a cioppino challenge...

...from tombstone tumbleweed, as found in one of the comments on my blog...

"But I thought I made the best cioppino in the world. Mine does rival those made in the finest joints in SF. We should have a cook-off once I move closer to you."

bring. it. on.

day job

normally, articles in the msm about immigration are barely researched, poorly written and, often, just plain wrong. however, i found an article that is actually pretty good, about a top indian scientist who was given all kinds of grief at the u.s. consulate in chennai. as background, his field of research (chemistry) makes him eligible for something called the technology alert list but any consular officer worth her salt would be able to review his c.v. and previous visa history and see that there are no weapons implications and issue the visa without having to get a clearance from department of state. at any rate, it is a good example of how the consular officers treat applicants: they start with the assumption that everyone is lying and go from there. and if that's is how they treat a distinguished scientist, imagine how they treat the average person. this is why i hate my job.

maxwell's silver hammer

just listening to "abbey road" and remarking to myself, "damn, maxwell's silver hammer is such a good song!" it's so f'ing wierd, but then the music is all cute & poppy, which just accentuates the dark lyrics. i love that song. i guess that' s why i named my dog after it. no kidding, that's max's official registered name with the akc. here he is in all his extreme closeup glory (this is basically what i see when i first open my eyes in the morning).



p.s., i put up links to multy & max's dogster sites on the right...

what is this world coming to?

ok, so i'm at the movie theatre (to see syriana, by the way, and i'm still trying to figure that shit out) and the theatre has this pre-show "adver-tainment" that basically has all these ads that you aren't supposed to think are ads, interspaced with, you guessed it, more ads. annoying, but pretty easy to ignore. but at one point they have this really annoying ad for this ky 2-in-1 warming body massage and personal lubricant (it's a floor polish; no, it's a dessert topping). ok, there are so many things wrong with that, i don't know where to start. why do i have to see this uptight yuppie bitch talking about personal-f'ing-lubricant when i'm in a movie theatre!? but it's ok, this gets funny. the commercial cuts to a shot of the entire product line at the end and one of the products is called "paris twilight" and i wasn't exactly paying attention so i read it really fast and i thought it said "penis twilight" and i was all "no they didn't." then i realized that it said "paris" not "penis" and i totally lost it. i mean, totally lost it, laughing so hard i couldn't breathe or even sit up in my chair, tears running down my face, people looking at me, husband trying to pretend that he's not with me - that kind of laughing. so, thank you ky for that moment, but: one, please keep your ads out of the movie theatres (at least normal movie theatres); and two, you may want to rethink using the word "paris" in your advertisements. i'm still laughing.

new pics up on flickr...

...this is one of the cutest, if i do say so myself. check 'em out, flickr link to the right.

I hate it when...

...I hear a song I like playing in an elevator or in a supemarket or mall or something. It makes me wonder about my taste in music.

Sent wirelessly via BlackBerry from T-Mobile.

puppybowl

couldn't be buggered to watch the superbowl, but did catch most of animal planet's puppybowl 2. favorite part: the bowl cam, in which a camera is placed looking up from the bottom of the water bowl and you get to see puppies drink. least favorite part: kitten half time. and from what i've heard about the actual superbowl game, this was actually time well spent.

mustang sally

just found out that wilson pickett died today at age 64. so young! i first found out about wilson when i was in college and saw the movie "the commitments," which I credit as the beginning of my now lifelong appreciation for soul, r&b and the blues. so, "in the midnight hour" has a special place in my heart. and wilson is also responsible for another of my theme songs, "mustang sally," which is dear to my heart from driving around in a mustang for the better part of 10 years. but it really was my song of choice when i was fortunate enough to be tooling around town in this little sweetheart, my dream car and my future inheritance, during the summer of 2004. (as an aside, is it wierd to have theme songs? is it even wierder that i have theme songs only related to cars that i drive? i don't think i will have another one soon, though, unless someone rights a song about an acura. i also suspect this may be my aunt's theme song, too, and i'll hope she'll put a picture of her rad fastback up on her blog. anyway, back to wilson...)

so, in honor of wilson, get "mustang sally" rockin' on your cd player, ipod, or whatever, at top volume and have a good jam to send wilson off:

Mustang Sally, think you better slow your mustang down.
Mustang Sally, think you better slow your mustang down.
You been running all over the town now.
Oh! I guess I'll have to put your flat feet on the ground.

All you want to do is ride around Sally, ride, Sally, ride.
All you want to do is ride around Sally, ride, Sally, ride.
All you want to do is ride around Sally, ride, Sally, ride.
One of these early mornings, oh, you gonna be wiping your weeping eyes.

I bought you a brand new mustang 'bout nineteen sixty five.
Now you come around signifying a woman, you don't wanna let me ride.
Mustang Sally, think you better slow your mustang down.
You been running all over the town now.
Oh! I guess I'll have to put your flat feet on the ground.

All you want to do is ride around Sally, ride, Sally, ride.
All you want to do is ride around Sally, ride, Sally, ride.
All you want to do is ride around Sally, ride, Sally, ride.

thanks, wilson!

FUCK $C - yeah, i said it!

proud to be a bruin tonight! proud to wear my "i heart vy" (vince young) shirt and rub some salt in $c's football wounds. and so proud to watch our team out score, out rebound, out run, out class and just generally humiliate u$c from jordan farmar's ice-water-in-his-veins 3 point shot literally seconds into the game to the crowning glory of seeing kelvin kim subbed in near the end (you know the team you're playing is bad when our scrappy korean walk-on and crowd favorite gets court time). it was a joy to watch arron aflalo's intensity on offense and defense. i couldn't have been more thrilled to see luc-richard mbah a moute (who else has royalty on their team?), alfred aboya and ryan wright pulling down rebounds, blocking shots, forcing turnovers and generally making huge plays. darren collison's quickness brings a tear to my eye as i recall the good ol' days of tyus edney! it was great to witness mike roll coming into his own and in the starting lineup again. and i practically fainted at ryan hollins' two, yes two, no really, i'm telling you, two dunks in one game! i know cedric bozeman, josh shipp, lorenzo mata and michael fey were dying to be on the court, too, and we really miss seeing them play.

so, here's to my bruins. thanks for that game, you made us proud. we really needed that win to remind us that we are indeed the mighty bruins!

and as for $c's coach, let me just tell you that his technical foul was not for crumpling up his game plan and throwing it to the ground, it was for kicking the basketball as it was rolling towards ref and he should have been thrown out for it instead of that cheap technical foul.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=260180026

scarf

scarf
Originally uploaded by lornababy.

this is what happens when you leave my relatives alone with my christmas present and a digital camera...

mlk day

just in case you have never heard or read the entire "i have a dream" speech by martin luther king, jr., here is a great link with audio and text:

http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/Ihaveadream.htm

how would mlk feel if he were alive today? would he think that progress has been made in the areas of civil rights and equality? i'm tempted to think not, if we judge today's situation by the standards that he set out in his speech:

"There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until 'justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream.'"

other than the desegregation of hotels and restaurants (thank you, commerce clause) and the fact that african americans can now vote in mississippi, but apparently not in presidential elections in florida, what has changed? this country has let dr. king down. this country has let itself down. we owe dr. king and ourselves much more.

I love to hate u$c...

...they make it so easy. Here's the latest: a photo from the Rose Bowl game showing a dumbass USC "Song Girl" cheering as Texas scores! Since the cheerleaders and football players are all "Exercise Science" "majors," you think that they would spend at least one class on the rules of the game. "OK, Buffy, don't make me go over this again. When the other team scores, you DON'T cheer."

(Thank you, Dean from KROQ for pointing me to the Wizard of Odds blog: http://thewizardofodds.blogspot.com/2006/01/those-brilliant-usc-song-girls.html#links)

theme song

i forgot that i had a theme song; thanks for reminding me, ipod. it's calld "bitchin' camaro" by the dead milkmen and it goes a little somethin' like this:

BITCHIN CAMARO, BITCHIN CAMARO
I ran over my neighbors
BITCHIN CAMARAO, BITCHIN CAMARO
Now it's in all the papers.
My folks bought me a BITCHIN CAMARO with no insurance to match;
So if you happen to run me down, please don't leave a scratch.
I ran over some old lady one night at the county fair;
And I didn't get arrested, because my dad's the mayor.
BITCHIN CAMARO, BITCHIN CAMARO
Doughnuts on your lawn
BITCHIN CAMARO, BITCHIN CAMARO
Tony Orlando and Dawn
When I drive past the kids, they all spit and cuss,
Because I've got a BITCHIN CAMARO and they have to ride the bus.
So you'd better get out of my way, when I run through your yard;
Because I've got a BITCHIN CAMARO;
And an Exxon credit card.
BITCHIN CAMARO, BITCHIN CAMARO
Hey, man where ya headed?
BITCHIN CAMARO, BITCHIN CAMARO
I drive on unleaded.

(i miss my bitchin' camaro.)

One and nothing equals one

This is for all of you U$C brats and bandwagon-jumpers who have been yelling all season long that you were going for the national championship "three-peat." I know that they don't teach you anything useful at the University of Second Choice, so here's a little elementary math lesson: one and one equals two, not three. You have to have won two previous national championships to go for a "three-peat" and, as the picture above so plainly demonstrates (thanks to Bruin Report Online poster "uclaxray"), U$C only had one. And, actually, after last night's game, one and nothing equals one! So, shut up about your football dynasty...one national championship is just, well, ordinary. Come back to me when you have ELEVEN and then maybe we'll talk!

LOOO-HOOO-SERS!

Texas 41
U$C 38

As my coffee mug says, "My two favorite teams are UCLA and whoever's playing U$C." I'd never thought I say this, but, man, I LOVE TEXAS right now!!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you, Vince Young! $C's been walking around town acting like they've already won this thing for the past four weeks, so thanks for wiping that smug grin of Pete Carroll's face. Let's hope this is the beginning of the end for $C. Fuck SC! Here's a link to the t-shirt that I purchased last night to celebrate! http://www.cafepress.com/buy/university%20texas/-/pv_design_details/pg_9/id_9344146/opt_/fpt_/c_/hlv_t

a moment of silence, please

"Crystal Hot Sauce Maker To Leave New Orleans

The famous Baumer's food sign and plant that is visible from the Pontchartrain Expressway may not be there much longer.

Baumer, which bottles Crystal Hot Sauce and other famous condiments, announced that it?s leaving New Orleans after more than 60 years.

Alvin Baumer Jr., the owner and plant president, said he's moving out of Orleans Parish after 5 feet of water inundated the Mid-City plant.

Baumer won't say where the new plant will be located, only that he's been looking for a new location for the past year."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/wdsu/20051222/lo_wdsu/3138144

phrases, etc.

Phrases to go with my new "gesture":

Hey, what's that?
Look up!
[nothing, just looking beatific]
...and another thing...
I have an idea.
J'accuse! (my personal favorite)
Peace.
Stick 'em up!

Excuses for that "gesture":

I just got initiated into the Yakuza.
I am not a good chainsaw operator.
Hatchets should not be juggled.
I made a small sacrifice to the football gods (which was, apparently, ignored).


[i'll add more as they come to me]

bakersfield maltese?

ok, i can't figure out how to get the video to play direct on the blog, but you have to check this link out: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1058608017240976795&q=maltese

wwjd?

hold 'em to it

so, i think i've found a new policy that we should use to counter the creationists, it's called "hold 'em to it," and we should make them be logically consistent with their beliefs.

this letter to the editor published in the san luis obispo tribune on 11/6/05 describes one application of theory quite eloquently:

"Some don't need vaccine

Recent news about the avian flu virus has raised concerns from main street to the White House. There is the possibility, even likelihood, that the virus will mutate into a form that can more easily infect humans.

As the president pointed out, a vaccine cannot be made until this evolution occurs. This raises the concern that it may be impossible to create enough vaccine fast enough to protect all our citizens. But there is hope.

Gallup polls tell us that up to 45 percent of Americans don't believe in evolution. Since random mutation is the engine of evolution, these same people must believe that the virus cannot mutate.

Therefore, there is no need to waste vaccine on folks who believe there is no possible threat to themselves -- thus leaving a sufficient supply for the rest of us. Perhaps the president, given his doubts about evolution, may wish to demonstrate his leadership by foregoing vaccination.

This approach has added benefits. Polls also tell us that disbelief in evolution is more pronounced among the less educated, the poor and conservatives. If the anti-evolutionists among these groups were to opt out of vaccination then, through immediate deaths and natural selection, we would reduce poverty, raise educational attainment and become a more progressive society.

Steve Anderson
Arroyo Grande"