I saw the news right after I got done watching Pitchmen. This felt like a kick to the gut for me….I found this great prank video with Billy as a recent hire at an office. I love this because it shows Billy’s prankster side, which I can relate to…..RIP Billy….
more about "Infomercial King Billy Mays dead at 5…", posted with vodpod
I recently bit the bullet and got a satellite dish. I had no choice, my poor old tv and rabbit ears were no longer going to be bringing me my comforting fuzzy picture thanks to the mandated shift to HDTV. It hasnt been all bad, I get to watch the History Channel, and Discover, and Sci Fi channel….but the channel we watch the most is the Cartoon Network. I love Flapjack (now. I hated it at first) 6Teen, Total Drama Action, Chowder and Ben 10. (not in that order, however). But my new favorite show by far is The Othersiders. (LINK) OMG! Ive seen 2 episodes so far, and these kids are onto something!
The first show, the kids investigated the Lincoln Heights jail, which had reports of cell doors opening and shutting and moaning being heard, also a sense of claustrophobia was felt. There was one point in the show where it looked like some sort of energy ball ping ponged across the screen, and when they showed it later, it did actually look like a spirit entity rushed across the screen, you could see the outline of the body!
The second show, the kids investigated the Queen Mary, the sister ship to the Titanic. Allegedly, engines would turn on by themselves, or you heard singing by a little girl, or saw glowing eyes. This show really gave me the goosebumps because when 2 of the kids were in the engine room, you did actually hear what sounded like engines turning on! The really scary part was at the end, however, when they played back the voice recorders and you clearly heard a menacing voice say GET OUT! Im getting goosebumps remembering it! These spectral recordings are referred to as EVP’s or Electronic Voice Phenomenon. The EVP’s are some of the most compelling evidence these kids collect!
At the end of each show, the kids take a vote to decide if the place they visited was haunted or not. So far, the first 2 were haunted. I agree! If you like paranormal programs, I believe this is one that is definitely worth checking out!
Yesterday was a strange day, bracketed by deaths (one in the morning and one in the late afternoon) of two iconic celebrities, Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson.
Farrah Fawcett almost single handedly defined the ultimate in feminine beauty in the 70’s with her famous feathered hair and her golden girl beauty. Her famous poster could be found in just about every teenage boy’s room during the latter part of the 70’s (and into the 80’s as well!) and it adorned the walls of many a girl’s room as well:
Her life was a strange roller coaster of highs and lows….but there was one constant in her life, and that was Ryan O’Neal. I am sure that poor man is just devastated right now, to lose Farrah knowing they were so close to realizing their dream of marrying. I cant even begin to imagine the sense of loss he must be feeling right now….
When I did a search for Farrah pictures, one thing stood out immediately: her SMILE. Its usually always there, even when her health started declining, she put on the brave face, and smiled that beautiful smile.
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And then the death of Michael Jackson in the afternoon…first the reports of the cardiac arrest, the revival, and then BOOM, just that suddenly, he’s gone. Even though I had mixed feelings about him on the whole (loved his musical genius, loved his dancing talent, hated the whiff of pedophilia, hated the nose jobs and the eccentricities, and loathed the way he muscled Debbie Rowe out of any rights to their children) I was just as stunned as the next person…certain folks seem to be a part of the cultural landscape, always there, dependable (even in their oddness) and well, sort of comforting. For him to suddenly be gone made me realize that his passing left a hole in the cultural fabric, the way the deaths of Elvis Pressley and John Lennon (and Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix) did…..he was unique, a (tortured) genius whose musical contributions became a sort of demarcation point for the current evolution in music.
I know there are some who will remember the notorious Michael Jackson, “wacko Jacko”, but Im hoping that folks will instead choose to see the good he did, the innovations he trailblazed, and focus on his positive cultural legacy.
Farrah, Michael, Rest in Peace.
Ive posted here before regarding best BASS riffs, and I thot I’d give equal time to the best Guitar Solos. Thus, In no particular order, my choices for primo guitar solos:
Maggot Brain, by Funkadelic (truly AWESOME)
Do You Feel Like We Do by Peter Frampton
Free Bird by Lynyrd Skynyrd
In A Gadda Da Vida by Iron Butterfly
Bridge of Sighs by Robin Trower
Stairway to Heaven by Led Zepplin
All along the Watchtower by Jimmy Hendrix
Tin Pan Alley by Stevie Ray Vaughan
Voodoo Child by Jimmy Hendrix
Brother can you spare me a dime (on the Boz Scaggs Box set, guitarist Duane Allman did a turn as a studio musician!)
Couldnt stand the Weather by Stevie Ray Vaughan
Im So Afraid by Lindsey Buckingham
Cliffs of Dover by Eric Johnson
Town without pity by Joe Satriani
Samba Pa Ti by Carlos Santana
Sultans of Swing by Mark Knopfler
Stranglehold by Ted Nugent
Im sure I’ll think of more later…
I am so pissed! For many years now, banks have been slowly trying to eliminate paper transactions. Theyve tried not to return my checks with my statements, they process my payments electronically and wont return my checks (and my bank doesnt even get a picture of them) and, according to a manager at my local bank, there’s nothing I can do because the Government supposedly mandates this policy! My bank manager talked about something called “Check 21″ and said that there was nothing I could do…I looked it up and found this LINK . Personally, I think it stinks. My checks are my receipts. How else do I prove my payments? Im not keen on having to copy whole statements just to prove one payment.
I found a LINK by the Consumers Union which at one time had another link for consumers to take action against Check 21, but it expired. Dang. Im not going to let this go however, Im going to see to it that I either get my checks or a substitute (as recommended by Consumers Union) as proof of payment.
Check 21 is just one more way the Bankers make things easy for themselves but not necessarily the consumer. For example, Check 21 allows banks to process payments electronically, so folks would be well advised to not write checks for funds they dont have in the bank. WATCH OUT though, the Banks may be processing PAYMENTS faster but they are not under the same obligation to process DEPOSITS faster. Thats right. You may put your money in the bank on Wednesday, and think its safe to write a check on Friday, but you may get a nasty surprise. Consumers Union predicts that the amount of fees and penalties from insufficient funds charges will go up drastically as this method becomes widespread. Already it is estimated 70% of merchants have the ability to instantly process your payment/debit your account via the electronic payment processing method.
Maybe I’ll go to money orders or get cashiers checks from the bank. Maybe I’ll go to electronic bill pay (I highly doubt THAT!). I think in the meantime, I will demand substitute check copies, and if the bank charges too much I’ll switch. Damn bankers anyway.
I dont know why but this event bothers me. I just cant get onboard and be thrilled about this changeover from analog broadcasting to digital broadcasting of TV signal. When I visit the *gasp* conspiracy sites, I see articles about Government infiltration/spying capabilities that this changeover would represent, and my suspicious side flares up. I also have this fear that we could have a technology meltdown which would leave us all without any means to gather info in case of an emergency, similar to cyber terrorism. I dunno, my feelings on it arent even particularly defined, its just a general unease.
Everywhere we look lately, the news is full of articles about this corporation (or that State!) coming under economic hard times. The Federal Government bailed out the greedy banking industry to the tune of OVER $780 BILLION dollars, Chrysler has filed for bankruptcy (and now doesnt own itself any more), The state of California is in a major fiscal free fall, and mom and pop businesses everywhere are struggling just to break even.
Ive watched the antics of big business now for over 30 years (not counting my high school years when I wasnt paying attention LOL!) and Ive seen them get all the breaks, primarily from the Republican party, at the expense of the basic needs of the average Joe on the street. Its sickening really. And does Big Business return the favor? Does it offer Joe Schmoe a job so he can pay his bills or feed his family? Thats a big fat NO boys and girls. Big business cares not a whit about the little guy whose blood sweat and tears made them successful. No sir. Big Business completely abandons Joe Schmoe by setting up operations in another country altogether! China, India, any third world country will do, as long as they can keep padding their profit margin.
It isnt confined to manufacturing either. Agribusiness giants have plowed under the mom and pop farms the same way. The tactics vary from overwhelming the small farmer with competing crops to glutting the market to suing farmers whose fields lie adjacent to theirs and whose crops may have been cross-fertilized by GMO (genetically modified organism) seeds! Court decisions have come down forcing those unlucky farmers to destroy their crops merely because their crops may have been cross pollinated from GMO crops–all in the name of patent protection!!
Credit card companies got a huge assist from the corrupt administration of G.W. Bush (in my opinion, the single worst President this country has ever ever ever been saddled with) almost immediately lobbying the Republican Congress for draconian penalties to be visited upon consumers who are struggling financially. Nevermind that these same credit companies dangled juicy credit offers under the noses of these consumers, they completely abdicate their own complicity and asked for AND GOT the green light to begin a vicious cycle of penalties assessment, accelerated billing cycles, increased interest rates, and to top it all off, the ability to ruin a prospective employee’s chance for employment (new hires’ credit history could also be considered as a condition of employment).
The mortgage lending industry is especially corrupt, offering unrealistic loans while disregarding the very real issue of the borrower’s ability to repay! These slimy jerks knew exactly what they were doing, with their adjustable rate mortgages, balloon payments, interest only loans etc. The fine print was somehow overlooked or unexplained and the hopeful homeowner had no real idea what they were in for. Worse, the downsizing and outsourcing of the business environment virtually guaranteed that people wouldnt make their house payments because oops, your job just went overseas, sorry!
Big Business seems to be given every tax break, every loophole, every possible allowance at the expense of the little guy. They take their industries offshore and remove the ability of the working man to pay his bills. They ask for and receive permission to penalize the little guy for not paying his bills, and bankruptcies and foreclosures are the news of the day. Yet when they are left with their so-called “toxic” assets, they go crying to that same corrupt administration who actually assisted them in creating their own armegeddon and have the GALL to ask for a government bailout!! What happens to the little guy when his job goes away and his bills are snowballing? Can he seek the same relief??? NO!! Not only that, but the government, in its shortsightedness, and its rush to balance its books, sees fit to cut the safety net programs that would help families hang on!
Why not penalize the true culprits? Penalize Big Business and the Credit and the Mortgage lending, and the Insurance companies (auto, health, life, home), etc. Tax them according to their profits, with no loopholes. Penalize them if they choose to set up shop in another country. Tax their goods if they choose to sell back in this country. Repeal every single concession given to credit card giants at the start of the GW Bush administration. Create oversight bodies to strictly enforce transparent accounting. Force insurance companies to pay their claims. No more fine print that allows them to keep monies paid in good faith for insurance coverage that is disallowed through exclusions. In short, bring back honest dealing. The kind that fosters trust. Capitalism was meant to be market driven, not greed driven. What Big Business seems to have forgotten is that a market needs a consumer as well as a producer. Tampering with the market by removing the ability to put capital back in (either through job loss or financially hampering the consumer) will, in my opinion, ultimately sound the death knell of the capitalistic system. Who knows? Maybe thats a good thing.
first up, Arlen Specter switches to Dem party!!! BOOYAH! the Dems now have a filibuster-proof majority and can help Obama get his agenda passed:
Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania said on Tuesday he would switch to the Democratic party, presenting Democrats with a possible 60th vote and the power to break Senate filibusters as they try to advance the Obama administration’s new agenda.
“I’m not prepared to have my 29-year record in the United States Senate decided by the Pennsylvania Republican primary electorate, not prepared to have that record decided by that jury,” Mr. Specter declared in a rather defiant tone at a press conference Tuesday afternoon.
Doug Mills/The New York Times Mr. Specter’s announcement shocked Senate Republicans. In a statement issued about noon as the Capitol was digesting the stunning turn of events, Mr. Specter said he had concluded that his party had moved too far to the right, a fact demonstrated by the migration of 200,000 Pennsylvania Republicans to the Democratic Party.
“I now find my political philosophy more in line with Democrats than Republicans,” Mr. Specter said in his statement, acknowledging that his decision was certain to disappoint colleagues and supporters.
If Al Franken prevails in his ongoing court case in Minnesota and Mr. Specter begins caucusing with Democrats, Democrats would have 60 votes and the ability to deny Republicans the chance to stall legislation. Mr. Specter was one of only three Republicans to support President Obama’s economic recovery legislation.
The news shocked Senate Republicans, who had been hanging on to their ability to block legislation by a thread. Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, called an emergency meeting of party leaders who had no forewarning of Mr. Specter’s plans.
On Capitol Hill, Mr. Specter arrived for a vote shortly after noon with his wife, and said he would be lunching in the private Senate dining room rather than joining either of the weekly party policy lunches that were being held.
Democrats were jubilant about the development.
President Obama was handed a note from an aide at 10:25 a.m. on Tuesday during his daily economic briefing. The note, according to a senior administration official, said: “Specter is announcing he is changing parties.”
Seven minutes later, Mr. Obama reached Mr. Specter by telephone. In a brief conversation, the president said: “You have my full support,” according to the official who heard the phone call. The president added that we are “thrilled to have you.”
Mr. Specter spoke with Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. slightly before 11 a.m.
According to White House officials, the vice president was at the center of the effort to convince Mr. Specter to change parties. They said that this has been the subject of years of bantering and discussion between the two men – who often sat together while riding the Amtrak train back home – but that the conversation turned earnest after Mr. Biden lobbied Mr. Specter to vote with the White House on the stimulus bill.
One adviser to Mr. Biden said that since that day 10 weeks ago, Mr. Biden and Mr. Specter had spoken 14 times – including six in-person meetings and eight conversations on the telephone. In each case, White House officials said, Mr. Biden argued to Mr. Specter that the Republican Party had increasingly drifted away from Mr. Specter since the election and ideologically, he was closer to the Democratic Party.
They said he did not make mention of Mr. Specter’s political situation in Pennsylvania – where he was facing a primary that could have knocked him off the ballot – because it was not necessary.
White House officials said there was no realistic way to flat out promise Mr. Specter that he would not face a primary in the Democratic Party for the nomination, but noted that there is no Democrat out there in a position to resist the state’s political machine and make a realistic challenge. More than that, White House officials said that they had assured Mr. Specter that he would have the full backing of Mr. Obama should he change parties. They also said that the president would happily campaign for Mr. Specter and raise money for him if that was necessary. At the White House press briefing on Tuesday afternoon, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs confirmed that Mr. Obama pledged his full support to Mr. Specter.
“Full support means full support,” Mr. Gibbs said.
“We will welcome him with open arms,” said Senator Debbie Stabenow, Democrat of Michigan.
Mr. Specter faced a primary challenge from former Republican Congressman Pat Toomey and polls showed him trailing Mr. Toomey. But he had previously resisted overtures to join the Democrats.
“Since my election in 1980, as part of the Reagan Big Tent, the Republican Party has moved far to the right. Last year, more than 200,000 Republicans in Pennsylvania changed their registration to become Democrats,” Mr. Specter said in a statement released in the early afternoon. “I now find my political philosophy more in line with Democrats than Republicans.”
He said he has experienced a change of heart since the response to his vote for the stimulus legislation.
“Since then, I have traveled the State, talked to Republican leaders and office-holders and my supporters and I have carefully examined public opinion,” his statement said. “It has become clear to me that the stimulus vote caused a schism which makes our differences irreconcilable. On this state of the record, I am unwilling to have my twenty-nine year Senate record judged by the Pennsylvania Republican primary electorate.”
Mr. Specter, who has a history of finding his own way in the Senate, said he would not be a guaranteed vote for Democratic initiatives and he declared that he would remain opposed to a top labor priority – legislation that would make it easier to unionize American workplaces.
“Whatever my party affiliation, I will continue to be guided by President Kennedy’s statement that sometimes party asks too much,” Mr. Specter said. “When it does, I will continue my independent voting and follow my conscience on what I think is best for Pennsylvania and America.”
Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona and a man with his own history of breaking with his party, expressed regret and said he had no indication that Mr. Specter would change parties. But Mr. McCain said he understood the reason for Mr. Specter’s shift: “It’s pretty obvious the polls show him well behind his primary opponent.”
Michael Steele, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, did not mince words about the senator, saying Mr. Specter “didn’t leave the G.O.P. based on principles of any kind. He left to further his personal political interests because he knew that he was going to lose a Republican primary due to his left-wing voting record. Republicans look forward to beating Senator Specter in 2010, assuming the Democrats don’t do it first.”
But Senator Olympia Snowe of Maine, who also supported the Obama administration’s economic stimulus legislation, said Mr. Specter’s decision reflected the increasingly inhospitable climate in the Republican party for moderates.
“On the national level of the Republican Party, we haven’t certainly heard warm, encouraging words about how they view moderates, either you are with us or against us,” Ms. Snowe said. She said national Republican leaders were not grasping that “political diversity makes a party stronger and ultimately we are heading to having the smallest political tent in history for any political party the way things are unfolding.”
Senator Jon Kyl of Arizona, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate, called the decision “a real problem.”
Mr. Specter, who has had serious health problems in recent years, remains active on a variety of major issues and has been a leading advocate for increased funding for health care research.
Democrats called the decision a game-changer. “It helps on everything,” said Senator Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California. “This is a substantial change.”
Democrats said they made no promises to Mr. Specter about committee positions or other incentives to switch, but the party can provide significant campaign support and deter other Democratic candidates from running against him in the primary next year.
The turnabout was reminiscent of the decision in 2001 by Senator Jim Jeffords of Vermont to leave the Republican party and become an independent, handing control of the Senate back to Democrats just as President George W. Bush’s first term was beginning. The Jeffords switch flipped party control but some Democrats said Mr. Specter’s move could be just as consequential given the Senate’s recent struggles with filibusters.
“Specter’s decision could be more consequential because it came just as the Senate was beginning work on health care reform,” said Senator Ron Wyden, Democrat of Oregon. “Specter’s decision is a big impact decision.”
Mr. Specter’s move to the Democratic column is likely to have a chilling effect on other potential Democratic candidates for the Senate. So far, Joseph Torsella, former head of the National Constitution Center and a former deputy mayor of Philadelphia, is the only Democrat to have declared his candidacy.
Others with higher name recognition seem to have been holding back to see how the field would shape up. Even before Mr. Specter announced his switch today, Representative Allyson Schwartz, a Democrat representing parts of Philadelphia and the nearby suburbs, had told The New York Times she was unlikely to make the run. Other possibilities, including Representatives Patrick Murphy and Joe Sestak, had also stayed mum.
Gov. Edward G. Rendell, a Democrat, and Mr. Biden, both of them long-time friends of Mr. Specter, had urged him to switch parties several weeks ago but Mr. Specter declined. Mr. Rendell said in a recent interview that he had promised Mr. Specter that if he became a Democrat, he would help him raise money; Mr. Specter joked that if he became a Democrat, he wouldn’t need Mr. Rendell’s help on that front.
There had been speculation in Pennsylvania political circles that something was afoot because Mr. Torsella, a close colleague of Mr. Rendell, said little about Mr. Specter when he announced his candidacy.
But Mr. Specter put the kibosh on talk that he might leave the Republican Party and become either a Democrat or an independent, insisting, though without much evidence, that there was room in the Republican Party for moderates.
The move brings Mr. Specter full circle with his earlier political leanings. He was a registered Democrat when he first ran for district attorney of Philadelphia in the mid-1960s, though he ran on the Republican line.
LINK
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next: Swine flu. This is one equal-0pportunity offender if you know what I mean…..part swine flu, part bird flu, and two types of human flu….where the heck did it COME from?? and how the heck is it spreading so fast?? I mean, yes, it originated in Mexico City, but WHY? and how the heck did it get over to Asia and the middle east so fast? or did it? Im wondering if the media isnt blowing this out of proportion just a tad….on my favorite subversive site, there’s all kinds of talk about this being engineered by the shadow movers and shakers who are trying to further the One World Government agenda. They say that the next step is the WHO (world health organization) declaring this a pandemic and mandating mass vaccinations or else being found guilty of felony disobedience, and being shipped off to a FEMA camp in the outer reaches of Alaska or some other isolated hell-on-earth…I myself am allergic to sharp pointy objects, so there better be no such mandated vaccinations on the horizon. Or stated another way, I’ll get that shot when PIGS FLY !! (swine/bird flu–get it?)
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next: Britain’s got talent. I have been entranced by the Cinderella story of Susan Boyle, the dowdy, frumpy, golden throated sensation that shocked the world when she auditioned on Britain’s got talent this current season. I think its been pretty well established that part of the shock and awe was due to the dichotomy between her appearance and her talent. Yes, yes, I know, you cant judge a book by its cover. But, honestly we all do, and we all have, and she so powerfully reminded us, we are all asses for doing so:
NOTE: ALL VERSIONS THAT I’VE TRIED TO ACCESS HAVE BEEN DISABLED. THEIR LOSS….DUMBASSESSES.
Bless her heart, she shows quite a bit of spunk, in spite of the scorn, and she showed EVERYONE! Brava Susan, an outstanding, brilliannt performance. What really touched me though the most, was her cute little curtsey at the very end before she walked off. I predict she will go far, and she should.
Being the obsessive-compulsive person that I am, I began to sample other Britain’s got talent performers and came across this young lad, Andrew Johnston. This boy has the voice of ANGELS. Seriously! See for yourself:
He didnt win his competition, but he was offered a record contract with Simon Cowell’s own label. I hope he goes far. He’s amazing.
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finally, as a nod to non sequiturs everywhere:
What do you think of the price of peas?
“post turtle” (from an emailed joke I got from my dad…..)
What kind of yahoo gets their kicks out of doing this sort of thing I wonder?
Perhaps the kind of yahoo that grew up doing things like this precocious tot:
That is one long-suffering pooch I tell ya…..
he definitely walks on the WILD side…
AAAAAAAGH! THE HAIR THAT ATE TOKYO!
Real Life Rapunzel (gag)
SHOES!
MY EYES, MY EYES 
you know, I have to give credit where credit is due…the last 3 pictures were all from the same blog, and it wasnt intentional. I just chose photos I thought were OUT THERE, and they happened to be from the same source. Anyone who likes this sort of thing can go HERE for more assorted pictorial silliness 
You know, its true what they say: it takes ALL kinds to make a world….
Ive been christened with my Leprechaun name. There’s no going back for me.
Here, in all his sartorial splendor, is my alter ego, Underpants O’Brien.
Feast yer eyes.
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| The Othersiders | Mo… on Brushes with the Paranormal… | |
 | irishgrl on Requiem |
| irishgrl on poor critter :( |
 | AmyD on Requiem |
| AmyD on poor critter :( |
