What About Me?

Tonight I stopped by Uja's store for a visit.
While I was there, a couple who are old friends of Uja's and Mama's came to visit too.

The wife has for many years had health problems and I've always admired how her husband looks out for her and takes care of her. He recently has had health issues as well, and now she seems to be looking out for him.

Their eldest son and his wife recently had a child, and they were talking about it.

I wish I could have recorded their conversation, and that all of you understood Serbian.

Laugh?
I thought I'd die.

Here's how part of the conversation went:

Husband: "Ken yu imagine? I vent to bed mid da vife, an I voke ap mid da Baba (Grandma)

Wife: "Vad aboud me? I vent to bed mit da husband, an I voke ap mid da Deda! (Grandpa)

Husband: "Aye! Yu chase me all da vey to Swizzerlan to ketch me, an follow me all da vey to da Canada....an nou turry years later yu complainink?

Wife: "Ya iz true, I chase yu to Swizzerlan..bah yu no run avey!"

Husband: "Ya yu kam to Swizzerlan an I hev det van single bed in da small room"

Wife: "Eh, it vaz ok...ve ver yong en skinny!"

...and so it went on.

I wish I could have video blogged it.
I wish we all could last that long, with that much love and committment.

Sunday Click Around

The picture to your right is from The Paul Kopeikin Gallery. The Photographer is Jill Greenberg. Her pictures of children crying are surreal.

Here is a really strange little video on Karen Carpenter's life acted out by Barbie and Ken. It's really bizarre. Truthfully, I didn't watch the whole thing, but maybe you can sit through it.

Don't buy stuff you can't afford. Found at Funkaoshi.

Here's a brief history of ska. I love ska. I always have.

Here is a French documentary about the legendary Inca Princess, Yma Sumac. I find these Divas fascinating. Women who until their last dying breath at 95 years of age, still get up and do the whole make up and hair thing..."Maaaaaaaaaaaxxxx, I'm ready for my close up".

Schizophrenia in prison.
Need I say more?

Dancers is very beautiful to watch.

I watched this mini documentary on racism in European soccer. It's fucking disgusting what these players have to tolerate. It's sickening to think that people actually behave in this way.
How it's allowed to continue, and these sub-humans disguised as fans aren't ejected from the stadiums is a mystery to me.

This little ditty on the public's fascination with Facebook and MySpace sites of dead people is creepy.

When I was a little girl, The Sonny & Cher Show was something I watched regularly. I saw this clip of the traditional end of the show and was shot back to my childhood for a brief moment.

Here is Michael Jackson on The Sonny & Cher Show. It's hard to imagine that he ever looked normal.

Those Australians are crazy. LOL.

How to move a one hundred year old Church. There's something funny about watching a building driving down the street.

Ok.
That's it kids.

Team Baldwin.
Because what he discusses is more common than people want to believe or acknowledge.

Haven't we been told over and over again that being in the sun will give us cancer?

Now, vitamin D seems to be what protects us from cancer.

Hmmm, I always used to wonder.
If the sun was so bad for us, then why do people look so much better and feel so much better when they've been in the sun.

Gee...once again a campaign to scare the crap out of us has had to backtrack, and now say that what studies deemed dangerous, is now actually good for us.

Damn.

These studies that disprove studies make me want to shout "BULLSHIT!!" whenever there's some sort of government initiative to help us improve our health, or anything else for that matter.

Eating organic?
Anyone who grows vegetables and fruits in their garden without pesticides and preservatives knows that once something is picked, it wilts rather quickly.

Lettuce picked today and put in the fridge looks like a wet rag by morning.
I cannot be convinced that because the fruit is labelled organic, is smaller, and has dirt on it that it's made the long drive to the supermarket, inspection,
and then finally onto the stand in the produce section without preservatives.

Anyone who has grown anything in their garden knows that it isn't possible.

I'm taking every single one of these campaigns with a grain of salt.

It's this kind of thing that makes me agree with Singapore's way of dealing with criminal youth.
Because jailing them just isn't enough.


Police are putting cameras up in neighbourhoods where crime happens and people don't tell.
It's about time.
This is a good way to take the threat of retaliation away from residents who fear reporting crime.
I know that some people freak out at the thought of cameras in public places, but I don't. It may not deter crime, but it sure does help in identifying the criminals.
Besides, I don't believe privacy in public exists.
So, if there's a camera running that is rolled back and watched when a crime happens, I'm ok with that.


Ok.
Canada doesn't have a sex offender registry, although we should.
I checked out the National Sex Offender Registry website in the U.S., and it can scare the shit out of you. Type in any city and see the little red and yellow dots cluster together. Then read about the offender and what they've been charged with.
If the number of offenders popping up on these maps is any indication of how many must be walking amongst us we need a registry.
Stat.

Wowie wee Wah!

Check out this Russian Cake Art.

It's amazing.

High Five to English Russia for posting it.

How does this happen?

I know it happens more often than we know.
It boggles my mind.
What a terrible tragedy.
 

Experts continue to suck the fun out of life.

Seriously.

How many times have we heard that some study says that something is bad for us?
Then about a decade later we find out it actually isn't bad for us...it might even be good for us.

Aaah, The Media; working hard to scare the shit out of us, every day.

Speaking of scaring the shit out of you.
Here is a documentary called "Stopping the Stalker" (in 9 parts).



The rest of the documentary is easily found on YouTube.

If you've ever had someone obsessed with you, this documentary will scare the crap out of you. I think that a lot of women can say that they've experienced low levels of stalking. The boyfriend you broke up with, or the guy you only went out with once or twice, calling and calling and calling...creepy, but nothing like this.
The chicks in this are equally scary.

"Boiling bunny" scary.

Kryptonite found in Serbia

"Kryptonite is no longer the stuff of comic books and Superman movies - it really exists.

A newly-discovered mineral has been found to contain exactly the same elements as the large green crystals that rob the superhero of his powers.

Unlike fictional kryptonite, the real thing at London's Natural History Museum is white and powdery, emits no radiation, and comes from Serbia rather than outer space.

But scientists who analysed the find were astonished to discover that its chemical composition matched a description of kryptonite in the film Superman Returns.

In the 2006 movie, Superman's arch enemy Lex Luthor steals a kryptonite rock fragment from the Metropolis Museum.

On the case are written the words "sodium lithium boron silicate hydroxide with fluorine".

Mineralogist Dr Chris Stanley, from the Natural History Museum, said: "Towards the end of my research, I searched the web using the mineral's chemical formula - sodium lithium boron silicate hydroxide - and was amazed to discover that same scientific name written on a case of rock containing kryptonite stolen by Lex Luthor from a museum in the film Superman Returns.

"The new mineral does not contain fluorine and is white rather than green, but in all other respects the chemistry matches that for the rock containing kryptonite.

"We will have to be careful with it - we wouldn't want to deprive Earth of its most famous superhero!"

The unusual mineral was unearthed in Serbia by geologists from the mining group Rio Tinto".

The answer to why Serbs subsribe to Inat.

-Sunday Click Around-
The Documentary Edition

Recently, I've been on a documentary kick.
It started with Anna of Field of Blackbirds sending me Following Sean, which kind of reminded me of the UP Series, but it chronicles the life of the filmmaker, and the subject (Sean) as well as America's shift in political thinking.
How things come full circle sometimes, and how life is what it is, and we have no choice but to accept it. I wanted to include some clips, but it's been doing the rounds with the people at work, and I won't see it again until next weekend.

I then watched a documentary called "Can't Stop Eating" about Prader-Willi Syndrome which is a disorder that makes the sufferer continuously eat. Because a neurological short they never feel satiated. They can eat themselves to death. The documentary is sad, and fascinating. I've found the full documentary, so you don't have to search YouTube for the parts.

After watching that, I watched "Thin" which is in 11 parts that are easily found on YouTube.
It's a docmentary on anorexia and bulemia. The obsession these women have with food made me want to eat. I ate for them almost through the entire documentary. The women in this doc. were interesting, and I learned that for these women, this disorder was less about body image than it was about not being able to cope with relationships, honesty (both with themselves and with others) and had more to do with secrets, and manipulations, and anger than anything else. 

Ghosts of the Underground is about ghost sightings on the London Tube. It's pretty creepy.

CBC Sunday News did a segment called "Inside Iran's Secret Gay World".  
I've posted part 1 of 3. You can follow the rest on YouTube. I can't imagine what it's like in other countries, we're so used to what it's like here. And while we perceive discrimination, it's nothing like it is in other places.

Pretty Dayana looks at Gypsy refugees in a Belgrade suburb who make a living by transfoming Citroen's classic 2cv and Dyana cars into Mad Max-like vehicles.  The car batteries are even used as power generators in order to get some light, watch tv and recharge cell phones. Necessity continues to be the mother of invention.

While we're in Belgrade, here's a documentary on Tito.

Rajaraja the Great. The great hindu king and the historical Temples that he built. Prepare to be awed by what the enslaved poor can build.

Apparently, there are big similarities between the TV Sopranos and a real New Jersey small potatoes crime family. Here's part one of The Real Sopranos. It's easy to follow on the right panel for the rest of the parts. You can watch old episodes of The Sorpranos in full here.
I've burned a lot of time watching them myself.

Teen Mum is about....well, teen mums.
I think that if there was less support for teen mums, there would be fewer of them. Sorry. But I don't think that all this support, and understanding is actually "helping".

Here is a documentary on inmates and life in prison.
GAH!
It scared me straight....if for nothing else other than having to listen to the bravado, and tough talking. I know they're not kidding...but there are some serious mental issues cooking in these peoples' brains.

That's all.

OMG...this is hilarious

NSFW

Daddy Dearest

I've been reading about Alec Baldwin's divorced dad trouble here, here, and here.

I just find it so very sad.
I'm not supposing that I know what their situation is. I know that it was quite bitter when they divorced, and I know that they have a daughter.

It's a terrible thing to have to be connected to someone you no longer love, or worse yet, someone you despise through a child.

And worse for the child who has to know that they're the flesh and blood of two people who detest each other, and are willing to go to great lengths to hurt each other.

I haven't heard the voicemail recording of what Baldwin said to his daughter, but I know that in anger my mother has said similar things to me, and my father much, much worse.
I'm not saying that it's right.
I'm not saying that Baldwin shouldn't be sorry for what he said to his child.

What I do know is that it's hard to be a single parent, and it's hard to be a weekend parent.
In one of the videos, Baldwin says that he tries not to be a "Disneyland Dad"
...but how do you do that when your child is only with you a couple of days a week?
How do you not treat them like a visiting relative that you need to show a good time?
In a bitter custody situation, how do you not on occasion feel like just a giant wallet, that isn't included in many important decisions regarding the child you support?
How do you not feel disconnected and used, at times?

I dunno.
The comment he made to his daughter doesn't seem newsworthy to me.
I'll bet cash money that most parents have slipped in frustration and told their kids things that they regret...no one gets out of childhood unscathed.

It could be worse for little Ireland.
Much, much worse.

What with The Secret, and Feng Shui...and Oprah...I need to get paid.

I need to talk to Oprah, and babble some flaky shit and convince her that she needs to help me to get her viewers to embrace my way of thinking so that I may separate them from their wallets.

Or maybe I just need to convince some old mentally infirm guy of the power of Feng Slav.

Forgive me.
I had to post this...She's the SS Pussy Officer.

This is NSFW.

INsane.

The Victims



The NY Times has a profile on each of the victims of the Virginia Tech tragedy.

What can be said, other than how heartbreaking it is.

Via: Cynical-C

Good Morning

“I asked them not to do that. They had no emotions on their faces. It was just like, ‘This is what we're doing,' and they walked out of the room,” the mother said. “I can't understand how you can just watch two parents very upset, crying, ‘Don't do this. This is our children.' And they just get up and walk away.”

The babies were returned after a week, but by then they had all been transfused."

Two of the six children already dead without transfusions, four alive because of them...I dunno. The above quote from the article is a little ass backwards if you ask me.

Is it really helpful to drug a developing brain?
Isn't it normal for teenagers and young adults to learn to deal with failure and depression?
Do we need to be drugged as soon as we find things difficult to deal with?
Or is this a gigantic, multi-million dollar business that is booming.

Listen, I'm not talking about psychotics or manic depression. I just can't be convinced that so much of general public really need these drugs to navigate their way through life.

News Flash:
Kenneth Eng is still off his meds.

Ok...here starts the day....

I find this fascinating.

I've been to many black beauty supply stores here in Toronto, and all of the stores I have been in are black owned.

It appears that this is an American issue.

The documentary is interesting though.
This is part one...you can see the rest through the YouTube panel.

A Chink in the Armour

The Asian Canadian Centre says:

"A Chink in the Armour is a hilarious look into the notion of stereotypes while revealing what it means to be Chinese-Canadian in today's society. Gathering a large group of volunteers from Toronto, five of the major stereotypes will be tested to see if they are true. Do Chinese really know kung fu? Are they all good at math? The results are comical, always informative, and offer a unique glimpse into Chinese-Canadian culture."

They're right.
The documentary is great!

You should watch the whole documentary here.

Bravo, Baun Mah!

Sunday Click Around

I've posted Bobby Neel Adams photos before, but I happened accross his site again, and found it worth mentioning again. His age photos are haunting...and his couples photos are interesting to look at.

I've posted this before, but in the light of Kurt Vonnegut's death, I thought that I'd post it again. Wear Sunscreen or Sunscreen Speech is an essay actually called "Advice, like youth, probably just wasted on the young" written by Mary Schmich, published in the Chicago Tribune in 1997. It became an urban legend, that it was an MIT commencement speech given by Kurt Vonnegut. However, given the cadence of the speech, it's totally believeable that it was Kurt.

Here is an August 2006 interview in Second Life with Kurt. His avatar is young looking, his voice is old and tired...but the reason I'm posting it is because Kurt was getting such a kick out of the circumstances. Being interviewed in a virtual world obviously tickled him. I loved him, and I'm particularly fond of his short stories.
I was really sad to hear of his passing.

And then I'm reminded: You're Going to Die.

Since we're on on this maudlin, sad roll...here is a brother/sister love commercial. Cancer awareness. Break out the tissues.

"Mammatus Clouds, or "breast-clouds", are fascinating formations in the sky, made mostly from the cumulus cloud base. Although they are not a sign that a tornado is about to form, they often accompany tornado-producing storms, or even may be direct byproduct of tornado activity - an aftermath of severe thunderstorms. Thanks to the exclusive permission of Jorn Olsen, here are some weird mammatus shots:" Friggin' amazing.

Ever wonder where the names of companies come from? Here are a few answers from Forty-Business Blog. 

You know that stereotype of subserviant Asian women? You know it's bullshit, right?
Here's proof.

I'm always looking for kitchen tips to cut my prep time, because I'm an overachiever that way.
Here's a quirky collection that I thought was kind of fun. I already use some of the tips. These tip things don't always work, but #'s 6, 9,  and 19 work...and here's one from me...if you cut yourself in the kitchen, throw some black pepper on the cut. It'll stop the bleeding immediately and it's completely painless.

I'm still diggin on the old cartoons. Here's Rural Red Riding Hood.

Something that has always fascinated me is women who fall in love with men behind bars. I'm not talking about your boyfriend going to jail and you write to him...I'm talking about women who start a relationship with someone behind bars. Apparently, Scott Peterson (the guy who killed his wife and unborn child) gets tons of love letter mail. It's a mystery to me. This audio report talks about it.

Pimp my stroller!

For any Torontonian, skating at Nathan Phillips Square is a childhood memory. Nathan Phillips was a Mayor for awhile, and here's The Two Loves of Nathan Phillips.

Here's a PSA from Alex Borstein on those little soaps you get as gifts.

The Immigration Debate.

Think you're fat? Here's a rant that I found amusing.

Now it's stuck in your head, and you're bobbing it to the left.

Shemale or female. An oldie but a goodie quiz. I still suck at it.

That's it.

I'm Sharing...

I had to.
I often get sales calls, and samples for stuff in the mail.
Today, I got a package from a company that makes playground surfaces.

The little sample to your left is an expensive safety surface with a pattern of...are you ready?

GRASS!!!

Yes, people.

Because real grass is so gross, what with all the bugs and dirt in it...and it's dangerous to land on too.

One step closer to increasing environmental allergies due to lack of exposure.
Break out the bubble suits for your kids, people.

"I want to stand as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all the kinds of things you can't see from the center."

Good-bye Kurt.

:(


I drove around this yesterday.
Crossed myself and marvelled at how many vehicles end up in the ditches on the 410.
I still don't think schoolbuses should have seatbelts.
I think seatbelts on schoolbuses are more dangerous than not having them at all.
If there are 30 or 40 children on a schoolbus that turns over, is on fire, or submerged in water...children in shock can't release themselves, and a few adults in shock cannot release them all.
I know that we're about to have this discussion again because of this poor little boy.
But, I still think it's a bad idea.

What does need to happen though, is better driver training for school bus drivers.
Believe me when I tell you that I've been on some field trips with bus drivers who scared the shit out of me. Perhaps driving a school bus should merit someone worth paying what you pay...say a greyhound or public bus driver instead of stay at home moms who have a couple of hours to spare during the day.

Boo Fucking Hoo.

Wait!
Rappers 'ho's are different.

Belinda Stronach: The attention span of a goldfish.

See you later...

This was done to me two years ago, and I believe I was almost duped again on Sunday night at a gas station. It wasn't until after I had punched in my PIN that I realized that the machine had a green attachment I'd never seen before on another machine.

I was uncomfortable enough to call my bank and cancel my access card, telling them of my concern. They reassured me that it was better to be safe than sorry.

I agree

Banned Blue Jays Commercial.

Yes.
If we're exposed to that commercial, people will start knocking their kids out with pillows.

Obviously.

Obscene Interiors.

I got a real kick out of this guys take on personal ads.
He's taken pictures from real personal ads and removed the guy in them, and then made comments about the subject's perceived personality by analyzing the room behind him in the picture.

See the whole thing at Obscene Interiors

Found at: Yesbutnobutyes.com

I don't really care about Don Imus and his whole "Nappy, headed ho's" comment.
He shouldn't have said it.
As a white man he's not in a position to say it.

I read this:

"Sharpton is going to say he should lose his job because he (Imus) disrespected black women. Black leaders all across the country are saying that this is unacceptable. Meanwhile, millions of black kids will come home after school today and watch an hours worth of videos that send them the message that black women aren't worth s^%$. Where are those same black leaders? Yes, they might blah, blah, blah about it, but who among them has called for resignations in the rap industry? Is the message that white men must respect black women but black man don't?"

Hmmmm, still doesn't give Imus the right.
So what if Imus does work with Sickle Cell? It's not a license.

Hypocrisy is not limited to the black community and it's leaders...and let's not pretend that it's the first time we've seen the "do as I say, and not as I do" factor in play.

P.S.: Jesse needs to just shut up on this, lest we mention the "Hymies in NY" incident.

Gawker's Editor Lives Up to the Site's Name.

Jimmy Kimmel had a beef with Gawker Stalker, the website that posts crap that readers send in about celebrity sightings.

Apparently, the best that Editor Emily Gould could do to defend herself and the website was shake her head, and raise her eyebrows in defense. It seems that Gawker can only defend themselves after the jump. On their website.
Kind of like high school chicks in the cafeteria. You know the kind who can't say stuff to your face.
At least Kimmel
confronted the Editor with his beef. 
Emily did a poor job, even though she made a couple of valid points at the end.
All the dismissive head shaking and eye widening in disbelief wasn't nearly as convincing as a good witty comeback would have been.

You know, like the website. 

See the video on Gawker.

One thing I find frustrating is when I'm reading an article in the paper, and the whole point and argument of the article is some sort of argument about something visual...and then they don't provide the reader with the frickin' visual!

Don't tell me all about the complaints about the design of something and then don't let me see what you're bitching about.

This article on outdoor advertising:

"In all cases, the problem begins with the designs themselves: They are inappropriate, disconcertingly trendy, overdone and overpowering. They would only increase the rampant commercialization of the public realm."

Oh yeah?
Let's see.
Oh, what?
No pictures?

Looking up one of the companies that they're bitching about...this is what they're talking about.

Here's another one.

When I read about the Asian American Artist whose posted public art was vadalized with a "hateful message", I wanted to see.

"Mathew Tom, a 22-year-old art major, is the creator and the subject of the messages. He won second place and a $250 prize from the art department for what he calls "racial artwork." He uses his paintings to try and expose the racism in American culture toward Asian-Americans."

Of course I want to see what kind of art would induce such hateful messages.
Is there a picture in the article?
No.

I had to hunt it down through clues in the article.
Here is Mathew Tom's controversial art.

I hate that.
Reading the paper online shouldn't be like a scavenger hunt.

Sunday Click Around

Hristos Vaskrst/Happy Easter to everyone who celebrates.

I can't remember what I was looking for when I found this wedding video, but I watched about half of it when it hit me that The Mister would have preferred to be branded with hot irons in a Turkish prison than be subjected to a video like this. Come to think of it, so would I. I have to hand it to her though, she's got him wrapped.

Look and feel Canadian. Thanks to Krysss.com.

Ever wonder what those 80's stars look like now? Here are a bunch of photos that let you see. Some fared better than others.
While we're on the 80's, remember Prince's nemesis Morris Day and The Time? Here's Jungle Love. Here he is now....hasn't changed all that much. Geez, the least he could do is move with the times....I know, that was bad.

Did we know that Betty Boop was Jewish? Is that Yiddish her father is speaking? I had no idea.

How ya doin, Bernie?

This commercial is so beautiful, so pretty...with a surprise for the bride at the end.

Is this what it will be like in the future?
Communism looks good compared to that. Speaking of Communism, here are some great Soviet cartoons from that era.

Do you like Mary Tyler Moore? I loved her in her younger days...here's one clip from her days on the Dick VanDyke show, and the classic Funeral of Chuckles the Clown from the Mary Tyler Moore Show.

Who let the dogs out...WOOF WOOF WOOF!

Now for the comedy.
Here's Jim Gaffigan talking about religion. I laughed. I don't care what anyone says, he's a little tired but I still love Lenny Henry. This little bit where he combines French arrogance with sports athlete arrogance is hilarious. Maz Jobrani is a Persian comedian who is also pretty funny. I love that second generation ethnics are now starting to emerge on the comedy scene. I totally relate to and enjoy their take on things.

I've seen Gerry Dee a couple of times at Yuk Yuks on Richmond. I love him and I'm glad he's getting some play, finally.

What the hell race is that guy? He's not as funny as Russell Peters, and I suppose that's why he's opening for him.

Last but not least...here's a young Eartha Kitt singing "I Want to be Evil".

That's it.

No.
But seriously.

Seriously?

Upstate NY?
No shit?

Helicopter Parents

I didn't know that there was actually a term for parents who do everything for their children.
I have complained about these parents often on my blog, and how they produce spoiled, weak adults who feel entitled to everything, and are incapable of functioning on their own.

These are the people who stay home until they inherit their parents homes, or in extreme cases steal them right out from under them like this spoiled little prick did.

In this article:

"Roger Tripp, a licensed professional counselor, said research on parenting types explains the issues surrounding what has become known as overindulgent parenting.

Tripp said children of "authoritative" parents - strong parents who allow children some bargaining power - are the most happy.

People whose parents are "laissez-faire," giving their children whatever they want, are the most unhappy, he said. They have low self-esteem and feel unworthy.

"What they said was, 'The message we got was we were incapable of doing it ourselves,'" Tripp said. "To me, that is the most enlightening story about spoiling our kids and why you shouldn't do it.""

I remember my mother once telling me that if she let me do everything I wanted to, it would mean that she didn't care about me.

I've had parents apply for jobs for their children.
I won't hire them.
If you send your mother in with your application, it tells me that you're lazy and irresponsible, and overindulged.
These are the same parents who do their kids homework, sell their fundraising chocolates or magazines at the office so that their kids don't have to do it.
These are the parents who run to school from their office at lunchtime with McDonalds or BK.
These are the parents who run to school and shout at Teachers and Principals on the words of their children, no matter how outrageous the story.

I have more than once had the parents of a volunteer or part-timer in their twenties call to argue some organizational policy that they didn't agree with.
They don't last long.
They get fed up with the demands and rules of the job, and it's never their fault.
They get upset when they get fired for not showing up to work a couple of times, or being consistently late, or because they phone in sick more often than they come to work.

What's my problem?
Don't I understand that they're having a hard time with (fill in the blank with petty personal issues)?
One part-timer was actually shocked when I fired her for not showing up for her shift the second time. That was after she got a warning after the first time that she would be fired if she did it again.

I guess as the employer, I'm seen as kind of like mom...and mom forgives her when she doesn't do what she's supposed to do. I guess it comes as a big shock when I have higher expectations, and lower tolerance than mom does.

It sucks.

This article says:

Joey Green says, in The Road to Success is Paved with Failure:

“…Failure builds character, helps you hone your skills, tests your determination, fortifies you with eight essential vitamins, and gives you the inner strength and courage to go back out there and fall flat on your face all over again… Just remember, everyone falls down. You’re not a failure until you don’t get back up.”

Amen.

All the Cats Join In

Easter Failure

There aren't many people that I can honestly say I hate. Most people I can get on with, and even if I don't care for some people's company, I generally don't "hate" them....except for one person.

There is one person whose name uttered in my presence causes the back of my head to tingle with rage.
I dis.pise her.

I know.
I know.
It's childish.
It's stupid.

But, when I see her.... I involuntarily make a face.

Recently, I promised myself that I wouldn't do that anymore.
That it was childish, and stupid.

...and then when I saw her this morning, I made a face.

Damn.

So much for atonement for Easter.

Today's Quote


"I had put myself on the shelf.
A single dad, with two kids, and a
crazy ex-wife...who would want me?

Apparently, someone does!"

You deserve it my friend, you totally deserve it.

I Wish...

One of the comments on this post, prompted this reply.
I was going to reply to Just a Toy in my comments section, but there was just too much to say, and it made me think about a lot of other things.

His comment: "I think it's safe to assume that you feel strongly on the matter", made me think.
It's not the first time that someone has pointed this out to me.

It's true that often my blog is rife with rants about various things, and I suppose that in this climate of politically correct speech, it's often interpreted as "strong" or perhaps insensitive, or simplistic.

Truthfully, I've never been really adept at flowering things up, talking in circles and not really saying anything in order to appear neutral, or sensitive to all.
It's a trait that has cost me much in my politically correct field of choice.

It's been a liability to me.

Through years of being pounded down in my field of work, and I've learned to keep my mouth shut or choose my words very carefully in my world of business...even though sometimes my head feels like it's imploding.

Here on this blog, I can vent.

I imagine that many people who regularly read this blog think that I'm some crusty, pissed off broad in real life...but if you knew me in real life, you would be surprised.

I long to be someone who doesn't feel "strongly" about things.
Someone who didn't really care, and took things in my stride...didn't really have an opinion. I would have chosen a job that would have allowed me to just "do my thing" in my little office, and I would not have chosen to work in social services.

It would have made my life oh, so much easier.

But, in the end....I am what I am.

Saskatchewan

I have a problem with this video.
The mother of this child has filmed her talking about her father and how she hasn't seen him for a long time.
Watching it would perhaps induce an "aw, how sad" from the viewer.
For me, it induced anger.

For a number of reasons.

Using your child to humiliate your ex on YouTube is the kind of shit that women do out of bitterness, and anger.
That irritates me.
Putting your child on YouTube with a picture of her father, talking about how she hasn't seen him for a long time, and doesn't know where he is serves what purpose, exactly?

I'll tell you what purpose it serves.
It serves to make your daughter publicly announce that her father doesn't care about her.
Little girls abandoned by their fathers don't need help in this department.

I commented.
The response I got was polite:

"I am more afraid of her growing up and asking why I didn't do more. She is in a good home and a good school right now. That is all about to change. The odds are not in her favor at this point. Her father abandoned her. I am only trying to do the best that I can. I think she will appreciate my efforts. Thanks for your comment."

But frankly, I hate this kind of passive aggressive shit.

Women who are so misguided as to think that posting your child on the net with a photo of the man you're pissed off at, talking about how he abandoned her is a good idea, is to tell me that your anger and bitterness about not being helped to raise your child has outweighed your sense.

The Fan and the Flower

Shite as Art

I wasn't going to comment on Cosimo Cavallaro and his milk chocolate Jesus entitled "My Sweet Lord"...I really wasn't...until I saw him interviewed and found out that he wastes enormous amounts of food and calls it art.

The picture to your right is his "Bed of Ham", and he's also covered an entire house with 10,000 pounds of mozzerella.
Last time I checked, mozzerella was about five bucks for a half a pound.

I find this offensive.
I don't care about his anatomically correct Jesus (that doesn't look like the conventional Jesus anyway) that was being displayed just before Easter...even though if he had done it of Mohomed, he wouldn't have made it out alive to his car the morning that it was unveiled.

What irritates me is the colossal waste of food in his "art".
I think it's obscene...especially in a country where taxpayers fund morning breakfast programs for children who don't get enough to eat.

I think its obscene that people support this garbage as art.
What's wrong Cavallaro? Aren't you resourceful enough to make it look like ham or cheese with paper mache or some other medium...or is this some sort of statement of our wasteful, and gluttonous society?

Whatever.
I blame rich people for this shite.

An Open Letter to Rosie O'Donnell



Brilliant.

Via: Angry Asian Man

Sunday Click Around

The photo to your left is entitled "How Canadians are spoiling the Antarctic". Thanks to Stacerella for sending it to me.
So, while we're on Canadians...why not watch The Simpsons in Toronto?

This Canada Customs cartoon is one of those National Film Board of Canada gems by Richard Condie the animator famous 'round these parts for The Big Snit.
I love The NFB.

I read that Phoebe Snow's handicapped daughter passed away recently through reading this article (you have to scroll down past the Pitt/Jolie non-news).
I read that people tried to talk her into institutionalizing Valerie, and predicted she (Valerie) wouldn't live long. She lived to be 32 years old.
So, naturally since I haven't heard anything about Phoebe Snow for years, I searched her on YouTube, and the first video I clicked on was this clip of Phoebe pregnant with Valerie singing Billie Holiday's "No Regrets". Bittersweet.

A while ago, Warren Jeffs was arrested, and we celebrated.
I found this documentary that was done on him just shortly before he was caught, it's about 45 minutes long but worth watching. Was Colorado City on it's way to being another Waco or Jonestown?
I'm not sure, but this trailer for another documentary called "Banking on Heaven" about Funamentalist Mormons is kinda scary.
I dunno, some people's need to believe overrides sense.

Happy Pesach to all who celebrate...here's Rabbis in da Shul. I thought it was cute.

Here's a Tribute to The Jheri Curl...I found it amusing.

This grungy guy is singing Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get it On" at the Apollo Theatre...look closely at him...I think it's Bruce Willis.

Here's a Japanese tutorial on how to pick up women. Also amusing.
While we're on Japan...here's poplocking 11 year old girl.

Here is some pre revolution, Persian soul. Lovely.

Since The Mister is Guyanese, I go looking for Guyanese stuff every so often. Here's a tribute to Guyana. The Mister talks about men who used to pan for gold, and I found this clip of an oldtimer talking about "Porknocking" which is panning for gold in Guyana...and last but not least, I found this guy telling a joke about a Guyanese and Trini. Sometimes it isn't so much the joke, as how someone tells it.

So, the other day I posted about The Secret Life of Germs, making fun of all the stuff we worry about...then I found "We Are Not Alone" which is a microscopic look at what's living on and off of our skin. High on the scale of "icky".

This poor kid trying to tell his Dad something important made me laugh.

And to end....here's Dean Martin singing my father's favourite version of "King of the Road"...and a sexy rebuttal from the chicks called "Queen of the House".

That's all.