God Bless our bombs and missiles

For 10 years I lived about 15 miles from a town called Oak Ridge, TN.  If you’ve heard of the “Manhattan Project”, then this name should be familiar to you.  It is where Oak Ridge National Laboratories are located and this is where uranium was enriched to create the atomic bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.  The production was stopped after WWII and the focus was put on nuclear energy but during the Cold War, national security was once again a priority and uranium enrichment started up again.  So my question is, what makes us so different from the rest of the world?  Why can we enrich uranium for nuclear weapons but no one else in the world can?  Why is it OK for us to have nuclear weapons but not other countries?  If you ask President Bush, he would likely say that the countries trying to produce nuclear weapons now are terrorist nations.  Well let’s just examine for a moment the definition of terrorism.  According to the Encyclopedia Britannica and the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language,

Terrorism is the systematic use or threatened use of violence to intimidate a population or government and thereby effect political, religious, or ideological change.

Now, let’s think about this definition.  Would, say, bombing a nation who did not attack us first in order to instill “liberty” and “freedom” upon them fit into the definition of terrrorism?  I think it might.  And I’m not buying the WMD theory because everyone knew there was nothing there when we went.  And another thing, if Mr. Bush is so concerned about human rights, how come we haven’t bombed Africa where genocide is rampant in many countries.  Maybe because they don’t have anything we want.  Don’t get me started on the oil companies making record profits this year while we are paying more than we ever have for gas.  It’s not enough that we are paying so much but they are trying to blame it on the Alaskan pipeline (it’s a supply and demand problem, yeah right) but that’s what happens when you put a rich Texan redneck (I am not trying to put down Texas here- I love their food and Austin is one of the coolest cities I’ve ever visited and some very smart, cool people come from Texas) in office and let him hire all of his rich redneck friends, most with no experience (Micheal Brown-former horserace judge appointed director of Fema by Mr. Bush). I’m sure there has to be some similarities between judging champion racehorses and responding to national emergencies but for the life of me I can’t think of any right now.  It is obvious that his administration is a complete failure, even the Republicans think he’s an idiot that is messing up the country. Another thing is we are not even really trying to ease our dependence on natural resources but I bet if Mr. Bush and his buddies owned the sun and the wind and were profiting off of solar and wind power then there wouldn’t be a gas station left in the country. My concern is, what next? Who will we be at war with next, Iran, North Korea?  Everytime I look at CNN and see Bush giving a speech it makes me go on a rant.  At my house we try to use humor to ease our worry and anger.  When there’s a hurricane warning I say “Why don’t we just bomb the hurricane, isn’t that how we like to handle things here?” When I’m forced (and I mean forced here)to hear him say yet another “God Bless America” I say “and god bless our bombs and missiles as they travel over sees and help them to hit the right targets and not our own people”.  Please do not misunderstand me here, I do not think that this war is a funny thing at all.  It is tragic and is going to be a long terrible part of our history, but I am American and I have the right to bitch if I want to, after all, as I’ve said before, I vote!!

 

 

So you think you can drive Mel

Our network has a new game.  Try it out.  It’s entertaining.

http://www.gsn.com/mel

The Megan Mullally show will never make it

One of the things about living in LA that is occasionally fun to do (and I emphasize the word occasionally here) is going to a live taping of a talk show or TV show. If you have never done it, it is fun the first time for about the first half of the taping during which you can’t chew gum or go to the bathroom among other things. I generally only go when I have friends or family in town or when it is something extremely different (like Jenna Jameson’s new show- Jenna’s American Sex Star that airs on the Playboy channel-now that was an interesting taping to say the least). Being a big Will and Grace fan, I was so excited when my friend supprised me with tickets to attend the second taping of Megan Mullally’s new talk show which debuts in September. Now, the flyer for the show said that we had to dress up like we were going to a club which is pretty typical for tapings and it also said that the format for this show is different than other talk shows because it is audience interactive. We had very high expectations because there has been a lot of hype about this show and everyone knows what makes a good talk show………..the prizes given to the audience of course. We left work early, drove to the studio where we were ushered into a big tent and asked to fill out a card. The card asked questions like- have you ever met Megan or any other celebrity? tell us about it. What was you most embarrasing moment? What is a dream or goal that you have? Do you have a hidden talent? Naturally, we are thinking that someone or several people from the audience will be on camera. Now I am not big on being on TV, however if my “dream” of getting out of debt and going on a vacation comes true because of it then I’m game. When we entered the studio the first thing both my friend and I did was feel underneath our chairs because everyone knows that that is where the prizes generally are. When there was nothing there I said, maybe they will give us our present before we leave. The audience warmer (a person who talks and tells jokes to the audience and really pumps them up before the show and during the breaks and makes sure they applaud when they are supposed to, etc.) told us that if we were enthusiastic enough, we would get prizes so we clapped and mime clapped and yelled and mime yelled (clapping and yelling for real is only fun for the first 15 minutes and then it is just plain exhausting) for an hour and a half and guess what we got at the end of the show? Nada, zip, not one thing. Now Ellen would never do that to her audience. And do you think there was any form of audience participation besides clapping and yelling? Absolutely not. As for the format of the show, there was nothing about it to make it stand out from the rest. Megan is super cute and all but she was not very funny and then David Spade was one of the guests and he’s not very funny either. All in all, it was a big disappointment. I don’t see how this show will compete with the Ellen’s show. There is nothing original about it. I still love Megan and would love to see her on Broadway, I’m sure she’s excellent when she’s in her element but I am still pissed about the presents!

Excuse me, have you met, ME?

Lately, I have been bombarded with forwarded e-mails from relatives.  I enjoy keeping in touch with most of my family but would much rather get a personalized hi, how are you than a forwarded guardian angel.  The problem with all of these forwards is that they are religious and Republican in nature.  I am trying to figure out wether these e-mails are meant to convert or annoy me.  The fact of the matter is I am not really religious (although I would make a good jew- I love going to temple, eating challah, and speaking Yiddish) and I am definitely not a Republican.  I don’t call myself a Democrat but tend to vote that way.  I am not heavily invested in an oil company and I am not rich, therefore I am not supportive of an administration that blinds the lower class by saying “God Bless America” every speech while he puts money in the pockets of all of his cronies as the middle and lower class suffer the consequences.  Have you seen the Enron movie?  I highly recommend it.  “Enron, the Smartest Guys in the Room”.  Those friend’s of the Prez and Vice Prez. flat out lied, stole, and cheated both the state of CA and thousands of their employees out of their life savings.  Damn that Kenneth Lay for dying before going to trial!! His family are still millionaires while some of his former faithful employees are on welfare. This is just one of the many things I have complaints about.  Don’t even get me started on the fixed election, the war, the spying, the trying to hand over our ports to the middle east etc. etc, etc.  Wow what a rant!  That is my right because I do vote, even in local elections.  Not sure what brought that on!!  Anyway, I believe that this country was founded by a group of people who wanted freedom to have their own religion that is totally separate from the government.  They set up a government inviting anyone to come and live in freedom so I am not going to sign a petition to keep the 10 commandments in the courthouses because I believe it is unconstitutional.  The constitution was written based  upon the principle of the separation of church and state. The ammendment says freedom of religion.  It does not say freedom of religion for Christians only.  If the 10 commandments stay, then every other religious group should be able to hang up excerpts from their books as well.  I don’t believe in prayer in schools unless that means everyone’s prayer, not just the kind to the father, son, and the holy ghost.  I am against illegal immigration but am glad that we have immigration.  After all, this country would not be as wonderful as it is without the cultural diversity.  No, I will not sign a petition to keep Spanish off of phone bills etc.  What does it hurt to have it printed in two languages.  They do it in other countries.  So, my point is, I’m trying to figure out how to handle these e-mails.  Obviously, I get angry after I read them and delete, delete, delete.  I don’t want to be rude and respond excuse me, do you know who you’re sending this to.  Perhaps I will start sending anti-republican, anti-Bush, anti-religious e-mails to them and see how they respond.  What do you think?

I miss Eddie

When I first moved to LA or Santa Monica rather, I felt like it was just a place like any other. I didn’t feel like I stood out as I expected I would coming from east TN and then I realized that I was surrounded by tourists not people from Santa Monica or LA. No wonder I blended in with the crowd. Then I started a job in the trendy neighborhood of Silverlake. It is a really cool area of town and is the back drop for many movies and television shows. I was very excited by all the shops and restaurants but also by the many eccentric people. There was a man who walked around wearing only shorts and sneakers reading the paper, all the time. He never looked up he just read the paper and walked very fast. We liked to call him Walker Reads but later I watched a 5 minute documentary about him and learned that he has been walking Silverlake for 15 years and is known around there as the “Walking Man” and is suspected to be an MD that walks an average of 25 miles per day. Then there was Dancer (may he rest in peace). He was a homeless man that always had a ring of red lipstick smeared around his mouth and sometimes dressed like a matador or PeeWee Herman. He carried a boom box with him everywhere and would turn it on and dance in front of the outdoor cafes or just on the street corner. He died a few months back. Eddie says he was killed by someone which is probably true because homeless deaths are not investigated like others. Eddie was my favorite homeless man and I got to know him pretty well. He made his home on top of the building in which I worked and I talked to him a lot. Eddie is not a panhandler, he picks up junk and then sells it. He also sells cigarettes and who knows what else. He eats all his meals at McDonalds, Subway, and all the fast food places. We often offered him food that he would turn down because he just had lunch. He is known as Silverlake’s $5 man even though most of his stuff cost more than that. He mostly wears cutoffs and a pink straw hat and is very handsome for a homeless man or for any man at all. During my first conversation with him, he explained how has been homeless for 15 years and in fact has been “living” on top of the roof for 9. He was once jumped and robbed but for the most part people know him and know that it is his area so they stay clear of it. He was protection for us even though he is not big or scary. He knows the neighborhood and knows who is harmless and who we should be scared of. There were a few times that we saved him from being ejected by the police and we even called the police once to get rid of a homeless guy that stole Eddie’s ipod and cell phone (we were confused, where does the bill go?) The cop could not understand why we called the police on one homeless guy but let another homeless guy live there. We said “we like Eddie, he keeps the scary people away” . He used to be in sales and said that when he lost his job and became homeless, he thought his life was ending but soon discovered that his life had just begun. He loves the fact that he doesn’t have to get up early, punch a clock, or even wear a watch if he doesn’t want to. Once he realized that we liked him, he started bringing more and more stuff around. It took days but he set up the most amazing display of urban art that I have ever seen, I wish I had pictures of that. Then he started his mural. It was exciting watching him create this wonderful self-portrait little by little on the side of a huge building. He had even pasted a pair of cutoffs on himself in the mural. When he finally finished, he would bow down to the “shrine of himself”. It was quite fun to watch. Then the day came when the landlord threatened to paint over the graffitti mural unless Eddie got rid of all his stuff. Eventually, the stuff went away, the mural got painted over, and Eddie got a van to live in and apparantly he has all of his stuff on top of it. I am very excited for Eddie, he was saving for a van. I now work in Santa Monica and I haven’t found a homeless person to befriend yet. I miss Eddie and will say hi to him the next time I am in Silverlake.       

                                         click on the photos to enlarge.

I love dancing kitties

I get forwarded things all the time, every now and then I’ll chuckle but every time someone sends me anything in which a cat is dancing or talking, I laugh out loud. I am going to attach an e-mail that was sent to me that makes me laugh everytime I see it.

Happy B-day PC

Last week marked the 25th anniversary of the marriage between IBM and Microsoft giving us the PC. I must say, I was a heavy PC user for about 8 years and then my life changed. I converted to Mac. It was one of the best days of my life. I never have to worry about viruses, it boots up really fast and it has never once frozen on me (now Microsoft Word, the program, has frozen up many times but the rest of the computer still operates when this happens). It is the most simple piece of equipment to use and yet I know that it is far superior to the PC. I still have to use a PC at work and I get so frustrated, it takes around 7 minutes to boot up and it is just so slow with everything. I don’t know the statistics but it seems that most people use a PC.  Only graphic designers, photographers, and editors buy Macs.  This is an attrocity!!My question is how did this happen?  Maybe they are more affordable, but they are much harder to learn and there are so many problems.  With a Mac, if you can’t figure something out, you can pretty much just click and drag and like magic, it works.  I will never go back to PC.  I love my Mac.  It makes me wonder, could I live without my Mac?

Age anxiety

Lately, I have been experiencing age anxiety and trying to decide if the root of this is that I’m not as young as I used to be or that I’m not as cool as I used to be. I have never had a problem getting older, in fact I love my birthday, I always try and celebrate but I have just started to realize that I have moved on to a different era of my life. I am no longer drinking every night, staying out until 4, getting only three hours sleep each night, leaving my house to go out at midnight. And sometimes I wish I still could do that, but it’s not appropriate at my age or physically possible. Even if I didn’t care what everyone else thinks, it just wouldnt’feel appropriate. Sometimes I just miss my 20’s. I am 32 years old and I just don’t feel as cool as I used to feel. I just noticed that I use the word “just” a lot, I wonder if I do that in conversation as well. Back to my age anxiety, something that has really contributed to this is that a year and a half ago, I moved over 2000 miles away from my family and friends and this is not temporary. I will only be going back for very special occasions and sometimes funerals. I will live my life missing many family trips, weddings, and parties that I wish I could attend. I will probably even miss some funerals. Some people in my family will make me feel guilty for leaving and there will probably come a time when it is held against me but I wasn’t running away, I was just trying to live my life. My new life or my new era is in Santa Monica, CA where the weather is perfect. It gets 325 days of sunshine a year. It is clean and nice. and usually in the 70’s no matter what month it is. I have met a lot of new people and experienced a lot of incredible things, but sometimes it seems so bizarre that I am no longer in TN. So in a way, this is about getting older but it’s also about change. I am not old but I am over thirty and I have to say, it’s your 30’s when you really start to figure out how the world works, but at the same time, you’re nowhere near figuring out how you yourself work. It’s so weird how life just happens! How so many people live their lives a certain way because they get stuck. It really is all about making money. How many people are in bad marriages/relationships, apartments, etc. because they can’t afford to leave? It’s your 30’s when you really start to get scared because you’re not where you imagined that you would be at this age.  At least I don’t want kids.  I couldn’t imagine the added stress I would be under if my clock started ticking.  I am enjoying my new era but sometimes I miss the old era.  I guess we all do. Now, I’m wondering, can I live without coffee?

Afraid to Publish

I have not posted much, yet I have been writing.  There is something about clicking the publish tab that really scares me.  Do I want what I wrote to be read by friends and strangers?  I think eventually I will go back and proof and publish previous posts.  I really like that phrase, it’s kind of hard to say.  Today, I am feeling a little depressed because I am going through some major changes in my life.  I feel uncertain about so many things and I am so stressed out.  I am not sure if this is all part of getting older or that I am just tired.  At any rate, I need to do some major soul-searching and figure it all out.  I think I need a vacation or I am going to explode or maybe I will just go home and watch “The Way We Were” and have a good cry.  That is always a good stress reliever.  I am taking recommendations for other tear jerkers.  I am open to any movie as long as there is a break-up or death at the end.  Tonight, my TV and DVD player will be my best friend. I wonder, Can I live without my TV?