WISH-CRAFT: AUTUMN TV

'Entourage' is winding down and you can feel it in the performances and the story-lines. Sometimes it's been almost painful to watch. (On the Toobworld front, however, it maintains a high level of "League Of Themselves" appearances that will serve well for future connections.)

One bright spot in all of this has been the opportunity to ogle - er, watch - Autumn Reeser in the role of Lizzie Grant.

I've seen her in a few things before (but not 'The O.C.' - not my thang), and I was hoping her two guest appearances on 'Human Target' might lead to her joining the cast. Instead, I see she's joining the cast of 'No Ordinary Family' as the wife's co-worker. (Hopefully they'll expand on that, even if it means she's revealed to be one of the bad guys.) But I came up with an idea for her to star in her own show, one which would build on the Past.

'Banacek'

That's right - the 1972 rotating "Mystery Movie" starring George Peppard as Thomas Banacek, a freelance insurance investigator in Boston who solved impossible thefts for a very large fee.

I see Autumn Reeser as a third generation Banacek (Please, Lord - NOT a Thomasina!) who is following in her late grandfather's footsteps.

But she's not freelance as he was; she would work for a specific firm as she's still just starting out, as good as she is.

And here's the kicker - her boss at this company would be Carlie Kirkland, the character played by Christine Belford in the original series. Although this Banacek is sporting a great track record in with recovery results, Ms. Kirkland is still antagonistic towards her. That's because she can't help holding it against Ms. Banacek that her grandfather found love and started a family with somebody else, not her.

This wouldn't have to be a network show. As it would be set in Grandpa Banacek's old stomping grounds of Boston, I think an episode of 'Leverage' would serve up nicely for a backdoor pilot.

Why did I think of 'Banacek' as a vehicle for Autumn Reeser? I just like the way that she fills out a business suit. And Thomas Banacek was always a snazzy dresser.

Besides, I just want to hear more of those phony Polish proverbs.....

BCnU!

"TRUE BLOOD" - IN MEMORIAM

Since Sunday was the night of the Emmy Awards presentation, HBO showed their own version of a memorial tribute to all the characters who've died so far on their hit series 'True Blood'.....

"MAKE IT WORK, JIMMY!"

Well..... After that gruesome bit of nastiness, how about something to cleanse the palate?

Here's the opening musical sketch from Sunday night's presentation of the 63rd annual Prime-Time Emmy Awards.

I had to look up one of these people, so I can understand if you don't know all of them.

Here are the people involved:

Jimmy Fallon
Lea Michele
Chris Colfer
Cory Monteith
Amber Riley
Tina Fey
Kate Gosselin
Jon Hamm
Betty White
Jane Lynch
Jorge Garcia
Joel McHale
Nina Dobrev
Tim Gunn
Randy Jackson

I'm pretty sure I caught everybody with that list.

My IDD friend Esther noted in Facebook that the ensemble could have used a vampire, but I guess they came close by including Nina Dobrev.

I wish Jorge Garcia had a better entrance, but seeing him next to Jon Hamm made me think - there's a buddy movie I'd like to see!

This has already been nominated for the 2010 Toobits Awards for Best League Of Themselves Appearance (Group)......

BCnU!

TRAILER OF "THE WALKING DEAD"

I already know I won't be into "The Walking Dead" for the long haul. As it will have to be sent to an alternate TV dimension because it will be a prime-time Earth overrun by zombies, it won't hold much interest for me as a Toobworld caretaker.

Besides, my interest in zombies faded after the shopping mall zombie flick by Romero back in the late 70's. (Although I may still check out "Zombieland".)

Anyhoo, just because I'm not into it, that doesn't mean I should withhold info from my visitors who might like it.

So here's the link to the trailer for this new series.....

The Walking Dead

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: CARLOS THE JACKAL

After a month that seemed to be full of outlaws, we're kicking off September with still another.....

CARLOS THE JACKAL

AS SEEN IN:
"Carlos"
(Coming in October to the Sundance Channel)

AS PLAYED BY:
Edgar Ramirez

From Wikipedia:
Ilich Ramírez Sánchez (born October 12, 1949(1949-10-12)) is a Venezuelan convicted in France. After several bungled bombings, he achieved notoriety for a 1975 raid on the OPEC headquarters in Vienna, resulting in the deaths of three people. For many years he was among the most wanted international fugitives. He is now serving a life sentence in La Santé Prison in Paris for the murder of two French agents of the DST (counter-intelligence) and an alleged informant.

Ramírez Sánchez was given the nom de guerre Carlos, when he became a member of the leftist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). Carlos was called The Jackal by The Guardian when Frederick Forsyth's novel The Day of the Jackal was reportedly found among his belongings.

BCnU!

You Want Some Of This?

"Truth is handsomer than the affectation of love. Your goodness must have some edge to it, else it is none."

(Ralph Waldo Emerson)

The Final Climb

(Photo:AFP/CyclingNews)

Even though he was French...and one of the main rivals of Mongo's boy, Greg Lemond, I always admired Laurent Fignon. A two-time Tour de France winner, he was the thinking man's racer, and he wasn't shady like another French rider of the era whose name rhymes with Bernard Hinault.

Preparing for the Winter and Obama's economy..

I thought I would take some of my money out of the stock market and invest in precious metals..

..like lead and brass.

Just sayin'

-30-

THE FINAL FRONTIER

So that's it for the August TV Western theme.

Here are a few topics for posts that I never got around to finishing the research:

BRECK'S BAD BOY
A look at Doc Holliday, as played by Peter Breck in six episodes of 'Maverick'. Hopefully I can find a way to let him stay in Earth Prime-Time as Holliday along with Douglas Fowley (the official Doc Holliday of Toobworld, from 'The Life And Legend Of Wyatt Earp').

KANSAS COUSINS
Can Earth Prime-Time support both Pete Duel and Roger Davis as Hannibal Heyes?

THE FIRST HANNIBAL HEYES
If both versions of Hannibal Heyes exist at the same time, why would their family saddle them both with that name? I think it goes back to the American Revolution and a Hessian deserter......

If the Good Lord lets me hang around for another year, I'll hopefully have them done next August.

BCnU!

OUR PAPPY, WHO ART IN HEAVEN... MAYBE

What the hell.... I know the rest of the posts today were centered around Mark Twain, but I couldn't help myself to one last article about 'Maverick' to finish off the TV Western theme.

And since it concerns another writer, one played by Kevin McCarthy who also portrayed Mark Twain on TV, why not?

Thanks to my fellow Iddiot, the Kryptonian Uncle Brian-El, I now have my own copy of "Between Time And Timbuktu" which was based on the various stories by Kurt Vonnegut.

My favorite character in the tele-play is the gentle holy man in the forests of San Lorenzo, Bokonon. A lot of this can be attributed to the fact that Kevin McCarthy played the role.

Bokonon was something of a con man, not unlike the Great and Powerful Wizard of Oz; only instead of floating down onto the island of San Lorenzo in a balloon, he washed up on its shores some 47 years before we meet him. (As Stony Stephenson is being tossed about in Time and Space via the Chrono-Synclastic Infundibulum, we have no clue as to when in Time he meets Bokonon. But I do like to think it's on Earth Prime-Time.)

No matter the intent Vonnegut had in mind for Bokonon in his original incarnation - the Literary Universe - we only deal with the televersion. And it occurred to me that he might be related to one of the most famous families in all of the Old West.

I think Bokonon could be descended from the Mavericks.

Here he is, washed ashore in a foreign land with no means to take care of his needs. Does he try to get a real job, make some money? Hardly. Instead he takes the L. Ron Hubbard approach.....

"When I washed ashore on this island, I found a people almost crushed by poverty and political repression. I have given them a religion of harmless lies, and you can see how happy they are." - Bokonon

With his religion came the best-seller: "The Books of Bokonon". It's filled with such aphorisms as:

"When the truth of your life is too terrible, that truth becomes your enemy."

and

"You have to be careful what you pretend to be.... Because one day you may wake up to find that's what you are."

Those are the types of sayings one would expect to hear being quoted as being the words of wisdom from Beauregard "Pappy" Maverick, the head of the Maverick clan back in the mid-1800's. He was known for the following "Pappyisms":

"Some men are afraid of the dark, and some men are afraid to leave it."

"A coward dies a thousand deaths, a hero dies but one. - A thousand to one is pretty good odds."

"A man does what he has to do - if he can't get out of it."

"Early to bed and early to rise’ is the curse of the working class."

"If at first you don't succeed, try something else."

"If you haven't got something nice to say about a man, it's time to change the subject."

"Love your fellow man, and stay out of his troubles if you can."

"Man is the only animal you can skin more than once."

"Marriage is the only game of chance I know of where both people can lose."

"Never cry over spilled milk... it could've been whiskey."

"Son, stay clear of weddings because one of them is liable to be your own."

And those aren't bad proverbs on which to found a religion.

Somewhere along the branch of that family tree, I'd hazard a guess that a veteran of the Civil War married into the Maverick clan. (Well, the odds would suggest there'd have to be a girl Maverick eventually.) And that man would be later known as Walter Jameson; he'd go on to outlive most of his in-laws and probably all of his children and grandchildren as well.
It would be his introduction into the Maverick genetic line that would account for the... Face of Bokonon, as it were.....

SHOWS CITED:
"Between Time And Timbuktu"
'Maverick' - "Pappy" (many others)
'The Twilight Zone' - "Long Live Walter Jameson"

BCnU!

MARK TWAIN TONIGHT!

Perhaps the best known portrayer of Mark Twain is probably Hal Holbrook with his one-man show "Mark Twain Tonight!"

From Wikipedia:
Mark Twain Tonight! Is a one-man play devised by Hal Holbrook, in which he depicts Mark Twain giving a dramatic recitation selected from several of his (Twain's) writings, with an emphasis on the comic ones. However, a lengthy excerpt from Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is always included.

The recitation's genesis was a show that Holbrook performed with his first wife Ruby where she would interview him portraying famous people in history, including Twain. Holbrook revised the concept into a one-man show in the 1950s, first performing it at the Lock Haven State Teachers College in Pennsylvania in 1954. He made his first New York appearance as Twain in the Off-Broadway engagement in 1959 and premiered it on Broadway in 1966.

Holbrook's performance was first noticed by New Yor] producer John Lotas at The Lambs Club in Manhattan. Lotas presented the show at the Forty-First Street Theatre, where it ran for 174 performances. He won a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play for that appearance and an Emmy Award nomination for the 1967 television broadcast (which was produced by David Susskind) on CBS.

Holbrook continues to tour in the play (on Broadway as recently as 2006) and alternates the material that he performs. The original program from the 1959 Off-Broadway engagement included the note “While Mr. Twain’s sections will come from the list below, we have been unable to pin him down as to which of them he will do. He claims this would cripple his inspiration. However, he has generously conceded to a printed program for those who are in distress and wish to fan themselves.”

In commemoration of the 100th anniversary of Samuel Clemens' death this year, Mr. Holbrook performed the role again.

There's a DVD available of that 1967 performance, but it's also available in ten parts on YouTube. Here's the first segment and you can work your way through from there.....

BCnU!

A MARK TWAIN QUOTE

As seen in the opening of the 'Bonanza' episode "The Twenty-Sixth Grave".......

MARK TWAIN'S UNFINISHED BUSINESS

This picture of Kevin McCarthy as Mark Twain in 'The Rifleman' is one of the best televersions I've seen of the author - at least as far as pictures go. I've yet to see the actual episode, but as a big fan of Mr. McCarthy's work, I'm sure he did a very convincing job.

"The Shattered Idol" concerned Samuel Clemens' visit to the town of North Fork in the New Mexico territory. Here's a great description of the episode , written as though it came from Lucas McCain's diary.....

I've seen it stated that 'The Rifleman' took place in the 1880s, and this episode just may confirm that.

From Wikipedia:
Twain's next major published work, "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn", solidified him as a noteworthy American writer. Some have called it the first Great American Novel, and the book has become required reading in many schools throughout the United States. "Huckleberry Finn" was an offshoot from "Tom Sawyer" and had a more serious tone than its predecessor.

The main premise behind "Huckleberry Finn" is the young boy's belief in the right thing to do though most believed that it was wrong. Four hundred manuscript pages of "Huckleberry Finn" were written in mid-1876, right after the publication of "Tom Sawyer".

Some accounts have Twain taking seven years off after his first burst of creativity, eventually finishing the book in 1883. Other accounts have Twain working on "Huckleberry Finn" in tandem with "The Prince and the Pauper" and other works in 1880 and other years.

The last fifth of "Huckleberry Finn" is subject to much controversy. Some say that Twain experienced, as critic Leo Marx puts it, a "failure of nerve".

Ernest Hemingway once said of "Huckleberry Finn":"If you read it, you must stop where the Nigger Jim is stolen from the boys. That is the real end. The rest is just cheating."

So Clemens' vow to finish the book would put this episode around late 1882. And that's an awful long time for Twain to be still grieving so heavily for the loss of his baby son Langdon. Langdon died of diphtheria at the age of 19 months before the end of 1871 back in Buffalo, New York.

BCnU!

The Windy City from Calamity Jane (1953)

Doris Day in Calamity Jane was such a fun musical.
I never did buy the tomboy look on her. But I love this musical. It is just so fun!

MARK TWAIN MARK THREE

Recastaways are a common enough occurrence in Toobworld, thanks to the constant turnover of actors for characters in soap operas. They can be easy enough to splain away when they're fictional characters; the televersions of historical figures can be a bit trickier. An Abe Lincoln in one TV movie who's different from the Honest Abe in another TV movie is easy enough - they're from two different TV dimensions. Two different President Lincolns in TV series that should be in the same TV dimension? Several options are available - quantum leaping, alien replacement, Famous Impostor Syndrome.

But recasting an historical figure within one TV series not once, but twice? And screwing up the Toobworld timeline in the process? That needed some thinking to splain it away....

The example I have in mind is from 'Bonanza' in which Samuel Clemens - AKA Mark Twain - showed up in three different episodes over the course of the series:
"Enter Mark Twain" from 1959 in which Mark Twain was played by Howard Duff'
"The Emperor Norton" from 1966 with William Challee as the author and riverboat captain (and Sam Jaffe as Joshua Norton)
"The Twenty-Sixth Grave" from 1972 featuring Ken Howard as Samuel Clemens.

First off, let's go back over the way to date episodes from 'Bonanza' in the Toobworld timeline. (And I promise - no stupid jokes about dating episodes.)

Every season of 'Bonanza' was about what took place one hundred years before, although I don't think it has to be a hard and fast rule. And when it comes to the 1872 entry especially, I think we have to abandon it altogether. But more on that later.

So those three episodes in which Mark Twain appeared supposedly took place in 1859, 1866, and 1872 respectively. Leaving the last episode aside, Samuel Clemens was 24 in "Enter Mark Twain" and 31 years of age at the time of "The Emperor Norton". And yet he was played by actors aged 46 (Howard Duff) and 62 (William Challee). Sorry - neither one of them looked as though they might have been younger. In fact, when Duff stepped into the office of the Territorial Enterprise newspaper, the editor called him "Old Timer".

I'm leaning toward the idea that neither of them was Mark Twain.

And it's more than just the discrepancy in age, at least in the case of Howard Duff's Twain. "Enter Mark Twain" had Samuel Clemens in Virginia City when in real world history he was busy working for his riverboat pilot's license on the Mississippi. But a tweak to an historical figure's personal timeline in Toobworld can be allowed - for precedence, there's Jules Verne who was twenty years younger than he should have been in 'The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne'. So maybe the Toobworld Mark Twain did get out to Virginia City a few years earlier than he did in real life and tried his luck at mining before coming to work at the newspaper. Still there's the matter of him being nearly twice as old as he should have been....

Clemens had moved to San Francisco by 1864, so that would be consistent with him coming from Frisco in 1866 to testify on behalf of Emperor Norton. But there's no getting around the fact that the man who showed up in that courtroom in Carson City looked thirty years older than he should have been.

So what could be the reason, er, splainin? I think that first Samuel Clemens who showed up in Nevada circa 1859 had to be someone who needed to disguise who he really was; and he may have stolen Clemens' identity at some point while cruising along the Mississippi. It certainly wasn't a case of Famous Impostors Syndrome, because Clemens wouldn't become nationally known until about 1865.

Then again, he may have been a time traveler, someone with knowledge about Sam Clemens from the Future who had come back in Time to "re-enact" the life of Samuel Clemens - but a few years earlier than Clemens did so as not to disrupt the timeline. We just never got the chance to see in any TV series the confusion caused when the real Sam Clemens showed up two years later... at least in the original timeline.

The idea of a time traveler is intriguing for the Mark Twain played by William Challee. But it would be one who used an advanced upgrade to the quantum accelerator to let him take a 'Quantum Leap' beyond his own lifetime and into the space occupied by the real Mark Twain (who would spend the time in the facility's "waiting room".) For some reason, this temporal interloper thought he should look the way Mark Twain would famously look later in his career. Not that it mattered, since he was inhabiting the aura of the original Clemens. That's what the Cartwrights and Emperor Norton would see. We in the Trueniverse would be the only ones who could see the difference.

We could also cite Occam's Razor and look for a simpler splainin - such as William Challee playing a man with Famous Impostor's Syndrome who intercepted the plea for help from Ben Cartwright. With forged letters from Brett Harte and Robert Louis Stevenson to present at the sanity hearing for Emperor Norton, this unidentified man made himself up to look like Samuel Clemens - even though there was a thirty year gap in their ages.

Nevertheless, Ben Cartwright and his son Joe were fooled by the impostor. It had been about six years since they last saw a man who claimed to be Samuel Clemens and for all they knew, maybe the years of living the high life in San Francisco took its toll on the writer.

So let's take a look finally at the last portrayal of Samuel Clemens in the 'Bonanza' episode "The Twenty-Sixth Grave"......

It was as if a massive reboot had taken place in Virginia City. Six years after the last time he was allegedly there in town, and then as an old man, Clemens arrived in town as a young man. He was brought in to take over the Territorial Enterprise for a month or so and there was no mention or indication that Ben Cartwright knew the "reporter" from those earlier encounters. And nobody at the Enterpirse had any memory of his last time there when he returned.

When "Samuel Clemens" was last in Virginia City, Hoss was still alive and Adam was still on the ranch. But by 1872, Hoss had died and Adam had gone to sea (although he was back out West by the 1880s, as seen in an episode of 'Alias Smith & Jones'.) Little Joe was still alive and Ben had adopted Jaimie. Candy Canady was now the ranch foreman and Griff King (who may have been Buckskin Charlie King's brother) also worked on the Ponderosa. So there was no way to make any kind of claim that this episode had to take place before the other two. The only way to make sense of it all is if there had been that giant reboot. And thanks to events in both 'Primeval' and 'The Hitch-Hiker's Guide To The Galaxy', the Earth was supplied with such a revision. In both shows, characters went back in Time and caused massive alterations to the pre-established timeline - events that once took place no longer happened. For the example I usually offer, Henry Talbot McNeil was no longer the President of the United States during the late 1960's to the early 1970's, as seen in 'Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea'; as established in the real world, it was now a succession of Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, and Gerald Ford.

So with these massive reboots, that Samuel Clemens imposter played by Howard Duff never showed up at the newspaper office in Virginia City. The young man who would become Mark Twain, as played by Ken Howard, showed up as the only Mark Twain to work at the newspaper. And although the real Mark Twain worked at the Territorial Enterprise until 1864, his arrival there in 1872 must be attributed to the revised timeline, one of the many trivial differences between Toobworld and the real world.

And this time, Twain was played by an actor who was six years younger than Twain at the time. But that kind of age difference wasn't noticeable, unlike the case with Howard Duff in the role.....

BCnU!

THE SUPER SIX: MARK TWAIN

Recasting due to the aging of a character is given leeway in Toobworld, and we run the gamut with Samuel Clemens - from a young man to the crotchety old raconteur we think we know best.

These portrayals of Mark Twain by these actors are all acceptable to be the real Samuel Clemens:

ROBIN DUNNE
"ROUGHING IT"
KEN HOWARD
'BONANZA'
KEVIN McCARTHY
'THE RIFLEMAN'
JERRY HARDIN
'STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION'
JAMES GARNER
"ROUGHING IT"
HAL HOLBROOK
"MARK TWAIN TONIGHT!"

BCnU!

TODAY'S TRIBUTE TO TWAIN

For the last day of August, the month in which we celebrated the TV Western, we're tossing aside the "Two For Tuesday" aspect of our "As Seen On TV" showcase.

Instead, we're presenting the following posts in which Toobworld Central honors the memory of Samuel Clemens, better known as Mark Twain.

Why? Because we marked a century earlier this year since the Great Man died.....

I hope you enjoy it.

BCnU!

Mike Wilson, Tohono O'odham, responds to threat of poisoned water

Poisoned water threat comes as more migrants die of dehydration on Tohono O'odham land

By Brenda Norrell
© Censored News
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/
Photo: Mike Wilson with humanitarian water tanks on Tohono O'odham Nation. Photo by Brenda Norrell.

ARIZONA -- Mike Wilson, Tohono O'odham who puts out water for migrants on Tohono O'odham land as humanitarian aid, responded to an e-mail threat of poisoned water.

The anonymous e-mail said, "F you. I hope some real Americans will step up and put poison in the water. I hope you are the first to drink."

The e-mail threat, on Aug. 29, was sent in response to the article, "Tohono O'odham Nation surrendered its will to the Border Patrol." http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2010/03/mike-wilson-tohono-oodham-nation.html

Wilson said, "I'm not surprised by the threat, it is certainly expected and no one is immune. Humane Borders has received these threats for the last ten years, including the writing of 'veneno' (poison) on the sides of its water barrels in the desert.

"The subject government of the Tohono O'odham Nation, its elected leaders and its Imperial master, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, continue to deny and denigrate hundreds of migrant deaths in Indian Country. The B.I.A. is complicit in the decade long (2000-2010) humanitarian crisis on O'odham land. Continuing a legacy of selective neglect of American Indians, the B.I.A. feigns ignorance and silence when it comes to Latino and Indigenous People dying by hyperthermia and dehydration on the Tohono O'odham Reservation.

"This calculated silence by the B.I.A. in Washington, D.C. and in Sells (capital of the Tohono O'odham Nation) is an attempt to inoculate itself against the charge of willful complicity and to wash migrant blood from its hands.

"According to the Pima County Medical Examiner's Office, of 58 migrant deaths in the month of July, 44 were on the Tohono O'odham Reservation. This B.I.A. policy of silence is a self-fulfilling prophesy in the making, in that it achieves its own intended purpose of plausible denial. This deafening B.I.A. silence now assumes the legal consent and approval of migrant deaths on Tohono O'odham tribal land by the Tohono O'odham Nation, BIA, the Department of Interior and the Federal Government of the United States. Blood runs deep.

"Brady McComb's SPECIAL REPORT: DECADE OF DEATH was published in the Arizona Daily Star (Sunday, August 22, 2010). Also, author and reporter Margaret Regan's story, D.O.A., came out in the Tucson Weekly last Thursday, August 26, 2010.

"Both compelling stories are moral indictments against the Government and elected leadership of the Tohono O'odham Nation. The Tohono O'odham Nation continues its futile defensive strategy of presumed isolation and insulation.

"However, as both stories clearly demonstrate, tribal Chairman Ned Norris, Jr., Legislative Council Chairman Verlon Jose and Baboquivari District Council Chairwoman Veronica Harvey cannot insulate themselves against the stretch and scope of a free press.

"No amount of spin from the Tohono O'odham Nation's hired PR firm in Phoenix can protect the Tohono O'odham Nation from its culpability for Latino and Indigenous migrant deaths.

"Neither can the elected tribal leadership insulate itself against the putrid stench of another hundred decomposing migrant bodies on O'odham lands. The Government of the Tohono O'odham Nation needs to purchase Biological Hazard suits for when its leaders leave the reservation, if they can't smell the stench on themselves, others can."

More water,
Mike Wilson
Tohono O'odham
August 30, 2010

Censored News brendanorrell@gmail.com

Also see:
O'odham on the border to National Guard: 'We do not want you on our land'
http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2010/08/oodham-to-national-guard-we-do-not-want.html

Watch video: Tucson police turn mom and dad over to Border Patrol 'dog catcher' truck, as kids cry in the night:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ec9hxZiaKFg

More about this video by the Three Sonorans at Phoenix New Times:
http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/bastard/2010/08/worse_than_joe_arpaio_tucson

National Guardsmen eager to smuggle cocaine on Arizona border arrested in sting operation:
http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2007/07/most-censored-national-guardsmen-cops.html

What The Hell Is Special Purpose?

Mongo doesn't like to blow his own horn...Ok, maybe I do...but tonight I had one of my best rides of the entire year...and no one was there to revel in my awesomeness.

I had a twenty minute head start on the rest of the 23/2300 Hammerfest peloton, but I rode like they were always thirty seconds behind me. Mongo always rides faster when I'm being chased rather than chasing someone, so I never let up for the entire circuit.

I fully expected to be caught eventually, with all the steep climbs and the fact that I was on a 24 pound mountain bike with a power-sucking front fork, but it never happened. In fact, I waited at the rendezvous point for "over" twenty minutes before pedaling home solo.

I don't quite know what this all means, probably nothing, but I really enjoyed the challenge and the effort.

Huffington Post Publishes "$100,000 for Glenn Beck Sex Tape" Then Pulls Article

by the Left Coast Rebel

Well ain't that nice - former Air America editor in chief (read failure) Beau Friedlander authored a piece earlier today, "$100,000 for Glenn Beck's Sex Tape"

It beautifully personifies that which the modern liberal persona and dogma has become (vile, unhinged, mean spirited, foul mouthed and degenerate) :




I have screen-shot the entire article above because the actual piece has been scrubbed by HuffPo. Nevertheless the wandering net-venturer can still view the cached copy (above) so do so while you still can. I found the key phrase (away from the nonsense and vulgarity) to be this 'offer':

I am not offering the cash myself, but I will broker the deal and/or raise the money for what you bring to the table.

I see, so essentially PuffHo writer Beau Friedlander is not going to pay the $100,000 himself but will 'broker' which in mindspeak is pretty close to the leftist-progressive-collectivist cause of 'from each according to his ability..'

On the other hand, I'm not sure that an Air America head honcho would be a very good choice of candidate to send your hard earned dollars to, bankruptcy and all.

Too bad it went down. When one clicks the "$100,000 for Glenn Beck Sex Tape" (non cached) link, one is greeted with:

Editor's Note: This piece was published directly to the Huffington Post by its author. It didn't meet our editorial standards and has been removed from the site.

As much as I hate the Puffington Host I have to give credit where credit is due (and am somewhat shocked that they actually do have standards and took the article down).

Regardless, they get what they deserve by hiring dimwitted, bombthrowing, intellectually vacuous, nincompoopish, Bolshevik, libtarded jerks like Beau Friedlander.

Updated: Air America Editor Beau Friedlander apologizes and quotes a 'friend' who says something that sounds Leninist:

First, I owe Glenn Beck an apology. I crossed the line. On the off chance something comes in over the transom...scratch that; I'll delete the email account. Problem solved.

A friend commented:

The people on the left who parrot and jerk their knees are just as much an obstacle to an outcome that benefits the maximum number of people as the "sheepies" are.

Even in apology this guy sounds like a communist (or at least his friend, whom he quotes, does). Lord, how have you let these people thrive in our beautiful nation?

Cross posted to Left Coast Rebel.

Harleigh Who?

There is one beating heart at Chateau Gahan who has loved the transition to empty nest. With Harleigh no longer here to take Gideon out in the afternoon, we now have a dog walker. Gideon is in heaven. Jennifer goes to my church and has a dog walking business. She squeezed me into her rotation and now Giddy has an hour a day in the afternoon for walking and play time. But the best part is that Miss Jennifer often brings over other dogs she walks for play dates. Gideon especially loves Sam the Portuguese Water Dog and Bullet the 12-pound Pug mix rescue pup.

Yesterday Jennifer was babysitting Bullet and asked if she could bring her over to show me how much they adore each other. My boy, gotta admit, is a gentle giant. Their play was sweet and tiring in the afternoon heat. They both plopped down, pooped, after running, and Gideon proceeded to put his paw on top of hers. OK, so not intentional, but it had a Lady and the Tramp feel to it.

Every day Jennifer leaves me a cute note about what they did. Being a mom to a child is no different than being mom to your dog . . . it warms your heart to hear good things about your "child."

Michigan Asserts Sovereignty Rights in Canoe Crossing

Michigan Asserts Sovereignty Rights in Canoe Crossing

Article and photos by Brita Brookes©
Censored News
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/

August 27, 2010

The local aboriginal community from both the United States metro Detroit area and local Windsor, Ontario area gathered at Detroit’s Belle Isle Park on Friday, August 27, 2010. With the sun shining and warm summer temperatures, the group gathered to launch the first ever USA-Canada Canoe Border Crossing as a peaceful demonstration of the rights stated and found in the Jay Treaty.

Local American Indian Movement of Michigan organizers Bryan Halfday and Helen Wolfe held the event as a way to increase public awareness about aboriginal treaty rights, create local community support and to educate people about inherent and ancestral rights. The event was planned as a part of a three day weekend of events all related to the Honoring Our Traditions Pow Wow which was held in Lincoln Park, Michigan’s Council Point Park also organized by the local Michigan American Indian Movement chapter.

Dennis Banks co-founder of the American Indian Movement participated in the canoe border crossing and stated that the ability and right to cross the river to Canada from the United States freely was “guaranteed in the Jay Treaty and it is our ancestral right to cross freely without harassment. This is our ancestral land of which we view per our history as one in the same with no borders. This is our home. We are sovereign.”

The canoe crossing started at the west end of Belle Isle Park whereupon the canoes paddled across the busy Detroit River to the Windsor, Ontario Peace Fountain. Once at the Windsor Peace Fountain, the canoe groups touched Canadian land and were greeted by a large group including singers from the Canadian American Friendship Center. A few onlookers with opposing views yelled at one canoe participant to “go home.” Andrea Pierce stated that she was surprised at seeing and hearing opposition to her implementing her aboriginal rights and responded to them respectfully that “she never crossed any borders, but that the borders had crossed her.”

Among the canoe participants were John Marcus, Andrea Pierce, Stephanie Bartley, Rob Henry, Tim Seneca, Dean Kicknosway, Julianne Horsfield, Robert Naimy and Chase Horsfield. When asked about the reason why he did the crossing, canoe participant Dean Kicknosway replied that I wanted the population to know that “we are a living people with a history, not a people from history.”

The canoes crossed just prior to having several large freighters pass through on the busy Detroit River. The Detroit River is home to one of the busiest International Ports, the Ambassador Bridge and a hub of US and Canadian Commerce.

When asked how the experience was Stephanie Bartley stated that “she will remember the day forever. It was beautiful and I am very emotional about doing this knowing my ancestors probably travelled this way a long time ago.”

The event ended at the East end of Belle Isle where people gathered to sing and celebrate a peaceful and safe crossing. It was discussed among the crowd and with Dennis Banks, Bryan Halfday and Helen Wolfe that the hope would be for this to become a yearly event. The hope is that more people may partake in the event next year. To commemorate the crossing Dennis Banks is having a custom embroidered patch made that says “Just the Beginning- Continuing Our Ancestral Past- Detroit to Windsor Jay Treaty Canoe Border Crossing.” If anybody would like to volunteer in coordinating and or promoting this event for next year please contact Bryan Halfday at Bryanhalf@aol.com

Shopping Heaven

Advertorial

Was invited to take a shopping trip to Kuala Lumpur!! Since my virgin trip in 2005, which I didn't much like, I've been to KL many times afterwards and have always enjoyed myself thoroughly!!

I guess the reason why I didn't enjoy myself that much the first time round was coz:

1) Having been to only JB in Malaysia, I expected KL to be like the former. It's totally not like JB and it's a lot more cosmopolitan, and correspondingly, of course, more expensive than JB!

2) I was a poor student and didn't bring much money to spend having not expected to spend that much.

3) I didn't know where to shop or where to go!!


Thanks to Nuffnang Malaysia and the close relationship it has with Nuffnang Singapore, I sometimes get the chance to go over to KL for blog-related stuff. After a few more visits I got to know the place better, and also I really like the KL and the KL nuffnang bloggers! :D (And feel slightly ashamed of my old KL blog entry coz it DOES sound ignorant. Fine, I admit it)


Why is KL awesome as a tourist destination?

(And I am not just saying this coz this is an advert)

- The food is... I dunno... RIDICULOUSLY YUMMY!! Their hawker food beats Singaporean hawker fare hands down!! Every meal I had there is super duper nice!! Even KFC is nicer there! The most unassuming food store will serve you a delicious meal!

- If you know where to shop, everything is a steal!!

- The culture and people there are so similar to Singapore/Singaporeans... I find that endearing. At least no communication problems!

- KL is a lot more relaxed about their rules and regulations in comparison to go ol' Singapore. So can chew gum, bargain prices etc, no problem!


Enough yakking... Photos!

Flew Air Asia! And there to pick us up:

Jason and Darren - From KL!

They are part of the team who organized to bring me over. Thank you!!

And also they are the best tour guides EVER!!

First thing they asked was "Are you guys hungry?" and that's my favourite question to be asked. Besides "Would you like me to give you a million dollars?" but nobody has asked me that so far.

So the answer was YES!!! and we were on our way from the airport to DIM SUM!!

It was a gorgeous day



Must camwhore in car



Love my ring!





Done with the camwhoring. And we reach our destination!!

Mike and I ordered this ridiculously yummy drink. It's called 3 layered tea or something and it's TEA/MILK/GULA MELAKA...

The gula thing at the bottom is DA BOMB!! It tastes like gooey melted brown sugar, but also like caramel or butterscotch and it has a hint of coconut! Love it.

The tea is mad nice. MAD NICE!

Our first round of dim sum. Brought by enthusiastic waiters in a huge tray for our selection!! Pick whatever you want and it's yours!

Looks so unassuming but THAT IS THE BEST CARROT CAKE I'VE EVER HAD. Hands down. Crispy on the outside, super soft and melty on the inside.

Address:

Restoran Loong Seng
No. 50, Jalan SS2/66
47300 Petaling Jaya, Selangor
Tel: 03 78762349

Resembling blimps, we return to the hotel for a short while before meeting for lunch...

Our hotel is the super luxurious Gardens Hotel! :D (Actually we stayed on 25th but went to the top to register)

We just anyhowly picked a cafe near the hotel for lunch: Alexis bistro and wine bar.

I ordered Duck Confit salad coz I was still super full...

And that... Is also one of the best duck confit I ever had. -_-

The skin is super crispy and hot and sinful! Love it :D

How come anyhow choose one restaurant also turn out so nice one!!

Mike stuffing his face with caesar salad.

Alexis Gardens

Lot F209, First Floor
The Garden Midvalley City
Tel: 03-2287-2281

Here's the exterior of Gardens Hotel! So grand



Touristy photo


After this we proceed to PAVILION KL! (How to get there)

This is a megamall in the heart of KL city with all sorts of luxurious brands, so if you are into designer brands you can go there!!

I remember frantically looking for the newly opened Pavilion a few years ago when I was in KL, because...

THEY HAVE A HUGE TWO-STOREY JUICY COUTURE STORE!

Juicy is my favourite brand and the experience needs to be completed together with all the shamelessly pink furniture in the shop! And I don't need to go to USA to do this anymore, it is available in KL!

Didn't find anything I really wanted though...

(Yes I know there is a Juicy store in Singapore but it's really tiny and doesn't sell most of the season's items.)

After this we sat down to enjoy a fashion show...

Because it is the...




SALE SALE SALE!!!

Not only are lots of the brand names on sale, fashion shows are going on every weekend in many of the malls!! Too many to list, so if you are planning to go to KL for a shopping trip, check out the events HERE.

Models!!



Look at the crowd!! (and lol at the guy glaring at me)



Camwhoring in between models





*clap clap* Show over!!

And Cheesie came to join me... :D

She promised to bring me shopping at her favourite mall in KL, so off we went to Sungei Wang Plaza!

Again and again I've heard the comparison that Sungei Wang is like Far East Plaza... But I think like not really leh... Maybe it's just coz I'm used to Far East but I think Sungei Wang has a lot more character!!

The reason why I say it has more character is because of the people inside!! There are youngsters dressed really jappy and they really really doll up!! Even the guys!! Super interesting to watch.

However most of the mall is still filled with normal looking people lah, mostly young adults.

The exterior of the building is totally old-looking (like far east! lol) but once you walk inside it's all super trendy!

Ok I'm a bad blogger and I get easily distracted so this is the only photo I managed to take of the mall.

BECAUSE THE SHOPPING IS FANTASTIC!!

There are super a lot of shops selling all sorts of clothes, shoes, accessories, bags etc - and there are hundreds of signs everywhere exclaiming "RM 25 - 29" and true to their word, nothing in the shop costs more than 29 RINGGIT = SGD $12.40.

HEN ER XIN. I went crazy. AND SOMEMORE THE THINGS ARE NICE!!

Here's Cheesie and I eating at Delifrance after shopping... Spot the things behind me?



BULGING SHOPPING BAGS!

Behold:

Floral sundress, I think RM25 - $10 SGD... How they earn money sia?

Usamimi headband - 2 for RM10



Usamimi headband no. 2



LOVE THIS!!

Super snug fitting and comfy denim jumpsuit for RM 80 (SGD $35).
Comes with a free tee shirt (not pictured)

Somemore my boobs look so big in this picture hahaha





Cutest bubble shorts RM 28 (SGD $12)



Fake suede skirt RM25 (SGD $10)





Sungei Wang had loads of stores selling jackets like this...
Cute prints with a furry band around the hood!!

Material super comfy and nice!!!

LOVE IT MY STRAWBIE JACKET

And this is a super soft furry pink dress!! RM 28 (SGD $12) I think. Although it's not thick it's not something Sgreans usually wear so I'm gonna wear it when I go overseas!! :D

ARE YOU JEALOUS OR WHAT!!!!

Too bad Cheesie had to go for a dinner meeting otherwise I'd have stayed at Sungei Wang till it closes and still won't go lor!! Far east my a**!! Far east where got so cheap?!?!?!

I LOVE SUNGEI WANG /sobs



After this, seafood dinner with Jason and Darren:

Picking one of the restaurants along Jalan Alor.



Jason recommended this one!

(If you are hungry you better continue reading this post later)



Freaking yummilicious BABY BAMBOO CLAMS...

Bamboo clams are one of my favourite seafood choices but they are not easily available in Singapore!! The only place I know that sells it is Jumbo seafood and they only sell the adult version - one freaking clam for $8 or something, not including tax!!

This plate of bamboo clams is not expensive as I recall, and the baby version taste exactly like the adult ones lor... AND GOT SO MUCH MORE!!

SLURP

Sambal kangkong, cooked to perfection



Venison and cereal prawns

Sorry to do this to you - the freshest, juiciest stingray. So soft it melts in your mouth... And wet with lemon juice + sambal. MY GOD I WANT SOME NOW

Yes all these are available in Singapore too, but the bill is much cheaper in KL! :D

Done for the day!!! Went back to the hotel:

FOR SLEEPYTIME!!



Day 2

Woke up at 11am to a FANTASTIC view:

Got ready to meet Tim, Audrey and Cheesie for lunch!! It was dim sum again. Tim's suggestion and he didn't know we had dim sum for breakfast yesterday but I LOVE DIM SUM so I didn't tell him hehehehe

One camwhoring shot before we go



Tim + Mike

Aforementioned dim sum coming in trays like these... BEST LAH DON'T NEED TO WAIT MORE THAN 2 SECONDS FOR YOUR FOOD.

Cheesie and Audrey!! WHY ARE KL GIRLS SO SKINNY AND CUTE?? Is it the air??

This puff thing with omgsauce inside... I call it omgsauce coz I don't know what it's made of but it involves salted egg yolk and it's all warm and oozy and sweet and custardy and totally delish.

Glutinous rice + pork ribs



Two perfectly smooth, yellow egg tarts

OK I HAD ENOUGH I THINK THESE MALAYSIANS ARE TRYING TO MAKE ME FAT!!! Why everything so delicious -_-

The restaurant's name is called Jing Xuan but I don't know the address!!

After this we went to Tim's place to chill for a bit (ie roll around in my newformed fats)

Tim is showing off to Mike this PS3 game called Heavy Rain.

It's about this guy who is saving his son and you make decisions to make the game go on... Quite cool.


Meanwhile............

We girls are camwhoring!! LOL

Lousy blurry photo a distracted Tim took for us... He so enthu about the game even though he played it a million times!

Less blurry



Last of my camwhore shots I swear!!

After this, Jason and Darren brought Mike and I to 1 Utama, which had the thing I most wanted to buy back to Singapore...

Hint: It's in a pet shop!!!

It's not a sleeping, cuddled up prairie dog. AND YES THEY SELL PRAIRIE DOGS.



It's not this super cute Persian squash-faced kitten.





LOL







It's not this soft bunny...

(And photography totally allowed btw, just without flash. See what I mean by they are way more lax about rules??)

IT IS IN THE BLACK HAMMOCK.......


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It's a sugar glider!!!



SUPER CUTE!!







Yes it's a camera lol

Look at this puff!! After it went back inside its cage, it peered out at us for 2 straight minutes just looking curiously - with one paw and one fluffy tail hanging out!!

It is too bad Sugar gliders are not allowed in Singapore... However, the shop we went to, Petsmore, was more than friendly and allowed their customers to interactive with their pets!!

I think KL is worth a visit just to play with the gliders omg. SO CUTE!!

Woah!! Can't believe I had so much fun in 1.5 days in KL!!

******************************


Dying to make a trip to KL but need more shopping money??


Join the MEGA SALE & MEGA WIN contest now!!!


Prizes:

Grand prize - RM10,000 (!!!) + hotel stay + shopping vouchers

2nd to 10th place runner-ups get digicams, video cams and all sorts of other prizes sponsors!

To win, participants must create a video representing "I Love To Shop In Malaysia."

It's up to you to decide what kind of video you want to present so long as it's fun and enjoyable to watch! All you have to do is to upload your video to Youtube and submit it on the form posted on SHOPMALAYSIA.MY! To get more details, click the link!

Quick, coz submission ends 30th September!


Remember you have to join Shop Malaysia's facebook fan page to qualify so click HERE!!

And follow @shop_malaysia on Twitter for more updates. :D

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