Remember This Number And Why

This is the number of (House) Republicans who voted to kill Medicare. Got it?

Rapture-esque or Just Freaky Monday

As I made my way to the office on Monday - a holiday - I began to believe that just maybe the 80-year-old 'end-of-the-world' preacher had made a few math errors and that maybe Monday was his rapture day. I was one of six cars on Highway 280, which must be a first in the history of humankind.  I even took a picture because I did not think anyone would ever believe me!

Weird, right? Even worse? Out of a nine-floor office building, my office was the only one open on Monday. No place to get lunch, no place to buy 20-ounce sodas, no place to get change, no parking tokens needed, no snacks cart, no unlocked stairwell doors, no hospital escorts.... just a bunch of pouty employees. Fun, right?

Memorial Day 2011

The world is a dangerous place to live, 
not because of the people who are evil, 
but because of the people who don't do anything about it.
— Albert Einstein

Image by ~muchazarox

Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. This is not a way of life at all in any true sense. Under the clouds of war, it is humanity hanging on a cross of iron.  
— Dwight Eisenhower, 1953 speech 

I object to violence because  when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent. — Mohandas Gandhi

Conflict is inevitable, but combat is optional.
— Max Lucade 

I like to believe that people in the long run are going to do more to promote peace than our governments. Indeed, I think that people want peace so much that, one of these days, governments had better get out of the way and let them have it. 
— Dwight D. Eisenhower 

Images From My Vacation

My last trip to visit family in Wyoming was filled with sight-seeing, Wyoming history, and a little of the Old West in South Dakota, which was wonderful. This trip was all family and graduation parties, which was just as wonderful!

This half-chocolate, half-vanilla cake was surrounded by other delicious goodies, including buffalo burgers, that fed friends, family, and graduates at an Open House graduation party. We were surrounded by some really smart and polite kids headed to colleges from Casper College to Harvard to the University of Alabama.

Part of the family and part of one dog
Did I mention it was 32 degrees with a light snow when I arrived? What a surprise to my feet that were wearing sandals! It did warm up considerably, making it almost perfect weather for the rest of the visit. 

Eddy Mildew made an earlier appearance in Weekend Cat Blogging. I just wanted to comment that his expression and laid back ears were from my taking photos and being unable to keep my hands off him. This was taken about one second before he moved to the other side of the bed.

Isn't this a cool restaurant? We went the day after graduation to Sanford's Grub and Pub with one very sleepy high school graduate. I took this photo of the ceiling. That's the Blues Brothers in the center, Elvis to their right. Fun and good food, including fried okra.

The Rialto was a theater in the downtown district that reminded me more of old Hollywood than new Casper. Loved it! My sister and I saw Water for Elephants there.

Racial Slur: Chugging a Few 40's

Because it came out of the mouth of a Fox News employee, I did not need anyone to tell me that accusing President Obama of "chugging a few 40's" must be a racial slur, even though I did not know the definition of a "few 40's". A quick search in the Urban Dictionary informed me and, in one sentence, defined as "Forty Ounce Malt Liquor, Popular with ghetto people".

Media Matters for America, among others, posted this from the May 23 edition of Fox Buisiness' Follow the Money with Eric Bolling:



Presidents of the United States make foreign trips on occasion. A devastating tornado happened in Missouri and plans are made for President Obama to go to Joplin just like he came to Tuscaloosa, Alabama (the home of my workplace). It isn't like someone gave President Obama a memo with the subject line that read: Tornado Determined to Strike Joplin, Missouri in his daily briefing and he ignored it (reference for my sarcasm, in case you missed it).

The wonderful thing about President Obama is that he can do both and do it brilliantly. We should all be grateful that foreign countries actually welcome a visit from the POTUS again.  He came to Alabama. He is going to Missouri. He does not do fly-overs and photo ops (see Bush and New Orleans).

There are many sad things about Fox. The least of these is that they are not funny. Racial slurs are never funny. Blaming it on 'frat boy humor' makes it and the one saying it even more pathetic.

I'm just saying.

Film Review: Bridesmaids

Movie Synopsis from Fandango:
Director Paul Fieg and producer Judd Apatow team-up again for this comedy that stars Kristen Wiig as Annie, a romantically unattached failed bakery owner who fears she's losing her BFF, Lillian (Maya Rudolph), the best thing in her life, when Lillian announces she's gotten engaged. Annie's anxieties deepen as Lillian grows close to Helen (Rose Byrne), a wealthy and beautiful new friend who quickly assumes control of planning all the pre-wedding festivities. On top of the main storyline of a female friendship being torn apart, the movie adds a romantic storyline for Annie, who starts the film answering a booty call from the casually cruel yet undeniably handsome Ted (Jon Hamm), but develops a lovely flirtation with an Irish cop named Rhodes (Chris O'Dowd) after he pulls Annie over one night thinking she's driving drunk. As the low-self-esteem Annie sabotages this new possibility for love, she also feels the most important friendship in her life slipping away. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi
 
Women have always known that women are funny, particularly when the scripts are written by women for women. The film Bridesmaids, written by Kristin Wiig and Annie Mumolo, is a good example of this. I suppose my biggest surprise is that we are debating this in 2011.

Wiig brings her physical qualities, as well as her comedic timing and charm, to the film; these are the qualities that have made her SNL tenure delightful for its audience. Her writing partner, Mumolo, makes an appearance in the film as Wiig's seatmate on an airplane. This scene is so funny and so believable. Her physical comedy reminds one of - dare I say - Lucille Ball and/or Carol Burnette.

One initially wants to describe this film as the female version of The Hangover, but it is so much more than that. It is smarter and wittier. There is no need to rely on alcoholic black-outs, car chases, guns, kidnappings, hookers, or mistaken identities to get laughs. This is more about everyday life as we know it and live it. This is not to say they don't go for the belly laughs. They do. Get over it.

This is not a chick flick in the traditional definition.  In my view, a chick flick would be any movie with the actress of the moment laughing at women instead of with women. Why do we laugh with women? Because they are smart and funny and we can identify. Any guy who thinks this film is only a chick flick is going to miss out on a good time.

For those women who think it is too raunchy - yes, there is bathroom humor - let me say this: women have been sitting through movies about men and their bathroom jokes for decades. If that is all you can see in this scene, you may be missing the point. I saw a big poke to the high-brow, totally over-the-top, pretentious wedding industry. And, I loved it.

For those women who thought it was too traditional and that its only message was that a woman was not complete without a man, let me say this: again, you may be missing the point. The strongest messages in this movie were about female friendship and about pulling up oneself when one is down. The men and the grooms were secondary to the strong bonds between women.

Lastly, let me just mention Maya Rudolph. Oh, Maya Rudolph. You are wonderful! And, Jill Clayburgh. We miss you.

***** (five of five stars)

Weekend Cat Blogging #312

Vincent (on floor) is about to be in for a big, big surprise! Booyah!

We have invited a few of our feline friends to participate in today's Weekend Cat Blogging.

 

Eddy Mildew, cousin

Looloo, friend

Spooky, friend and business cat

This week's Weekend Cat Blogging is hosted by Kitties at Mom's Sunday Cafe.

Liza Donnelly Cartoon: Powerful Men

Cartoon by Liza Donnelly

A few come to my mind, in more recent news:

Recently resigned Senator John Ensign (R-Nev)

Former VP Candidate John Edwards (D-NC)

Senator Tom Coburn (R-Okla) - Aided John Ensign, no charges brought yet.

Pundit and Always Willing Presidential Candidate Newt Gingrich (R)

Resigned Rep. Christopher Lee (R-NY) - Comments: Do you think people can't see what you post on the Internet? And, two, the NY special election this week made Democrats happier than they have been in a long time. Thanks! 

Former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-Calif)

And, less recently:

Resigned Rep. Mark Souder (R-Indiana)

Governor Mark Sanford (R-SC)

Former Governor Eliot Spitzer (R-NY)

Former Senator Larry Craig (R-Nev)

Senator David Vitter (R-La) - Despite prostitution ring, rumors of diaper fetish and the incredibly sad face of his wife, Vitter wins reelection.

Former Rep. Mark Foley (R-Fla)

Former Governor James McGreevey (D-NJ) - At least this gave McGreevey the opportunity to come out publicly.

Former Rep. David Lukens (R-Ohio)

I'm going to stop here simply because it has become too many to list and research. Do you see a pattern next to any of these names? Except for Edwards and McGreevey, all claim to be Republicans. I personally do not think it is any one's business except wives and families what they do outside their marriages, except in the cases that are illegal. My problem is their claim to be the 'family values party' and trying to tell me and my friends who they can love and how.

To be fair, yes, in 1995 and before: Democrats Bill Clinton, Barney Frank, Gary Hart, and Gerry Studds also had affairs.

Feel Good Friday

Two Amazing Animal Survival Stories

By now, most everyone has heard of the devastating tornadoes that roared through the southern US and particularly my home state of Alabama on April 27th. The incredible stories of the storm's destruction and of survival are chilling, as well as heart-warming.

Here are two local stories of animals finding their way home.



This return happened as the Tuscaloosa, Alabama resident was being interviewed. Isn't it just like a cat to upstage the interview?

Hotel Preston - Nashville, Tennessee

Me + Nashville = Bad Karma

This was my first visit to Nashville since moving back to Alabama three years ago. I wasn't sure how I would feel, having to confront so much of my relationship past. Visually, I had no emotional reaction. I opened the car window to see if I could activate my olfactory sense. Skunk. I'm not kidding. I smelled a skunk. I guess that defines my relationship with Nashville - dead skunk in the middle of the road.

I had wanted to visit Hotel Preston since I heard about their unique bar called Pink Slip Bar. I had been reading things like this in the Nashville papers:

Nashville’s Hotel Preston recently unveiled a very unique concept bar: Pink Slip Bar. The remodeled Nashville hotel has a urban chic decor, and the new bar takes it to an entirely new level with a concept bar involving a small room behind glass where a woman in pink lingerie lounges as if in the comfort of her own homes. She reads, watches TV and generally looks hot while doing what would otherwise not be noteworthy.  Fortunately, The Tennessean was gracious enough to provide Pink Slip video for those of you not able to experience this amazing Nashville hotel bar. (source)

I pre-paid a room online for the discount and selected their offer to leave my car at the hotel; in turn, they agreed to shuttle me to and from the airport for the same rate as the airport's long-term parking fee. When I arrived at their driveway, I was unsure if I had the right place as it appeared I was turning into a residential area. Safely at the door surrounded by low lighting, the hotel tried to charge me a second time AND charge two dollars more per day for the parking. I reminded the desk clerk I was pre-paid and the quoted price on the parking. They knocked off $10 on the parking fees, although still $2 more than the airport long-term parking fee. I didn't quibble over the extra $2.

The lobby decor had a modern feel, although dark; the elevator required your room key to operate, a nice safety touch; and, there were black and white photographs of country music singers, of course. The room I had was identical to most any Hampton Inn and/or Marriott hotel room. That was fine for the price but I had hoped it would follow "urban chic' theme. There was makeup on the bath cloths (not mascara but a base or powder). Worst of all, the Internet connection was $8.95/day.

I walked to the lobby bar with very high expectations (see above). I stepped just inside the door and it was like stepping inside a roadside biker bar. It was dark with the only light from the fluorescent beer signs. From the bar stools, male heads turned towards the door. I stepped back out and went back to my room. To be fair, I did not go downstairs or try the restaurant so I can't say if it got any better.

Now, the worst part. I got to Dallas-Fort Worth, the first leg of my trip, and discovered they had charged me an additional $200.90! When one is on a tight budget, $200 can make a huge difference in one's vacation fun. When I called about it, they told me it was for "incidentals" and would be released in three to five days. WHAT-THE-F***? I checked with everyone around me who traveled and no one had heard of that or had that happen to them before. More phone calls resulted in an early release of the money so it turned out to be just a hassle.

Next morning, I received a customer comments email. What to do? Could I make a skillful and mature assessment that has less to do about the hotel than it does about Nashville? My expectations were high even though I had been disappointed in this city over and over again.

It is true. I never found where I fit in Nashville. The best comments I can make about this city is that it is very clean and I happened to have loved one of its residents. I can only assume that it's karma - very, very bad karma. In that case, Nashville keeps giving back the negative energy that comes from me.

Weekend Cat Blogging #311

Jules, Chairman of the Board

Jules is keeping my chair warm while I am visiting family in Casper, Wyoming. Vincent, according to my friend and the intruder, i.e., kitty sitter for the week, has not made an appearance. Either Vincent is shy/scared/misses me so terribly or Jules has been working him too hard.

This week's Weekend Cat Blogging is hosted by Pam at sidewalkshoes. Check out her blog to read about her cat toy success story.

Feel Good Friday

We are 'happy dancing' in Casper, Wyoming today. Congratulations to my beautiful and smart great-niece, Jordan, who is graduating from high school on Sunday and who is headed to...wait....wait....wait....THE University of Alabama!

Sports Illustrated Cover: Tuscaloosa

This week's cover of Sports Illustrated features Tuscaloosa and former UA football player, Javier Arenas. Read the full SI article:
Terror, Tragedy and Hope in Tuscaloosa.

I Don't Buy It

There are certain things in life, some that are universally accepted, that I just don't accept. You are welcome to try and convince me otherwise. Here are a few from my ever-growing list:

Old (and some young) men have women's best interests in mind.

If you are at peace within yourself, you can be at home anywhere.

You treat your money like you treat yourself.

You can't be too rich or too thin.

Compassionate conservative

Semen acts as an anti-depressant to the recipient. (source)

Parents don't hear their own child's squealing and crying.

American exceptionalism

People who say, "I'm not a racist".

Dogs are smarter than cats.

To be continued.... 

Newt Gingrich: What a GUY

I ordered a drink Friday night called the County Seat Cosmo, described on the menu as "smoother than a Dixiecrat running for a fourth term". While I got a good laugh - twice - I won't be laughing when GOP candidates start showing up in the South stirring the pot and throwing in those buzz words that, like dog whistles, only some Southerners can hear causing them to vote, in many cases, against their own self-interests and the best interests of others.

Newt Gingrich, who recently announced his candidacy for the presidency in 2012, has already made an appearance, making the following statements at a GOP dinner in Macon, Georgia (source) (source)

The 2012 presidential election is the most consequential since the 1860 race that elected Abraham Lincoln to the White House and was soon followed by the Civil War.

(Obama is ) the most successful food stamp president in modern American history.

(Obama's recent speech on immigration) very dishonest. This from a man who called Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor a racist.

Throw in a few "states' rights" here and there and how he can run a country without ever taking in any revenue (i.e., 'no taxes') and I imagine any audience who would even want to hear Gingrich would be eating out of his hands. Newt will have to wait a little while before he throws in God and values, considering his history. Although.... his personal life has never stopped him before.

He's a few of my other Newt favorites:

On his first wife, Jackie, his high school geometry teacher and seven years older:
Newt on why he wanted a divorce from Jackie: "She's not young enough or pretty enough to be the wife of a President. And besides, she has cancer."
Source: Katharine Q. Seelye. "Gingrich's Life: The Complications and Ideals." NYTimes.com 11/24/1994.

During April 1980, Newt and Jackie separated. They divorced in February 1981.

"The most notorious incident in Gingrich's marriage ... was when he cornered Jackie in her hospital room where she was recovering from uterine cancer surgery and insisted on discussing the terms of the divorce he was seeking. Shortly after that infamous encounter, Gingrich refused to pay his alimony and child-support payments. The First Baptist Church in his hometown had to take up a collection to support the family Gingrich had deserted. Six months after divorcing Jackie, Gingrich married a younger woman, Marianne, with whom he had been having an affair."

Source: Stephen Talbot. "Newt's Glass House." Salon.com. 8/28/1998.

"There's no question I've said to people that I made mistakes in my life, that I had to go to God for forgiveness and that I had to seek reconciliation," Gingrich said. "People have to decide whether at this stage in my life I have learned enough and matured enough, and I'm somebody they can trust. 
Source: "Newt Gingrich: I bring some scars with my life". Political Wires. 5/13/2011.

He's "matured", by his words? He is sixty-f**king-seven years old! He is an old white guy with old white guy  ideas. I say he has no way of becoming POTUS. Of course, I never, ever thought GWBush would make it either (which, of course, he didn't the first time without the intervention of the Supreme Court). 

And, don't forget, Newt's sister is a lesbian and advocate for GLBT rights. Here's an excerpt of a 2008 letter from sister to brother (read letter in its entirety here):

Even older Americans are turning their backs on the politics of fear and demagoguery that you and your cronies have perfected over the years.

This is a movement of the people that you most fear. It's a movement of progress -- and your words on FOX News only show how truly desperate you are to maintain control of a world that is changing before your very eyes.

Then again, we've seen these tactics before. We know how much the right likes to play political and cultural hardball, and then turn around and accuse us of lashing out first. You give a pass to a religious group -- one that looks down upon minorities and women -- when they use their money and membership roles to roll back the rights of others, and then you label us "fascists" when we fight back. You belittle the relationships of gay and lesbian couples, and yet somehow neglect to explain who anointed you the protector of "traditional" marriage. And, of course, you've also mastered taking the foolish actions of a few people and then indicting an entire population based on those mistakes. I fail to see how any of these patterns coincide with the values of "historic Christianity" you claim to champion.

Again, nothing new here. This is just more of the blatant hypocrisy we're used to hearing.

What really worries me is that you are always willing to use LGBT Americans as political weapons to further your ambitions. That's really so '90s, Newt. In this day and age, it's embarrassing to watch you talk like that. You should be more afraid of the new political climate in America, because, there is no place for you in it.

In other words, stop being a hater, big bro.

Newt. What a.... guy.

Taking Care of Business

Change is scary. Change makes people grumpy and resistant. Yet, change is how we survive.

I'm working on a Saturday night but only because it is an exciting time for me. I'm looking for just the right quote to drive home what I want to say. I think it will be:

How can you squander even one more day not taking advantage of the greatest shifts of our generation? How dare you settle for less when the world has made it so easy for you to be remarkable?  
Seth Godin, sethgodin.typepad.com


Or,


I hear YouTube, Twitter and Facebook are merging to form a super Social Media site – YouTwitFace.  
Conan O’Brien, The Tonight Show (June 2009)

Ok... maybe not Conan's.

Weekend Cat Blogging #310

  

Jules is having what could have been a quiet moment had I not been able to reach my iPhone. 

Flash! Flash! Flash! Flash!

This week's Weekend Cat Blogging is hosted by Kashim, Othello and Salome at Paulchens Food Blog?!.

Feel Good Friday

Fox News and company - your racism is showing again.

Afternoon Delight

I am about to pull a grandmother move on you. I was duck watching this afternoon. They are too cute! And, as it turns out, I'm more afraid of them than they are of me!

I spotted this group when they appeared from around a building and were running as fast as they could down the sidewalk before taking a sharp left.  The smell of bread was in the air!

They stopped long enough to see if I might be the baker but, alas, my pockets were empty.

We want bread! We want bread! We want bread!

Manna was falling from the sky or, more accurately, the second floor where a resident was dropping slices of bread for the ever-increasing crowd. The baby ducks waited for instructions from their elders before proceeding with caution.

Unable to reach the bread due to the gray goose gang, they headed for the lake.

Wait! Wait! There she is! 

It was at this point they were chasing me and I'm running from them. Look at that determination. What would you have done?

 Seriously. How cute are these guys?

 

Running back to the bread man for a second chance

The gray goose gang - faces and bodies only a mother could love. I've been watching these guys and they have grown so fast. They are in that awkward, u.g.l.y stage, I guess. They are not so bad when they are standing still. It is only when they walk around that I am reminded of the hyenas in The Lion King. I keep expecting one of them to start laughing hysterically.

Bored, yet? They really are pretty around the lake as the sun is going down.  Watching these guys is one of my favorite late afternoon pleasures.

Changing History with Photoshop

A conservative Hasidic newspaper changed history when it photoshopped Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the unidentified woman (who is that??) in the White House Situation Room during the raid of Osama bin Laden. It is reported that the newspaper does not print photos of women as it thinks it is sexually suggestive. (source) Men. Get. Over. Yourselves.

What was the most scandalous, do you think? A woman or a woman with power?

This is the original, and might I say, incredibly intense and fascinating photo.

Happy Mothers' Day

Weekend Cat Blogging #309

On April 27th, tornadoes came through the southern United States. One of the hardest hit areas is in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The response from across the country has been tremendous, as has been the generosity of people in the community.

Our community has also reached out to our feline friends too, offering shelter, pro-bono medical care, foster homes, and, most importantly, tender loving care. Shelters, at least one still without power, need supplies.

Jules, Vincent and I are reaching out to our Weekend Cat Blogging friends who might be willing to get out the word or who might be willing to make a donation.

Humane Society of West Alabama

Needs:
-medium and large wire crates for dogs
-puppy and kitten food
-Heartguard heartworm medicine for dogs
-flea and tick preventative for cats and dogs
-dry powder milk replacer for kittens
-small animal nursing bottles
-crates and carriers of all types
-collars and leashes
ALSO the following, available from veterinarians:
-Clavamox for cats and dogs
-cepha drops

Unless power has been restored, the Tuscaloosa Metro Animal Shelter can only accept donations in the way of checks:
Tuscaloosa Metro Animal Shelter
3140 35th St.
Tuscaloosa, AL 35401

Call the lost pets hoteline: (205) 397-8534

To foster a pet, email tornadopetsofAL (at) yahoo (dot) com with the subject line "Will foster"

Animals Lost and Found in Alabama Tornadoes

Facebook Lost and Found Group

Birmingham Humane Society

Elmore County Humane Society

I will be happy to purchase and transport food and other supplies if you wish to help that way. Send me an email at aldridge8644 (at) yahoo (dot) com and I'll will send information on how to transfer donations.

Jules and Vincent, on our first day together

Jules and Vincent say, "let's help our feline friends find their way home again".

This week's host of Weekend Cat Blogging is Billy Sweetfeets Gingersnap.

Other ways to help those affected by the tornadoes

Feel Good Friday

On the Street Where Birmingham Lives

As I jumped over puddles of rain in a downtown parking lot on Wednesday, I didn't mind stopping in the rain long enough to admire a small downtown space separating the parking lot and the street. Isn't this a nice refuge from concrete and asphalt?

 

Pre-tornado 

 

Post-tornado

This tree is directly in front of my assigned parking place. Fortunately, it delivered only two pine cones on my car. I will miss its beauty every morning.