For ME? You really should.

Just in case anyone is looking for the ideal gift for ME...

everyone has the pajamas, no on has the robe. And I'm a robe person. When I am old I will wear nothing but robes so I am starting my collection now of odd and eccentric ones.

(This item can be found on my Amazon wish list along with a wide assortment of Cary Grant and foreign films and the soundtracks to Elizabethtown)

9/29/08 side note. Matching pajamas received as a birthday gift this month.

Raging Gorgeous

FINALLY got around to seeing the movie the other night. Which I paid REGULAR PRICE FOR. $9.00! For a movie. Atrocious. And people wonder why I carry in my own snacks. Incidentally Walgreens has movie size candy 3 for $3.

Anywho, during the bridal photo shoot couldn't help but fall in love with all the dresses but this one? I could die happy in. I know the old blue bird of happiness woven into her 'do is a bit much for some but I think it's Carrie Bradshaw all the way and it really worked once the veil was on. I also loved Charlotte's dress for the wedding. I've always considered Carrie a walking fashion faux pas as many do (Let's take a moment, sit down and remember the ripped t-shirt and trucker hat worn over the broom stick skirt. Now let's breathe and go to our happy place.) but for the majority of the movie, minus the leg warmer and bubble dress outfit, she was pretty much on the money. And this dress? Perfect. Vivienne Westwood really went above and beyond (especially considering her own malfunctioning wardrobe).

Still funny...

Even though he's set to be a player in Dr. Drew's D-List and Below Celebrity Rehab I still love 'im. I now realize that there's a chance that this is so awesome because he was stoned but enjoy it anyway.

Hollaback Girl by Sebastian Bach

BSG Moment

At first I was most upset that BSG was taking a mid season break. I mean what is that anyway? Is that like Spring Break or we only get new episodes during sweeps? Then I saw the last two episodes. I need a break to digest all that is happening. They have my blessing.

Shame on Texas

Sick MFs. This is being SOLD at the Texas Republican convention. Regardless of political affiliation you MUST be ashamed of this.

Tiny URLs

Tired of URLs the size of War and Peace?

http://tinyurl.com/

Cute little URLs for free.

Best Lunch Ever

Beating the crap out of Emerils and every other fancy lumch place is the Seattle secret Farestart. Who and what? And why should I go there you ask. Glad you did.

FareStart is a job training and placement program for homeless and disadvantaged individuals. Over the past 15 years, FareStart has provided opportunities for over 2,000 people to transform their lives, while also serving nearly 3 million meals to disadvantaged men, women, and children.

On any given night, there are 8,000 homeless men, women, and children in the suburban cities, urban centers, and rural towns of King County, including over 2,500 individuals who meet the federal definition for chronically homeless.

This goal of ending – rather than managing – homelessness will be achieved by seeking long-term and sustainable solutions to the issue. Through the coordinative efforts of social service agencies, the 10-Year Plan aims to develop an enhanced community-based response throughout the county to the threat of homelessness before it happens.

As affordable housing options are increased significantly through this plan, FareStart will be dynamic in its outreach efforts to keep in line with the trends and needs of our Seattle-area community. As members of our community are placed in housing, the need for job-training will play a critical role in ensuring the self-sustainability of these individuals. FareStart’s culinary job training program will continue to reach out to those who lack the experience and on-the-job training, to help them achieve employment in the food service industry.

FareStart's 16-week comprehensive training program works to build a strong foundation and support system for every student who passes through our doors. The program works with students individually, moving them towards a successful reentry into the community and enabling them to create a new life for themselves and their families.
The FareStart adult program is an intensive training program combining hands-on food-service training with classroom instruction, individual case management and job placement services. This program prepares homeless and disadvantaged men and women for jobs in the restaurant and hospitality industry and helps them to keep those jobs.

On any given night in Seattle close to 800 youth are homeless, without a safe and permanent place to stay. With the goal of meeting the complex and unique needs of at-risk youth, FareStart’s Youth Barista Training & Education Program (BTEP) was launched in 2003 through a collaborative effort with YouthCare. The program provides at-risk youth, ages 16-21, with the opportunity to build a better future for themselves by increasing their ability to change their situation and engage in a supportive community.

Similar to the core FareStart Adult Program, the eight-week Barista Training and Education Program provides job training and placement, life skills, employment counseling, classroom, and on-the-job training for the competitive espresso industry.

And if all of THAT doesn't warm the chambers of your big hearts knowing that eating their supports this program maybe this will...

http://www.farestart.org/restaurant/lunch/documents/Website_Lunch_Menu.pdf (Lunch Menu)

So if you're headed in the Seattle direction, want the meal of a lifetime and to support a good cause to boot (of and do not miss the chocolate brownie with homemade ice cream), make a reservation.

Does it pay?

You tell me. These are the average earn out figures per first book per publisher. Don't ask where I got it.

Avon/HarperCollins
$26,000

Berkley/Jove
$6500

Ellora's Cave
$2900

Harlequin Lines

American
$10,000

Blaze
$12, 200

Historical
$13,300

Intrigue
$17,000

Superromance
$21,800

St. Martins Press
$25,600

Slhouette Lines

Bombshell
n/a

Desire
$20,000

Intimate Moments
$12,000

Romance
$10,300

Special Edition
$21, 500

All Writers Shold Be Mailed A Copy...

http://www.amazon.com/Romance-Writers-Phrase-Book-Perigee/dp/0399510028/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1208493854&sr=1-2

(sorry didn't go for shorter HTML but couldn't seperate it from pic)

This lingered on my self for years until I got it out the other day and dusted it off. Totally useful. A must have. Available used at Amazon.

BSG Moment

Starbuck is the dieing one who will lead the people to Earth, not Roslyn.

Dare me to be wrong.

Who's Really Paying?

Let's take a moment and talk about the Strike.


First, understand that I consider myself to be a "revisionist' when it comes to politics or just matters in general like this. If you tried it and it's not working? Man up, head back to the drawing board and start over. I mean really, if it's a disaster (like healthcare in America) or you need to lop off a dead limb (like the Electorial College) than just do it, no one will miss it and we'll all be better off for it. So I'm all for a good strike when arbitration breaks down and the strikers need better conditions.

Secondly I'm a pretty liberal person. I don't believe in censorship by governments or groups, it's none of your business what I read, watch or do as long as no one is hurt.

Having said this....I'm not a huge lover of the modern strike. I know it seems like a person like me would be rushing down to the picket lines with Krisy Kremes in hand but ...not so much usually. Why?

Let's be honest, this isn't turn of the century Industrial Age America. I know there are still plenty of illegal sweat shops out there and other extremely ugly working conditions that should be shut down and fined and the owners sent to jail. Or let's turn our attention to neglectful foster parents. Or shine the spotlight on the incredibly under funded homeless shelters which offer NO housing at all for single fathers with children. Or let's spend our time trying to figure out how to help the 'throw away' kids that are runaways between the ages of nineteen and twenty-one that are still in the 'foster care' system but are living on the streets because they no longer have a home to go to. You know as runaways these kids have no birth certificates or drivers license and therefore can't get jobs, right?

So we're not talking about six year olds breathing coal dust and working twenty hours a day. The modern day strike is all about money. And generally by people who are making a lot of moeny but somehow feel they need more money. If you make $400,000 a year and are on strike for more? Shut up. Let's check out a few strikes that occurred around me.

2006 Delta Pilots Strike
This more then any other represented the very height of stupidity.

Delta spokesman Bruce Hicks said that the average pilot pay at the airline was $157,000 last year. That's after the one-third pay cut they agreed to in 2004, but is not affected by the additional pay cut agreed to in December. The number is inflated by the fact that staff cuts have left Delta with no pilots with less than five years seniority. But some senior pilots at Delta made more than $300,000 in 2005, according to Hicks

The pilots union, which represents about 6,000 active and 500 furloughed pilots at the bankrupt airline, agreed to about a one-third cut in their pay in October 2004, but 11 months later rising fuel prices and continued weakness in fares led the airline to file for bankruptcy court protection, the same day that competitor Northwest Airlines also filed.

Here's the thing. When your business is in bankruptcy, you don't ask for a raise. Now I realize that the pilots got their panties in a wad when they had to take the pay cut in the first round in 2004. I understand that sucks but Delta pilots are the HIGEST paid in the industry. And does anyone REALLY notice any significant difference in flying Delta and say, Air-Tran? Thought not. Actually every time I fly Delta I get attitude from everyone from the curbside baggage guys who actually DEMAND tips before you can open your wallet, to the flight attendants who act like they're trying to detox off of heroine they are so rude and am treated to a display of organizational skills that would make a chicken roll its eyes. How does striking and therefore putting the very business you are striking against out of business make sense? If someone goes on strike and there are no jobs to go back to, did anyone really go one strike or did they just elect to downsize themselves?

I grew up with a number of children of Delta pilots. If you can afford to give your four kids sports cars, send them to private school and buy them a Rolex for high school graduation? Shut up.

So who would have gotten burned? How about the ticketing agents, the gate agents, the baggage handlers, the ground crew, the food service companies, the people who teach and work at the training facility? Yeah.


1994 Baseball Strike (my husband will most likely divorce me over this one)

Now in 1994 players were not necessarily making the ridiculous overinflated salaries they are now for throwing balls around that many do these days. I know some of the young players had to take career sidetracking jobs to support their families. Some worked in auto body shops, some painted house…whatever skill they had before baseball they put to use. But again, the big boys were fine. In 1994, the average MLB salary was an estimated $1.2 million. This was for a player who was good and in long standing. This was not the farm team guy.

The 232-day strike, which lasted from August 12, 1994, to April 2, 1995, led to the cancellation of 938 games overall, including the entire 1994 postseason and World Series.

Owners demanded a salary cap in response to the worsening financial situation in baseball (i.e. keep expenditure down). Ownership claimed that small-market clubs would fall by the wayside unless teams agreed to share local broadcasting revenues (to increase equity amongst the teams) and enact a salary cap, a proposal that the players adamantly opposed. On January 18, 1994, the owners approved a new revenue-sharing plan keyed to a salary cap, which required the players’ approval. The following day, the owners amended the Major League agreement by giving complete power to the commissioner on labor negotiations.
The dispute was played out with a backdrop of years of hostility and mistrust between the two sides. What arguably stood in the way of a compromise settlement was the absence of an official commissioner ever since the owners forced Fay Vincent to resign in September 1992. Vincent described the situation this way: "The Union basically doesn’t trust the Ownership because collusion was a $280 million theft by Bud Selig and Jerry Reinsdorf of that money from the players. I mean, they rigged the signing of free agents. They got caught. They paid $280 million to the players. And I think that’s polluted labor relations in baseball ever since it happened. I think it’s the reason Fehr has no trust in Selig." [1] Incidentally, on February 11, 1994, the owners greatly reduced the commissioner's power to act in "the best interests of baseball."
Owner representative Richard Ravitch officially unveiled the ownership proposal on June 14, 1994. The proposal would guarantee a record $1 billion in salary and benefits. But the ownership proposal also would have forced clubs to fit their payrolls into a more evenly based structure. Salary arbitration would have been eliminated, free agency would begin after four years rather than six, and owners would have retained the right to keep a four or five year player by matching his best offer. Owners claimed that their proposal would raise average salaries from $1.2 million in 1994 to $2.6 million by 2001.
Major League Baseball Players Association leader Donald Fehr rejected the offer from the owners on July 18. Fehr believed that a salary cap was simply a way for owners to clean up their own disparity problems with no benefit to the players. Many observers believed the strike put Fehr in over his head.
On July 13, 1993, Fehr said that if serious negotiations between the players and the owners did not begin soon, the players could have gone out on strike in September of that year, threatening the postseason. On December 31, 1993, Major League Baseball's collective bargaining agreement ran out with no new agreement yet signed.


Okay, you got all that? I cut it directly from Wiki so there's a good chance it's at least 80% accurate.

So a fabulous agreement was reached and….

On Opening Day in 1995, three men, who were each wearing T-shirts emblazoned with the word "Greed", leaped onto the field at Shea Stadium and tossed more than $150 in $1 bills at players. In Cincinnati, one fan paid for a plane to fly over Riverfront Stadium that dragged a sign reading "Players and Owners — To Hell With You" The meager crowds at the openers often booed at the players for their rusty fundamentals, shoddy defense, and in response to frequent high-scoring contests. Fans in Pittsburgh disrupted Opening Day by throwing sticks on the field, and holding up the action for 17 minutes. Despite just 6,300 fans at the New York Yankees' pre-opening workout, 50,245 showed up for the opener, the smallest opening crowd at Yankee Stadium since 1990.

So who suffered? Hmmmmm, the stadium workers? The people who owned the parking lots? The guys who sold MLB merchandise? Uniform providers? All the charities that had thrown their resources into fundraising by having a baseball player show up so they could charge $100 a person to eat with whomever?

Nice. Glad that worked out for you and you didn't have to compensate any of those people.

So again, here we are with a strike. The Writers Guild. And what are they striking for?

The guild said the networks are refusing to grant the unions jurisdiction over writing directly for new media and the right to offer promotional showings of movies and television shows in places like their websites without paying an additional fee. DVD residuals and download residuals are also on the table. Essentially, what's going on with payment when it's the media of the future we're talking about?

Okay, I can get behind the complaint. You wrote it. The stars wouldn't be stars without you. You want a bigger piece of the pie. Fine. But first, let's stop wearing damn Hermes scarves and our Gucci boots out there on the picket line. You shame yourselves.

The thing is Jay Leno can afford to take the time off. The production assistant guy who got fired yesterday at NBC since they shut down The Office stage does not. Damon Lindelof can pick up his little sign and trot all over the place because he's raking in huge bucks, even if Lost goes into reruns after the eight episodes they have in the can. The drivers who tote out all the lighting equipment? Not so much.

Does anyone on the picket line remember being a struggling writer? Remember sitting in their crap apartment overlooking the freeway and writing their little fingers to the bone on their PC between the two jobs they were working? Apparently not. I'm not saying they don't deserve what they're asking for. I'm saying that my compassion wanes when the less glamorous people start getting hurt.

The Foley guy doesn't want more money; he just wants to continue to put his kids through college. The craft services girl doesn't want more money; she's thrilled to be on the lot and just wants to be able to pay her car payment. The wardrobe people just want to do their gig and continue to help pay for Mom's nursing home stay. What about those people? The not Jay Lenos? The not Tina Feys? The ironic thing being that even if Numbers starts rerunning, the writers still get their residuals so they have steady income regardless of how long this drags out. The honey wagon driver? Mostly he just wants to have health insurance so his child on dialysis can get his treatments.

And then we have Ellen who is getting the shit kicked out of her for continuing to work. I have to agree with her original statement. People have come to see her show. People have had tickets for months. People have come from Idaho and Kentucky and Florida to sit in her audience. So is it fair to take this out on them? All they did was come and see the people they like. Why should some little old lady be told that she won't be able to see the taping of her favorite show, Family Feud?

Oh, and this sort of comment? Isn't helping. Although admittedly it was by one of the 'writers' of The View, arguably the most denigrating show on television that has set women back at least a hundred years.

Writers going on strike sounds like shepherds staging a walkout,” Mr. Smith said afterward. “The general public has no understanding of the issues that we are facing, but we are here because the producers will take as much as they can unless writers stand up for themselves.”

Yes, the general public are entirely too stupid to understand. Unfortunately many of us are actually too stupid to stop watching your hack show.

Strike? Sure, I'll grab a sign, toss on my Danskos and join you. Heaven knows I did my fair share of marching protests back in college. But I'm not going to help anyone who is jeopardizing the livelihood of others because they aren't getting DVD residuals. Enjoy your reruns people and make out your Netflix list. Because if we have idiots like this guy involved then we are in for a LONG wait for fresh material. And yeah, I just wrote that so you can picket me.

Actually, I'll be happy to write some new episodes of LOST. I can hardly do worst then some of last season. Call me...

Damn You To Hell Tootsie Rolls!!!

Four months vegan.

Four months no processed sugar.

Twenty-four pounds lost.

Then...Halloween.

I found myself standing over the damn candy bowl at three o'clock today picking out all of the cherry Tootsie Rolls. After that I moved on to the lime ones. I was like the Miner Forty-Niner on Scooby-Doo...mineminemine!

I think at one point I started actually talking to the candy trying to get it to cough up one more pack of Sprees. I whispered sweet promises that I never intended to fufill if only one more sour apple Tootsie Pop should appear. I caressed it's black plastic purple cats begging for just a few more of those raspberry toffee thingys.

By four o'clock I thought I was about to launch myself into a full blown diabetic self-induced coma. I actually HURT. I went upstairs and laid down with the worst sugar migraine known to man. Why the hell didn't I give out raisins? Overload on raisins and what's the worst that can happen? You walk around the rest of the night trying to get at that little gob stuck to your back molar with your tongue pretty much looking like a tool all evening.

You know, I vote we return this to a pagan holiday, dance naked around a fire, drink a little grog, beat on a drum. Pagans didn't do Tootsie Rolls.

I have to go take six Tylenol now.

Treat, no trick

Here's a tidbit of Halloween fun. You get an hour demo so if you start now you can waste your last hour of work. Happy Halloween!


Mortimer Beckett and the Secret of The Spooky Manor

http://www.funpcgame.com/puzzle-games/Mortimer-beckett-and-the-secret-of-spooky-manor/Mortimer-beckett-and-the-secret-of-spooky-manor-game.php

It's Funny Because Stupid Is Illegal This Time

From the wonderful files of The Smoking Gun comes this little gem. It's ten pages long but WELL worth the read if you have time to pop over to the website and read the entire thing. I've trimmed down the legal docs for you to the ones that are absolutely mind blowing. Here we have a company that thought that it could victimize a young girl, lie about it and no one would know the difference. Lara is to applauded for standing up for herself and hiring a smart attorney. The back of the video box is graphic and you do not want your children seeing it. I put in on here simply to illustrate what her image (at age fourteen) was being used to sell. The NovelChick Staff are not looking to become an HBO 'documentary' subject and we are not moving in the direction of becoming a porn site.

Teen Sues Over XXX-Video "Debut"

British student claims self-portrait hijacked by porn distributors

JULY 31--A British teenager whose self-portrait somehow ended up on the cover of a hardcore video has filed a lawsuit against the film's distributors, claiming that they have left the impression that she is involved in the porno industry. In a copyright lawsuit filed today in U.S. District Court in Tampa, Florida, Lara Jade Coton, 18, charges that her photo--which was taken when she was just 14--has appeared on the cover of "Body Magic," a 1982 film that was recently reissued. The image of Coton, now a college student, shows her wearing a shoulder-baring dress and a top hat. The photo, which Coton titled "No Way Out," was lifted from her web site by the artist who designed the DVD cover of "Body Magic," which is described on its cover as having received Hustler magazine's "highest rating." The movie's main character is a young fashion photographer named Laura.

The DVD's front and back covers can be found below, while Coton's self-portrait can be seen above. In her lawsuit, Coton recounts contacting one of the film's distributors earlier this year after discovering her image on the porno box. Her request for compensation was brusquely rejected by one of the film's distributors, who wrote, "Nice try toots. We are still going to remove you from the art, not because of your claim but let's face it your picture means very little to the film."

Start reading at the arrow.

Read 24. Can you imagine having some random guy come up to you in college and say, oh aren't you the chick on that hardcore box?

And in paragraph 28 we see that stupid is, in fact, illegal and costly.
I especially enjoyed her attorney's summation of that email.

And in 29 we see that the photo supposedly on a public domain bore a watermark.

I'm guessing that they never suspected this email would be used as court evidence since they used house whole instead of household. That and the generally assy comments which apparently say it's her FAULT the DVD bombed.

Check the date in 31 when she ws allegedly removed from all DVD covers.

According to 38 they continued to use her image even after they knew that she was 14 at the time.

Check the date when her legal team ordered and recieved a copy of the DVD they got from one of the distributors who had allegedly removed it from their inventory in February.

Again, check those dates.

And again....

So aside from boosting the sale of this DVD, we can only hope that this company is charged with child pornography and put out of business.

It was funny, then it was bizarre and now it's just sad

Yes, let's talk Britney Spears just for a moment. I should probably stay away from this subject and just let the fabu Perez Hilton take it but I'm here and I'm talking about it.

Who would have thought six months ago that the general population would be all "Hey, I think Kevin is going to be the best parent?" Especially after his appearance on the wrestling circuit. Not I. It's not that Fed-Ex ever really did anything wrong per say. He just never seemed to do anything. Aside from going forth and being fruitful.

But this year Brit-Brit seems to have replaced Tom Cruise as the winner of the Crazy Is My Bitch award. Okay, I can say post-partum depression combined with divorce stress can contribute to making bizarre decisions like shaving ones head. And if you want to shave your head then by all means go to it since that's a personal choice and it is your hair. But the melt down has just continued and continued and every time we think the train has totally derailed...not. At first it was amusing, the pop princess was out partying and showing off her girly bits by "accident" and just generally being a dumbass (apparently the Paris Hilton Disease is contagious).

Then we realized that if she's off flashing the paparazzi like twenty hours a day where are her kids? And then we got mad. But let's be honest, aren't they better off with a competent nanny?

Well she'll calm down here in a few weeks and go home we thought. Wrong. It's gotten worse. Way, way worse. I'm not talking about the bad weaves, the umbrella incident or the round the clock parties. I mean it's gotten way out of hand, just ask OK magazine or that woman who has a nice dent in her car or well, anyone she's had contact with in the past six months.

So we kept waiting for someone to step in and be all "Hey, Courtney Love called and wants her lifestyle back." And that's when she started firing people right and left. Managers, publicist, agents, body guards, lawyers, assistants, stylist, and her parents. Not that her parents were helping any to begin with but still... Then the Fed-Ex dispute began. And we thought, hey finally a wake-up call. Losing your kids is serious business. But that didn't slow her down either.

Neither did the judge ordering her to get her shit together and stay away from the drugs and alcohol. Neither did two hit and run accidents. Neither did her performance at the MTV Awards (and I have to say she is far from fat, she just made a very BAD costuming choice so shut up about that).

So is she an addict and what to? My hypothesis is this. If you're an alcoholic or a druggie you can stay home and do that. You can drink yourself into a nightly appointment with vomiting or Mr. Nose Candy and there's no one there to photograph it so the judge in your custody case can see it (and let's be honest he has). If you go out and party the same night as the Judge said RANDOM Testing twice weekly, you have a problem.

But what is the problem? My guess? Media addiction. If you have your two kids in the car that you're trying to 'protect' why are you putting your top down (and I mean car top) in the midst of a swarm? Why are you driving with no license? Why are you going out to Starbucks? It's not like she can't afford a driver or a Starbucks flunky. Why go for the notorious underwear swim? Why try and up the tabloid stakes with stunt after stunt? Addiction. Sure probable drug and alcohol abuse are not doing her any good but I think the real problem here is that she needs those flashbulbs, she needs that swarm, she needs that feeling that people still want her.

And I have to say here that when she 'accidentally' drove the wrong way down the one way street with the kids in back it was one of the most heart aching things I've ever seen with the little ones in the back holding hands looking terrified. What's it going to take here? Losing your kids? Terrifying them even as toddlers? Toddlers are smart. They know problems are going on. They know when to be frightened.

Apparently not. A lot of folks think that's rock bottom. It's not. Rock bottom is when you know you have a problem and you can't live with it anymore and ask for help. Rock bottom isn't here yet. And that is a terrifying thought. It's really gut wrenching sad to watch her. No, Kevin probably won't win parent of the year, but at least he's interested in the kids welfare (and yeah I know=money).

And now we have this ridiculous BODYGUARD who was fired and clearly has an axe to grind popping up everywhere. Larry King and the Today show? Be ashamed, really really ashamed of yourselves. Do we really find him credible? A man who is now telling anyone, everyone that the kids were in danger and did NOTHING about it? And then refuses to answer the question why? Obvious not a credible source so he needs to shut up and so does his expensive lawyer/agent. Go away already. And let's not forget Crazy Fan who did the diatribe under a blanket. BTW, did we ever figure out if that was a male or a female?

Any responsible parent at this point would be renting a U-Haul and be putting the pedal to the medal to head for Maine or Oklahoma or Norway that no one cares about them or who they are ( a la Mary Kay Molester whose husband beat a path to Alaska with their kids faster than you could say Restraining Order). But we don't see that either. When do we see someone step in here and truly represent the interest of these poor kids? Where's the child advocate? Where are all these child rights groups? Wouldn't these poor things have been removed from the average home way before this? Is social services on some off site conference in Bolivia?

So is there a rehab for media addiction? I hope so. These kids deserve better than this.

We've been screwed by The Man

Well, okay, we've been screwed by TWOP. I never thought this would happen. I thought it would always be a sacred outlet for astute television watchers, unbiased and free to choose their programming and make fun of it at will. No longer, people! They've sold us out worse than the Bush family. Is nothing sacred? Apparently NOT.

For those of you in the know, TWOP was bought out by the BRAVO channel. Which is part of the NBC crowd along with E, Sci-Fi and USA. I'm sure it owns others but my point deals with these channels directly. Suddenly even the crappiest programs on these channels are getting the royal treatment. I mean who the hell wants to hear a recap of Top Chef or Top Designer? I mean they can't even come up with better names? Then I saw TWOP listed on Top 10 as like number three on their countdown which is generally full of salacious celebrity gossip and other trainwrecks. Number Three? Yeah, I'm sure that was a huge coincidence. And then the absolute unbearable happened. I saw a full blown, voiced over COMMERCIAL for TWOP. A commercial! Why not just take their book to HSN while their at it or do exclusively Bravo shows? Or change the name to Top Website and make it a reality series. Personally I shudder to think they've sunk so low as to throw in with a corporation that has a reality show about a tanning salon. Look, I know reality television is cheap and easy but seriously, a tanning salon? It gives me a headache. So my disappointment is deep and hurtful and I feel used by my once favorite website. I'm removing them from my favorites list. I'm sad. I'm outraged. I've been betrayed for nothing more then money. I feel dirty.

And I'm Back...

BellSouth sucks. No really. Over a month ago my DSL Modem went down in flames, we'd been having trouble with it for some time but it just crashed for one final swan song. We called BS (a fitting abbreviation) to send us a new one. Yes, it was going to be there ASAP. They even sent us the email confirmation. We wait a week. No modem. My husband called them. The first person he spoke with gave us a UPS tracking number. Enter number= No such UPS tracking number exsist, not in that format. Another week goes by. We call again. This person says that that was the original tracking number from our original modem sent THREE YEARS AGO. We point out that UPS keeps their tracking numbers for eternity and it wasn't even an actual tracking number. Next person who takes the call says they have NO RECORD of us ordering anything. Yeah. Another week goes by. And another. FInally said modem does show up on our doorstep. Now really, what the hell? If you screwed up just say, we screwwed up our bad. I mean again, if you're going to lie to me, don't give me one that I can actually PROVE is a lie. I don't mind human error, it happens. I do mind crappy customer sevice. I urge you to find a better provider if one is available to you.

SG-1 Finale, Pirate Redeux

Okay, I was...satisfied with the SG-1 finale. It's the ONE finale that hasn't screwed me over since NYPD Blue ended (the best of the finales thus far). And they left it WIDE open for a nice miniseries later. So I can live with it. And actually I found the scene between Daniel and Valla very sweet. So thumbs up.

Last night Rob and I went to see Pirates. Rob hadn't been so this was new to him. He liked it. And on second viewing, minue the emergency crash seats, it wasn't nearly as bad as I originaly thought, or maybe I was just more prepared. Still, I'd like 1 on DVD but the other two....not as much. Go back and watch the first one, you'll see what I mean. And the more I watched the ending it really is slanted toward a fourth installment.

So Paris is out of jail. I'm good with that too. I think she served enough time that she gets it. I hope. And I saw where Lindsay Lohan has decided to continue to stay in rehab a little longer, a decision I applaud. But you know who I'm disappointed in? DEEPLY disappointed in and have no faith in ever again? Brooke Shields. I know she seems an unlikely target but suddenly she's best friends with all the Cruise Weirdos. I mean I get that you get press that way but seriously attaching yourself to the man who you publicly feuded with and feuded with on behalf of women every where who have PPD? Shame on you. SHAME! What the hell? Next she's going to be all "I was so wrong". No you weren't. And now you're just a big cheap sell out. You suck. Women suffer from PPD. It's a fact. Women who are left untreated can and do awful things. Vitamins won't help that. You know what will? Proper care under a doctor's supervision. And the message you send while hanging out with King Weird and his Consort just says that maybe you're thinking you were wrong. I mean is Tom Cruise not living proof that you will and can go nuts without proper treatment? YES. It makes me sad and Brooke Shields whould be ashamed of herself.

What's with the Beckhams? For Heaven's sake don;t feel you need to envade American soil for better popularity. Really, feel free to stay in Europe and be...European. We really won't miss you. Or your 'reality' show. Or your popping up anywhere there's a camera. I mean seriously, I feel like they'd show up at my child's ballet lesson if they thought someone had a video camera. Please leave and take your soccer balls with you.

I hear Nancy Grace is pregnant with twins. And apparently no one even knew she was married. Or pregnant. Is that weird or what? I'm not opposed to it since you have the right to your privacy absolutely but I just think it was very Un-Nancyish.

And finally, we saw Nancy Drew. Yeah, shut up. It was actually quite cute. And if you're a nancy fan it was just well worth it. I loved those books, read them all. I think they did a decent job of putting it one the screen without killing us with back story and making it non-gore for the little audiene members. I say...I like it. So if you have an eight year old, read her the books and go to the movie. She'll enjoy it.

So yes, this was a waste of space post but I'm procrasitnating laundry so and it's my blog.

A ten year relationship coming to a close

A little Haiku (or maybe not, I could never write the damn things):

We're done.

We're sad.

We think Brian Glassner

and eveyone at Sci-Fi sucks.

Well, let's all be honest. I'm a sci-fi nerd. Always have been, always will be. I've been really hating the 'new direction' sci-fi channel has taken over the last two years but at least it brought me BSG and for that, I can partially forgive them. But wrestling? What the hell? Check your demographics.

Anyway, tonight, it's over. After ten vested years in countless relationships, missions and fretting over the state of the Jack/Samantha relationship, Stargate SG-1 is taking it's swan song. I'm loosing friends here, long and faithful friends. Before I was married do you have any idea how many of these episodes, Cheetos and Diet Cokes got me through the dateless nights. Anyway, it just pains me. Remember the time O'Neil got all of the Ancients technology downloaded in his brain? Or the other time O'Neil got all the Ancients technology loaded into his brain? Or when the gang traveled back in time? Or forward? Or just generally around screwing up things, blowing up things and shooting things? Even the addition of Ben Browder with Claudia Black to off-set him worked for me. I hate you Sci-Fi, hate you (sobbing into a dish towel). I will come for you Grassner, and I will be bringing all of hell with me and the sets will run red with blood....okay, maybe that's a little creepy. I do like Atlantis as much as I like a cheap knock-off. It's like a Prado bag if you know what I mean.

And what about our lovely Sam? Wasn't the idea of the brilliant, tech scientist being a woman a thrill? She took names, she kicked ass and she did it all while fixing the most bizarre technology and shouting 'I just need another minute". She could fix it, fly it, rewire, be the voice of reason and do it all with pretty good hair. But she never seemed Barbie like, never wore inappropriate clothing, never got new boobs, never word too much make-up. She was the every women. If the every woman was a rocket scientist. I loved you Sam. And I know I'll see you on Atlantis next year, but really it's just not the same.

I loved you Jack. I know you bowed out for family reasons but you were good. I know your bought the production company and that was good. You were weird and snarky and for some reason enjoyed lots of fishing. Ben is good, but he's not you. You set the standard for all those tough, snarky, military types to come (Jack Bower, anything Keanu Reeves) . And it is a high standard, my friend. Remember the time they froze you? It wasn't a happy time for us. Remember Moebius part two? The best of times. It's been a long road. And will us Jack/Sam shippers ever be satisfied? Probably not.

Daniel, or as I like to call you, our little nerd delight in glasses. Oh, Daniel what can we say? You left us. Then when you discovered you weren't all that employable elsewhere, you were back. I can forgive that. I've been with you when you were just a science nerd to now when you've become..not so much a science nerd. You got over the whole wife thing and I was glad since, who cared? You were our hero in a do rag who spouted off stuff that confused us. Our super geek. The guy we'd take home to mom, even if mom would have no idea what you were talking about. And what was in all those journals you carried around everywhere? And Valla? She's good for you. Stop fighting it.

Christopher Judge? How many times were you tortured in a gratuitous way to get your shirt off? Thank you for that. You must have been hitting the gym three times a day for your fans and we admire you for it. While the hair has been weird, the 'indeed' was a constant. I'll miss you and your Spock like qualities, if Spock had less pointy ears and had showed up at the Vagina Monologues. It's been fun. It's been exciting. It was terribly cool when you had that the thing that flipped up and made a bird head.

So fav episodes? Mine? Moebius, parts one and two, season eight. Runner up: 200, season 9. All time fav fan episode according to the pool at Sci-fi.com? Window of Opportunity, Season Four. I suspect this was due to this particular scene. Let's face it, we needed it by then. We all need a little reminder of the romantic angle. We could have used more but it wasn't really about that, just seething below the surface with the occasional reminder was okay.

So good-bye, my darlings. Gate off somewhere wonderful. We'll be right here hanging out at http://www.gateworld.com or some fan-fic board waiting for our mini-series when you all find out you don't really have anything else to do. I have to go cry some more now. Hate you Sci-Fi...

And...still unemployed

Well, as it turns out no one in the Atlanta area seems to have any need for an award winning event planner. Maybe my new career will be barrista.

But all this has not been in vain totally. I have begun work on a synopsis for the book I completed targeted at Silhouette. Synopsis are of the devil, people! OF THE DEVIL. Also, I gave up coffee so it's not like that's helping. Oh, actually I just went whole hog vegan so I think my brain might be inpaired by lack of processed sugar, caffeine, white wheat, dairy and soda. Giving up meat, no biggie since, did it. Although the egg thing is annoying. Drinking all my water, fine, been doing it for years. But no coffee? It's the writer's blood. Thank goodness Paul Newman makes a tasty vegan Oreo or I'd probably be huddled in the fetal position in my closet. Although last night we had a very tasty veggie burger with homemade (via my husband) guacamole on it and a vegan bun along with organic mashed postatoes. Incidentally, I used the cute little round ones that are all different colors and they came out PURPLE. Awesome. Also slapped some vegan butter in them and you'd never know the diff. Other than the purple thing, although my three year old was quite intrigued by them. I just squeezed myself a big batch of fresh orange juice out of organic oranges. Although what the heck is with the bread costing $4 a loaf? What are they doing to this bread?

But back to writing. Oh yes, Synopsis=Satan. I write like one sentence and I feel completely drained (or maybe it's the lack of Splenda and cheese).