House Concert!!!!

The KraftRs are thrilled to present:

Singer/Songwriter, Soul and Blues Artist Charlie A’Court in a House Concert on August 23rd, 8:00 – 10:00PM, Atlantic time.  The good news?

We will be webcasting the show live, so you can watch along with us!!

More information will be posted later at 4squirrels.wordpress.com, as will the link to watch live!!!

photo credit – Charlie’s Facebook page- fan photos

This could quite possibly be one of the Top Ten Dilberts of all time:

It’s kind of sad I’ve had to post it more than once, though.

Well, after two months of no meat – I accidentally slipped today.

My coworker and I went to a new Japanese place right across from campus.  She got stir-fry and I had sushi.  To start, we decided to split an order of dumplings … and therein lies my fall.

The menu didn’t say “pork” and I failed to ask.  I bit into a dumpling and there it was: a mixture of ground pork and seasonings.

*sigh*

I suppose it was bound to happen and it taught me a lesson to always ask if there’s meat in a dish.  They were good dumplings and I ate my half (they were already there and I had already eaten some), but they were also the part of the meal that made me feel sick.  And they didn’t taste as good as I remembered, so maybe this vegetarianism thing will stick.

So, about two months ago I was at work doing my thing (cataloging, editing and uploading records, etc.) when I got my hands on a book called The Face on Your Plate: the Truth About Food by Jeffrey Masson.  I opened it to place the M.O.F. inside (the order form we keep for our records) and happened to read a little bit … which caused me to read a little more … and I wound up checking it out (once it was fully cataloged).  From the Introduction:

When I was teaching Sanskrit at the University of Toronto in the 1970s, I came across a phrase that stopped me dead: ashrayaparavrtti - a sudden moment of life-changing insight.  Paravrtti is like a somersault, and ashraya is one’s home base, so it means letting go of everything you have always believed or understood for a leap into the unknown.  The Christian equivalent is known as the Road to Damascus experience in which Saul (later St. Paul) underwent a conversion on his way to Damascus to slaughter Christians and instead became one.

Many people become vegan in just that way: a sudden moment, a blinding insight, a turning one’s back on conventional wisdom, in this case, conventional diet.

An epiphany.

What I read that day in my cubicle was about the pork industry.  It broke my heart to read about how the animals are treated, specifically the mothers and babies.  I became a vegetarian that day and didn’t even know it until it came time for dinner and I didn’t want to eat.

It’s not that I stopped believing in eating meat, because I didn’t.  I believe the animals were put here for our use and that includes eating them, HOWEVER, I don’t believe that torturing them beforehand is necessary or moral.

So, once the meat that was already purchased and in my fridge was eaten, that was that.  No more meat from factory farms for me.

I’ve been eating free-range, cage-free eggs and cheese from small, local farms.  I switched to almond milk, too.  I’ve discovered how delicious lentils are.

It’s been exceedingly difficult.  Restaurants don’t want to be helpful and neither do friends.  Nobody understands or cares about my personal reasons.  I’ve been sensitive to the fact that most new vegetarians are extremely obnoxious, so I haven’t broadcast it to anyone.  I haven’t preached at them or tried to convert them.  It’s just something I am doing for me.  If anyone notices and asks, I will fill them in, but other than that it’s my business.

I feel pretty good about it so far, but man oh man – I am craving a cheeseburger.

Scorpio

Your first priority is to yourself. So go off on your own and leave everyone behind.

Hmm …

Former Wash. inmate sues state for labor shackling

By RACHEL LA CORTE, Associated Press Writer – Thu Jun 25, 10:21 pm ET

OLYMPIA, Wash. – A former Washington state prison inmate who says she was shackled during childbirth sued the state Thursday, saying her constitutional rights were violated.

Seattle-based women’s rights organization Legal Voice filed the federal lawsuit against the state Department of Corrections on behalf of Casandra Brawley, who was four months pregnant when she was jailed at the Washington Corrections Center for Women near Gig Harbor in December 2006.

Brawley said she was shackled by a metal chain around her stomach during transportation to the hospital, then fastened by a leg iron to a hospital bed throughout several hours of labor.

The suit alleges her restraints were removed during an emergency Cesarean section only after a physician insisted, but then were replaced after the procedure.

“Yeah, I’ve made some mistakes and wrong decisions,” Brawley said Thursday of the shoplifting conviction that sent her to prison. “But I am still a person and I didn’t feel like I should be treated like a caged animal.”

In a written statement, Maria Peterson, spokeswoman for the Department of Corrections, said the agency is “dedicated to treating all offenders with respect and dignity and not subjecting them to conditions or circumstances that unnecessarily threaten their safety or well being.”

Brawley was released in May 2007.

Sara Ainsworth, an attorney at Legal Voice representing Brawley, said the department violated both the U.S. and state constitutions when it chained Brawley when she went into labor in April 2007.

Ainsworth said Brawley is seeking unspecified damages for emotional suffering, and wants to ensure that the state Department of Corrections stops shackling pregnant women.

“During her entire hospitalization — even though walking is extremely difficult in the first few days after a Cesarean section — Ms. Brawley was kept shackled to a hospital bed by the metal leg restraint and guarded by a DOC corrections officer 24 hours per day,” the lawsuit says.

While walking the halls of the hospital during her recovery, her ankles were shackled together, which Brawley said was “embarrassing and stressful.”

Brawley’s attorneys said their client was not a danger to anyone, and was a good inmate who was released midway through her 14-month sentence.

Brawley lives with her 2-year-old son, his father, and their 7-month-old baby in Bremerton.

Y’know, call me unsympathetic, or a monster, or a bitch, but: WAHHH!

You broke the law.  You were in JAIL.  You were a prisoner.  They didn’t treat you like a “caged animal” they treated you like a prisoner.  Which you WERE. Suck. it. up.

Be glad you are out and have freedom and don’t ever get yourself into that kind of trouble again.  I say count your fucking blessings that you were allowed to retain custody of your children.

Nuisance lawsuits are overwhelming the courts and I hope the judge tosses this one WAY out.

Well, I am pretty darned close to GIDDY this morning -

After nearly 15 years of searching and hunting and asking, I found it!  The Barbarella soundtrack!!!!

Wooooooooooo!  Hoooooooooooo!

After all this time, this fantastic album has been put out as a digital download.  For many years, the album was out of print.  I hunted in used record stores and online auction houses to no avail.  My freshman year in college, I got so close I could practically hear it!  One of my classmates was an older student who had picked up the album (vinyl!!) when it was first released (1968).  She said it was in mint condition and was boxed up with some other records in her basement and that I could have it and any others I wanted – Eep!  The following week (it was a once a week class), she regretted to inform me that her husband had given away all their albums when they had moved the previous year (to her son, if memory serves).

*sigh*

Then, a few years later, the album was released on CD … but only as an import.  You ever priced Import CDs?  As a poor college student, it was out of the question.  By the time I had the money – it was out of print again.

ARGH!!

But now, finally, I was able to download the entire thing (plus three radio spots) at emusic.  As anyone who knows me will tell you, I 125% prefer an in-hand copy (i.e. album, CD, cassette) to a download of anything - the quality is so vastly superior that I have difficulty putting it into words – but this is better than nothing.  WAY better than nothing.  Nothing is what I had all these years, and this … this is FABULOUS!

Yay!

Love, love, love … drags me down …

As anyone who knows anything about me at all is aware, I am a HUGE fan of Mancow Muller.  Who is Mancow?  He’s a morning radio personality based in Chicago and is syndicated all across the U.S.  I listen to him online here.

Mancow is engaging, intelligent, hilarious, and just a little nuts.  Frankly, I think the man is brilliant and I have tremendous respect for him.

There are many layers to Mancow Muller, so you may have to listen several times before you start to understand what he is about.  Trust me, he is worth it.

I starting following him on Twitter and I look forward to his tweets more than any others.  Got one a couple of days ago that I decided to keep on my phone as a daily reminder.

Remember to seek God first today.  Say out loud, “I want a great day”.  You’ll be amazed at the results.  Prove me wrong.  Try it.

Regardless of whether or not you are a religious person, this affirmation is a good idea.  Just try it – what have you got to lose?

Sci Fi Channel to Launch New Name: SyFy

Nuh-uh.  No way.  You can’t make me.  It’s stupid, juvenile, and unecessary … and if I have to tell you why then maybe we shouldn’t be friends.

Last week we had quite a bit of snow for this area. It snowed all day Sunday and much of Monday. We were off for MLK Jr Day, but I wound up with a super long weekend because I couldn’t leave my house Tuesday (ice coated the streets of my subdivision).

It was pretty darned great. I took some pics because it’s rare to get an amount of snow in the valley that causes the schools to be closed.

Front yard:

Back yard:

Damned if you do, damned if you don’t

Sometimes, being an admin means you can’t express your real and true opinion … at least not without facing a virtual firing squad.

When you are an Admin, people form their opinions of what that should mean so far as your behavior online. To many of them it means I should back each and every choice Taylor Hicks makes without question. It means that even though I dislike Grease and wish Taylor would just be done with it already, I should keep that to myself and hip-hip-hooray the freaking play.

Well, I can’t do that. So what I have done is basically just bow out of the Grease discussions. Other people are loving it so why steal their joy and poop on their fun?

Apparently, that is no good either. This has been interpreted as my being “bored with Taylor” and I “need to move on.”

WTF?

If I’m not a pompom shaking, everything-Taylor-touches-is-perfection, Taylor’s-farts-are-not-just-in-tune-they-also-smell-like-lilacs fan, then I am NOT a “real” fan.

WTF??

The funniest thing? There is a pompom shaking, everything-Taylor-touches-is-perfection, Taylor’s-farts-are-not-just-in-tune-they-also-smell-like-lilacs Admin on another site and you know what? She catches flack for that.

Again – WTF???

Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.

Missing pants case returns to DC court

By BRIAN WESTLEY, Associated Press Writer Brian Westley, Associated Press Writer – Wed Oct 22, 4:34 pm ET

WASHINGTON – A former administrative law judge who unsuccessfully sued a dry cleaner for $54 million over a pair of lost pants tried to convince an appeals panel Wednesday that he deserves the money because he is a fraud victim.

“This is not a case about a pair of suit pants,” Roy L. Pearson argued before the District of Columbia Court of Appeals. Rather, it is about whether the owners of a neighborhood business misled consumers with a sign that claimed “Satisfaction Guaranteed,” he said.

“There is an unconditional guarantee,” he argued, unless the merchant indicates otherwise.

Pearson said the sign was deceptive and that the burden was on owners Jin Nam Chung and Soo Chung to explain whether the promise came with restrictions.

(Read the entire article at the link)

Oh. My. GOD!!  Can you say, “Jackass”?  It’s people like this judge who give the legal/justice system a very very bad name (and I have a few choice bad names I could call him).

Drop it, dude.  You had the chance to settle out of court the last time for the cost of the damned pants and court fees, but you were greedy wanting your multi-millions and your case was dismissed.  Why was it dismissed?  Because it’s utterly absurd to expect anyone to award you millions when all you are doing is harrassing a couple of immigrants who are running a Mom and Pop store.  You look like a bully.

Here’s a question – Right now, with people’s finances the way they are (savings wiped out, retirements wiped out, houses being foreclosed left and right) do you really think any jury is going to give a Washington, D.C. fat cat anything?  You are wasting your time, your money, and the court’s time.

I found this fun little game here.

The rules:
A) Go to Music Outfitters
B) Enter the year you graduated from high school in the search function and get the list of 100 most popular songs of that year
C) Annotate your list:
Bold the songs you like, italicize your favorites, do nothing to the ones you don’t remember (or don’t care about), and change the font color to red if you would lunge violently at the radio and break one or more fingernails trying to change the station as fast as possible.

1. The Sign, Ace Of Base
2. I Swear, All-4-One
3. I’ll Make Love To You, Boyz II Men
4. The Power Of Love, Celine Dion
5. Hero, Mariah Carey
6. Stay (I Missed You), Lisa Loeb and Nine Stories
7. Breathe Again, Toni Braxton
8. All For Love, Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart and Sting
9. All That She Wants, Ace Of Base
10. Don’t Turn Around, Ace Of Base
11. Bump N’ Grind, R. Kelly
12. Again, Janet Jackson
13. I’ll Remember, Madonna
14. Whatta Man, Salt-N-Pepa
15. Wild Night, John Mellencamp and Me’shell Ndegeocello
16. Without You/Never Forget You, Mariah Carey
17. You Mean The World To Me, Toni Braxton
18. Can You Feel The Love Tonight, Elton John
19. The Most Beautiful Girl In The World, Prince
20. Fantastic Voyage, Coolio
21. Baby I Love Your Way, Big Mountain
22. Regulate, Warren G and Nate Dogg
23. If You Go, Jon Secada
24. Back and Forth, Aaliyah
25. Now And Forever, Richard Marx
26. When Can I See You, Babyface
27. Please Forgive Me, Bryan Adams
28. So Much In Love, All-4-One
29. Shoop, Salt-N-Pepa
30. Any Time, Any Place/And On And On, Janet Jackson
31. Shine, Collective Soul
32. Said I Loved You…But I Lied, Michael Bolton
33. Return To Innocence, Enigma
34. All I Wanna Do, Sheryl Crow
35. Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm, Crash Test Dummies
36. Can We Talk, Tevin Campbell
37. Funkdafied, Da Brat
38. I’d Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That), Meat Loaf
39. Gangsta Lean, Drs
40. Because The Night, 10,000 Maniacs
41. Cantaloop, US3
42. Whoomp! (There It Is), Tag Team
43. Come To My Window, Melissa Etheridge
44. Stroke You Up, Changing Faces
45. I’m Ready, Tevin Campbell
46. 100% Pure Love, Crystal Waters
47. Anytime You Need A Friend, Mariah Carey
48. Because Of Love, Janet Jackson
49. Linger, Cranberries
50. Loser, Beck
51. Found Out About You, Gin Blossoms
52. Gin And Juice, Snoop Doggy Dogg
53. Never Lie, Immature
54. Streets Of Philadelphia, Bruce Springsteen
55. Ghetto Jam, Domino
56. Endless Love, Luther Vandross and Mariah Carey
57. I Miss You w/ Aaron Hall
58. Understanding, Xscape
59. This D.J., Warren G
60. Cry For You, Jodeci
61. Keep Ya Head Up, 2Pac
62. Who Am I (What’s My Name?), Snoop Doggy Dogg
63. Another Night, Real McCoy
64. Your Body’s Callin’, R. Kelly
65. Tootsee Roll, 69 Boyz
66. I Can See Clearly Now, Jimmy Cliff
67. Never Keeping Secrets, Babyface
68. Crazy, Aerosmith
69. Just Kickin’ It, Xscape
70. At Your Best (You Are Love), Aaliyah
71. Rock And Roll Dreams Come Through, Meat Loaf
72. Amazing, Aerosmith
73. Always, Erasure
74. Groove Thang, Zhane
75. Dreams, Gabrielle
76. Mr. Vain, Culture Beat
77. Mary Jane’s Last Dance, Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers
78. Anything, SWV
79. Beautiful In My Eyes, Joshua Kadison
80. Stay, Eternal
81. Flava In Ya Ear, Craig Mack
82. U.N.I.T.Y., Queen Latifah
83. Prayer For The Dying, Seal
84. Secret, Madonna
85. Here Comes The Hotstepper, Ini Kamoze
86. Everyday, Phil Collins
87. Don’t Take The Girl, Tim McGraw
88. Got Me Waiting, Heavy D and The Boyz
89. December 1963 (Oh, What A Night), Four Seasons
90. Indian Outlaw, Tim McGraw
91. Always, Bon Jovi
92. I’m The Only One, Melissa Etheridge
93. Back In The Day, Ahmad
94. Love Sneakin’ Up On You, Bonnie Raitt
95. I’ll Take You There, General Public
96. Always In My Heart, Tevin Campbell
97. What Is Love, Haddaway
98. And Our Feelings, Babyface
99. Bop Gun (One Nation), Ice Cube
100. I Wanna Be Down, Brandy

… the final first week numbers for the Early Works. I am not going to comment on them, just post:

Sales numbers: Tues. through Sat. sales – 2219 cd’s, with another 133 sold on Sunday (2352 total).

My source is reliable and wishes to remain anonymous. I trust that the numbers are what s/he has learned, although I do allow for some margin of error no matter who is giving me info.

This is a cross-posting from The Boogie Mirror. If you want to comment, please do so over there. Thanks!

Gain detergent’s “Apple Mango Tango” smells JUST LIKE the Freesia detergent I used to get at Bath and Body Works back in the late 90s (before they discontinued it). Woot!

Red wine actually IS better at room temperature. Hmm.

That last one (the red wine thing?) can make you forget the next one you were going to type. That didn’t happen to me, just to someone I know.

Coffee is health food. Yuh-huh, it is SO! Just ask these guys. That’s excellent news for me (and a certain young man I know).

Speaking of … I do believe I am in love. Rats.

Coasting while driving does indeed help save on gas. Running the air conditioner doesn’t have any impact on fuel economy. Phew!

The Honeymooners is now being shown on WGN every Sunday night!!

I am still nuts over Taylor Hicks. Thank God for this one. I’ve been so bored lately with the Grease stuff (as well as the sycophantic fans who claim to adore each and every thing the man does) that I was beginning to question my devotion.

The IMAX theater is so very worth the $12.50 price tag. The Dark Knight in IMAX wasn’t just a movie – it was an EXPERIENCE!

I should probably blog about The Dark Knight, kinda like I did with I Am Legend. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe later. I dunno – that red wine thing is interfering with my train of thought.

Good night, Blogosphere!!