Ah, shit.

posted at 1:53 PM | link |

Jinkies!

The costumes are finished and waiting to be donned for tonight's Halloween Party. The hosts and most of the guests are theater people, a fairly creative lot who rarely disappoint. Sheila and I will be going as Daphne and Velma, respectively. The rest of the Scooby gang will be represented by a Scooby and a Shaggy doll. We told Fred to bugger off.

posted at 1:27 PM | link |

One of the funniest movies ever made was on AMC last night. It's that time of year and Monsterfest has begun. I never really understood why the horse whinnied every time Frau Bluecher's name was mentioned - I just thought they were being silly. I was wrong:

"Bluecher means glue in German. Since glue is made from horses, horses are heard each time the name of Frau Bluecher is said."

Aha!

posted at 1:10 PM | link |

For weeks after the terrorist attacks, secretaries at the New York State Office of Children and Family Services and press officers at the city's Administration for Children's Services could hardly answer the telephone without hearing from people who had read news of the "many," "hundreds," even "thousands" of orphans left in need of a home by the Sept. 11 disaster.

The problem is, officials say, there are none. Not a single child who needs foster care or adoption by strangers. Not a single documented case of a child who lost both parents. Just a handful of verified cases in which children "lost their only parent" — and all have close relatives who have taken over their care.

posted at 11:27 AM | link |

I just saw this guy on the television last week.

posted at 10:45 AM | link |

Here's another one for ya, Hol!

posted at 5:39 PM | link |

Oh, GOD.

Holly, this one's for you.

Not for the squeamish. Believe me, I know.

posted at 5:23 PM | link |

I am 23% Punk.

That's pretty much what I figured. I toyed with piercing, ear cuffs and crazy hairdos in the 80s, but never really embraced the whole movement, if ya get my drift. Take the PUNK/POSER Test at Fuali.com. The questions themselves are worth the time.

[link courtesy silly cow]

posted at 2:09 PM | link |

Peace on Earth.

When I first began blogging, I made a vow to myself that I would never post poetry or song lyrics; it just isn't me. Well, I'm about to break that vow. I was listening to U2's All That You Can't Leave Behind" yesterday and I was struck with the timeliness of one of the songs. Written by a band that is all too familiar with the devastating impact of terrorism on a society, it reflects the irony-tinged hopefulness of the war-weary. The song was written in the aftermath of the car bombing in Omagh, Northern Ireland in 1998 that killed 29 people, mostly women and children; in the aftermath of over 30 years of Troubles and 300 years of political and religious strife.

Peace on Earth

Heaven on Earth
We need it now
I'm sick of all of this
Hanging around
Sick of sorrow
Sick of pain
Sick of hearing again and again
That there's gonna be
Peace on Earth

Where I grew up
There weren't many trees
Where there was we'd tear them down
And use them on our enemies
They say that what you mock
Will surely overtake you
And you become a monster
So the monster will not break you

It's already gone too far
Who said that if you go in hard
You won't get hurt

Jesus could you take the time
To throw a drowning man a line
Peace on Earth
Tell the ones who hear no sound
Whose sons are living in the ground
Peace on Earth
No whos or whys
No one cries like a mother cries
For Peace on Earth
She never got to say goodbye
To see the color in his eyes
Now he's in the dirt
That's Peace on Earth

They're reading names out over the radio
All the folks the rest of us won't get to know
Sean and Julia, Gareth, Ann and Breda
Their lives are bigger, than any big idea

Jesus can you take the time
To throw a drowning man a line
Peace on Earth
To tell the ones who hear no sound
Whose sons are living in the ground
Peace on Earth

Jesus this song you wrote
The words are sticking in my throat
Peace on Earth
Hear it every Christmas time
But hope and history won't rhyme
So what's it worth?
This peace on Earth.

Copyright U2, Lyrics: Bono, Music: U2

posted at 12:24 PM | link |

Here's a little teaser photo from my vacation in Maine last month. As soon as I get my site moved from the old PC and install my HTML editor on the new comp, I'll work on getting other photos posted.

posted at 11:39 AM | link |

XPerience tells me...

...it might be best to wait a bit on this. c|net has a load of articles regarding the release of Microsoft's new OS. I got a free XP upgrade coupon with the computer that will be redeemable in a couple of weeks so yes, watchout lemmings, here I come.

[the startup wav for XP should be the intro to Madonna's "Ray of Light", like in the commercials...gets me in a groove every time]

posted at 10:24 AM | link |

New and Improved.

I took delivery of a new toy today, my first new computer - a Dell Dimension 4300. So far, so good. Of course, buying a new computer while still out of work is probably not the smartest move, but hey, I never claimed to be all that smart.

Not that you guys will see any improvement on your end...especially since I'm having that same difficulty with publishing that I had last week. Grr.

posted at 8:05 PM | link |

"Gaydar, or gay radar, billed as the first portable interactive electronic icebreaker/matchmaker for gay men and lesbians, ends the guesswork about the sexual orientation of that person across the room."

Fun idea, as long as your local gay-basher doesn't get his hands on it.

posted at 2:24 PM | link |

Fametracker: The Farmer's Almanac of Celebrity Worth. Hours of bubble-bursting goodness.

[link courtesy textism]

posted at 1:32 PM | link |

For whose Benefit?

I watched the Concert for NYC this weekend. All 5 and a half hours of it. It had its moments of schlock, sub-par performances (most notably McCartney's new song "Freedom") and boorish behavior, but overall I'd have to say I had a good time watching it. Randomly...Bowie's "Heroes" may have been an obvious choice, but so what? It's what they wanted to hear, I think. There were few technical problems besides poor Melissa Etheridge's inoperable mic and un-tuned guitar. I enjoyed the film vignettes that were interspersed throughout the performances, especially those from Ed Burns and Woody Allen. While I'm not a fan of The Who, they blew just about every other performer out of the water that night. One particular favorite moment of mine: Elton John and Billy Joel dueting on John's "Your Song" (my favorite EJ song). Elton was looking more queenly than Elizabeth and had me chuckling when he said he loved "a man in uniform." Worst moment of the evening: the booing of Hillary Clinton. Just plain bad behavior. And coming in a close second for worst moment was the performance of Paul McCartney's new song, "Freedom", written right after the the attacks. I don't think I was misguided in expecting something a bit less pedestrian and childlike from one of the most reknowned pop songwriters of the past century. A final favorite moment: the appearance onstage of Natalie Portman and a firefighter. On that night the cops, firefighters and emergency services workers were as much celebrities as the celebrities, and the adorbale Miss Portman could have been standing next to her favorite pop star for all of her excitement. I think she spoke for all of us when after kissing and hugging the fireman next to her she said to the crowd, in all sincerity, "I'd kiss you all if I could. Thank you."

Now, if you want to read about a wholly different benefit that took place this past weekend, you need to read this Salon article by Eric Lipton. I don't think I've read anything so funny or pathetic in my life. Well, I probably have. But this article is way up there. Please read it!

posted at 12:08 PM | link |

"The pin — a guardian angel wearing a fireman's helmet — was a gift from New York City Deputy Fire Chief Ray Downey to his wife Rosalie, a present for their 40th wedding anniversary last April. "

posted at 3:48 PM | link |

Invisibles!

This week's quiz is up. My score was so poor, it's not worth mentioning. Speaking of score, here are the answers to last week's Invisibles. The two I didn't know were from the recent Mars flicks, "Red Planet" and "Mission to Mars".

Try this one - Actor Additions - figure out the actor's name from the visual rebuses. I got 'em all!

posted at 3:39 PM | link |

"NASA Wants Volunteers to Go to Bed for a Month."

And I just wasted postage on today's batch of resumes.

posted at 1:39 PM | link |

posted at 10:16 AM | link |

"A message to Ariel Sharon and Yasir Arafat: Knock it off, right now."

posted at 9:54 AM | link |

I am Data. Crap.

posted at 5:12 PM | link |

A friend indeed.

OK, this is embarrassing. Quite a few years ago, say when I was around 30, a bunch of us spent a week at our cabin in Maine - me, my sisters, brother, a cousin and a friend. We were sitting around playing cards one night and after a few hours and quite a lot of beer, the conversation turned to the show, "Friends". Since there were six of us, it became necessary to decide which friend best described each person present. For reasons I still don't understand, it was determined that I "was" Chandler. Chandler! A guy! Hmph.

Well, the burden of being the Chandler of the group has at last been lifted. According to Emode, my inner friend is Rachel:

She's everybody's sweetheart, despite some (mostly) endearing quirks. And it looks like you too, have a little Rachel Green inside you. (If you're lucky, you might share her good looks too). Some may see you as a little spoiled, or at times naive. But overall you're a total doll. Like the real Rachel, you make your way in the world, figuring it out as you go.

Sometimes your story-book ideals of how things should turn out keep you from taking life as it comes, but that lovable vulnerability just makes people feel closer to you. You have true compassion, an idiosyncratic side your friends delight in—and, of course, great taste. Reminder, o charming one: People love it when you call them "hun."

Now excuse me while I go find out what my theme song is.

posted at 4:53 PM | link |

"A night that is designed to unleash a kind of controlled anarchy comes this year at a time of national neurosis. Is it possible to reconcile the two?"

posted at 11:45 PM | link |

Freedom Endures.

posted at 11:37 PM | link |