First off, let's refresh your memory with a replay of the BBC's Christmas Ident starring David Tennant as the Doctor.....
It's cute, you probably thought, but it can't possibly be considered as part of the official canon for 'Doctor Who'.
I say, why not?
Toobworld Central accepts that Santa Claus is an established character in the TV Universe. The real Santa Claus has shown up in the main Toobworld of Earth Prime-Time in 'Bewitched', 'I Love Lucy', and several others. He has been spotted in several other TV shows that take place in alternate TV dimensions, like that 'Twilight Zone' episode of "The Night Of The Meek". And at least one of the TV adaptations of "Miracle On 34th Street" (either the one starring Thomas Mitchell or the Ed Wynn version) deserve to be considered for the main Toobworld. (I'd send the Sebastian Cabot TV movie off to an alternate dimension.)
And if Santa Claus exists in Toobworld, then so do his flying reindeer. Even if these ungulates seen in the Christmas Ident aren't the famous members of Santa's sleigh team, they're part of the special herd that Santa breeds at the North Pole.
All the Doctor had to do was hitch these beasties up to the TARDIS and then guide them to pull it out of the snow drift. After that, their basic nature to haul a sled through the air took over and the Doctor got a special ride this past December.
As to why he was at the North Pole, I guess we have to assume he was visiting Santa Claus and perhaps even helping him out with some alien invasion of the workshop. Demonic toy attack, maybe? Whatever the reason, maybe there's a fanficcer out there who will supply the story....
BCnU!
Thursday, December 31, 2009
AS SEEN ON TV: PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA'Doctor Who'
AS PLAYED BY:
Physically: TBD, John Simm
Vocally: President Obama, John Simm
Until "The End Of Time (Part One)", RTD was content in using fictional presidents for the United States (one of whom was to be found in a parallel universe). But in this outing, he aligned his corner of Toobworld to coincide with the TV Universe in general and with the real world: Barack Obama was the POTUS, and he was scheduled to deliver a major address on Christmas Day with a plan to fix the financial situation.
Let's set aside that Christmas Day messages are a British thang, not American (although Obama has been known to intrude on our TV viewing at the worst possible time for the audience). Other than the simplistic view that Obama single-handedly knew of a way to revitalize the economy, Toobworld Central is glad that RTD now aligned the "Whoniverse" with the rest of Toobworld by acknowledging Obama is the President.What came before can be splained away with a reference to events that transpired in another British TV series, 'Primeval'. Because of something that Nick and Helen Cutter did in the prehistoric past, the whole timeline for Earth was changed by the time they got back. For the most part, everything seemed the same but there were notable differences - the accelleration of the Anomaly Research Center and the new name and personality for Claudia Brown (into Jenny Lewis).
This massive reboot also wiped out several fictional presidents who would have kept certain shows from being in the timeline for the main Toobworld, including 'Doctor Who'. (Another show brought back into the fold was 'Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea' - President McNeill would be replaced by Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford.)So until the Doctor can put right what once went wrong (as we know he must!), President Barack Obama currently looks like the Master in Earth Prime-Time.....
BCnU!
THE "WHO'S ON FIRST" KICK-OFF
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
Here it is, from 'Robot Chicken', the inspiration for the celebration of "Who's On First":
This is the second annual salute to 'Doctor Who' on the first day of the year. Hopefully, just about every other hour during the day we'll be putting up another post about the series. And since tonight marks the last (regular - one can always hope) appearance by David Tennant as the Tenth Incarnation of the Doctor, most of those articles will be dealing with Tennant's tenure as Ten.....
BCnU!
Here it is, from 'Robot Chicken', the inspiration for the celebration of "Who's On First":
This is the second annual salute to 'Doctor Who' on the first day of the year. Hopefully, just about every other hour during the day we'll be putting up another post about the series. And since tonight marks the last (regular - one can always hope) appearance by David Tennant as the Tenth Incarnation of the Doctor, most of those articles will be dealing with Tennant's tenure as Ten.....BCnU!
Happy New Year...Go Pirates
"Should old acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind? Should old acquaintance be forgot, and auld lang syne?"
'Goin' Native: Indian Comedy Slam' hit on Showtime
Showtime's New Year Eve hit: 'Goin' Native: Indian Comedy Slam'
LOS ANGELES -- This is real funny stuff. “Goin’ Native: The American Indian Comedy Slam” features comedian Charlie Hill with Jim Ruel, J.R. Redwater, Marc Yafee, Vaughn Eagle bear, Larry Omaha and Howie Miller. Showtime aired Goin’ Native on New Years Eve. It will be available 'On Demand' January 1 -- 28, 2010.
Native: Indian Comedy Slam'
http://www.sho.com/site/schedules/product.do?episodeid=134477&seriesid=0&seasonid=0
Showtime Description
This history-making original concert showcases the funniest Native American comedians performing today, gathered together on one stage. Featured alongside host Charlie Hill are Larry Omaha, Howie Miller and four up-and-comers making their mark on the standup scene: Marc Yaffee, Jim Rule, Vaughn Eagle Bear and JR Redwater.
Mexican Editor Detained, Interrogated
Human Rights News
December 31, 2009
Mexican Editor Detained, Interrogated
Frontera NorteSur
As Mexico prepared to mark the twin anniversary of its 1810 War of
Independence and 1910 Revolution- events ushered in with cries of freedom
and justice- a prominent newsman was detained and interrogated because of
an article he wrote.
Juan Angulo Osorio, general director and co-founder of the Guerrero daily
El Sur, was forcibly detained December 29 by six agents of the Guerrero
Ministerial Police (PIM) at El Sur’s office in the state capital of
Chilpancingo and hustled off to the state attorney general’s office for a
round of questioning. Before he was let go several hours later, Angulo was
questioned by state prosecutors Jesus Miranda and Fernando Monreal about
bloody episodes that rocked Guerrero in 2009.
The PIM is headed by Valentin Diaz Reyes, a former military man who
commanded the embattled Delicias division of the Ciudad Juarez municipal
police before he was appointed the director of the state police force by
the administration of Governor Zeferino Torreblanca last October. Diaz’s
superior is Albertico Guinto Sierra, the temporary state attorney general.
Angulo’s detention arose from a September 3 editorial he authored about
the previous month’s assassination of Armando Chavarria, the coordinator
of the Guerrero State Legislature who was widely considered a
gubernatorial hopeful in upcoming elections. Chavarria had also once
served as state secretary for the Torreblanca administration, a sensitive
post in which he was privy to matters of internal security.
Earlier instructed by the state attorney general’s office to render
testimony about the editorial, Angulo legally challenged the order on the
grounds of press freedom. Angulo also received protective orders from the
Guerrero State Human Rights Commission and the National Human Rights
Commission (CNDH), both of which were ignored when the veteran journalist
was detained this week during Mexico’s long holiday season, a time when
government activities are largely suspended and the public’s attention
focused on family and festivities.
Arguing he was protected by Articles Six and Seven of the Mexican
Constitution, Angulo said after his release he cannot be “bothered by any
authority due to my writings or what is published in the newspaper for
which I am director general.”
Angulo said he told prosecutors his only relationship with Armando
Chavarria was the latter’s status as a source of information.
According to El Sur, Angulo also was asked about Raul Lucas Lucas and
Manuel Ponce Rosas, two indigenous Mixtec leaders kidnapped and murdered
nearly one year ago, and Omar Guerrero Solis, a purported field commander
of the Revolutionary Army of the Insurgent People (ERPI) who was reported
slain in murky circumstances last November.
“I believe the state attorney general’s office is not obligated to follow
orders that violate the Constitution of the Republic,” Angulo said, “even
though these orders come from the state’s governor, who has been the main
one interested in seeing me render legal testimony in a case in which the
only knowledge I have is from my journalistic work.”
Pressed by an El Sur reporter, interim State Attorney General Guinto denied
Angulo was detained because of his writings or due to political pressure
from Governor Torreblanca.
“I reiterate that at no moment was he detained because of his journalistic
work or for his articles,” Guinto insisted, stressing that Angulo was not
forced to testify or treated badly by officers. Without elaborating,
Guerrero’s top law enforcement official added that authorities were
pursuing four lines of investigation in the Chavarria murder.
Alerted to Angulo’s detention, reporters from different media outlets and
human rights advocates quickly mobilized outside the state attorney
general’s headquarters. Leaders of the PRD, PRI, PT and Convergencia
political parties, environmentalists and social activists, joined by the
international organization Reporters without Borders, all were among
numerous voices condemning the detention.
Ironically, Angulo was detained by an administration headed by a political
figure, Zeferino Torreblanca, whose career as a federal congressman,
Acapulco mayor and then state governor was greatly boosted by El Sur. In
the 1980s and 1990s, Torreblanca was widely considered a champion of good
government, human rights and political tolerance.
El Sur was in the vanguard of the new critical Mexican press which emerged
after the 1980s, and played a vital regional role in the movement to
democratize Mexico and move it away from a one-party state. Over the
years, the newspaper’s journalists have been the target of telephoned and
direct verbal threats, lawsuits and other forms of intimidation.
Members of the center-left Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD), a
grouping which ran Torreblanca as their successful gubernatorial candidate
in 2005, were among the early supporters of El Sur’s journalistic
initiative. However, El Sur’s editorial line has been highly critical of
many of Torreblanca’s policies since he assumed the governorship.
Nearing the end of his term, Torreblanca’s tenure in office has been
characterized by extreme bouts of narco-violence, which have reached a
crescendo in recent months. Of 1,136 murders registered in Guerrero from
January to mid-October 2009, at least 706 were linked by authorities to
organized crime. Among this year’s victims were three journalists from
different media: Juan Raul Ibarra Ramirez, Juan Carlos Hernandez and Juan
Daniel Martinez Gil.
Angulo’s detention capped a grim year for the Mexican press. Thirteen
journalists were reported murdered in 2009, and Ciudad Juarez journalist
Ricardo Chavez Aldana of Radio Canon sought political asylum in the United
States this month after receiving death threats. Chavez was the fourth
journalist to flee Ciudad Juarez within the past 18 months.
A recent CNDH report documented steadily rising attacks against
journalists since 2000, the year of Mexico’s much-heralded democratic
transition. In a separate report, the non -governmental Freedom of
Expression Foundation slammed conditions confronted by Mexican
journalists. Without freedom of expression, warned the foundation’s
president Armando Prida Huerta, journalists have “absolutely nothing.”
In the case of El Sur’s Juan Angulo, the CNDH has initiated a complaint
against the Guerrero state attorney general’s office for violating the
right of free expression.
Sources: El Sur, December 30 and 31, 2009. Articles by Jesus Saaveda,
Daniel Velzaquez, Karenine Trigo Molina, Claudia Venalonzo, Noe Aguirre
Orozco, and editorial staff. La Jornada (Guerrero edition), December 24
and 30, 2009. Articles by Citlal Giles Sanchez and Marlen Castro.
Proceso/Apro, December 15 and 30, 2009. Articles by Miguel Cabildo S. and
editorial staff. Cimacnoticias.com, December 22, 2009. CEPET, December 14,
2009. Press release. El Universal, October 29, 2009. Article by Juan
Cervantes.
Frontera NorteSur (FNS): on-line, U.S.-Mexico border news
Center for Latin American and Border Studies New Mexico State University
Las Cruces,New Mexico
For a free electronic subscription email: fnsnews@nmsu.ed
December 31, 2009
Mexican Editor Detained, Interrogated
Frontera NorteSur
Guerrero editor questioned about two indigenous Mixtec leaders kidnapped and murdered and Omar Guerrero Solis, a purported field commander of the Revolutionary Army of the Insurgent People (ERPI) slain in murky circumstances.
As Mexico prepared to mark the twin anniversary of its 1810 War of
Independence and 1910 Revolution- events ushered in with cries of freedom
and justice- a prominent newsman was detained and interrogated because of
an article he wrote.
Juan Angulo Osorio, general director and co-founder of the Guerrero daily
El Sur, was forcibly detained December 29 by six agents of the Guerrero
Ministerial Police (PIM) at El Sur’s office in the state capital of
Chilpancingo and hustled off to the state attorney general’s office for a
round of questioning. Before he was let go several hours later, Angulo was
questioned by state prosecutors Jesus Miranda and Fernando Monreal about
bloody episodes that rocked Guerrero in 2009.
The PIM is headed by Valentin Diaz Reyes, a former military man who
commanded the embattled Delicias division of the Ciudad Juarez municipal
police before he was appointed the director of the state police force by
the administration of Governor Zeferino Torreblanca last October. Diaz’s
superior is Albertico Guinto Sierra, the temporary state attorney general.
Angulo’s detention arose from a September 3 editorial he authored about
the previous month’s assassination of Armando Chavarria, the coordinator
of the Guerrero State Legislature who was widely considered a
gubernatorial hopeful in upcoming elections. Chavarria had also once
served as state secretary for the Torreblanca administration, a sensitive
post in which he was privy to matters of internal security.
Earlier instructed by the state attorney general’s office to render
testimony about the editorial, Angulo legally challenged the order on the
grounds of press freedom. Angulo also received protective orders from the
Guerrero State Human Rights Commission and the National Human Rights
Commission (CNDH), both of which were ignored when the veteran journalist
was detained this week during Mexico’s long holiday season, a time when
government activities are largely suspended and the public’s attention
focused on family and festivities.
Arguing he was protected by Articles Six and Seven of the Mexican
Constitution, Angulo said after his release he cannot be “bothered by any
authority due to my writings or what is published in the newspaper for
which I am director general.”
Angulo said he told prosecutors his only relationship with Armando
Chavarria was the latter’s status as a source of information.
According to El Sur, Angulo also was asked about Raul Lucas Lucas and
Manuel Ponce Rosas, two indigenous Mixtec leaders kidnapped and murdered
nearly one year ago, and Omar Guerrero Solis, a purported field commander
of the Revolutionary Army of the Insurgent People (ERPI) who was reported
slain in murky circumstances last November.
“I believe the state attorney general’s office is not obligated to follow
orders that violate the Constitution of the Republic,” Angulo said, “even
though these orders come from the state’s governor, who has been the main
one interested in seeing me render legal testimony in a case in which the
only knowledge I have is from my journalistic work.”
Pressed by an El Sur reporter, interim State Attorney General Guinto denied
Angulo was detained because of his writings or due to political pressure
from Governor Torreblanca.
“I reiterate that at no moment was he detained because of his journalistic
work or for his articles,” Guinto insisted, stressing that Angulo was not
forced to testify or treated badly by officers. Without elaborating,
Guerrero’s top law enforcement official added that authorities were
pursuing four lines of investigation in the Chavarria murder.
Alerted to Angulo’s detention, reporters from different media outlets and
human rights advocates quickly mobilized outside the state attorney
general’s headquarters. Leaders of the PRD, PRI, PT and Convergencia
political parties, environmentalists and social activists, joined by the
international organization Reporters without Borders, all were among
numerous voices condemning the detention.
Ironically, Angulo was detained by an administration headed by a political
figure, Zeferino Torreblanca, whose career as a federal congressman,
Acapulco mayor and then state governor was greatly boosted by El Sur. In
the 1980s and 1990s, Torreblanca was widely considered a champion of good
government, human rights and political tolerance.
El Sur was in the vanguard of the new critical Mexican press which emerged
after the 1980s, and played a vital regional role in the movement to
democratize Mexico and move it away from a one-party state. Over the
years, the newspaper’s journalists have been the target of telephoned and
direct verbal threats, lawsuits and other forms of intimidation.
Members of the center-left Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD), a
grouping which ran Torreblanca as their successful gubernatorial candidate
in 2005, were among the early supporters of El Sur’s journalistic
initiative. However, El Sur’s editorial line has been highly critical of
many of Torreblanca’s policies since he assumed the governorship.
Nearing the end of his term, Torreblanca’s tenure in office has been
characterized by extreme bouts of narco-violence, which have reached a
crescendo in recent months. Of 1,136 murders registered in Guerrero from
January to mid-October 2009, at least 706 were linked by authorities to
organized crime. Among this year’s victims were three journalists from
different media: Juan Raul Ibarra Ramirez, Juan Carlos Hernandez and Juan
Daniel Martinez Gil.
Angulo’s detention capped a grim year for the Mexican press. Thirteen
journalists were reported murdered in 2009, and Ciudad Juarez journalist
Ricardo Chavez Aldana of Radio Canon sought political asylum in the United
States this month after receiving death threats. Chavez was the fourth
journalist to flee Ciudad Juarez within the past 18 months.
A recent CNDH report documented steadily rising attacks against
journalists since 2000, the year of Mexico’s much-heralded democratic
transition. In a separate report, the non -governmental Freedom of
Expression Foundation slammed conditions confronted by Mexican
journalists. Without freedom of expression, warned the foundation’s
president Armando Prida Huerta, journalists have “absolutely nothing.”
In the case of El Sur’s Juan Angulo, the CNDH has initiated a complaint
against the Guerrero state attorney general’s office for violating the
right of free expression.
Sources: El Sur, December 30 and 31, 2009. Articles by Jesus Saaveda,
Daniel Velzaquez, Karenine Trigo Molina, Claudia Venalonzo, Noe Aguirre
Orozco, and editorial staff. La Jornada (Guerrero edition), December 24
and 30, 2009. Articles by Citlal Giles Sanchez and Marlen Castro.
Proceso/Apro, December 15 and 30, 2009. Articles by Miguel Cabildo S. and
editorial staff. Cimacnoticias.com, December 22, 2009. CEPET, December 14,
2009. Press release. El Universal, October 29, 2009. Article by Juan
Cervantes.
Frontera NorteSur (FNS): on-line, U.S.-Mexico border news
Center for Latin American and Border Studies New Mexico State University
Las Cruces,New Mexico
For a free electronic subscription email: fnsnews@nmsu.ed
Happy New Year from Chateau Gahan
So, this isn't a new home scene for most of you who frequent my blog, but it is probably one of the scenes that most captures what my home life is all about . . . coziness, a big hairy dog, squishy slip-covered furniture, grammy lamps, and a project to work on. This evening I'll forgo the bad TV (at least until 10:00 when a new Jersey Shore comes on . . . guilty as charged) and sit down at the table in the study to work on the invitations for Ali's bridal shower. And a fun project it is, especially when I've got Michael Buble singing in my ear (well, on the stereo, but I pretend to feel his warm breath in my ear as he croons sweet nothings).Here's to a wonderful 2010. To those who visit me and those whom I visit. We're truly a big happy family. And that doesn't go unappreciated by me, not at all. I am blessed by each and every one of you.
A Gift for the Birds
Every year around the holidays I get the birds a little something special. And so this year, from my kitchen sink, this is what I am looking at most of the day. 
Happy New Years!!!!
Another Year...where does the time go?
Happy New Years to you and yours.= )
Hope 2010 brings lots of creativity and contentment in your endeavors.
Lots of love and happiness in your home.
Lots of success in every aspect of your life.
Happy New Years to you and yours.= )
Hope 2010 brings lots of creativity and contentment in your endeavors.
Lots of love and happiness in your home.
Lots of success in every aspect of your life.
I have big thangs going on in 2010 so stay tuned!
See ya next year!Pictures In An Empty Room
"Sleep takes off the costume of circumstance, arms us with terrible freedom, so that every will rushes to deed. A skillful man reads his dreams for his self-knowledge; yet not the details, but the quality. What part does he play in them - a cheerful, manly part, or a poor, drivelling part? However monstrous and grotesque their apparitions, they have a substantial truth."
(Ralph Waldo Emerson)
CROSSING ZONE: "WALKING DISTANCE" & "MAD MEN"
Thanks to my buddy NYMarkie, I own the complete set of 'The Twilight Zone' episodes. And yet I went through the New Year's marathon schedule and programmed my DVR to pick up a couple of them for me. (You ever find yourself watching a show as it's broadcast, even though you own it on DVD? I know Joe Bua is like me in doing that with 'Doctor Who' when those episodes are on BBC-A.)I tuned in just as "Walking Distance" was about to begin. This episode, starring Gig Young as 36 year old advertising executive Martin Sloan.is probably the best example of what 'The Twilight Zone' really was about at its heart. (Martin Sloan looks older than 36 - but considering his state of mind at the beginning of the episode, that's probably what accounts for his aging within the show. In real life, Gig Young was 46 at the time.)
Martin Sloan travels back to Homewood, NY, where he grew up, and finds himself back in the town at the same time as when he was a boy there. Learning a painful lesson from the experience, Martin headed back to NYC with a fresh outlook to begin life anew as vice-president in charge of media at his ad agency.
Which got me to thinking....
I'd love to see a scene next year in 'Mad Men' in which Harry Crane, as media exec for SCD&P, gets to meet his counterpart at another company and have it turn out to be Martin Sloan. I'm sure they can find an actor out there who looks like Gig Young at that age, be it 36 or 46....
BCnU!
Slicks, Sleet, Seven Speeds, And A Snow Bunny Sighting: The Wednesday Ride
As much as I hate to admit it, Mongo spends more time watching the Weather Channel than a seventy five year old retiree living in Boca..."I loves me some Stephanie Abrams!" The upside to my meteorological fetish is that I have a good idea of how to plan my riding for each particular week. Unfortunately, the weather around here has been wet and cold for a couple of months and my riding has been a lot more specific because of it. Yesterday was a perfect example.
Mongo decided to do the 23/2300 Hammerfest loop on my mountain bike, Li'l Pony Express. I figured hauling a 23 lb hardtail with compact gearing around the course would be a challenge...I was correct. Mongo had about a five to ten minute head start on two of his teammates (who didn't invite me on the super-secret "fast guys only" ride with them), and I was pushing it pretty hard. Add in the fact that it was close to freezing, and sleeting occasionally, and it turned out to be a doozy.
Before the ride, I decided to use the mountain gearing to my advantage and never get out of the saddle when climbing. Even on the steepest inclines, I was in the 32 or 22 ring spinning my big ass off. I really felt it in my hips afterwards, but it turned out to be a great ride and workout. I'll definitely be taking LPE around the course again soon.
Speaking of hips, Mongo ran into his "Arch Nemesis" at the shop before the ride. I hadn't seen him in months, and word on the street was that he wasn't riding at all. After talking with him, he explained that the reason behind his lack of riding was due to an undiagnosed hip problem causing him chronic pain... that, and he also had a broken vagina.
DATELINE: TOOBWORLD
I've been setting up a lot of blog posts to run tomorrow - it looks like I may get a complete 24 hour cycle, well, near as. As such I never noticed that as of Tuesday's "As Seen On TV" post about James McNeill Whistler, the Inner Toob blog had reached 4500 posts!So at some point in 2010, I'll probably hit 5000!
BCnU!
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
AS SEEN ON TV: NERO
We began the year in the daily "As Seen On TV" gallery with the Roman emperor Nero, so I thought we should end 2009 the same way.....
NERO
AS SEEN IN:
"Riverworld"
AS PLAYED BY:
Jonathan Cake
This was Nero reborn on another planet. So we can accept him as being the same as any official version of the fiddle-playin' version emperor. It's just that his new body - like all of those reborn on Riverworld - has been fine-tuned. And yet it is still recognizable to those who knew him in life..... 
The Nero of the main Toobworld could be represented by the character as played by Christopher Biggins in 'I, Claudius'. But I like to think of all the characters in that fantastic min-series as being the "ghosts" in the memory of Emperor Claudius.
Then there's the Nero of 'Doctor Who' showcased on January 1st. Since the Doctor's time machine travels in Time And Relative Dimensions In Space, he could be a Nero from an alternate TV dimension should any Zonks arise from his portrayal.
Speaking of ghosts, as for the ghost of Nero who "appeared" in an episode of 'The Time Tunnel', no problem. All of the ghosts on Earth were transported to Riverworld to be reunited with the perfected clones of their bodies at some point in the near future.....
We who are about to blog, salute you!And Happy New Year!
BCnU!
March to End Arpaio Reign of Terror
Saturday, January 16, 2010, 9:00am - 3:00pmFalcon Park to Tent City! Phoenix, Arizona
Saturday, January 16 2010 is the National day of action against Joe Arpaio and the 287(g) agreement. Join us and march against the injustices and separation of families caused by the 287(g) and Joe Arpaio. We will be demanding that the Obama administration take direct action on the issues affecting our communities.
Start Time: 10:00am/Location: Falcon Park/End Location: Tent City Jail
One year after the new presidential administration and Arpaio continues his reign of terror, collaborates with ICE in the jails, and escalated his attacks. In February, 2009 5,000 people took to the streets to demand an end to the racial profiling and out-of-control enforcement of Sheriff Arpaio's department. Join us as we march again to elevate our demands, protect our communities, and stand for human rights.
US Hall of Shame
By Brenda NorrellCensored News
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com
It is interesting that President Obama is vacationing in Hawaii and playing golf, while so much of America is cold and hungry this holiday. Elderly, on small fixed incomes, are finding it harder than ever to buy fuel this winter. Many elderly, like Navajos, still chop wood to heat their homes. When they are sick, who is there to chop wood for them? Who is remembering them this Christmas and New Year?
--Censored News
Pine Ridge residents running low on fuel and food
Mary Garrigan
Rapid City Journal
Lloyd Wilcox hauled groceries home on a sled Tuesday to a house without heat, days after a severe winter storm paralyzed the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and left an estimated 800 homes there without propane.
Five days after the storm hit on Christmas Eve, reservation residents are still facing unplowed roads, electrical outages, broken water pipes and diminishing supplies of food and fuel.
On Tuesday, Oglala Sioux Tribe President Theresa Two Bulls declared a state of emergency for the reservation. Two Bulls and the tribe’s Emergency Management Team conferred Tuesday with representatives from the state Office of Emergency Management and road departments in Fall River, Custer and Haakon counties to coordinate snow removal efforts.
Maureen Last Horse agrees that her broken water pipes, impassable road and lack of propane constitute an emergency at her isolated home about 7 miles southwest of Kyle. Read more ...
http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/news/article_139d544e-f4c8-11de-8d92-001cc4c002e0.html
Reader Comments:
"And the 9 Million this little vacation cost us would buy enough wood for everyone in Navajo land!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Navajo Reader Comment:
"Thank- you Brenda, I know my parents don't have anybody to chop wood for them, and your right when they get sick nobody is there to do it for them, they are alone on a mesa.
Aheeh!!"
Camwhoring
Decided to put on some blusher, lipstick, and dot some fake freckles on to camwhore with the new camera!!
Three pictures only lah... I think not bad though! I like my L10 more now! Please stop saying shit about it!
With flash
With flash
No flash
Think the fake freckles a bit fail but still, must try new things!!!
Lower lashes are drawn on (except in last picture, forgot to put), top lashes are extensions. Not wearing contacts. Photoshopped brown. And yes I know the left eye's lashes are drooping. I need to get them fixed!
Off to play mahjong! :D
Three pictures only lah... I think not bad though! I like my L10 more now! Please stop saying shit about it!
With flash
With flash
No flash
Think the fake freckles a bit fail but still, must try new things!!!
Lower lashes are drawn on (except in last picture, forgot to put), top lashes are extensions. Not wearing contacts. Photoshopped brown. And yes I know the left eye's lashes are drooping. I need to get them fixed!
Off to play mahjong! :D
The Lost World by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
If you're in the mood for a book with a more classical twist that still draws your attention, this is the book for you.Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the genius who brought you Sherlock Holmes wrote The Lost World, a story about a London reporter in search of adventure to win over the heart of a girl. Cliched slightly? Not really because this book was written before there were such things as cliches (well, almost).
Any who, the book begins with a young lad named Ed Malone. Ed just had his heart broken by a girl; she told him she could never love a man who didn't have an adventure to his name. Luckily for Ed Malone, he winds up on one of the greatest adventures ever. When forced to interview the hot-tempered Professor Challenger, Ed sees his opportunity for at least some minimal action. What he receives is an offer he never excepts. Professor Challenger invites him to a sort of press conference for science. Challenger shocks his audience with a fascinating story of dinosaurs in the present world. Words are spoken and shouted, and the next thing Malone knows, he's off to South America to discover the lost world. He faces challenges along the way, including betrayal, dinosaurs, hairy ape men, and much, much more.
Overall, the book is extremely exciting, and it kept me on the edge of my seat right up to the end. If you're worried that classical literature is much to wordy for you to handle, don't be. This book is easy to read. If you're wanting to break into classical literature, this could be the book for you. 4 stars out of five, two thumbs up.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
AFRICAN ECHOES
I caught the repeat of the "Tyrant" episode of 'House', and I never caught any mention of the actual country that President Dibala was ruling in Africa.So that means we can offer up a few nominees to be that "missing link" with some other TV series:
African East Victoria ("Mission: Impossible")
Bocamo ("Mission: Impossible")
Kembu ("Jake 2.0")
Ghalea ("Mission: Impossible")
Limbawe ("Airwolf")
N'Shoba ("Capitol")
The Nyamba Protectorate ("Danger Man")
Sahelise Republic ("The West Wing")
Topango ("The Girl From U.N.C.L.E.")
Western Natumba/Natsumba ("The Man From U.N.C.L.E.")
Equatorial Kuhndu ("The West Wing")
Of those, Equatorial Kuhndu and the Sahelise Republic belong in an alternate TV dimension, so they're out of the running. Some of those that were mentioned in TV shows that were broadcast later than 'Mission: Impossible', Kembu, Limbawe and N'Shoba, could have been some of the earlier countries renamed after a new regime took over.
I'm not making any definitive choice; it's not my place to lock it down without further clues to tie them together. But I like the idea of it being the Nyamba Protectorate, if only because I enjoy the vision of Dr. Gregory House in the same space as John Drake.....
BCnU!
Of those, Equatorial Kuhndu and the Sahelise Republic belong in an alternate TV dimension, so they're out of the running. Some of those that were mentioned in TV shows that were broadcast later than 'Mission: Impossible', Kembu, Limbawe and N'Shoba, could have been some of the earlier countries renamed after a new regime took over.
I'm not making any definitive choice; it's not my place to lock it down without further clues to tie them together. But I like the idea of it being the Nyamba Protectorate, if only because I enjoy the vision of Dr. Gregory House in the same space as John Drake.....
BCnU!
AS SEEN ON TV: MATA HARI
MATA HARIAS SEEN IN:
'The Improbable History Of Mr. Peabody'
AS VOICED BY:
Character never speaks
From Wikipedia:
Mata Hari was the stage name of Margaretha Geertruida "Grietje" Zelle (7 August 1876, Leeuwarden – 15 October 1917, Vincennes), a Frisian (Dutch) exotic dancer and courtesan who was executed by firing squad for espionage during World War I.
During World War I, the Netherlands remained neutral. As a Dutch subject, Margaretha Zelle was thus able to cross national borders freely. To avoid the battlefields, she travelled between France and the Netherlands via Spain and Britain, and her movements inevitably attracted attention. She was a courtesan to many high-ranking allied military officers during this time. 
On 13 February, 1917, Mata Hari was arrested in her room at the Hotel Plaza Athénée in Paris. She was put on trial, accused of spying for Germany and consequently causing the deaths of at least 50,000 soldiers. She was found guilty and was executed by firing squad on 15 October, 1917, at the age of 41.BCnU!
Single Lens Reflex
Just bought a new DSLR yesterday at $1,200!!!
(From this point on I shall refer to my DSLR as SLR coz I can't be bothered with the D and nobody really buys SLRs anyway don't be nitpicky and stupid)
Welcoming the Lumix L10 to the family! Which includes just another Lumix, the awesome LX3. Oh and my lousy blackberry camera. LOL
Ok here's why I bought it.
I've been wanting to get a good camera for a long time now, especially coz whenever I do advertorials that require camwhoring, I realised that it's super duper hard when I am alone at 3am at night shooting myself!!!
The pictures I post are of course the best of the lot so you don't realise how utterly horrific the others are.
Here's the embarrassing way I do it:
It is extra loserish coz i'm like trying to act sultry/chic/funny whatever at 3am while alone in my room with some products.
The first few photos will have me half out of frame, or funny objects in the background, or the product out of the frame.
It's really incredibly frustrating and a totally waste of time.
I know these problems still have nothing to do with an SLR, but I'm getting there.
So one day, I saw that Lumix has an SLR...
DIGRESSING!! That Lumix I was talking about is an SLR only loosely speaking. It's a micro four thirds.
Confusing right? BLOODY PHOTOGRAPHY JARGON. Wait, I'll explain in simple terms.
I asked this simple question that day on twitter and all I got were photography jargon. WHAT IS AN SLR???
Or rather, what makes an SLR QUALIFY to be an SLR?
Is it weight? Coz they sure are all heavy. Is it ugliness of the camera? Coz most of them are really hideous too.
But no.
It's 2 things:
1) SLR = Single Lens Reflex. I'm gonna be corrected by photography know-it-alls, but basically this refers to a mirror inside the camera which reflects what your lens is capturing into the viewfinder (thing people put their eye at in the past. Remember film cameras??)
2) SLRs have removeable lens. You can buy new lens and fix them on the, erm, camera. Is it still a camera if it doesn't have lens? Don't ask me.
End of digression!!
So basically that day I saw a Lumix, and it's only loosely called an SLR coz they removed the mirror thingy to make the camera smaller. But same functionality lah.
This Lumix is RED!! A nasty, brownish red. But red nonetheless among black cameras!!
For those shutterbugs who do know, this camera is the Lumix G1.
So I asked the salesperson to let me take a look. He seems to be pretty friendly so I thought I'd give it a try and CAMWHORE!!!
Took the camera up, was ready to snap when the salesman said, "Hold on, see, you can do this, much easier!"
AND THE FELLOW SNAPPED THE SCREEN OPEN TO FACE ME!!
IT CAN SWIVEL!!!!!!!!!!
It took about 5 secs for me to realise how much easier this will make my life and I erupted into tears of joy!!
So, at that point, I decided one of the criteria for my SLR will be to have a swivel screen!
One of the best inventions EVER or what?
So.
After a lot of research, came to the conclusion that the only newer SLRs with swivel screens were Panasonic G1, Gh1 and Nikon D5000.
And out of these, the GH1 is the chioest. Comes in GOLD:
Still ugly coz the sides of the lens are still black but a vast improvement nonetheless.
Combined with the fact that I LOVE the soft skin mode function on my LX3 (checked and it's available on the GH1), I decided on the GH1.
Couldn't sleep. Dreamt all night of the GH1. Reached Sim Lim in uber excitement. Found a shop that sells it.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
BUT IT WAS $2,230.
Good god.
I almost fainted. (And just for comparison other SLRs are as cheap as $699)
The only reason why it's so expensive is that it's "HD" lens and it can take HD video, which I honestly cannot give two hoots about. So high quality for what I'm also not shooting MTV! That and that it can zoom pretty far, which I also don't care about! I wanna use it to camwhore!
I just couldn't bring myself to pay so much extra for something I didn't need. It's $1,000 more than other equally-good-for-photography SLRs!
So. Very disappointed and confused.
Shopkeeper introduced me to the L10, which is about 1 year old and one of the last Lumix SLRs to use Leica lens!
(Leica lens are famous for being mad awesome)
The newer Lumix SLRs stopped using Leica lens... I presume coz it's too expensive? GH1 doesn't use Leica lens.
The L10 is a lot bigger, and black, and sadly enough no soft skin mode coz it's not invented yet, but selling for $1,200.
The cheapest standalone Leica lens in the shop were selling for $1,300, so I thought it's a pretty good deal!
He also assured me Leica lens take better photos (this part wins the Nikon D5000), so I was already half convinced.
On top of that he took a photo for me OF me in the shop and it's MAD chio!! SO I BOUGHT IT!!!
Too bad that picture is in the shop's SD card.
But soo far... Not too impressed with it. The flash, hoisted on top of the camera, casts a shadow on the bottom frame of photos coz it's blocked by the lens, which are too long!
And lao niang's surely not gonna change lenses coz my lens is a good one!! I guess I'd have to buy one of those external flashes but I don't want it too bright either! Grrrr why like this?
I have not camwhored with it yet so I dunno lah... Maybe it would take awesome photos of me, which is the MOST important. LOL. I'm lazy to put make up to take pics lah!
Here are some sample shoots I randomly took of things in the house:
Room + daybed
A pic of unwilling Mike... See the shadow cast by the flash? Tragic.
Mike disbelieving my "flash casting a shadow" theory, somehow testing it out with his leg. LOL... Sexy!
That's it! Think I'd snap more tomorrow.
Learnt a nifty little photoshop trick from Priscilla (I can never spell this name) that's why the colours are so mad chio!!! The original photos don't look like that but I hate posting ugly pics so there.
How do you think the photos compare to the LX3's?
(From this point on I shall refer to my DSLR as SLR coz I can't be bothered with the D and nobody really buys SLRs anyway don't be nitpicky and stupid)
Welcoming the Lumix L10 to the family! Which includes just another Lumix, the awesome LX3. Oh and my lousy blackberry camera. LOL
Ok here's why I bought it.
I've been wanting to get a good camera for a long time now, especially coz whenever I do advertorials that require camwhoring, I realised that it's super duper hard when I am alone at 3am at night shooting myself!!!
The pictures I post are of course the best of the lot so you don't realise how utterly horrific the others are.
Here's the embarrassing way I do it:
I put the LX3 on a tiny $3.90 (from mustafa) tripod, and precariously balance that tripod on my swivel chair.
Then I sit on the floor in front of my cupboards (to make a nicer background), and I turn on the self-timer. Then I smile like an idiot for 10 seconds.
It is extra loserish coz i'm like trying to act sultry/chic/funny whatever at 3am while alone in my room with some products.
The first few photos will have me half out of frame, or funny objects in the background, or the product out of the frame.
It's really incredibly frustrating and a totally waste of time.
I know these problems still have nothing to do with an SLR, but I'm getting there.
So one day, I saw that Lumix has an SLR...
DIGRESSING!! That Lumix I was talking about is an SLR only loosely speaking. It's a micro four thirds.
Confusing right? BLOODY PHOTOGRAPHY JARGON. Wait, I'll explain in simple terms.
I asked this simple question that day on twitter and all I got were photography jargon. WHAT IS AN SLR???
Or rather, what makes an SLR QUALIFY to be an SLR?
Is it weight? Coz they sure are all heavy. Is it ugliness of the camera? Coz most of them are really hideous too.
But no.
It's 2 things:
1) SLR = Single Lens Reflex. I'm gonna be corrected by photography know-it-alls, but basically this refers to a mirror inside the camera which reflects what your lens is capturing into the viewfinder (thing people put their eye at in the past. Remember film cameras??)
2) SLRs have removeable lens. You can buy new lens and fix them on the, erm, camera. Is it still a camera if it doesn't have lens? Don't ask me.
End of digression!!
So basically that day I saw a Lumix, and it's only loosely called an SLR coz they removed the mirror thingy to make the camera smaller. But same functionality lah.
This Lumix is RED!! A nasty, brownish red. But red nonetheless among black cameras!!
For those shutterbugs who do know, this camera is the Lumix G1.
So I asked the salesperson to let me take a look. He seems to be pretty friendly so I thought I'd give it a try and CAMWHORE!!!
Took the camera up, was ready to snap when the salesman said, "Hold on, see, you can do this, much easier!"
AND THE FELLOW SNAPPED THE SCREEN OPEN TO FACE ME!!
IT CAN SWIVEL!!!!!!!!!!
It took about 5 secs for me to realise how much easier this will make my life and I erupted into tears of joy!!
So, at that point, I decided one of the criteria for my SLR will be to have a swivel screen!
One of the best inventions EVER or what?
So.
After a lot of research, came to the conclusion that the only newer SLRs with swivel screens were Panasonic G1, Gh1 and Nikon D5000.
And out of these, the GH1 is the chioest. Comes in GOLD:
Still ugly coz the sides of the lens are still black but a vast improvement nonetheless.
Combined with the fact that I LOVE the soft skin mode function on my LX3 (checked and it's available on the GH1), I decided on the GH1.
*************************
Couldn't sleep. Dreamt all night of the GH1. Reached Sim Lim in uber excitement. Found a shop that sells it.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
BUT IT WAS $2,230.
Good god.
I almost fainted. (And just for comparison other SLRs are as cheap as $699)
The only reason why it's so expensive is that it's "HD" lens and it can take HD video, which I honestly cannot give two hoots about. So high quality for what I'm also not shooting MTV! That and that it can zoom pretty far, which I also don't care about! I wanna use it to camwhore!
I just couldn't bring myself to pay so much extra for something I didn't need. It's $1,000 more than other equally-good-for-photography SLRs!
So. Very disappointed and confused.
Shopkeeper introduced me to the L10, which is about 1 year old and one of the last Lumix SLRs to use Leica lens!
(Leica lens are famous for being mad awesome)
The newer Lumix SLRs stopped using Leica lens... I presume coz it's too expensive? GH1 doesn't use Leica lens.
The L10 is a lot bigger, and black, and sadly enough no soft skin mode coz it's not invented yet, but selling for $1,200.
The cheapest standalone Leica lens in the shop were selling for $1,300, so I thought it's a pretty good deal!
He also assured me Leica lens take better photos (this part wins the Nikon D5000), so I was already half convinced.
On top of that he took a photo for me OF me in the shop and it's MAD chio!! SO I BOUGHT IT!!!
Too bad that picture is in the shop's SD card.
But soo far... Not too impressed with it. The flash, hoisted on top of the camera, casts a shadow on the bottom frame of photos coz it's blocked by the lens, which are too long!
And lao niang's surely not gonna change lenses coz my lens is a good one!! I guess I'd have to buy one of those external flashes but I don't want it too bright either! Grrrr why like this?
I have not camwhored with it yet so I dunno lah... Maybe it would take awesome photos of me, which is the MOST important. LOL. I'm lazy to put make up to take pics lah!
Here are some sample shoots I randomly took of things in the house:
Room + daybed
A pic of unwilling Mike... See the shadow cast by the flash? Tragic.
Mike disbelieving my "flash casting a shadow" theory, somehow testing it out with his leg. LOL... Sexy!
That's it! Think I'd snap more tomorrow.
Learnt a nifty little photoshop trick from Priscilla (I can never spell this name) that's why the colours are so mad chio!!! The original photos don't look like that but I hate posting ugly pics so there.
How do you think the photos compare to the LX3's?
Stop the Presses! Obama cuts golf game short!
The AP has another knee-pad adulation story about The Pantload breaking off his golf game for a crisis:
Shocked, I tell you! I am shocked!
KAILUA, Hawaii – President Barack Obama abruptly ended his golf outing and sped in his motorcade to his compound Monday after he learned a child of a friend was injured while playing on the beach.Of course, we are concerned about the child, but the Chicago Jesus can take time out of his golf game but can't be bothered to speak to the public about a potential terrorist act until 72 hours later?
Members of the first family were fine, a White House official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of a reluctance to discuss personal matters involving the president.
...
After a brief delay, Obama returned to the course.
Shocked, I tell you! I am shocked!
My Berklee Audition part 1
I've decided to stray from my usual article topics in a desperate dash at some bonus points. So, as weird as it is, I'll blog about my audition in Chicago on Saturday the 12th of December.I left Friday for Chicago right after school. We stopped in a suburb to visit my two stepbrothers who live together at med school. We had a dinner at a restaurant that had me feeling like I was in the twilight zone. When we walked in the guy asked us how many people we had, but then we had to wait in line and order at a cash register. So it was like steak and shake, but fast-foody-er. Ya that's a word. Then there was a bar where they served fancy wines and malted beverages, but I received a cup in which I proceeded to the soft drink machine to fill up with some soda. The food was then brought to our table in less than one minute. Very strange.
We then went to the hotel in downtown Chicago after finding the school and admiring the Christmas lights adorning the overwhelming city. The hotel was also very strange because there were three or four hotels, all on the same city block, all connected, all surrounding a very small and confusing parking garage. After walking around half of the block with two guitars, a small amp, a bag of guitar pedals and cables, and a clothes bag, we got in our hotel and went up in the elevator where my mom accidentally hit the emergency button and we listened to a guy repeat, "elevator two help, elevator two help" all the way up. Then we entered the room and the fire alarm beeps. We all then proceed to cuss, and once relaxed, call the front desk to send up a battery. A Hispanic gentleman struggled for a while, and after getting help from another Hispanic gentleman they finally replaced the battery. The two men left the room, and my mom and I leaned in and at the exact same time said, "Everyone's thinking it.....How many Mexicans does it take to change a light bulb.??" After a good laugh, I prepared for my audition and we retired to the clicking sound of wheels driving up and down the parking garage. (To be continued)...
72 Hours with the Underpants Bomber
In another one of those obligatory "me too" posts on the Underpants Bomber who wanted to give everyone else a Melvin, I thought I'd chime in with some overlong tract, bloviating about how the dithering of this administration allowed this scumbag to be treated as a criminal instead of a terrorist. However, The Architect spends almost eight minutes deconstructing the Obama administration's failure to act decisively.
I like Rove's repeated referral to this guy as being treated like some criminal "who just knocked over a 7-11". I hope Karl doesn't get tagged by the administration or its lefty-Louie followers as being RA-A-A-A-C-I-S-T because 7-11's are largely owned and managed by Muslims..
..except, of course, in Maryland, where Joe Biden thinks they are run by Indians.
Obligatory Adjunctive Commentary: O.K., I cannot let a good crisis go to waste. Where have we seen this scenario play out before? Why, of course! It was back in August 2008 in the heat of the presidential race. Russia chose that time to overrun Georgia and The Pantload - once he was briefed that it was the former Soviet satellite nation and not the state between South Carolina and Florida - shuffled out in the midst of yet another vacation and, blinking in the bright Hawaiian sunlight, proceeded to pontificate to the assembled knee-pad media. As ABC reported it:
The picture above? yes, that's our beloved Pantload-in-Chief on vacation carrying - what? - an important tome on world politics, economics, or military strategy? Naw, it's just the latest Harry Potter book. Hat tip to HillBuzz for this. You owe it to yourself to go over there and check out that post. They have a raging controversy about the scar on Obama's head. Past brain surgery or what?
It's really creepy!
I like Rove's repeated referral to this guy as being treated like some criminal "who just knocked over a 7-11". I hope Karl doesn't get tagged by the administration or its lefty-Louie followers as being RA-A-A-A-C-I-S-T because 7-11's are largely owned and managed by Muslims..
..except, of course, in Maryland, where Joe Biden thinks they are run by Indians.
Obama also condemned the Russian invasion. But he cast a wider net for advice -- including Hadley, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and his foreign policy advisors. When he spoke, he was characteristically circumspect.Of course, we all come to recognize two things now: the press will do anything to give this clown a pass and here was the first green shoots of a habit he has of dithering, triangulating, and otherwise voting present as he had done so many times in the past.
"I think it is important at this point for all sides to show restraint and to stop this armed conflict," Obama said. The candidates' responses reveal a stark difference in governing style, and both seem carefully calibrated to appeal to American voters.
The picture above? yes, that's our beloved Pantload-in-Chief on vacation carrying - what? - an important tome on world politics, economics, or military strategy? Naw, it's just the latest Harry Potter book. Hat tip to HillBuzz for this. You owe it to yourself to go over there and check out that post. They have a raging controversy about the scar on Obama's head. Past brain surgery or what?
It's really creepy!
Monday, December 28, 2009
AS SEEN ON TV: JAMES McNEILL WHISTLER
JAMES McNEILL WHISTLER
AS SEEN IN:
"The Improbably History of Mr. Peabody"
AS VOICED BY:
Paul Frees
AS SEEN IN:'Monty Python's Flying Circus'
AS PLAYED BY:
John Cleese
BONUS:
"WHISTLER'S MOTHER"[AS SEEN IN THE TOONIVERSE]
Two for Tuesday!
BCnU!
(Blog post #4500!)
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