While I won't claim ever being a fan of Mr. Rogers (my mother tells me that I never liked him, not even as a little kid), there is no denying his good work and positive influence on millions of children. Jason Snell, of teevee.org, pays fitting tribute to him today: Goodbye, Mr. Rogers.

N O F R E A K I N G W A Y.

Monster Cheeto for sale. Anyone? LOL

(thanks, fark)

Ah, come on, what's the big deal? When I was a freshman in college (an all-women, Catholic college, mind you), we had a naughty-nighty party on the third floor that was capped with the appearance of 2 male strippers in one of the larger dorm rooms. This was about 20 years ago (JESUS), but I remember their stage names: The Polish Pony and GI Joe.

The good old days.

Are they sure this guy isn't a lawyer?

She Saved the World. Alot.

I knew this was coming, as most people did, but still. It's hard to let go.

I'm surprised to see that the future of "Angel" is in question as well. As much as I love "Buffy", I don't think another spinoff is a good idea. Let it end, I say.

I think Buffy's going to die at the end. For real this time. And I am going to cry and cry and cry.

How do you think Buffy will end? (no spoilers)

So, who's still with me?

Besides my old pal eip, that is. ;)

I have been neglecting this place terribly lately, but life has just been overwhelming. You know how it is. New job, new schedule, mother moves in, sister moves out, blah blah blah. I'm on my lunch break right now, so I'll see if I can post a few things before I get back to work.

Have a good day!

Newsflash for those of you who care: Michael Gambon will be the new Dumbledore.

Richard Kuklinski, a/k/a The Iceman, was arraigned yesterday at the Bergen County Courthouse in Hackensack, NJ for a murder that he confessed to on HBO. Did you happen to watch HBO's 3-part documentary series about him? I believe I saw just about all of it, in bits and pieces, and I saw the final entry, "The Iceman and the Psychiatrist", twice. He's an absolutely terrifying individual, just as fascinating as he is repulsive. Parts I and II are available on tape or DVD, and I bet HBO will air Part III again soon. Catch it if you can.

Franks and Beans!!

LOLOL

Some good news, perhaps: Jesica Santillan gets new heart and lungs, and this time they seem to be working.

Freedom fries??? I think I'm gonna puke. I suppose next we'll be forbidden from eating French toast, getting French manicures or, *gasp*, French kissing. Nevermind French onion soup, French cuffs, French doors or even a French horn. If we did that every time the French disagreed with us, well, we wouldn't have "French" anything.

Drunk, half-naked New Zealander is arrested for driving a motorized barstool down his neighborhood street while his rear end was on fire.

I kid you not.

Google buys Blogger and is one step closer to ruling the world.

The SciFi Channel has a new reality show, Scare Tactics, scheduled to premiere on April 4 at 10 PM. I've seen a few promos for it and, although I am not a fan of reality TV, this one looks like it's worth watching. People are secretly videotaped reacting to various scary situations. The girls I saw in the ads were screaming their heads off. Well, Scare Tactics may never make it to the air: a woman who was scared shitless by them and secretly taped has filed suit against the show, a couple of the actors and SciFi.

Update: The Smoking Gun has posted the complaint for damages. God I want to see this so badly.

Shameless links to cutesy animal photos:

A pig and a pug.

Pretty kitties.

Duh


You are a Dubliner.


What's your Inner European?
brought to you by Quizilla

(thanks, popculturejunkmail.com)

B L I Z Z A R D

Yep, it's official - we got ourselves a good old-fashioned blizzard going on. The TV news and weather people are wetting their pants they're so excited, but it really is pretty bad out there. Latest accumulation predictions: 20"-24" by the time it finishes tomorrow morning. Now dat's a snowstorm.



Today was supposed to have been my last day at Tommy K's, but I guess that was Friday, since there's no way I can make it in today. Being an Assistant Manager at a video store is pretty much a shitty job, but it wasn't all bad. It could have been worse - I could have been a manager. Hehe.

So, tomorrow I return to Gager. I still can't quite believe I'm going back there. I had my one day of training last Monday - I was pretty much overwhelmed. It's not rocket science - accounts payable, payroll, billing, accounts receivable - but it is all new, and on a different accounting system than the one that we were using when I left. I'll be concentrating on learning the new software this week, and then I expect I'll start working on the transition. I don't know if I mentioned this before, but the Waterbury office - my former location - will be closing. I'm going to spend the next couple of months finalizing client bills and collections, working on client file redistribution, and preparing for the sale of the office space by getting someone to take all of our old office equipment and furniture. Or junking it. Once that is finished I'll be down in the Bethel office on a permanent basis.

And one more bit of news...to accomodate my mother and Petie, temporarily, Sheila and Marty have moved to our father's house, about a half hour away. They left last night, and oy, I just couldn't stop crying. I miss them both very much already, and I feel so badly for Sheila and for all that she has given up, but it's the best solution right now. And it's temporary. Mary and her husband have agreed that they should divorce (the unbearable tension in the house is why my mother has moved back here). Even though I haven't mentioned their troubles here very much, or at all, it's been going on for a long time. The end of a marriage is not a happy event, but in this case I think all parties will be better off, especially the children. Once Mary's life and living situation has settled, Mommy is supposed to move back in with her to help with the bills and the babysitting. We are also looking into buying a house for all of us to live in, hopefully by summertime, if not then by the end of the year.

So, a lot going on around these parts. I hope life is treating you all well. If it's snowing where you are, stay warm and have a good day!

Headline of the Day: Trapeze Artist Attacks Rival with Castration Tongs. Circus people.

Whoa whoa whoa...a "Bodysnatchers" musical???

They're predicting about a foot of snow with tomorrow's storm, with the possibility of even more if the storm lingers.

*weep*

Salon.com will most likely be shut down within a month's time. The bubble continues to deflate.

Check out this poor soul. Geez, what a dope.

PSA

Are you ready? Actually, no, I'm not. So let's just all be nice to another, OK?

Dreaded Valentine's Day is fast approaching, and while I usually ignore the day entirely, I thought this was sort of fun, in a goofy way: Who is your Lord of the Rings love match?

After reading the replies carefully, I was able to manipulate the result to my satisfaction:

Aragorn. It seems you seek a lover who doesn't wear his heart on his sleeve, a real man, strong, silent and determined. The kind of chap who can build a fire, track a man across hill and dale through darkness and survive in the wild for months at a time. Regular shaving may be beyond his reach, and you may have to make substantial concessions to secure his affection. Your dad won't be happy.

Hehe.

Sir Ian McKellen was this week's guest on BBC Radio's Desert Island Discs. Guests are asked which pieces of music, which book, etc. you would want with you were you stranded on a desert island. You can find Sir Ian's choices here.

Dancing Queen. I love it.

I saw these guys when I went into NY on Sunday. They had machine guns strapped to their shoulders and bomb-sniffing dogs at their sides. Instead of terrifying me, their presence made me feel secure. I can remember seeing photographs of similar soldiers on the streets of Belfast in the early 1980's and thinking to myself, "I can't imagine what it must be like to live where this is necessary." Now here I am, 20 years later, comforted by the sight of them.

The Brunching Shuttlecocks rate danger symbols, part 2. I love these. Sample:

You never know when you're going to be in charge of some danger never before known to man, like sentient pudding or something, but an exclamation point doesn't mean "Danger" to me. It means "Charlie Brown is startled."

A new study shows that 2/3 of those participating turned their heads to the right when going in for a kiss. The other third can't remember which way they turn their heads since it's been so long since they've been kissed. Oh wait, that's me.

Adult Film Title of the Week: Burnin' Rubber... hee hee

Weekend

Saturday was a tough day. Our mother moved out of Mary's place for good because the situation there had just become unbearable for her. We were all sobbing by the time we left - Mary because she was sorry it didn't work out and didn't want Mommy to leave; Mommy because she felt guilty for leaving Mary there; and Sheila and me because it was just all too sad. This time around, though, Sheila will be moving to my father's, temporarily, taking Marty with her. She's leaving on Monday. Daddy's place is only about 20 minutes away, but I'll still miss them both very much. This makes the most sense, though, and it means that I will be able to keep my bedroom and my privacy. Our ultimate living arrangements are contingent up on how other things develop (things that I can't really discuss here), but this current arrangement will most definitely be temporary, no matter how things end up.

So, that was Saturday. Sunday was a much better day. We took the train into New York City with our father and were lucky enough to ride in for free on a pass given to him by a friend. Even though I've been to NYC many times in my life, I have never ridden on a subway, so the ride downtown on the 6 was cool. We had the Nathan Hale Pub, normally closed on Sundays, to ourselves from 1-6. The party was open bar, the food was delish and, God help us, there was karaoke. After telling him that I had not yet been to the site of the WTC attack, our cousin Tommy took a group of about 5 of us around the corner to see it. The homemade memorials still hanging on the back fence of the church were very moving; the street vendors hawking souvenirs 3 feet away were not. I didn't spend as much time there as I would have liked (it was very cold and we did have to get back to the party), but I was so glad I was able to see it.

Howdy Strangers

Just peeking in for now, sorry. I've been very busy and highly distracted. And buried under all of the snow we got on Friday and today (over a foot!). Quick review: My mother moved back in on Saturday, so we had to do the Rhode Island trip, out and back, that day; yesterday was a trip into NYC for my cousin Alesia's surprise 40th birthday party at the Nathan Hale Pub, two blocks from the World Trade Center, which I was able to finally get to see; and today, well, I'm back to work at Gager. They contacted me about a week and a half ago about a position they wanted to talk to me about. I went in to talk with them and they offered me the job on Friday. I gave my notice at Tommy K's - I'll finish out the week, then start full time at Gager next Tuesday (Monday is a holiday). Since I wasn't scheduled at the store today, I went into Gager to do some training/play catch-up, etc. Finally, real money, a real schedule and full benefits.

I'll have more details later - I'm just too pooped right now. And don't despair - I've made a list of Adult Film Titles of the Week that'll take me quite a few weeks to exhaust.

Think that toupee looks like a dead squirrel? So did Izzy.

Toonces comes home! No word yet on what he was doing driving around for 7 years like that.

Oh, this drives me CRAZY. And I'm sorry, I don't buy the theory that W pronounces it that way on purpose.

"Mourners in a Bulgarian cemetery ran for cover after a pitched battle between rival undertakers ended with one of the combatants falling into an open grave."

Newsflash: UN Orders Wonka to Submit to Chocolate Factory Inspections.

"The world can no longer turn a blind eye to Wonka's deception and misdirection," Rumsfeld said. "Without full inspections, there's no earthly way of knowing which direction Wonka's going. Not a speck of light is showing, so the danger must be growing. And he's certainly not showing any signs that he is slowing. Are the fires of Hell a-glowing? Is the grisly reaper mowing? Who can provide the world with the answer to these pressing questions?"

Drive-Thru Reviews

Red Dragon - Well-acted, well-executed and pretty close to the book, but for some reason I still prefer 1986's Manhunter over this one. Maybe because I saw Manhunter first, and years ago, before I was tainted and desensitized by the serial-killer soaked media. Who knows. I definitely did not enjoy the extremely cheesy reference to Clarice Starling at the end.

Road to Perdition - A classic, operatic western disguised as a gangster movie. Every frame is a work of art.

8 Mile - I have managed to stay Eminem-free all these years - couldn't tell you a single song of his, names of CDs, nuthin. So I watched this film without any baggage or expectations. And what did I come out of it with? Eh. It was okay.

Adult Film Title of the Week: Can't You Just F*ck Me And Go Home?

Do Not Tip Or Rock. The Brunching Shuttlecocks rate danger symbols.

(thanks, popculturejunkmail)

High Flight

I heard about the loss of the Columbia while driving back from an art exhibit in which my niece's work was featured. Sheila and I had the kids in the backseat and we were all being very silly and singing along loudly to the song on the radio. Funny, I can't remember the song now. It finished and the announcer came on, remarking on the sad events of the day, reporting that the space shuttle Columbia had disintegrated in the skies above Texas and all the astronauts were lost.

I've been struggling since then with how to address the tragedy on this page. I offer my deepest condolences to the families and loved ones of the astronauts, and I hope that the knowledge that they died in the brave pursuit of a better world for all of us will help to alleviate some of their profound sadness. I won't, however, offer prayers for the souls of the lost - the seven brave men and women of Columbia do not need my help in that area. Instead, I will fall back on the tried and true. I dedicate the poem entitled "High Flight", written by Pilot Officer John Gillespie Magee, Jr. during WWII, and my gratitude, to the Columbia Seven.

Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings
Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds--and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of--wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence, hov'ring there
I've chased the shouting wind along,
And flung my eager craft through footless halls of air.
Up, up the long, delirious burning blue
I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, or even eagle flew
And, while with silent lifting mind I've trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space
Put out my hand and touched the face of God.