Abner! ABNER!

That's it. I'm looking for another place.

I have loved my little home at 545 for nine years now, but the harassment and nosiness of certain someone(s) has gotten unbearable. It's enough to make Gladys Kravitz look like an apathetic teenager.

Ideally (and obviously), I would like to move to some place larger for the same or less money. Generally I would think that a ludicrous proposition, but in the past three months I have had three friends move to places larger than mine for less rent. So there has got to be something out there for me. I plan to take my time.

So if anyone hears of anything in SF, here's what I am looking for: a one bedroom, gas stove, parking, near public transit, and centrally located. Preferably hardwood floors, and gotta have some sunshine.

Thanks.

Loma Lynda

How did I ever miss this? (And I call myself the Keeper of Our Television Heritage...)

Lynda Carter: Body and Soul.


The Lynda Carter Variety Special, with Ben Vereen and Eddie Rabbit.
Aired Friday, March 6, 8:00 P.M., 1984.
Three Emmy nominations.
It won two.


Just for you Seattle Bill.
(And now I'm left wondering, was dangerous surgery Maggie's only hope?)

UPDATE: Oh my stars. WTF? I don't know what to comment on first: the super-fringed/winged male backup dancers in the smoke or the editor's fetish for "high-tech" video transitions. [shudder]

Take a look at this.

size matters

I'm been bothered for a while with how huge the type seems on this Blogger template. I've tried playing around with the css settings to make it a little smaller without screwing up all my past posts' line and image breaks. At the moment, I've altered the text to be 90%. So it's not you, the blog really is smaller. How does it look? (I'm liking it.)

Now if I could only get that weird white block bar at the top to go away...

In your satin tights, fighting for our rights.

Okay, I may have been slow to pick up on this 'news' item, but Lindsay Lohan as Wonder Woman?! C'mon. As recently reported over at a Socialite's Life, I have to agree and say that Charisma Carpenter would be the better, if not best, choice. Built, buxom, beautiful, womanly, worldly, wily, and has the legs and experience to kick some serious ass. (Even I got hot and bothered over that Edge photo shoot.)

Let's get those CC for WW campaigns started.

Rotten Apple Corps

So way back in the day, the Beatles started a music company with the name Apple Corps. They had a hissy fit in the 80s when Steve Jobs et al started Apple Computer, thinking people would confuse the two, because vinyl LPs and giant desktop computers look so much alike, are marketed the same way, do the same thing, and are sold side by side. Whatever. So early Apple Computer made a deal and gave a some money to Apple Corps saying fine, we won't make music. (Dudes, we're making computers over here Cali. We're not making records in London.)

But now Apple Corps-- the remaining Beatles or their heirs themselves who are behind this refusing comment on this-- is continuing its expensive lawsuit and claiming ridiculous amounts of money in damages for violating the "don't make music" agreement because Apple uses it's name in the iTunes Music Store.

An updated article about all this can be found in the (London) Times Online here.

How the hell has this managed to get so far?

My questions are these:

1. It's obvious that iTunes is making other people's music available, not acting as its own label-- regardless of iTunes exclusives. What's their damage?

2. Who the F is going to ever or has ever confused Apple Computer-- known the world over-- with an old record company? Does anyone really think that the old Beatles are behind iTunes? Is Apple Computer having a confusing or negative impact on Apple Corps' line of business by sharing the name of an everyday object and being in tangentially related fields? (Apple Corps has gone so far as to register the applecorps.com domain, but they don't even have a website—just a page holder.)

3. How have the Beatles/heirs gotten away with appearing to be petulant little greedy snots without comment or media ridicule? Is this a British-pride thing? Am I unable to defend this because I never bought into the idea that the Beatles were/are gods?

4. And I understand this is in a U.K. court, but isn't this like the attention-grabbing and uber-arrogant nonsense attempted by Spike Lee when the Spike television network launched? The judge ruled that (a) Spike Lee is not only not nearly as famous as he thinks he is (b) "spike" is a common word both as noun and verb and (c) get over yourself-- no one is going to think that a Spike Network "The Network for Men" is all about or by you.

5. Before the lawsuit brouhaha, had anyone outside the record industry really heard of Apple Corps? Are any of these people likely to be confused by an Apple Computer logo on iTunes? How could this possibly impact Apple Corps' business?

This is asinine, destructive, and if not petulant, it's just greedy.

I fear it won't happen, but I do dream that in frivolous cases like this, the judge would just say, "Get over yourself. Sit down. And shut up."

The Beatles and their widows can go back to rolling around in all their other money. Apple Corps can go on to make music. And sell it online if they want to.

The Power Power Nap

I've written about a power nap before, but I had no idea.

What if you combined the two technologies?

Focus on this Family

I always bristle when the right wing nuts or lobbyists/politicians argue against equal rights for gays and lesbians under the mantra of "protecting the children" or "save the family." Oh please. We are families. We have parents and sibs too. And the protection we needed was from the likes of these neocons. (I say this as a child of 37205, and I certainly hope Bill Frist doesn't fall for these fallacies or Christmas is going to be awkward.)

Even worse for me is when the anti-gay lobbyists and politicians use fabricated "research" to bolster an argument that children raised by gays or lesbians are traumatized by the experience. All legitimate research has shown the opposite to be true.

I recently went on an angry rant via e-mail to my family and friends back in Nashville in response to this nutcase representing Tennessee. State Representative Debra Young Maggart (R-Hendersonville) recently stated:

"I am not convinced that just because our foster children desperately need loving homes that we should just place them in homes that are available when research also shows that most homosexual couples have numerous emotional dysfunctions and psychological issues that may not be healthy for children."

I do hope Rep. Maggart actually meets some gay families. She might better learn of their love and grace first-hand. Her contrary "studies" were provided by the masters of misinformation over at Focus on the Family. As a follow up to my rant, and hopefully to bring some happy facts to light, I offer up a link to a new report issued Friday from the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute.

From the Executive Summary-

In an effort to inform the debate, the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute has conducted an extensive examination of the relevant issues, laws and practices, and available research spanning the last several decades. This effort - which represents one of the broadest, most thorough reviews and analyses to date on gay/lesbian adoption and parenting - is part of a larger, more detailed project that will be completed and released in several months. This paper, meanwhile, is intended as an overview that serves two principal functions: to inform and provide context for the often-fractious debate over gay/lesbian adoption currently taking place in our country; and, most important, to provide information that can be used to shape best practices that focus on providing boys and girls in the child welfare system with safe, committed and enduring families.

Principal Findings

• Against a backdrop of increasing public acceptance, social science research concludes that children reared by gay and lesbian parents fare comparably to those of children raised by heterosexuals on a range of measures of social and psychological adjustment.
  
• Studies are increasing in number and rigor, but the body of research on gay/lesbian parents is relatively small and has methodological limitations. Still, virtually every valid study reaches the same conclusion: The children of gays and lesbians adjust positively and their families function well. The limited research on gay/lesbian adoption points in the same direction.
  
• Though few states have laws or policies explicitly barring homosexuals from adopting, some individual agencies and workers outside those states discriminate against gay and lesbian applicants based on their own biases or on mistaken beliefs that such prohibitions exist.
  
• Laws and policies that preclude adoption by gay or lesbian parents disadvantage the tens of thousands of children mired in the foster care system who need permanent, loving homes.

Will this non-partisan research be disseminated by those focusing on families? I fear not.

Bye Bye Buck

There are lots of obits today for the legendary Buck Owens. Although I am peeved by all of the plays on "Rhinestone Cowboy" in the headlines, or the "better known as the Rhinestone Cowboy" lines in the copy. Personally, I think he is more famous for being Buck Owens. Sure lots of people remember the song, but hopefully more people have heard of the man.

At any rate, this man left the world a wonderful legacy, and I thank him.

Of all the obit bits out there, I think this profile, from way back in 1999, is the best (from salon.com).

Sah-LUTE!

sidebar note
.....................................................
Perhaps the Hee Haw appropriate headline would have been "Pfft! He is gone."

For those who can recall the tune, here's the chorus:

Where, oh, where, are you tonight?
Why did you leave me here all alone?
I searched the world over,
And I thought I'd found true love,
You met another and -pfft!- you were gone!

Exxxcellent...

I know this has been out there for a while now, but I still find it impressive. And completely entertaining.

Live action Simpsons opener:


Created by SkyTV in the UK, I think it is scheduled to air in the US as the Simpsons opener this week. Don't know for sure.

Before that she was Energizer...

As a Librarian by spirit and degree, I am extremely sensitive to the government's intrusion on our civil liberties in the library, and think that the ironically/Orewellian-named Patriot Act is vile and treasonous.

I loved today's edition of Unshelved (a comic strip set in a library). Building on yesterday's, here is this morning's installment:


What scares me most about this strip though, is that I get the Power Pack reference.

Good Lord. Am I Dewey?

Finally, someone points this out.

This arrived in my inbox via a Listserv this morning:

On Wednesday, March 1st, 2006, in Annapolis at a hearing on the proposed Constitutional Amendment to prohibit gay marriage, Jamie Raskin, professor of law at AU, was requested to testify.

At the end of his testimony, Republican Senator Nancy Jacobs said: "Mr. Raskin, my Bible says marriage is only between a man and a woman. What do you have to say about that?"

Raskin replied: "Senator, when you took your oath of office, you placed your hand on the Bible and swore to uphold the Constitution. You did not place your hand on the Constitution and swear to uphold the Bible."

The room erupted into applause.

That was both clever and wise. I fear I would have snapped back that if she is trying to create law based on her particular religion she is violating the whole "shall not pass any law regarding the establishment of religion/separation of church and state" idea. And that, in fact, the Bible says no such thing. And also that the Bible "says" many other things which she and her "pro-family" anti-family ilk find it convenient to ignore. And that by her reasoning she should get back in the kitchen where she belongs. And make me some pie.

Clearly, Raskin's response was much better.

The i's in "Irish" are smiling.

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!



My line for the day (as I am head to toe in green):
"No, I'm not Irish. But I do have a drinking problem."

Caption of opportunity.

From the AP: President Bush has met with the autistic manager of a Athena Greece High School (Rochester, NY) basketball team, after the 17-year-old inspired people across the country by scoring 20 points in four minutes in his only game.

Now there is also a picture, with caption.

George Bush, right, walks with Jason McElwain at
Greater Rochester International Airport, March 14, 2006.

It's the identifier "right" which amuses me-- as if one could not distinguish the autistic teen from the President. Which is its own joke.

I imagine the President's handlers made damn sure that the teen stood to W's right. Had their positions been reversed in the wire photos, caption editors all over the world may have opted for:


Idiot, savant.

Beware the Ides!

OHMYGOD! LOOK OUT!! THEY'RE RIGHT BEHIND YOU!

Scary things those Ides.

And Happy Birthday Jay!

So sue me sushi.

When Chuck and his ilk were here last weekend, we went out to dinner Friday night at (415), a new Japanese, trendy spot in Laurel Heights.

It is also located in the Jewish Community Center, so the place is kosher. Kosher sushi? (Enforced by Kosher Kops?) No shrimp, no crab (artifical "krab" is offered), and no eel. Now we got the whole no shrimp and no crab as no shellfish thing, but no eel? That's not shellfish. Must be a "bottom feeder" thing.

The discussion did give rise to a new cuisine descriptor: Jewpanese.

Overheard in a Staff Meeting, II

Telling a side-story, regretting that she was the only one to arrive without having had pre-drinks,

"So there I was, stark raving sober,..."

Big News Day

I had a wonderful time with Chuck and his friends, and had a faboo dinner party Saturday night. It was a completely wonderful evening, but marred by the prissy old queen neighbor who complained about the coming and goings of the smokers and said he would call the police. But it has been a big news day and he is the least of my concerns.

Good news and bad. And the bad is really, really bad.

Good news:
The Vanderbilt Medical Alumni Association announced that my mother will be honored with the VMAA Distinguished Service Award. From the announcement: Fran Hardcastle, immediate past president of the Canby Robinson Society (CRS) and newly welcomed to our VMAA Board, will be the very deserving recipient of the 2006 VMAA Distinguished Service Award in recognition of her service to and leadership for Children's Hospital, CRS, and multiple other VUMC efforts."

Very cool Mom! I've always been impressed, and proud. It is nice to see her get her props!

Other good news:
Deb had her baby! This deserves its own post and will get its proper attention soon. The details: baby Roman Nicholas was born this morning after three freakin' days of labor. Roman (who shall be known among the tribe as Zack) weighs in at 9 pounds, 2 ounces. No formal length yet, but apparently Deb gave birth to a toddler.

Bad news:
The adored Doug Parsons passed away this weekend. Doug, my uncle once (twice?) removed, was always such a warm, welcoming, and charming patriarch in the clan and his kindness will be sorely missed. In trying to descibe him to my friends, I keep returning to the image of Clark Gable: tall, handsome, charming, quick with a cocktail and a kind word, effortlessly smooth, entirely genuine, without pretense or offence, and he could hold a room with his eyes. For me, he was often the main feature of family functions. And through whom I would get to know my good friend Clark. [more on Clark Parsons and my visit to him in Berlin here.]

Terrible news:
I can't really type this without losing it again. Dear friends Paul and Missy Wallace have learned that their sweet and wise eight-year-old Charlotte has a degenerateive neurological disorder.

I received this e-mail today:

As some of you already know, our family received some devastating news on 3/10. Our oldest daughter Charlotte (8) is suffering from a "Demyelinating Disease", which destroys the protective layer of proteins surrounding the central nervous system in her brain. The symptoms thus far have included weight loss and rapid deterioration of her motor skills and cognitive abilities. Multiple doctors are working furiously to try to identify the disease causing the demyelination in hopes of delaying its progress. Unfortunately, the prognosis is not encouraging.

There is a strong chance that the disease is genetic, meaning that William (6) and Mae Mae (4) could also be vulnerable.

I can't IMAGINE how they are dealing with this. I am not her parent, or even a parent, and I am a wreck.

They have a website now to share stories and information, which really cuts to my heart. However, I am deeply appreciative of the company which provides this blog service for the families of the tragically ill: CaringBridge.org.

Up for Chuck!

Chuck is in town! I think he told me he would be here in March but for some reason I have it in my calendar for April. I'm wholly unprepared and am completely excited to see him. I only hope I can clean up my neglected apartment in time to host something nice....

tv trauma?

I have a new co-worker, Dorki. She made a point this morning of stating, quite emphatically, that her adult relationships are marred by two childhood traumas: The Love Boat, and Three's Company.

There's something to this I'm sure.

And I am also afraid this is the sort of topic some student somewhere could turn into a thesis.

Whatever. Seattle Bill would still love it.

Kit Cat

While Garfield does not even approach the evil Family Circus for levels of unfunny, it certainly does lack the punch of say Pearls Before Swine.

But this, THIS, is BRILLIANCE. Garfield, as a strip, may suffer from overmuch-- the joke is illustrated, and texted, and reiterated- and is thus so oversold that it fails to be really funny or interesting. But remove all of Garfield's thought bubbles, and the strip becomes at times painfully funny and even painfully pathetic (for Jon). Often fascinatingly surreal. It is now a strip about a funny cartoon cat and the lonely man who talks to him.


These examples are great. I wish for more.