Ruins is supported by an AHRC ‘Care for the Future’ Developmental Award.

The Newbridge Project