She's Like A Rainbow - TT #49

Your Heart Is Orange

Love equals unbridled happiness for you. You enjoy the wild ride of falling in love. And while the ride is fun for a while, you always get off once the thrill is gone. Your flirting style: Hyper Your lucky first date: Anything you need your passport for! Your dream lover: Is both daring and well grounded. What you bring to relationships: Energy

What Color Heart Do You Have?

Your Mind is Purple

Of all the mind types, yours is the most idealistic. You tend to think wild, amazing thoughts. Your dreams and fantasies are intense. Your thoughts are creative, inventive, and without boundaries. You tend to spend a lot of time thinking of fictional people and places - or a very different life for yourself.

What Color Is Your Mind?

You Are Apple Red

You're never one to take life too seriously, and because of it, you're a ton of fun. And although you have a great sense of humor, you are never superficial. Deep and caring, you do like to get to the core of people - to understand them well. However, any probing you do is light hearted and fun, sometimes causing people to misjudge you.

What Color Red Are You?

You are Apricot

Soft and sweet, over time you let your provocative nature shine through. You are definitely unconventional, but you don't broadcast it. You offer people a fresh perspective on life - so fresh that it can be shocking!

What Color Orange Are You?

You Are Teal Green

You are a one of a kind, original person. There's no one even close to being like you. Expressive and creative, you have a knack for making the impossible possible. While you are a bit offbeat, you don't scare people away with your quirks. Your warm personality nicely counteracts and strange habits you may have.

What Color Green Are You?

Your Passion is Yellow

You're a total sexual shape shifter. You possess a complex sex drive and are very adaptable. Of all the colors, you are the most likely to be bisexual. While you the most passionate, you are very open minded.

What Color Is Your Passion?

Dark Purple

To others, you seem a bit dark, mysterious, and moody. In truth, you are just a very unique person who doesn't care what others think. And you really enjoy your offbeat interests and friends. You've decided that life is about living for yourself - simple as that.

What Color Purple Are You?

Your Heart is Yellow and Green

Your heart is caring and generous. You are kind, understanding, and forgiving. You bring objectivity and rationality to relationships. You're good at giving your partner freedom and space.

What Are the Colors of Your Heart?

Your Power Color Is Gold

At Your Highest: You are engrossed in passions that mentally stimulate you. At Your Lowest: You seek thrills and neglect what's important in your life. In Love: You see dating as adventure and approach it with an open attitude. How You're Attractive: You passion for life makes others passionate about you. Your Eternal Question: "Am I Having Fun?"

What's Your Power Color?

You Are a Light Pink Rose

You represent sweetness and grace. Your vibe: Kind and gentle Falling in love with you: is like falling in love with a best friend

What Color Rose Are You?

Your Psyche is Violet

You are spiritual, intuitive, and serene. People trust you to rescue them from bad situations, and you usually come through. While you are quite enlightened, you find that your path is very lonely. When you are too violet: you can't connect to ordinary life or ordinary people When you don't have enough violet: you lack wisdom and can't learn from the past

What Color Is Your Psyche?

You Are a Blue Flower

A blue flower tends to represent peace, openness, and balance. At times, you are very delicate like a cornflower. And at other times, you are wise like an iris. And more than you wish, you're a little cold, like a blue hydrangea.

What Color Flower Are You?

Your Hair Should Be Orange

Expressive, deep, and one of a kind. You pull off "weird" well - hardly anyone notices.

What's Your Funky Inner Hair Color?

Justice For A Soldier - WW

Reposting for a not so wordless Wednesday. Although the subject matter did leave me speechless.

LaVena Johnson was a 19 year old private in the Army, serving in Iraq, when she was raped, murdered, and her body was burned--by someone from her own military base. Despite overwhelming physical evidence, the Army called her death a suicide and has closed the case. (1)

For three years, LaVena's parents have been fighting for answers. At almost every turn, they've been met with closed doors or lies. They've appealed to Congress, the one body that can hold the military accountable. But, as in other cases where female soldiers have been raped and murdered and the Army has called it suicide, Congress has failed to act.

Will you join Mr. and Mrs. Johnson in calling on Congressman Henry Waxman, Chairman of the House Government Oversight Committee, to mount a real investigation into LaVena Johnson's death and the Army's cover-up? (2) Will you ask your friends and family to do the same?

Click to sign the petition.

From the beginning, LaVena's death made no sense as a suicide. She was happy and had been talking with friends and family regularly (3) --nothing indicated she could be suicidal. And when the Johnsons received her body, they noticed signs that she had been beaten. (4) That was when they started asking questions.

After two years of being denied answers and hearing explanations that made no sense, the Johnsons received a CD-ROM from someone on the inside. It contained pictures of the crime scene where LaVena died and an autopsy showing that she had suffered bruises, abrasions, a dislocated shoulder, broken teeth, and some type of sexual assault. Her body was partially burned; she had been doused in a flammable liquid, and someone had set her body on fire. A corrosive chemical had been poured in her genital area, perhaps to cover up evidence of rape. (5)

Still the Army sticks by their story. They refuse to explain the overwhelming physical evidence that LaVena was raped and murdered and continue to claim that she killed herself.

For many Black youth, and working class young people of every race, the military is seen as an option for securing a better future. LaVena came from a deeply supportive family, and while the military wasn't her only option, she was attracted by its promise to help her pay for a college education and the opportunity to travel around the world. She also thought that by joining she could continue her lifelong commitment to serving other people in need. She made a decision to serve in the military, with all its risks, and expected respect and dignity in return.

LaVena's death is part of a disturbing pattern of cases where female soldiers have been raped and killed, and where the military has hidden the truth and labeled the deaths suicides. (6,7)
In virtually all cases, Congress has been slow to investigate or hold the military accountable in any way. Unfortunately, most families simply don't have the resources, time, and psychological strength to push back.

We can help the Johnsons, and other families, by holding Congress accountable in the LaVena Johnson case and by demanding it investigate the pattern of cover-ups by the military.

Please take a moment to join those calling on Congressman Waxman to investigate the cover-up of LaVena Johnson's death:

Click to sign the petition.

Thanks and Peace,

-- James, Gabriel, Clarissa, Andre, Kai, and the rest of the ColorOfChange.org team
July 28th, 2008

References:

1. "The cover-up of a soldier's death?" LavenaJohnson.com, March 6, 2007
http://www.lavenajohnson.com/2007/03/cover-up-of-soldiers-death.html

2. "Is There an Army Cover Up of Rape and Murder of Women Soldiers?" CommonDreams.org, April 28, 2008
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/04/28/8564/

3. Ibid.

4. Ibid.

5. "Suicide or Murder? Three Years After the Death of Pfc. LaVena Johnson in Iraq, Her Parents Continue Their Call for a Congressional Investigation," Democracy Now!, June 23, 2008.
http://www.democracynow.org/2008/7/23/suicide_or_murder_three_years_after

6. See reference 2.

7. "2 Years After Soldier's Death, Family's Battle Is With Army," New York Times, March 21, 2006.
http://tinyurl.com/mzcvh

Other References:

"Justice for Pfc. LaVena Johnson," DailyKos, June 30, 2008
http://tinyurl.com/5bh73v

"Rapists in the Ranks, Los Angeles Times, March 31, 2008
http://tinyurl.com/2z2c8l

No Line On The Horizon

Rejoice U2 Fans! For there finally IS an album on the horizon. From @U2 =) Gotta go mark Nov 14th in my book!

U2 Set Sale For a New Horizon

Exclusive: New Studio Album & Tracklist Revealed

Sunday Mirror, July 29, 2008

Stephen Maguire and Seamus Ross



It's the beautiful day millions of U2 fans around the globe have waited patiently to see for the past four years.

Now we can reveal details of the supergroup's long-awaited new album.

It is believed to be titled No Line On The Horizon and will be on sale in music stores on November 14.

The band's record company Universal has already registered the internet domain name nolineonthehorizon.com -- prompting speculation this will be the new record.

And among the songs to be released on what many music insiders are calling the band's best work to date are "Moment of Surrender," "For Your Love," "Love Is All We Have Left" and "One Bird."

Others include "If I Could Live My Life Again," "The Cedars of Lebanon" and "No Line On The Horizon."

Earlier this week a 19-strong film crew headed to the Spanish city of Cadiz to shoot a video for the band's first single from the new album although the band were not believed to be present.

Last night an insider said the U2 machine is gearing up for the release of one of the most keenly-awaited albums in recent years.

"The album is more or less all in the bag except for a few minor details," the source revealed. A lot of people have been waiting a long time for this album as they do with every U2 album.

"But the word coming out is that the band is very, very happy with the end product and when U2 are happy it should be quite a piece of work. They're not easy to please."

Legendary producer Steve Lillywhite, who has worked with U2 for more than two decades, said the new album had blown him away.

It is the first original work since the band released the smash-hit How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb in November 2004. It sold an incredible 10 million copies and picked up eight Grammy Awards.

But music commentators think the new record could be even bigger for Bono, the Edge, Larry and Adam.

U2 are also expected to announce details of a huge worldwide tour, which would almost certainly include a number of nights at the new O2 Arena in the Dublin Docklands -- formerly known as the Point Theatre.

In a flurry of activity, the group have just re-released their first three albums -- Boy, October and War -- in extended formats and with previously unreleased tracks.
It has led to that rare thing -- U2 making a mistake.

A quantity of the re-released War albums have been printed with incorrect track listings inside a booklet.

But ironically, it won't hit sales, as the botched items are likely to become collector's pieces.


© MGN Ltd., 2008.

That's Entertainment

Just Cause.

Allow Me To Squeeeee!!!

So yeah I like comics. And graphic novels. And in my uber fan girl geekitude over The Dark Knight I have yet to mention THE trailer. The one that has made every comic geek out there completely drop their basket. This one.





The Watchmen

For that I may just go to the midnight showing. I think that it has the potential to top The Dark Knight. It's kinda the Holy Grail of graphic novels. If you have been following Comic-Con at all then you know the buzz surrounding this is huge. The audience in theater got all twitterpated over it too. There is a HUGE fanbase for this without any real marketing started at all. Yeah I think I am gonna have to be in line for the midnight opening. March 6th is the listed day. Guess I better ask for that Friday off!

Graphic novels and comics are taking over the movies these days. Well actually there are tons of films I bet most folks don't realize were based on graphic novels. History of Violence, From Hell, Wanted...all graphics. Of course 300 and Sin City as well and my personal most beloved favorite, The Crow. I'd love to see a good version of League of Extraordinary Gentlemen done. One that does not fuck up Mina's role as leader. Gaiman's Sandman series would also rock.

Spiderman 4 was announced at Comic- Con and The Wolfman as well. Yet another I am looking forward to. Big surprise I adore old horror flicks as well.

Another one I am jazzed for is The Spirit. Frank Miller is making his directorial debut on that. For those who don't know, Miller is the man that saved Batman and created Sin City and 300. Miller is the next Stan Lee in my opinion and I am glad Bob Kane lived long enough to see his Dark Knight actually return to being one. It's too bad Bill Finger didn't.

We have a Silver Surfer in the works with Alex Proyas (The Crow) directing, there is the Wolverine Movie, things look good for an Avengers movie. It would be cool, but out of the timeline of the canon, if they went ahead and added Spidey. I mean why not they have Nick Fury in at the inception. It would be cool to have Robert Downey and Tobey Macguire in the same movie. Hulk...please not Bana. Stick with Norton. There are Thor, Ant Man and Iron Man 2 movies in the works. There was a Wonder Woman in the works and it is still showing 2009 arrival on IMDB but with Joss Whedon dropping out and no cast I am dubious.

Wonder if they might ever try for a full on Justice League. If they do they need to use Tom Welling as Superman. Bale for Batman. Can we skip Robin? Hrmm....*checks IMDB*

Oh my. There IS a Justice League and for whatever reason they are not casting any of the current actors associated with the main superheros. Common is playing Green Lantern (the 70's version) Adam Brody as The Flash. This has SUCK written all over it. One can only pray that since it is still in development someone might have the good sense to, oh I don't know, talk to Nolan about doing it?

Seeing casting like that makes me live in fear of a Crow Remake.

Don't get me started on the 2.5 hour cinematic abortion that is Brideshead Revisted. More like Brideshead Rewritten since the slime at the helm of that CHANGED THE ENTIRE FUCKING PLOT.

Please any readers of mine thinking of seeing the remake with Emma Thompson, for the love of God, don't. I BEG you. Do not put cash in the pockets of a bunch of money hungry asshats cashing in on the remake craze. Netflix the original Great Performances MiniSeries or read the book by Evelyn Waugh. Emma Thompson should be ashamed of herself.

Somehow I jumped from American Comics to early 20th century British Lit. Typical!

Acid Man, Acid Man

HAH! Found this one via CajunVegan. This is on two cups of coffee. And to think, I cut down! Although I still see the inside of a Starbucks on a near daily basis. Oh and fuck a bunch of 4 dollar coffee drinks. I drink coffee. JUST coffee. 1 buck 75 cent coffee. The rest is for teeniebopper mall whores and neophytes :P


Created by OnePlusYou - Online Dating

Here is a shocker. Kidlet got Ecstacy and is miffed but then again she is hyper as hell and likes to bounce around chanting "glow stick, glow stick, glow stick." And she knows who Happy Mondays are. Mine was a no brainer. Having been told by my numerous Acid dropping friends that I don't need to take acid cause people take it to make their minds work the way mine already does. I guess they were right!

Your Personality Is Like Acid

A bit wacky, you're very difficult to predict. One moment you're in your own little happy universe... And the next, you're on a bad trip to your own personal hell! At your best: You understand the world completely, and every ordinary experience is sublime. What people like about being around you: You say and do the craziest things. You're very entertaining. What people dislike about being around you: You're unpredictable. Your mood swings are quite intense. How addicted people get to you: They pretty much don't get addicted to you.

What Drug Is Your Personality Like?

Keeping it firmly in the addiction realms we move to booze. I actually rarely drink. I might go weeks without so much as a beer or a glass of wine. I have, however, worked in bars and I did spend the better part of my Grammar for Journalism class at Guido's bar in Eugene going through the bartenders rolodex. She was cool and she had my name. And yeah I was underage. If you saw a picture of me at 17 you'd get why I got away with it. I never got carded until I turned 22 or so.

97%ALCOHOLIC

Created by OnePlusYou - Free Dating Site

Shocking. Geek.

59% Geek

Created by OnePlusYou - Free Dating Sites

Holy Shit! My ex husband was starving long haired VW bus driving tie dye wearing hippie when we started hanging out. He fed his cat, and I DID force feed him. He got down half a burger and puked. I made him eat the other half.

absinthedreamers.blogspot.com/

WANTED FOR THE COLD-BLOODED FORCE-FEEDING of a BASHFUL HIPPY

$3000

What's Your Blog Wanted For?

Created by OnePlusYou

And with those facts to chew on I leave you with The Globe from BAD who kindly provide todays post title and E=MC2 in honor of the geekiness.

Power-Saw To The People

HOT DAMN DEXTER SEASON THREE!

Dexter kicks ass. It is the main reason I own a tv. Jimmy Smits joins the cast this year.





A recap of Seasons 1-2 with commentary.

On The Road, But You Got No Destination - TT#48

It's no secret I tend to be music oriented or obsessed if you listen to my family but this time around I thought I would try something a bit more ambitious than your basic shuffle. This time around I am shooting to tell you a bit of the story of my life...autobiographically! Now 13 songs is just not enough so please realize this is a mere smidgen of my existence. TEENY.

1. Aquarius - Hair Broadway Soundtrack. I am born. Now this NOT the horrid 5th dimension version that sucks ASS compared to the original Broadway cast recordings. This is the real deal. This album and The Moody Blues Days of Future Past were my first two "real" records outside of Mary Poppins. I was 7 I think? Red Plastic Suitcase Record Player days, baby! We will not speak of the gawd-awful movie.



2. Philadelphia Freedom -Elton John- I LOVED this song when I was a wee one. Loved Elton in general but this was my favorite song evah. Check out Soul Train, people. Those clothes! And I don't mean Elton's. And thanks to Malcolm for the correction!



3. Dreamboat Annie - Heart - Remember Ann Wilson when she was thin? The running joke on this entire album is that it was what my mother would play as she drove back and forth over the Golden Gate Bridge. Where we would be after she pulled me out of bed in Salt Lake City and DROVE to cause she was pissed at my dad. I shit you not :P



We leave the 70's with many other songs and memories unmined. A close one for the actual list is Boston's More Than A Feeling. I used to play that on my fathers UBER COMPONENTS. On the down low. Cause I might fuck up the diamond needle ya know. I gloat to this day about playing that album after school every day ;)

As we move into the 80's there are also several songs that almost but not quite made it. ELO's Don't Bring Me Down...roller disco anyone? The Buggle's Video Killed The Radio Star which of course heralded the beginning of the MTV Era and brings me to 80 choice numero uno.

4. Rio - Duran Duran Fanatic Fan reporting for duty. I had, gosh.... lemme think. One...two...three..........8 posters in my room. I was a John Girl in case y'all are wondering. And I can still tell you their birthdays!



5. Let's Go To Bed from The Cure is here to represent both my love of 80s British bands from Ska to Punk to New Wave to, naturally, Goth. Suck it up Robert, you and Siouxsie and Eldritch and Murphy are ALL Goth. They may deny it now but each and every one of them is in fact so Goth (and by that I mean the original incarnation not the Hot Topic Emo Tard or the Kindergothen of today) that they fart bats.

The list of bands I could have popped in here is staggering. But we were are gonna let non-bloated Robert rep for the entire continent. Special Huggles to The Smiths and And Depeche.New Order. And Bauhaus. And The Specials. And The Clash. And........



Ahhh... High School. This is was a no brainer and yet could have been a close second to In Your Eyes, since Say Anything is both my all time favorite 80's movie and uncomfortably autobiographical. Oh and Valley Girl was also right on up there and I Melt With You is another strong candidate.

But in the end I went with the movie that I remember seeing in the theater so vividly I can tell you to this day what I was wearing. A white shirt with what looked like pastel brush swashes in pastel colors of purple, blue, peach and pink. Light blue checked jeans and white ballet flats. And Tatiana perfume. Which I pretty much wore from 1983 to 1990. I went with Jill, Tina, the dorks they were dating, and the infamous Todd and Jason combo. We saw it at Valley River cinemas in Eugene. Ladies and Gentleman #6 with a bullet - Don't You Forget About Me By Simple Minds and The Breakfast Club by John Hughes biographer of Generation X.



Now let's talk U2. I have loved this band from the day I first heard I Will Follow in Diana's Record Store in Eugene Oregon in 1981 when I was all of 12 years old. They are indeed the soundtrack of my life and my all time favorite band. As such I could pretty much put them anywhere in the last 26 years. They are the background music to every major event in my life and damn near all the minor ones as well. We are gonna go with the Streets cause it's would kinda be sacrilegious not to. 21 years ago this was the turning point for U2, #7 Where The Streets Have No Name.



8. Welcome to the Jungle - Guns And Roses - This is another 80's song albeit a late 80's song but it is here to represent my move out of Eugene and up to Portland. This was the first album I bought when I moved here. Jason and Todd thought I was nuts. I thought Axl Rose kicked the ass of every other metal band out there. To me this kinda herald in what I loosely term as adulthood since, really, your 20's are just teen years with more alcohol.



So now we enter the 90's. By 1991 I was divorced from ex-husband #1, hanging out with ex-husband #2 and the Kinda Ex Boyfriend. Conveniently when I moved out of the marital abode, Ex #2 and The Kinda Ex (who happens to Ex #2's cousin and Ex #1's best friend) all move in together. Can you say clusterfuck? We are the children of divorce, the original latch key kids and raised by televison. Our friends became our family. Bet those of you who are older watch movies like Clerks and Reality Bites and Singles and wonder if Gen Xer's are really that fucked up. Short answer? Yes we are.

Here We Are Now - Entertain Us.

9. Smells Like Teen Spirit- Nirvana



So regular readers will by now have figured out that I did marry again in 1993 to Ex #2 after first dealing with the total disintegration of The Kinda Ex. Yay Drugs! Oddly enough I loved the 90's. Or at least the first part of them. The later ones when you are dumped for a video game and your marriage goes down the shitter, not so much. Appropriately enough, right after my Titanic Obsession, this cheery little ditty came along. Thank God I didn't blog then, I'd have driven masses to suicide. But with a chuckle cause those old diaries are bleak as hell but rather funny. A select few of my readers have read them. Poor babies!

10. Iris - The Goo Goo Dolls



So yeah drama. Free advice to gamer widows everywhere. Playing said game ain't gonna fix the problems. A headphone favorite from my Everquest years and the birth of my alter ego, Starrlight. Not the real video cause SONY BMG sucks ass. #11. Meet Virginia - Train




At this point we are moving to the 00's. And I suppose the big story here is my ex bf and my time spent in Atlanta. Much Ado About Nothing or Slackers Rule. In honor of the good and the bad and my future home, let's all ask, #12 Why Georgia? - John Mayer




Lucky #13 is of course, Beautiful Day from U2. It's my anthem. Ya just gotta keep on keepin on, folks and remember to stop and look around. The little things count as much as the things that tie you up in knots.

Mirrors On The Ceiling, Pink Champagne On Ice

Kidlet has yet to get me pictures thereby negating Seattle part 2 and WW. So I am taking the easy way out and web quizzing it. I got sucked into catching up on Californication last night and family drama surrounding Kidlet's schedule. I feel like Julie on the Love Boat 90% of the time. I get to arrange everything and yet when I say no to something, it is still questioned! Yay Team. It's the adult version continuing to ask for Polly Pocket dolls when you have been told no.

So my creativity is ebbing low and you folks get web kaka :P

You Are Karamel Sutra

Plain on the outside, but once someone gets in, they're stuck

What Flavor Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream Are You?

Damn right I am. That is some tasty ice cream.

You Are Trinity

"Touch me and that hand will never touch anything again."

What Superheroine Are You?

Oh hell yes. I can accept that.

You Are Granola

You are creative and inventive. You don't do much the ordinary or normal way. You like to explore new ideas and lifestyles. Something isn't for you just because other people do it. Quick breakfast fixes are definitely not your style. You're the type most likely to cook yourself an amazing homemade breakfast.

What Kind of Cereal Are You?

LOL...granola. Yeah I am the outdoorsy no make up type ya know ;)

You Are 48% Weirdo

You're definitely quite strange, but you can act like a normal person when you have to. (But just because you can act normally, it certainly doesn't mean you want to!) You have normal aspects to your personality... but you usually don't choose to emphasize them.

Are You A Weirdo?

Gosh I am more normal than I thought!

You Are 60% Boyish and 40% Girlish

You are pretty evenly split down the middle - a total eunuch. Okay, kidding about the eunuch part. But you do get along with both sexes. You reject traditional gender roles. However, you don't actively fight them. You're just you. You don't try to be what people expect you to be.

How Boyish or Girlish Are You?

I knew I'd end up more boyish than girlish. I look like a soccer mom but I swear like a sailor ;)

Your Personality Cluster is Extraverted Intuition

You are: A true wordsmith - a master of words Original, spontaneous, and a true inspiration Highly energetic, up for any challenge Entertaining and engaging, both to friends and strangers

What's Your Personality Cluster?

I have always tested out INFP although that surprises most people who think I am super outgoing. I am super entertaining alright, but not very likely to let folks in on the real me.

Trust No One

So does the fact that I got 95% on this test disturb anyone else? I am such a geek. If my last two fangirl Comic Batman dweebie post were not a dead give away this test will. Did I mention I am seeing The Dark Knight in IMAX on Thurs? Um ...yeah. Test Your X Files Knowledge.

The X Files will be the next movie we see in the theater. Although I am now used to thinking of David as man slut getting blow jobs from imaginary nuns. So swapping back to Spooky will be a bit wack. I'll do my geek girl best.

Let's not forget I played MMORPG's too.

Remember (That It's All In Your Head)

Ok just got back from seeing The Dark Knight and, just wow. Seriously wow. Even if you are not a Batman or comic fan, this movie is still fab. It is the most un-comic comic book story I have seen in a long time and in doing that it manages to be true to the original series. It also manages to be a rather vicious social commentary and a damn good thriller as well.

All the Ledger hype is well deserved. He was fan-fucking-tastic as Joker. You stopped thinking of him as Heath about 60 seconds into his screen time. His Joker is actually scary. As someone on IMDB stated, Nicholson only talked about dancing with the devil in the pale moonlight...Heath fills in the entire dance card. Joker is a terrorist, plain and simple. He is not in it for the money and my take on him varies from others in that I don't think he is in it for the adrenaline rush. I think he is in it for the reaction. He views himself as the catalyst and the whole point of it what behaviors he forces from his victims. As the movie likes to point out, people are only as good as society makes them be.

Christian Bale is amazing. He's a hell of an actor and has always been a favorite of mine but he steps it up in this one considerably from Batman Begins. His Batman is not a hero. At times it seems doubtful that he is even a good man. The movie turns on the premise of choosing your enemy wisely. Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent manages to neatly wrap up the theme of the movie, duality.

We are also given Maggie Gyllenhaal in the place of Katie Holmes. Thank the merciful baby Jesus that Tom's Fembot did not make a reappearance. She would have stood out in this cast like a sore thumb.

No one phoned their performances on this one. Not Caine or Freeman and especially not Oldham. He obviously enjoys playing the good guy for a change and his Jim Gordon is pitch perfect. It always catches me off guard to realize that it the guy who played Dracula. Much like it blows my mind to think Batman is played by Patrick Batemen.

So two thumbs way up and do yourselves a favor and see this one in a theater. TV's will not do it justice.

Part 2 of the Seattle recap tomorrow.

Chillin in Arkham with Mister J.

I. AM. SO. EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tickets are purchased, have to wait until Sunday..gah... at 3:05 pm. Kidlet and I will be at the theater by 145 to get in line. Been waiting over a year for this movie and while watching Heath is going be hard cause man his death really fucked with me, but I have been waiting to see him in this role since they announced it. And Christian Bale had me at Empire of the Sun.

SO EXCITED!







Note if you are not a Comic Geek and are not familiar with the story of Harvey Dent, this one has a spoiler at the end of it, so be forwarned.

If You're Gonna Do It, Do It Right!

Catch up!

Told you I would. I just didn't plan on getting down with the sickness. Kidlet has it now too. Yippee.

So let's backtrack shall we? Billy Idol.


Billy Idol kicked more butt than most rockers half his age. And he's got a better bod now than he did in the video. Plus he actually SOUNDS like Billy Idol! You know how much it sucks when you see people in concert and they sound like crap and you come to the sad realization that the producer is the artist rather than the singer. He did all the songs, and Steve Stevens was amazing on guitar as usual. Plus they did the Generation X song Ready Steady Go which was most fun. Took Kidlet and her Semi Step as we call him and of course my Dad and myself. People threw thongs on the stage and bra and flashed boobs. Mind you they were old boobs that really had no business being flash, but fortunately it was a small outdoor venue and the wasn't a jumbotron =)

Now then, Seattle. I will give you the basic run down although kidlet has all the pictures on her camera. Meh. First off, we took Amtrak and it was a really nice way to get to Seattle. We went coach though and I think next time we will upgrade to Business. And if I EVER do a longer trip I will most certainly book a roomette. But the food was good, we were on time and with $4.25 gas my $89 dollar fair was cheap.

Got to Seattle and took a quick cab ride to the hotel. Check in was not until 3 and it was barely after 1 when we got there, so we went to the Bistro Library Cafe for lunch. It was YUMMY! We did our big splurge meal that day. Steak with Yukon gold potatoes and béarnaise sauce and baby green beans. We started with a beet walnut and goat cheese salad and Kidlet had the MOST amazing ahi tuna barely seared with a sesame miso sauce. Dessert was homemade profiteroles with white chocolate ice cream and chocolate sauce. The hotel staff checked us in early and when we got to our room we were blown away. They had upgraded us to a full on suite. It was bigger than my townhouse! Top floor corner no less so we had stupendous views from our living room. We were totally jazzed.

Rested up and then got ready for George. Took a cab only to find out that even though Key Arena had signs posted that said No Professional Cameras they meant ALL cameras. Had to take a cab BACK to the hotel cause kidlet had her purse with her Camera in it. Mind you everyone and their fricking dog has a cell phone with video and camera these days but god knows some folks just have to be bureaucratic douches.

The concert itself was AWESOME! He did Wham songs as well and he sounded divine. The crowd was great. They were totally into it and very loud and sang along the whole time. Totally worth every penny and I wish I bought the top of the line tickets instead of the second of the line ones. George would have been worth 250 a seat easily. This is a clip of the Freedom encore from an early concert. It was so much fun. We danced our asses off the entire time.



Got back to the hotel super late and ordered up Italian food and watched TV before we crashed in our huge king size super bed. The next day we slept in and had lunch at the Library Bistro again - once more it was super - and then headed out and walked down to the waterfront. Took a boat cruise of the harbor and then wandered the shops before heading up to Pikes. We hung around Pikes before finally walking back around 6 and got some pizza and hung out in the room.

On Friday the 4th we got up and decided to head to Pikes for Piroshky Piroshky for breakfast.




That was an EXCELLENT call on our part. We each had a spinach egg and cheese piroshky and split a ham potato and cheese one. And a marzipan one cause both Kidlet and I are total almond paste addicts. We could roll in it. From Pikes we walked up to catch the bus to The Experience Music Project.

Once there, we spent the next 3 and a half hours wandering around. The Northwest timeline was really really cool if you could get past the friggin middle American middle aged yupbots and their ASININE comments. "ohhhh Near- Vana. I didn't know they were from Seattle!" Near-Vana. Mmmk. "Ooooh...Pearl Jam, they had a number one song, right?" Sigh..."Who are Alice In Chains and Green River? I have never heard of them." Smack. And mine and kidlet's personal favorite "Oh look it is the bass players Lay Paul!" That is right this ignorant polyester clad woman with hair straight outta 1983 actually called a Les Paul bass a "LAY PAUL." How French. How retarded. The fact that I am not rotting in a Seattle jail for stabbing her in the eye with a pen is a minor miracle.

That said it was cool to see the old posters, and Nirvana's signed Sub Pop contract. The Hendrix exhibit was just flat out amazing. Hand written lyrics and notes, guitars out the ying yang and his green velvet frock coat. Plus they have a mixing board with several songs that lets you hear the individual instruments along with commentary on the recording. It was cool.

The guitar gallery...OMG. Ray Davies guitar from You Really Got Me. Clapton's from Layla, Dickey Betts from the Allmans, and of course Kurt's Blue Mustang from the Smells Like Teen Spirit video. Kidlet went art terrorist and took a picture of it even though that is totally against the rule. Striking out at the man! Somehow I think Kurt would approve of ninja picture taking of his guitar.

Kinda hard to be 39 and in Seattle and not think Nirvana nearly all the time. Nostalgia is a bitch. That and my shuffle was and is still in the state of Washington. Top 5 played songs on random shuffle are all either Alice in Chains or Nirvana.

We did head into the Science Fiction Museum but those people are just a wee bit weird. We kept expecting to see Yoda shaped dildos in the gift shop :p

We headed back to our hotel to rest up for Fire works night. Little did we know........

Part 2 of catch up coming to you this weekend!

The Devil In A Black Dress Watches Over

Just cause. Scroll down for my Thursday Thirteen ;)

Ofra Haza had the most amazing voice. It's a shame that she died so young. Enya eat your heart out. And well, I love Andrew =)



And another female artist gone way too soon. This song is so good. If you have seen Kinky Boots this is the full version. She embodies the words "smoky voice." Plus her name rocks ;) Justice for Kirsty.

I'm The Root Of All That's Evil, Yeah But You Can Call Me Cookie - TT 47

Intellectually this is about as good as I get right now. The song is also my response to all the lovely stressers in my life and the ever spiraling Cluster Fuck that is my work load.

With that in mind I am doing a musical cop-out Thursday Thirteen for you today. Oooh, so original! At least my iPod should provide some musical schizophrenia for you.

1. Fire Water Burn - The Bloodhound Gang. See today's post title. I love these guys. They are the worst of frat humor but significantly smarter than your average frat dude. See today's post title. And that's Miss Cookie if you're nasty. Oh warning on listening to this one outloud cause we got many many F bombs launched. This is not the actual video, it's Microwave Cam featuring the song. I am finding it compelling as hell. Especially the Peeps Bunnies.



2. Zoo Station - U2. My boys. My boys who have apparently scrapped the Moroccan Prayer music and redid their new album that is SUPPOSED to arrive in October. To quote you, Bono, just gimme what I want and no one gets hurt. Seeing that this IS my favorite band, they get a wee bit more lyric love than the rest ;)

"I'm ready for the gridlock
I'm ready...to take it to the street
I'm ready for the shuffle
Ready for the deal
Ready to let go of the steering wheel"

This is the live Zoo Station in Sydney clip. Pretty easy to see why this tour reigns supreme as the most amazing spectacle concert evah. I'd give my left nut and everyone else's to be able to go back in time and see this. But a Europe date cause I love Mephisto more than the Mirrorball man.




3. Talent Show - The Replacements. Yeah it is from Don't Tell A Soul which means most Mat's fans are gonna get all pissy and bitch and moan about "commercial sounding" albums. And they can bite my bag. "I ain't much to look out so, close your eyes and here we go." Paul Westerberg is the man. Another band I wish I had seen.

This is a live clip and I love it cause Paul asks "what the hell are we doing here?" right before they kick it. The Mat's are now a requirement. I will not date anyone who is not Mat's fan. Oh and the morality tard beeped the line "feeling good from the pills we took" cause god knows drug references have no place in Rock Music!





4. Bittersweet Symphony - The Verve. It's amazing how often my random shuffle plays this song. And Nirvana. But really, it is like it senses I am gonna kill and gives me a dose of this song. My shuffle's device name is Thorazine. As in Thorazine Shuffle. The medical folks and Randall P. McMurphy fans will get that one. Think this song is a coincidence? "I need to hear some sounds that recognize the pain in me." My all time favorite song ever. I am going out on this song.



5. Teenage Dirtbag - Wheatus. Oh this song is so tasty. Seriously it is one of my all time favorite One Hit Wonders. "Her name is Noel I have a dream about her She rings my bell I got gym class in half an hour Oh how she rocks In Keds and tube socks" The video is funny too, with Mr American Pie himself scoring tickets to Iron Maiden and Mira Sorvino.



6. Cities In Dust - Siouxsie and The Banshees. The Queen of the Bromley contingent and a personal favorite. Great song. And we can add Grosse Pointe Blank to the gotta watch list as this can be found on the Soundtracks. Cusack has great taste in music. Which is to say it is similar to mine "Your former glories and all the stories Dragged and washed with eager hands." All Hail the Godmother of Goth!




....This is kinda fun although I sure hope my shuffle does not embarrass me **cough NSYNC, Spice Girls cough ** and it does break up the work day. Cause this is happening live baby live. As I work. Go Multitasker Girl!.....

7. Ain't Even Done With The Night - Mr. Johnny Cougar Mellencamp. I adore Mellencamp even though that has never been cool. This is one of my all time favorites. "You got your hands in my back pockets and Sam Cook's singing on the radio." The video is a flashback to 1981. You remember....when MTV played videos ;)



8. Trip Like I Do - Filter and Crystal Method. Glow stick, glow stick, glow stick! So there we have a definite musical whiplash....Southern Rock to Rave-ville USA! I be am diverse, yo.

I like house/trance/rave whatever ya wanna tag it. But not all of it. This is one of my favorites available on the Spawn Soundtrack. "I've got the world on my back but I don't seem to care I've got the comprehension of a world unaware yeah."



9. Virginia Plain - Roxy Music. SUCH AN AWESOME SONG! Kidlets favorite Roxy song. It's from their first album when Brian Eno was still flying on the keyboards. This is not Avalon and More Than This Roxy Music. "Baby Jane's in Acapulco, We are flying down to Rio." This is what Eno was up to before he got into the business of throwing away "Streets" for U2 ;)





10. Word Up - Korn. Yeah you read that right. Not Cameo of the Red Cod Piece but Jonathan Davis and Co covering Cameo. I FRICKIN LOVE THIS VIDEO. I want a Jonathon Dog."Do you dance, do your dance quick Mama, come on baby, tell me what’s The Word, ah – word up!"




11. Run On - Moby. Moby's album Play is one of my all time favorite albums. The use of old blues and gospel is amazing. This one uses God's Going to Cut You Down. See the video since this one never made radio that I know of. I so should have kept this album and given the ex a burned copy. "Tell the gamblin', ramblin' backslider tell them God Almighty gonna cut 'em down."





12. Warning - Green Day. I love Green Day. 1994 was a good year for music. "Sanitation, expiration date, question everything Or shut up and be a victim of authority." Besides Billie is one of us aka an Aquarius. And we rock.




13. I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend - The Ramones. Hey Ho! What else is there to say. This is live from Paris.

Blech

I live but barely. Totally lost my voice and chest felt like I had an elephant on it. I am back to work today with no fever for the first day. Still don't really have a voice but I think I can make it through a (long) day. Totally behind and totally stressed and still feeling like crap sucks.

She Wishes She Was A Dancer And That She'd Never Heard Of Cancer

**Updated on Friday**

Thank you so much to those of you who donated! It's not to late to donate, in fact you can all the way through Sunday. $5 might seem like too small of an amount to bother with but every penny counts. Click HERE to donate.


Yet another Not So Wordless Wednesday this time #59. This Saturday my daughter and I will be participating in the America Cancer Society Relay for Life. Our team is itty bitty small but we are hoping to raise some money to fight cancer. I don't think there is a person out there who has not been touched by this disease. I know times are hard but if you can donate any amount would be wonderful. For a $10 dollar donation you can have a luminaria like those shown below personalized and lit for yourself or a loved one. Even a $5 dollar donation can help. For a Luminaria please click the picture above. For other donations please click HERE.

Take My Picture By The Pool Cause I'm The Next Big Thing

Well don't I just have a ton to catch up on. And don't I just have no time to do it! It has been a busy couple of weeks and this one is crazy too. Tomorrow night is the Idols Concert and Saturday we walk in the Relay for Life.

I still have to write up Seattle and what all we did and tell you all about the midnight ramble through Seattle thanks to the less than stellar Seattle bus systems. Oh and the food cause that is important. So all this will be coming up. I swear, I promise, cross my heart. Still have to write about War Inc too! Look for it Saturday/Sunday.

I have totally fuxored my left shoulder. I can feel it thunking whenever I rotate the joint and it freaking hurts. Not fun.

Oh I brought my iPod shuffle to work and I can now block out any knowledge of other people between being stuck in the back of the office (Tamera calls me The Outlander) and not being able to hear them. Right now we have U2 Even Better Than The Real Thing playing. Before that it was The Band with The Weight.

Watched So You Think You Can Dance last night and I gotta say Courtney and Gev are very cute.

Spanish Songs In Andalucia

We are back and wow we needed a vacation from our vacation. I'll give ya all the blow by blow tomorrow. Spent today beating down a migraine though and I am about as creative as wallpaper paste :P

Wake Me Up Before You Go Go! #58