Congratulations to Matt Man and Schmoop!

I am all misty eyed over here. Matt done proposed to Schmoop and she said yes. It's a lovely day in Bagwine Land! Plus I get to be the Best Man. That's right, boys. Step off cause I getta wear the pant at the wedding. Although one does hope that Matt Man wears some as well.

Seriously though, congrats to both of them. They make me smile =)

Paul Newman 1925 -2008

One of my all time favorite actors,ever and by all reports one very nice man. And about the only person I have ever seen who could top Johnny Depp was Paul Newman in the 50's and 60's. I'd have to call it a toss up.

You Dress In Pink And Blue Just Like A Child

5:45 am. At work. Coffee in hand, cold in head. The fruit of my loins appears to have become a petri dish. All her friends have this nasty virus that starts out like pink eye (that was tues and wed) then turns to a sore throat (yesterday and today) and finally makes one's head a snot factory. Oh Joy.

Here until 6:15 as well. Yes a 12 hour day. Going to go get my hands blessed by our resident nun Sister Maggie. It's Mission week here at work where we celebrate our mission statement. We're a non profit insurance company, y'all. Can you sing Koom By Ya with me? Actually the one thing I am really going to miss about Oregon when I move is this company. It's a really great place to work.

Yesterday was our Mission awards where the entire company gets together and recognizes people who live the mission, aka volunteer and practice green. It's pretty cool, we had a slide show to begin with featuring all the charities and organizations we support. I got One, Kiva and Cascade AIDS project up on the slideshow. Anonymously, kthx. No pictures of me. Damn...I forgot Relay for Life!

Anyhow a fellow charity auction member was won of 4 recipients this year, and she really deserved it. So it was nice. Today our wee nun (she really *is* short) will be doing a blessing of the hands. Sort of an individual prayer for each of us and the works our hands do. It's a nice tradition.

I booked our beach trip rooms for November. My friend H, Kidlet and myself are all going to Yachats to the Overleaf Lodge again in November. We went in together and got a Sunset Suite. It has two bedrooms, the jacuzzi in the corner window looking right at the ocean and an in room kitchenette. Saves on dining out cost. Two nights. We are going to bring movies, head to Newport on Monday for a massage and some browsing of shops and eat a bunch of crab. Should be good.

This weekend is girl weekend. Mom is treating kidlet and me to a pedicure and lunch at a Caribbean/Cuban/African restaurant called Salvadore Molly's. Sunday kidlet and I cruise to the beach to get her egg she found last weekened. Gotta figure out a way to keep that so it doesn't stink. Hrmm. Oh and I am squeezing in 4 hours somewhere on Saturday. Most likely early AM. Shooting for 21 hour of OT which will be my most in since Oct of last year. This payperiod and the next. If I can swing it.

And now I leave you with another lesser known artist I discovered in the early 80's. Mr. Joe Jackson with Steppin Out and Is She Really Going Out With Him?

TT 51 - Cover Me, I'm Going In!

This week I thought I'd dig a bit deeper than just the last 13 on my shuffle. I love a good cover. Sometimes I like the cover better than the original! There are a few of those on this list -13 of my favorite Cover Tunes.

1 Korn - Word Up - Originally done by Cameo, I just love the Jonathan Dog.



2 The English Beat - Tears of A Clown - Originally Smokey of course.



3 Harvey Danger - Save It For Later - In a nice little bit of kismet, this one was originally done by The English Beat!

save it for later


4 Reel Big Fish - Take on Me - I HATE the Aha version. Hated it in the 80's and hate it now. Especially the video. BUT...I frickin adore the RBF version from the movie Basketball.



5 The Clash - I Fought The Law
6 Green Day - I Fought the Law - Yup same song. Most folks think the Green Day version is a cover of a Clash song. Not so mon ami it's originally a Bobby Fuller Four song. And I refuse to pick which cover I like better so you get both!






7 Marilyn Manson - Down In The Park - The very first Marilyn song I ever heard and a cover of a song by Gary Numan. Love love love this version.



8 U2- Dancing Barefoot - Patti Smith of course. I love my boys version of this.



9 Johnny Cash - Hurt - A Nine Inch Nails song of course but Johnny owns it.



10 Moby - Gods Gonna Strike You Down as Run On - A traditional that wee bald vegitarian Moby reworked on one of my all time favorite albums, Play.



11 Nine Inch Nails - Dead Souls - A cover of a Joy Division song that was used on The Crow soundtrack. I love this version clear down to the bottom of my black clothes wearing heart. 2 Snaps, Trent.



12 Placebo - 20th Century Boy - T-Rex as redone by kidlet's second favorite band. This is on the soundtrack for Velvet Goldmine. It kicks MUCH ass. This version is a bonus cause David Bowie is with them.



13 The Specials - Pressure Drop - A rework of the Toots and The Maytals. Good luck finding decent video on this one cause I sure as hell tried!

And The Moon Has Turned Red Over One Tree Hill -WW 65

I Don't Know Why Sometimes I Feel Frightened

Watching Dancing with the Stars. They just announced the musical guest this week will be The Jonas Brothers and Jesse McCartney. That was so kind of them to give me warning. I'd rather stick pencils in my ears than endure that. And HOLY SHIT. The singers on this show suck hard. Really really hard.

I admit, I am shamelessly voting for Lance Bass. He was the weakest of the N'SYNC boys but come the fuck on. Boy band and gay? He better bring it. The Fat One did pretty good but let's face it, JC Chavez and The Timbersnake were the best of them and I highly doubt Justin will be doing DWTS any time soon. Which is probably a good thing since even if the boy had two left feet - which he doesn't - the little girlies -and horny old broads - would vote for him till the cows come home.

Ready for this? Topic Change! The nominees have been announced for the Rock Hall of Fame and those motherfuckers better put Iggy and The Stooges in the Hall or I will riot. And kidlet will help.

Ok, Lance is bringin it.

As I was saying, I am fine with Metallica although I still think Lars needs to have his pubes yanked out with pliers. I am fine with Run DMC, hell I named a cat after the song It's Tricky. But by God, Iggy and the Boys best be in that class. It's fucking ridiculous that they are not already. And according to the poll on MSNBC a good portion of Americans needs their pubes yanked as well.

And now I am going to go clean up my kitchen cause I made my Giada Pasta and had that and a Tanq and Tonic. I am leaving you with a video of today's -well tomorrows - post title. If the voice sounds familiar that cause it is. I give you The Crowded House boys in their earlier incarnation Split Enz and I Got You

ROFL! James Blount/Oasis Parody

OH MY GOD....so funny! See my actual post below this.

The Shock Of Lightning

Oh my god, I am old. How did I do this overtime shit, deal with a kid who went to school downtown at the time, and keep my house clean?!? I can do MAYBE 15 hours a payperiod of overtime and that takes pretty much every once of energy I have. Here I am at the office on Saturday again! Not next Saturday though. Kidlet, mom and I are getting toes done and lunch at a Cuban restaurant.

Kidlet is doing better. Had back to school night on Thursday and met her teachers. It was a huge step up from last year. This year they seem to have their shit together and actually care about the kids success. Her math teacher is a far far cry from Welter Skelter last year. Thank God.

I did give her principal the stink eye and this time around there were NO promises about parental notification etc etc. I guess he took our threat to video tape him lying seriously! The Garden Gnome.

This morning I went over and hauled Kidlet out of bed at 7am, fed her, gave her 20 bucks and stuck her on the bus for her Leadership trip to the beach for the twice yearly statewide Beach Clean Up. Her dad has her and I have Miss H coming over tonight for food, booze and bitching. Should be good. Once I change the cat boxes that is.

Glad I shared that tidbit, ain't ya?


I leave you with the UNA-BROW BOYS...aka Oasis and their new song. What with The Verve and Oasis having new albums out I can damn near close my eyes and pretend it is 1995 ;0

And After All We're Only Ordinary Men

I am so tired. So very very tired. Had about 5 hours sleep Sunday night and all of about 3 hours last night. Plus kidlet kicked me. In a certain area that would prefer NOT to be kicked. I may be kinky but I have my limits.

Ya know I have a set of pictures Kidlet took that I love but by God I am too tired to upload a frickin photo. Kidlet is back at her dad's tonight and I get to spend that fun am period waiting for the call from the school. My head is down to a dull roar. I am watching House if I have to toothpick my eyeballs open. Missed Weeds last night but I am waiting till I get Kidlet back. I have a feeling I know where this season is heading.

Dexter in less than 2 weeks! And Jimmy Smits is joining the cast =)

Alrighty folks, that is as good as I get today. I leave you with a wee song in honor of Richard Wright of Pink Floyd who died of Cancer yesterday.

HI All

Yes I live, I have just been majorly busy with school starting and work. And of course Kidlet got sick last week and of course she got sick again yesterday. I knew when my desk phone rang at 9:30 what it was going to mean. So we spent all day yesterday in the hospital at Ultrasound ruling out another ovarian cyst. Which we did and she is does not have one. So yay not another surgery. Now we just have to figure out why she starts puking in the morning after I feed her! Regular doctor today and fortunately my mom is taking her as I missed work yesterday. Bummer part is I have no more time off so I have to reschedule my Hotline Training for Cascade AIDS Project to October. Least we can still do the run.

Anyhow I have been way too tired to post and wasn't even home last night so I will try to play catch up tonight. Hope all y'all are doing well!

Lucretia, My Direction, Dance The Ghost With Me - WW 64

HOLY SHIZ!!!! (See comments for explanation)

Sooner Or Later The Dead Catch Up

Oy.

I sure wish I had it in me to be entertaining but about the only thought process I have these last few days is, "huh?" Worked 12 on Saturday while Kidlet and her BFF had a sleep over at my mom's house. They had a great time and were excellent guest so my mom wasp please. Took them to the walking mall yesterday and turned them loose for a few hours before we took BFF home. It was LOVELY outside yesterday and I sat in the shade and drank iced coffee and read my book. Which is AWESOME by the way.



It's called Heart Shaped Box by Joe Hill and it is marvelous. The premise is simple. Jude Coyne is an aging rocker with a taste for the morbid. Think Alice Cooper meets Marilyn Manson with a side of heavy metal. He acquires a dead mans suit and the ghost that comes with it.

Buyer beware, indeed. This is not just any suit and the ghost is not just any ghost. It's a remarkably self possessed first time novel for a young writer. He is wonderful with visuals and one of the better at fully fleshing out his characters. Jude's little journey down memory lane reveals him to have been a person capable of being cruel yet is inherently a good man. The dialogue is snappy and the entire thing is as addictive as a box of Red Vines. Possibly a better man then he might realize. Fathers are a core theme in the book both the ghost and Jude's own. If ya like Red Vines that is. He even manages to make inanimate objects become personal. Even menacing. A skill most horror writers lack in my opinion. I'd rate him right up there with Dan Simmons, Poppy Z Brite, Anne Rice, Phil Rickman and yes, even Stevie King himself. Which is amusing once you go look up Joe's bio.

Excellent book.

That is pretty much my high point of the week. Crossing my fingers kidlet finds her school bus ok and I don't have to leave and pick her up. Work project is cruising along and I have been green lighted for as much OT as I need to do. Not that I am gonna DO as much as I need to do. I just can't do those 30 hours or more per pay period. Just NO.

Thanks to all who participated in my little political rant below. It's nice to have folks be able to agree to disagree and still respect opinions!

The Comment That Became A Post

This really did start as a reply to the comments left on the Lost In Time Lost In Space post below. It got big and I said WTF, let's just make a post. Hold on boys and girls I am going to get political on your ass.

First off, to L5 - OOOH Bi-Partisan Tongue! There's a change we should all believe in ;)

RWA- I actually agree with the contradiction of the government doing more (or at least better) and the citizen doing more.

I think the government does need to do more for us. Like fix our roads, get us decent and affordable health care, rebuild the work force of this country so we can all go back to buying America, FIX THE DAMN SCHOOLS, balance the budget that Bush is leaving in a freak mess.

Oh and get out of Iraq... but do it in the honorable way. No sneaking out off of embassy rooftops. We went in there, turned that country upside down and made a hell of a mess for a lot of innocent people. And yeah I know we had help from the Iraqi military and police. But we are, after all the USA and we did, after all, go in there in spite of world wide concern. I just don't think we can say "oohh..this sucks bring the troops home now" and abandon those people over there who really DO want a chance at democracy. The biggest issue with this war is the half assed way we fought it. If you are going to do something do it well. If we fought WWII like this we'd all be goose-stepping.

These reasons are why I pay taxes. I don't mind paying, but I want some value on my return. Now for the good (lazy, self involved, SHIT PARENTS) people of this country:

What I DON'T think the government should do is continue to up benefits to women that act like brood mares. Cap that at 3 kids. If you are on Welfare and you continue to pop them out you should not be rewarded for you lack of control both personal and birth.

Spend some of that money instead on creating a state run child care systems so they can not use that as an excuse and they can get off their damn cell phones, turn off the sat TV and GET A DAMN JOB. And those families who don't practice birth control for religious reasons? Can't afford your Godly sanctioned 8 child family? Start praying for God to feed you. Separation of Church and State, people. You PAY for your own beliefs, not me.

Like I said, I am either a Liberal Republican or and Conservative Democrat, I have yet to figure it out. Pro Death penalty but Pro Gun Control. To a degree. Joe Bob Average has no need for an assault weapon and those of us who own guns for legitimate purposes should not mind a background check or two. But outlawing ALL gun owner ship? Hell no you don't. The day the government holds all the arms is the day I move.

Global warming. We could argue the points ad nauseum. But I think we can all agree that our treatment of the planet sucks. It's a symptom of the disease we have in this country I like to call "I Gotta Have It NOW" syndrome. So much stuff, so many empty spaces with in the people who have all that stuff. As Bono puts it, Lookin for to fill them God shaped holes. That blackberry won't chase away your 3 am boogie monster and the gluttony of consumption and immediate gratification leads to a total lack of personal responsibility in my mind.

Pro-Choice and Pro Gay rights cause I have a uterus and a brain thank you very much and this country being founded on religious freedom means MY right to not give a shit what your version of God thinks of Gays or abortion.

Illegal immigrants. If I had my way, they'd all get the hell out. Not practical I know, like closing the door to the barn when the horse is already out. But still. My family came here the legit way, they learned the language and became Americans. We are still rich in our Greek and Scandinavian cultures but WE SPEAK FRICKIN ENGLISH. I agree that the immigration process is a mess, it's the government of COURSE it is. But the key word in the phrase is ILLEGAL.

Now all the farmers who complain about not having labor...you mean CHEAP labor. Pay a decent amount and people will work for you. On the flip side, all you asshats walking around thinking you are too good for manual labor, I vote we STOP giving you assistance. Learn to sweat or starve. Bring back the work house. You work you eat.

I do realize that many of the homeless are mentally ill and/or vets. This is where the government needs to start using my taxes a bit better. And the states need to step up their responsibilty. I am down with States Rights. Always have been.

So yeah, I suppose I am a bit of both. I think we need a basic common sense party. I am to the point where I am ready to register Independent. I believe in a hand up not a hand out and I believe everyone in this country needs to get out of their little "ME" cocoons and start realizing we have a social contract with each other and our society.

With that rant I leave you to go find coffee. Kidlet and I had a fabulous night last night at Cascade AIDS Project and we are both really looking forward to our volunteer work there.

DAMMIT!!!!

Bad Bono! BAD!! The album is not coming out until 2009!

Grrr.

Lost In Time And Lost In Space

So I think by now all y'all know I am voting democrat in November. Not to thrilled about who I am voting for but for Supreme Court Appointment issues alone I'd vote a ficus in over a Republican.

That said, how about the sad downward spiral that is John McCain? I am going to chalk it up to age given that at one point in time, I really respected McCain and would even have contemplated a vote for him. By one point in time I do mean 2000. But this kinda sums up the long gradual almost Reaganeque slide into senility. Combine this with the absolutely PISS POOR choice he has made for running mate and let me tell you, the ficus is looking damn good.

Sure wish I was looking forward to this election.

I'm A Trouble Maker Never Been A Faker

Quick post light on content. Busy week. Today was kidlets first day back to school. Whoo Hoo 8th grade. I have two dr appointments today and I was going to try to work 2 hours in the morning and 2 in the afternoon but I have labs as well. Too much in one day. I promise to write something with more substance tonight. I have my Thursday Thirteen idea and I like it (music related, big shock) but I will have to hit YouTube.

Tomorrow night kidlet and I are going to a volunteer training session at Cascade AIDS Project so that we can help volunteer in the annual Walk for Life AIDS walk in October. I walked it once, many years ago back when it was called From All Walks Of Life. Must have been around 1990. I know it was when I was working at Good Sam because it was dedicated to a patient I took care of who died right before it. The walk is Oct 12th. I think Kidlet and I will either work the Kids/Teens booth or registration. Either way it will be fun. The weekend before that is the Greek Festival. I will need to steal miss Kidlet for a morning and take her to the Festival for pastries. Mmmm...Loukoumadis!

Saturday I am working, Sunday we have a family dinner at the parentals. My uncle is in town and it is his birthday. Cake!

I leave you now with Weezer and a song I am dedicating to Matt Man ;)