imkittymyers at hotmail dot com
Saturday, May 13, 2006
A SHOW OF FORCE
Last month, we ventured into the People's Republic of Ithaca, NY, for a Roby Lakatos concert. I was nervous driving my car, with its NRA sticker and its W2004 sticker. And then I saw that Ithaca police car ...Although I took my camera -- the very serious Canon 630 with 210mm telephoto lens -- I was not allowed to take pictures inside the theater. siiiigh. The best entertainment I've had in a long time, and my car was unscathed.
Back to blogging business tomorrow. Today belongs to my mother.
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Friday, May 12, 2006
"ON 9/11, I WAS IN THE COMPANY OF THE PRESIDENT"
If you haven't seen this video, taken when President Bush visited the second grade class room on 9/11, you should. First of all, it shows exactly what happened, and the teacher, who did not vote for him, tells us why she would have on that day. An amazing piece of footage which points out what liars some in the MSM are. We are so lucky that Bush won in 2000!“On 9/11, I was in the company of the president.”
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THE POWER WENT OUT & THE ROOF LEAKS, BUT IT'S STILL A WONDERFUL LIFE
I finally finished my story for this contest, the one where you plagiarize the entire thing -- not one single word of your own -- using a minimum of five published books. Every phrase, sentence and passage had to be cited by work, author and page. And, as an added monkey wrench, you couldn't use single-word citations, which was the greatest challenge of the contest.As I was working on my story yesterday, the power went out. Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit shit shit! We've been threatened with rain for more than a week now. Last week, which had the potential of a muddy mess, was dry as a bone because I mowed the lawn. You know how it is: wash the car, mow the lawn, and it will rain. It was becoming so dry by the weekend, that I treated my windshield with Rain*X, in hopes of rain. Not a drop until yesterday. But when the power went out, it wasn't raining. The sky looked like I might be visiting Oz at any minute, but no rain. The power flickered; 30 seconds later it was back on. However, it was just long enough to bring everything to a halt. Thank God Microsoft XP saves everything you had open, and then you get to sort through which version of what you want to save. After sorting through and saving everything I wanted, the power went out again, and this time for quite a while. Without power, there was nothing I could do. Just about everything requires electricity, including the water pump. At that point my biggest fear was not being able to flush the toilet. There's nothing like not being able to flush to bring on that urge. With nothing left that I could do, I read, which demanded a great deal of effort because my mind was consumed with my story, as today's deadline ticked closer and closer (not to mention that flush thing).
The rain finally began in the evening, and it was a soaker. I was on the couch working on my story, and DogMan was practicing his gypsy guitar, when I heard trickling water. The house was built by a man who had never built a house before, so it's riddled with nasty surprises. (Not to mention that the roof is probably more than 30 years old.) When the rain is driven by an fierce easterly wind, there is the possibility of water getting in. And it did, right into the living. Then I heard a drip drip drip in the dining room and discovered water trickling from the chandelier. DogMan went up into the attic, a place I have not ventured into since I heard creepy noises up there about 10 years ago. He discovered the source of the dining room leak and put a bucket under it. "It was from where the two levels join. It has nothing to do with its age." Yeah, right. But the fact is that a new roof, which we badly need, would necessitate other costly repairs, too. It's that old money pit domino effect: fix one thing and you'll be forced with more co$tly repair$.
I slept with the TV on so I couldn't hear the dripping. I dreamed about the house in the movie It's A Wonderful Life. Remember the old rundown house that Mary wanted? Remember how it leaked like a sieve? I spent my entire sleeping hours dodging the leaks in the Bailey household.
This morning dawned sunny and clear. I finally finished my story: entitled How The First Jewish Kimberly Got Her Life Stuck In A Groove; 744 words, which gave me a 6-word cushion; 94 footnotes. I e-mailed that sucker with a few hours to spare. So right this minute, life is good.
On to surfing the net. First stop, my daily NY Post horro-scope: Put your money worries behind you today because your prayers will soon be answered. Tomorrow's full moon will undoubtedly bring matters to a head and force you to make necessary changes. The amazing thing is they won't be as painful as you had feared. The fact is you should have made them earlier, but better late than never. HA HA HA !!!
Tomorrow, DogMan and I will be visiting my mother to wish her a Happy Mother's Day. Speaking of which ...
My Mother's Child
Almost fifty years later, and my mother is still worried, genuinely concerned!, about a neck rash I had at six weeks of age! Always my mother's child. It was only a short time later we learned my mom had lung cancer, and only a short time after that when she breathed her final breath. Every Mother's Day since herpassing (the windier the better), I try to take a particularly strenuous bike ride or maybe hike to the top of a mountain peak and make my heart pound and my lungs gulp air so that I may savor the gift of life she gave me and nurtured. For, I believe, her soul still keeps a careful watch on me, forever a mother's child.
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Thursday, May 11, 2006
SURRENDER, REPUBLICANS?
Look! Up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! No, it's HILLARY! And her broomstick is spelling out SURRENDER, REPUBLICANS!! Stop reading the MSM and ignore their agenda-driven polls.
Maybe Murdoch is being straight forward, but I smell protection. His media empire has been labeled by the Left as favoring the Right, so maybe this gesture is a pre-emptive strike to protect it. Of course, Bill Gates tried this, too, and the Clinton administration practically eviscerated Microsoft.Murdoch Defends Plan to Host Hillary Fundraiser: It will be pretty modest support, Murdoch said. It's giving the opportunity to people in our office who want to join us at a breakfast.We think that she's been effective on state issues and local issues here in a New York. She's been an effective and good senator. And if people want to come to breakfast for $1,000, they're welcome. It's no big deal. It's not a million-dollar raising. Its got nothing to do with anything other than her Senate re-election.
8 Which prompted a delusional Richard Cohen to ask Who Are You, Hillary?: But politics is not just about money -- not quite yet, anyway [there's the delusional part] -- if only because ideology and principles are not yet "products." That being the case (I hope), then Hillary Clinton's vast lead in fundraising -- she now has more than $20 million in the bank -- will be offset by growing questions about her principles and ideology. In other words, who is this woman who wants to be the next president of the United States? Is she the wife of Bill Clinton, who we were once led to believe was more liberal than he was, or is she actually far more conservative? The answer, at the moment, is something I cannot provide.
8 Dated 7/30/05*; Ickes: Look at Hillary's Record: "It's much more important to look at what she does and how she votes, and not that she has associated herself with the DLC," Harold Ickes told the Washington Times on Friday*. Ickes reminded that Bill Clinton also came under fire from party liberals for his more centrist rhetoric. But they stuck with him because "his record in totality was extraordinarily progressive." h/t Holy Coast
8 Cindy Adams posited some interesting observations today: REMEMBER when Clinton/Gore ran the U.S.A.? Now - maybe - both Clinton and Gore could be would be should be running for president. If Gore looks like a lock and if H. Clinton looks like she won't get the nod, could it be a Gore/Clinton ticket? If she doesn't think she'll make it, if she doesn't want to come home empty-handed, if she thinks he'd take her, if either thinks the other will be a help . . . . . . . . .
Algore is certainly rich enough.
And then she hilariously shows how All Blame Leads To Bush: It's all George Bush's fault. If Bush hadn't zapped Dan Rather's report on his National Guard duty, Dan wouldn't be off CBS News. If Dan weren't off CBS News, Katie Couric wouldn't be off "Today." If Katie weren't off "Today," Meredith Vieira wouldn't be off "The View." If Meredith weren't off "The View," Rosie O'Donnell wouldn't be going on it and Star Jones might not be job hunting.
In other political news ...
8 AJ Strata reports Another Day, Another National Security Leak: USA Today just tipped off the terrorist how to avoid detection and put the people in Qwest's areas in danger because now it is known those areas have the least protection and should be targeted! What are these people THINKING! Someone needs to go to jail.
8 Mac Ranger believes it will be a Bang of a Summer: [Y]ours truly has told you all along - the tide is about to shift. ... Oh, and more than a little legal issues for a couple of Democratic members of Government.
8 Tony Is Starting to Have an Impact: It's good to see the White House aggressively defending itself and correcting erroneous information from the press.
8 PATAKI IS THE PITS WITH STATE VOTERS: Even 55 percent of Republican voters disapprove of his job performance, compared with 43 percent who give him thumbs-up. ... Overall, 61 percent of New Yorkers say they believe the state is headed in the wrong direction.
8 And for all you Al Jolson fans, Pat Kennedy went Jacko as young pol: Wham-a-lot" Congressman Patrick Kennedy may be glad he has beat it to Minnesota's Mayo Clinic now that party pictures have surfaced showing him masquerading as Michael Jackson.
........... And now, a little something to make you go awwwwwwww!
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Wednesday, May 10, 2006
"SPRING CLEANING"
Spring cleaning, as in cleaning up, hiding or getting rid of evidence. The good news is that for all of you poor schmucks out there who don't have HBO and therefore couldn't watch The Sopranos, there will be reruns on A&E. The bad news is that the Bada Bing girls, with their bodacious ta-tas, will be covered. Che peccato! siiiigh'Sopranos' Undergoes Cosmetic Surgery for Basic Cable: [L]oyal viewers may be hard-pressed to determine what exactly A&E has retouched. For example, in one scene from the first season, two of Tony's lieutenants, Silvio (played by Steven Van Zandt) and Christopher (Michael Imperioli), put a bullet through the head of a quivering turncoat who has been found to be wearing a wire. In the edited scene, as in the original, blood splatters on a nearby wall. All that is missing in the edited version of the shot is perhaps two seconds of film in which what appeared to be a chunk of brain matter began to slither down an air-conditioning unit. h/t Soprano Sue
8 Bada Bing Kitty Bar?
In other spring cleaning news ...
8 Good Lord, not another poll? Look, don't even bother with those enraging headlines and the biased stories. Go to the experts for the details and stop worrying about Another Crap Poll: [L]ike every other "poll" that's coming out lately, when you look at the demographics of the respondents, you can't help but come to the conclusion that these polls are being done to drive news stories, because they sure as hell aren't interested in finding out who's going to turnout come Election Day.
8 Something we all figured already, but worth repeating --
According to Cindy Adams: PAY attention. The so-called probe into the D.C. cops who helped zonko Patrick Kennedy home instead of slamming him into the jug? Ain't to be no deepdeepdeep probe. Like more a probe-let. The Capitol fuzz have always been congressional custodians. He isn't the first representative they've blotted up. Many a congresscreature has slurped one too many and been lent a helping patrol car. The Kennedy name just spotlighted this more than others. So, this probe will result in zero. Ain't nobody looking to really run through a thorough investigation.
8 Whadda y'wanna bet that that cafone HRC studies the Sopranos.
HILL ON W.'S GOOD SIDE: Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton - an outspoken critic of President Bush - put aside her red-hot rhetoric last night to hail the chief. Asked to say something nice about Bush during a Q&A session at the National Archives, Clinton rattled off a string of compliments - a far cry from her harsh critiques of Bush's Iraq war, energy and economic policies. "He's been very willing to talk. He's been affable, he's been good company," she said. "He is someone who has a lot of charm and charisma, and in the immediate aftermath of 9/11, I was very grateful to him for his support for New York."
... Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.
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Tuesday, May 09, 2006
IT'S STRICTLY PERSONAL
I've had computer problems. At first I thought it was my server, Road Runner. Then I thought it might be the Net. I cleaned the cache, scrubbed out the ad-aware garbage, and checked for viruses. Whatever I did finally worked as the hardware seems to be running smoothly once again. In the meantime, I was able to get some more writing done, so all was not lost.Here are the links I was going to post this morning. Considering that somethings on the net have the lifespan of a fruit fly, these may already be outdated, as in so ante meridiem.
8 Tony Snow Debuts at White House -- The Associated Press reports that Tony Snow didn't say much on his first day at the White House -- and Helen Thomas was waiting.
8 We are Winning the Battle for IRAQ
8 THIRDWAVE Dave reports, sadly, that the Hilton Corp. has succeeded in closing Fran OBriens Steak House: Our wounded men and women, recuperating at Walter Reed and Bethesda, will no longer be able to enjoy a night out with their family and friends courtesy of Hal and Marty. They began the tradition of free Friday night steak dinners to our wounded servicemenbers two-and-a-half years ago.
8 The '$5 Trillion Surplus' - The Myth that Refuses to Die
8 And in case you missed it, AnkleBiters once again examines those poll numbers: [Y]ou really wonder if the purpose of conducting it was to get good results, or push an agenda. (Love their new logo!)
8 As Wizbang points out: There's an old saying in politics that you can't beat someone with no one. It's the principle that's kept Ted and Patrick Kennedy (alias Old Pint and Half Pint) in office. And even though Bush can't run again, he's still somebody, and his designated successor will have that going for him (or her). The Democrats need to find someone that people can vote for, for a change -- running as "I'm not George W. Bush" hasn't worked for them yet.
8 MacRanger wonders: What if the MSM isn't reporting the news but trying to form a picture of trouble to discourage Republicans from going to the polls and Democrat to flood them. I know that's already the belief of most of us. However, after watching the absolute disbelief of Democrats after the 2004 election - where it wasn't even close - showed that the picture the MSM and the Democrats and all the left wing websites had painted were way off.
The point is that I believe and it's starting to show that the American people by and large will still support the Republican's next election and even into the 2008 Presidential election. Why? Primarily the rabid left is in decline and not in near enough numbers to effect any election. Secondly they have no "star". Even Hillary's so-called star is fading. Not to mention when you have Cindy Sheehan as your antiwar poster child it doesn't sit well with middle America - no way, no how.
8 NY Post's Letters to the editor: HOW TO DERAIL HILLARY: TELL THE TRUTH ABOUT HER
8 Last but not least, this is not only personal, it's absolutely necessary: Censure Jimmy Carter
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Monday, May 08, 2006
GET A GRIP, GHOST!
A couple of days ago I posted a link announcing the arrival of Mr & Mrs Media Matters' healthy little Parker. M&M have had some anxious moments awaiting Parker's birth. There were times when his health was not a sure thing.
Soanyways ... This HUGE link just happened to be posted above the post about Patrick Kennedy's latest, and continuing, troubles. My old site pest, Ghost Dansing (a.k.a. GD), apparently thought that THE MOMENT WE HAVE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR was the heading for the post about Kennedy, because he clicked on the baby comments and posted this:
So this is what you've been waiting for? What a waste of time.
Ghost Dansing
While I admit that I took great pleasure in John L'Fraude's total and utter defeat :), just like I will actually partake of an adult beverage to cheer Her Royal C's political drubbing, schadenfreude is still primarily the currency of the Left. I can't believe that GD believes I would cheer on someone who is battling drug addiction. So, look again, Ghost. The heading for the Kennedy post is SIDE ORDER OF MAYO.
Now, surf over and congratulate Mr & Mrs Media Matters!
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PLAGIARIZING & ALL THAT YADDA YADDA YADDA
After slaving away for an entire weekend, without ever getting outta my jammies neither, I'm here t'tell ya that plagiarizing can be hard work! It has to do with this contest “Sloppy Seconds With Opal Mehta” : Inspired by recent events, we wondered not “why does anyone plagiarize,” but “why aren’t more people better at plagiarizing?” And so we are launching a contest to see if there is a “writer” out there who can create a coherent and original piece of fiction completely made from the works of others.
Sound easy? Then check out the rules.
Here are the books I've used, which I chose because I gave most of my others away:
1) How To Talk Dirty And Influence People, by Lenny BruceI color coded them for my benefit, in order to keep track of where I plagiarized what, because we have cite everything.
2) Heartburn, by Nora Ephron
3) Greenwich Killing Time, by Kinky Friedman
4) Lady Sings The Blues, by Billie Holliday w/William Dufty
5) How To Lose Your Ass And Regain Your Life, by Kirstie Alley
6) Chore Whore, by Heather H. Howard
7) Jewish Humor, by Rabbi Joseph Telushkin
In other news ...
8 Terrorists may think twice if we deployed the United States Redneck Special Forces (USRSF) h/t LuckyDawgNews
8 NO JOKE: IRAQIS LOVE TV 'DRAMA': WHO knew they got Comedy Central in Iraq? The cable network's honchos were shocked when they got a request from Iraqi army troops stationed in Baghdad for merchandise from the spoof cop show "Reno 911!" So the obliging folks at Comedy Central sent over a whole load of stuff, and they're sponsoring a photo-essay contest that apparently involves placing the short-shorts worn by the Lt. Dangle character on old statues of Saddam Hussein. Even weirder: "The show is shown on an Arab station with Arabic subtitles," said a rep for the network, "and the Iraqis think it is a serious police drama."
8 Looks like the judge in the Libby case doesn't want to play fair: So this brings up an interesting point. Here's the plan, pass it around. All bloggers or citizens interested in finding out just who, where, when and how about Joe Wilson's jaunt to Niger in 2002, go to the CIA and file the Federal Freedom of Information Act form online. Yes, it will cost a bit (details on the site) to get the documents, but if you file as "media" there is no charge for the first 100 pages. Yes, we ARE the media.
8 Pelosi Bluster: "Pelosi's been talking a good game, but her party's numbers aren't holding up," says a Democratic leadership aide who is working behind the scenes to remove Pelosi after the mid-term elections. In fact, a number of people are working behind the scenes to remove Pelosi. According to congressional sources, her deputy, Democratic whip Rep. Steny Hoyer, and his staff have been making it clear to a number of different business interest groups that they do not support Pelosi's virulently anti-business positions and that they are more than willing to help.
8 I LOVE THIS! Can you help me discover more music that I'll like?
8 Chris, at Lucky Dawg News, has a message for Al-Zarqawi, who was videotaped fumbling with that gun :~)
8 Here y'go, Jay! STOP The ACLU
8 That infamous yadda yadda yadda quote: No, I mentioned the bisque ;~)
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