Sobering, yet uplifting
The news of the marches this weekend in the nation's capital (and across the country) made me focus a little more on Iraq. I have to admit that I have been against the whole thing from day one. Not one to shy away from being vocal about things, I posted regularly on the Deblog (now lost in the internet highway until a server can be located).
I have always maintained that this administration lied to us, manipulated the media (and did it very well) and manipulated the oh-so-gullible American public into believing that somehow, someway Sadaam Hussein was the root of all of our problems, including 9/11. We have since learned (or rather those of us who care to learn - many are blissfully ignorant) that it has been a lie. I am heartened by Bush's low popularity rating. I am heartened that the Dems took control again. I am heartened because I want so desperately to believe that Americans are waking up and saying "hey, we are not buying this bullshit anymore."
Before I get into a huge rant, which I am so prone to do, let me just say that I read this
article today. One thing really struck me and it was this passage :
<Many of the marchers said they came because of personal reasons. Juan Torres of Chicago wore a t-shirt memorializing his son, an Army soldier who died in Afghanistan in 2004. Torres, an immigrant from Argentina, has marched in numerous anti-war protests. He says the war has destroyed his life and family. "My life is destroyed. My family is destroyed. The president, they don't care about my family. They don't care about me, they don't care about nobody. Also, the government, when I receive my son's medal, I receive by mail. They don't respect me.">
Let that sink in a bit. His son gave his life for this monstrosity of a "war" and they mailed a medal to his home. They could not send one soldier out there to deliver it with some words of comfort and thanks?
Hurrah for the marchers and hisses (yet again) to this administration. I hear the cries of impeachment and they are long overdue.
That is Just Too Darn Cute
Bill and Snake sent me this pic of Flora's doggy, which makes that their grand-doggy. Now isn't she just the
ultimate in doggy fashion!!! A cool Blues House Party t shirt, all cool dogs should be sporting one of these babies. Maya has several!!
Oh my aching head, back and body
That darn Amy Garland. She is a bad influence. Everytime I hang out with her I end up on a dance floor until the wee hours of the morning. Egads!
Amy convinced me to come out to the Whitewater Tavern last night because it was Gooses last night as Proprietor. He is leasing it to a bunch of early 20 somethings.
When I got there the place was already packed (I arrived about 9:45pm having sat on the interstate near Brinkley because of an 18 wheeler being in an accident and on fire). I waved at Kelly Bass who was in the back and sat with Sherry (daytime bartender). Sherry said she and MaryAnn (evening bartender) were out - they were replaced with a youngun (I say age discrimination and Michael says I am too quick to judge that it could be a friend of the guys who are leasing it or a girlfriend - point taken). Anyway, some young heavy grunge rock band was playing and I was feeling my age, big time. The music did not move me. Not that they were not talented, I just do not dig that kind of music. Amy arrived (the rock star that she is) and had to meet and greet all of her admirers so I hung out at the bar for awhile. I decided that all I was going to get out of the deal was a headache so I paid for my one Newcastle and made my way to the back to tell Goose, Amy & Kelly goodbye.
This is where it all goes south. Amy tells me that the band is from Philadelphia (oh so that explains it I guess?) and that the local artists were about to play so I really needed to stick around. Kelly got me another beer - it was a cleverly designed ploy and they worked well as a tandem team. Patron shots were going and then we were dancing and before I know it is almost close to 1 a.m. and I am dancing to "Is Anybody Going to San Antone or Phoenix, Arizona.." (charley pride) ala Chris Denny. Surreal. The band from Philadelphia seemed a little taken aback that folks were rocking to some cheesy old country songs but I saw one of the kids dancing shortly after that. I mean come on, how can you sit still when someone plays that? :-) There was a disturbing moment during the night where Goose dropped his pants and was standing there in his underwear. Something I never would have thought in a million years is that I could report on Goose standing in the tavern in his tighty whiteys -an image forever etched into my brain -unforgivingly.
So, once again, I am out with Amy G and it is way late and I am on a dance floor. I see a disturbingly fun trend here. Regardless, she is still my favorite son
gbird of the south and I am doing a shameless plug for her now. Go get this cd - Amy Garland Band - Angora. It is still one of my most favorite cds and her version of "I'd Have to Be Crazy" is an all time favorite of mine. I love that Amy G - even if she keeps me out all night.
Air Tran - 1, Bad Ass Toddlers - 0
Ok, so I have to admit that I whooped with glee when I saw the
news report the other day about the family that was booted from an Air Tran flight because their 3 year old would not get in her seat and quit crying. I think the issue was the not getting in the seat because they would not have been booted for just the crying. Anyway, I let out a "hallelujah!" and then quickly looked around for fear the MAEBOKs would advance and attack me. What is a MAEBOK you ask, well it is the Mommies Against Everything But Our Kids group. Come on, you know the ones. Their kids never do anything wrong. Their kids pitch fits and throw tantrums while mommy begs and pleads with them to stop. The ones that have out of control kids and they can not do, nor are they willing to do, anything about it. The ones that get their panties in a wad when the rest of us adults roll our eyes or move to another table. But I digress.
So the family gets booted off the plane. They are outraged and humiliated. They just needed a little extra time to comfort and console her, although news reports state that the child had already been crying and kicking her parents and the seats for 15 minutes!! (15 minutes ya'll). They told the parents to get her in a seat and buckled up because everyone has to be in a seat and buckled up. The mom was upset because they would not give her additional time to console the kid. CONSOLE? There ya go. Therein lies the problem. A disciplinary issue does not require consoling. DING DING DING. I tried to feel some sympathy but could muster none. When I read the additional information I was ok with what I was feeling. YES! Let's do more of it. Now, I understand the child who has the occasional meltdown, it happens. I have been the victim of it myself, little miss jen pulled a huge one on me in the middle of a Target store. Been there - done that, but I assure you she would not have kicked me or the seats and cried for 15 minutes on a plane (nor anywhere else).
So I did not post about it, despite my secret feelings of being thrilled that this happened because I knew the MOEBOKs would be livid and outraged. Then, today I read this
article where Air Tran reports that they have been overwhelmed with e mails and calls in support of their decision. 92% of the people contacting them were ok with what they did. See, those 92% have been on flights with those "bebe's kids". You know the ones; they sit behind you and kick your seat the whole time and even after you ask a parent politely to have them stop and get the snarly stare from the parent - it continues. The ones that are in front of you and climb on the seat and turn around rocking the seat like it is a rocking horse, while your drink takes a tumble - you know them. You know they exist. Satan's spawn, I call them. I also decided that it was a-ok to feel this way. I further felt justified when I read that they had checked her car seat in baggage claim!! Why didn't they bring it on and pop her little ass into it?
As parents we do a disservice to a child to allow them to behave this way. We do a disservice to a child and fail as parents when we raise them to think they can behave anyway they want and it is ok. Those parents become the
helicopter parents you hear about. They are the ones that are still trying to take care of their adult kids lives, a very disturbing trend.
I have always been vocal about kids that "show their asses" as my mama and grandma used to say. I even advocate that restaurants should offer you "smoking or non'smoking" "kids or no kids" options (unless, of course, you are at a family oriented restaurant). Michael and I tried to have dinner at an upscale restaurant one evening that was not "family oriented". We were seated in a booth next to a lady with a little boy named "Ben" (evil Ben). They were waiting on hubby to get there. Ben squiremed and wiggled, he did not want to sit down, he would periodically just scream for fun and her entire time waiting was spent saying "Ben, please sit down, daddy is coming", "Ben, stop that and please honey stop yelling", "Ben, daddy will be here in a minute, please honey stop". I was so sick of Ben I wanted to reach across the aisle, snatch his ass up and pop him in the seat and tell him to sit there and be quiet but I can't. Although I am certain the other diners would have applauded. We were all already sharing eye rolls. Then daddy showed up. Ben got to do it all over again for daddy. Ben even took to walking the aisle and coming up to everyone's tables. (me: go away Ben you demon child, heal thyself). Finally, they brought their food. Woohoo, Ben will start eating and things will settle down. Two minutes into the meal Ben is in mom's lap. Ben then slams his hand down on the table and yelling a war cry - everyone jumped in the restaurant and looked - just in time to see mom's plate take a flying dive onto the floor. Mom said to Ben "Honey, look what has happened and gives dad an exasperated look". At that point, I was done. Through. Finito. Let's grab the bill and go - I cannot enjoy this freaking meal.
So all that to say, Air Tran you did a good thing. The parents of the 3 year old tantrum thrower need to get over it and quit expecting the rest of us to tolerate their ill behaved child. They say they refuse to ever fly Air Tran again - while I am already looking at flights on Air Tran for my next trip!!!
Blues Patrol Reunion Rocked
Hmmm, who are those shady characters in that picture? That would be the Blues Patrol and me stuck in the middle. Yes, Cecil was sitting on my lap. This was, obviously, at the end of the night. From the smiles you can tell that a great time was had by all.
The weather did create some weather wusses. It was rainy and folks stayed in but we had a good crowd, anyway! We lost one band, the 420 Blues Band because some of them were iced in at Marshall.
Bluesboy Jag kicked off the show with his acoustic blues and he was awesome. He makes some very cool guitars out of cigar boxes. Next was
Charlotte Taylor, the queen of Arkansas blues. Her set was amazing, as usual, and she complied with my requests for one more, no two more... (thanks!)
Here are some of your KABF djs in rare form (Amy, Diana, Deb, Brian, Larry, Flap and Redneckerson). The guy in the very right of the picture is Bill from AR Record & CD Exchange.
Here are Cryin Brian and Flap, two more KABFers. Brian does Blues and Flap does the Alternative Country.
Blues Patrol took the stage, started out strong
and kept the blues coming all night long. It was great to hear some of the old favorites "Disease" "Was it Me", etc. The crowd loved it. It was so great to see so many folks out supporting the blues.
Ran into some long time listeners and appreciated them coming out. The Cornerstone did get a bottle of
Patron for us and it was gone before the night was over. (I am thinking bigger bottle with this crowd).
Michael worked the door for us and did a mighty fine job.
Folks had a great time and I kept seeing smiles all around. On the left is Diana and her hubby Bob. Diana hosts the Monday Jazz show. I think she was answering "I don't know" to the question of "Where did all the Patron go?" Shannon Boshears had her arms full with Bill on the left and Cecil Parker on the right.
In this weird picture, Sarah was wanting Theresa to get a picture of our curly hair from behind. I am on the left and she is on the right. I have some curl but that girl has ringlets!! Audie made it to the show a little bit late but looking as cool as ever. Audie is the funniest guy and dresses like an ace reporter from the 50s. He is too cool. Larry, Amy & I look none the worse for wear and tear.
The pics tell it all - it was a fun night.
We ended the night at the Waffle House with Jimmy, Theresa, Kent, Billy and one other guy whose name I cannot remember. Man, it is sooo good to eat breakfast after a long night of partying!
The next morning around 11:30 Gil showed up at the house to rehash the night before (we have to analyze everything) and got his guitar out to play us a song he had just written..... but that is a whole other story!!
Terrorist Attack? Oh for crying out loud!!
Ok, anyone who has lived near the Mississippi River (or Arkansas River or any other river that has barge traffic) knows that, occasionally, a barge hits a bridge. It is no different than a car accident on the highway - it happens. Whether it be high waters and rough currents or operator error - it happens.
This weekend some barges broke loose on the
Mighty Miss at Memphis. Some barges broke loose and travelled down river - hitting a railroad bridge in the process because, well a renegade barge goes wherever the water takes it!! My ex is a Bridge Inspector for the railroad and was called out to inspect the bridge it hit. Routine thing.
Yet, when the incident is reported (in the link above) they end the story with "Terrorism was ruled out". Holy beegeeezusss. Come on now. Are we going to start linking every possible bad thing to terrorism? There was a wreck this morning on I-630 - a single car wreck at 4 am - I wonder if we ruled out terrorism on that wreck? What about those fender benders in rush hour - are we checking to make sure they are not terrorist attacks? What about the errant vehicles that crash into a bldg when the driver loses control? Terrorism? We are off our proverbial "rockers" in allowing the press to force feed this terrorist crap down our throats. Ridiculous!!
I guess if we do not keep "terrorism" in the limelight and link it to innocuous events, then we cannot control a nation.
When did "Slut" become the role model?
It slipped up on me and, I am guessing, a whole lot of other folks out there. This whole "slutty is cool" thing. I mean, come on, when will it end? When did the whole "bad girl" image become the ideal for young women across America? Shame on us for letting it happen. Shame on us for allowing our daughters to fall into the whole trap. Shame, shame.
Now let me start with the "I am not a prude" statement. Truth is, I am not. I drink tequila shots at the club, curse a bit too much, am not as affected by skin on women as some and I guess I have seen enough shocking behavior that I am sometimes immune to it. Maybe that is the problem, we have become immune.
What am I talking about? Let's analyze this. It appears that the sluttier you are, the more publicity and fame you get. Hell, our beauty contestants cannot even keep titles these days. These are role models? What happened to the brainy girls who also had drop dead looks? They have been replaced by plastic, artificial, too white perfect porcelain veneer teeth, fake boobs, blonde highlights on their oh so straight hair bimbos!! They strive to look like strippers, dress like strippers and they are applauded for this.
If their behavior is bad, America eats it up and they make even more money. To wit, the idiotic Paris Hilton. She has sex and lets her boyfriend video it, it sells millions and her personal stock rises and she gets even more gigs. She does not wear panties, she is shallow and vapid and this is what our girls see daily. Turn on an entertainment channel and see if you can go 10 minutes without a scantily clad Paris. Britney Spears, hell this weekend she spent it doing all sorts of
slutty, sleazy things but America eats it all up. Lindsay Lohan, Nicole Richie, Tara Reid, Kate Moss, the list goes on and on. All behaving slutty.
Last night I could not sleep, two separate channels had informercials that were soft porn - "Girls Gone Wild" - what is this phenomenom that makes any girl raise her top, lick another girls breast, rub her body on another girl, etc.. only to have it videotaped? Yes, wouldn't you want your kids to find that video 10 years later?
Then there is the whole Hollywood - I will dump my spouse for the next good looking costar? Then America snickers at the "good girls" out there. The ones that have no shadowy past, no sex videos, no nights at porn balls - hmmm how passe' are they?
Thank god my daughter is 22, almost 23. She does not dress like Paris or Hilton, does not go to clubs in short dresses with panties, has not made a sex video and still has some human flaws on her body. That makes her all the more beautiful to me. I feel for those moms with teens out there now. What is going to come of this? It has got to come to a halt soon. Again, shame, shame. Someone has to have some these days.
Rain, rain Go Away!
It is a dreary, rainy day here in the Land of Opportunity, oh wait - we are now the Natural State. Maybe we are the Natural Land of Opportunity State. Anyway, we are deluged with rain. In the NW part of the state there is an ice warning. Here, in Little Rock and surrounding areas, there are flash flood warnings. It makes for a lazy, grey day. I am still sitting around in my pj's.
I am supposed to meet up with Diana tonight and catch Big John Miller Band at the Afterthought. That means I need to shower, dress, put on make up and go outside. I am psyching myself up for it. It is a shame when you have to give yourself a pep talk to make you leave the house. I still have this croupy crud in my chest and it just will not go away. I am sure the rain will help tonight!! :-) At least the Afterthought is totally non smoking. Maybe tomorrow will be much more productive.
UPDATE: I decided to back out and received a message from Diana that she was backing out, as well. So I think the stars were aligned to keep me in - which was fine with me. I showered, put on clean pjs and am vegging inside a warm, dry house tonight. Still hacking and coughing but I am warm and dry.
Sushi Dog
Michael and I went to Mt Fuji Thursday night. We ordered more than we could eat and brought about half of it home. Maya loves Sushi! She particularly likes the vegetarian asparagus roll and the eel. Maya loves asparagus period. I buy pickled white asparagus to snack on and when I pull that jar out of the fridge... she goes crazy for it. Shes a funny little doggie
Plus, I think she also sings Mustang Sally.
Mustang Sally
How many bands does it take to play Mustang Sally?
All of them! Enough said.
Brrrr Baby It's Cold Inside
Yes baby, its cold inside my apartment in Memphis. I arrived tonight to find it 52 degrees inside. Ok that is not freezing BUT come on it is cold!! I could not get the heat (or air) to work at all. I called the office, no answer. I had Michael look on the website to see if he could find a maintenance number (the office number - again no answer). I decided to look on line myself and found that for after hours maintenance emergencies ( come on it is an emergency right? ) you call, guess what, yep the office. I tried one more time - you know just in case they somehow turned on the answering machine or something and -- no answer. Is anyone surprised? I know it has been awhile since I have bitched about the management of this place because it has gotten a lot better since Alco took over but there ought to be a way to contact them for after hour maintenance needs. Maybe I should start a fire on the patio...oh wait my little grill was stolen but, hey, they left the charcoal.. hmmmm!
So here I sit wrapped up and cold. I am going to make some coffee because that is, at least, hot! I have hot water so it is something with the unit. I have not been here since Dec 21 - so no telling how long it has been cold in here. I should not really have much of an Memphis Light, Gas & Water bill for sure!!
I am even tempted to get back out and go buy a space heater somewhere.... maybe Walgreens would have one of those little ones I could put near me and then in the bathroom in the morning. I dread the thought of a shower and getting out in this cold apartment --- NHO big time huh?
Just as I am trying to get over this killer cough and congestion.
Send me some warmth... cause baby it's cold inside.
Craft Room Reorganization
I finally got around to reorganizing and cleaning out my "craft room". Michael hung shelves for me last week. It really helped get things off my workspace and out of the way! I also had room for my maniacal clown (on the right) which was a birthday gift from my friend Jim. Although it is very small, I also put up my day of the dead band Shadowbox from Mexico on the left below the shelves. I strung a cool little hanger thingy with some of my favorite pics on it. I can change those out as I like. I also hung a couple of prints from my days in Thailand, so I have good memories to look at in my workspace. On the right, the drawer things hold current projects/pages, supplies, embellishments, chipboard stuff, oversized embellishments. On the left, a desk organizer holds my alphabets, sayings and decorative rub ons, stickers, etc.. I sorted those into file folders so they are very easy to find. 
My workspace is actually a piece from a 1950s farmhouse. It is a metal "bar" like thing. It is curved on the end and has shelves on the curved end and on the right side. So I stuck all sorts of paper pieces, small cardstock, art supplies, paints, chalks, etc. The piece is taller than a desk, so I like that. 
The wall to the immediate left is a wall of built in shelves. The bottom ones go across the entire wall and I have lots of books, etc on the left side and kept my art/craft stuff limited to the right side. As you can see it holds cardstock, albums and more supplies. I also have an old armoire to the right that is painted cream and I keep a lot of stuff in it, as well. On the wall where I stood to take the pics is a small couch and a side table so I can kick back and read. Well, ok, Maya is the one who uses it mostly so it is just a big dog bed. I know it is not the "typical" scrapbooking/art area but I like it and it works for me. I do more than scrap in the space as I really like to do collage and altered art projects, as well. Yes, the wall really is the color of a Hershey Bar and, yes, so is the ceiling. Nothing like a milk chocolate room to envelope you as you work!!Labels: craft room, scrapbook organization
Uhhh Ooookkkaaayyy!
So it is sniffle time again around here. Double UGH! At Christmas - Jen & Emily both had bad colds, I avoided it. Mom has been sick the past several days and I thought I had cruised through the holidays without it (not that I did not have other issues) then yesterday it started with the sneezing. Today I woke up with the full fledge stuffy nose, that alternates between running - sometimes runny on one side and stuffed on the other. So I now look like Rudolph with the red nose from blowing my nose all day.
I thought I would search out some info to see if there was a good over the counter medicine I could get because Sudafed was not working so well, Benadryl just makes you sleepy and more stuffed up and Dayquil was not addressing the nose thing and I do not have the cough, etc.
Lo and beh
old, I run across this. Birmingham Nasal Douche...say what? I have never heard of such a thing, have you? Yeah I have heard of it in association with, oh shall we say, another body part but never for my nose! I do not know, something about that thing disturbs me, really. Look at it - somehow calling it nasal douche and it looking like that - well it seems rather umm Freudian. Maybe it is just me but I am just going to get another box of Kleenex.
