Celebrity Obsession

I suppose this is a sign of my age. Like a gray hair, or catching yourself saying "When I was your age"...something like that. Now, celebrity watching has been my guilty pleasure for quite some time. My husband can attest to the amount of time I've spent watching the E News channel or Entertainment Tonight or reading my Entertainment Weekly subscription (subscribing!).

What I've noticed the past year or so are these people that are famous for absolutely nothing. No talent; can't act; can't sing (tried both). I'm talking about all of the reality tv stars stretching their 15 minutes; the Paris Hiltons of the world. Even the gossip columnist Liz Smith hit it on the head when she called Hilton a commodity with no message.

At what point did Americans stop valuing talent? When did we decide that as long as you look hot with big hair and big lips you can be famous and make money? It's so freaking disappointing that real actors and musicians and painters and writers are pushed to the side to buy the latest crap CD, or "novel" (usually ghost written), or "movies". I've always been damn picky about the CDs, books or movies I buy/watch, but apparently most of America isn't.

Can't stand to see or read "crap". Can't really quantify "crap" either, I just know it when I smell it. I'd like to start a record label for ugly folks. Called Just Music Records. Maybe we can actually get people that can SING for once, or God forbid, can actually WRITE THEIR OWN DAMN MUSIC. I know, I know...I ask too much...

At least writers don't have to be hot...yet...

More cranky musings later!

Something good to read besides the tabloids...

Just wanted to let y'all know that there is a fantastic series on the Freep website this week and next by the journalist that was kidnapped for 3 weeks in the Middle East, Jill Carroll.

Each column is riveting. It seems that during the entire ordeal, one moment she was convinced her captor's would kill her and the next she would have hope that she would live. The column is just starting to tap into the hell her family went through as well.

We live such a safe, cushy life here in the US. Sure, you can get mugged or beaten up or raped (not discounting the horror of those things either), but you can walk in the mall or go to school or go to church without the fear of getting your ass blown to bits by a suicide bomber or cut in half by a machine gun for not covering your head properly. I mean, in general we have a great existence.

I really don't think my imagination could work hard enough to truly identify with the horror she went through (I'm sure it's just a Starbucks backup or something from all of the cushiness that is my life)...

Take a look at www.freep.com. It gives you a little appreciation for your own life...

Happy Friday, y'all...

The new flight regs...ugh

I was thinking, will we be relegated to flying completely naked in a metal tube with no seats, liquids or bathrooms? And then my husband reminded me...someone could still shove a bomb up their own ass...


Oh well...

The Empire Strikes Bat

The bat saga, part II.

I'll never look at tennis the same way...once again, on Monday night we had a bat intruder. This time, we were sleeping soundly when I woke up around 12:30am. At first I heard the usual scratching noise we always hear when they come in or out of the roof. Then I head that "pffft-pffft" noise of flying. In my hazy stupor, I thought "how can they fly in the roof? there's no room up there"...then I look over at my husband and his eyes are wide open. He slowly turns to me and says in a calm voice "It's in the bedroom".

You all know my reaction the first time this happened (see previous post). But here's the thing about me: Once I'm pissed off, I'm no longer afraid of anything...

So we got out of bed and turned the lights on. Batty McFly was zooming around, having a good ol' time flapping around. Again, we tried to shoo it out of the sliding door in our bedroom, but Dummy Flyjob didn't go for it. So I went to the basement and got the tennis racket.

We both went to the kitchen, and Uwe served up an ace! Smacked the lil' fucker onto the linoleum and held him down, while I threw a towel over the whole mess. Uwe tossed him outside and we cleaned up a little blood on the floor (all together now: ewwwwwwww). Next day of course, he was gone. Either crawled away to die or took to the skies again to wreak havoc on us another day. cue evil laughter BBBWWWAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA.....

Hopefully, no Return of the Bat-pie....

My husband, my hero!

I have a new healthy respect for the size of my husband's cojones. As some of you know, we have had a problem with bats in our roof on and off for over 2 years. So far, we treat them like gays in the military. We know you're there, but as long as you don't bother us we'll let you be.

We took steps to seal up most of the house last month, the only thing left to do is fix some gaps in our ridge vent on the roof. I've been meaning to call the roofing company, and we just had some MAJOR motivation to get on the horn after last week:

ONE OF THE BATS GOT INTO THE HOUSE!

There we were, lying on the sofa watching tv, minding our own business. We both heard what sounded like a photo falling off of the refrigerator in the kitchen. Thought nothing of it. Then we heard it again, only a little more. It still didn't register with me that anything was wrong, until I saw the Brown Bastard out of the corner of my eye flying into our great room!

Needless to say, I screamed like a little girl! My husband was very calm as we scrunched down into the couch, but I was going apeshit! As the little f&cker got lower and lower towards our heads, Uwe sent me post-haste to the basement. He opened the door wall in the great room and in the bedroom, but by the time he came back downstairs he couldn't see him. I came out of the basement, and saw it HANGING ON THE BACK OF OUR WINDOW BLINDS! AAAGGGHHH!

Uwe calmly grabbed a fleece car blanket from the front closet, wrapped his hand in it. He then turned the slats of the blind with the chain to get a better angle on it and GRABBED IT! Then he took it out to the balcony and tossed it into the night! That was the most brave thing EVER! I was scared shitless, and he just took control and got rid of the critter like he was taking out the trash.

MY HERO FORVER!

Whole new meaning for Mad Max

I'm sure by now you've seen all the press about Mel Gibson's DUI arrest in LA over the weekend. I've heard for years that he is not right; slightly crazy; VERY misogynist and anti-Semite. It just never made video until now (what a stupid ass).

I've never been a big fan of Mel Gibson. Never watched many of Mel's movies and never really swooned over his face during his "Sexiest Man Alive" period. The first thing that turned me off of him was an article I read about his wife. She is Christian, but not Catholic like he is. Because of this, Mel was quoted as saying that his wife is going to hell b/c she isn't baptised in the Catholic church. Does this bother Mel? Not really, he says...he's still devoted to the church, so he'll get to heaven. Sorry, lady. You're good enough to have 6 kids with, but not good enough to save from eternal damnation.

The second thing (not that it took another one) to turn me off was that his father was quoted as saying the Holocaust didn't happen. And that Mel refused to "go against his father" on the topic. Which is pretty much saying you agree. Because see, my dad has been a hard core Tigers fan for years, but I'm not going to back him up if he said five years ago that they were a great team; I'd call him out on it and we'd discuss it. Now, sure as shit I wouldn't sit back and just let a comment like "the Holocaust didn't happen" slide by and not say anything whether it was my dad or a stranger on the street. Ignorance is ignorance and we all have a duty to educate our fellow man.

So after seeing this past weekend's events, it's safe to say I wasn't surprised. Hugely disappointed, but not surprised. It just saddens me when I see examples of ignorance and hatred again and again in this modern world. The years after 9/11 have proved to be the worst, especially hatred and prejudice against people from the Middle East. I guess I just expect more from my fellow man. A higher intelligence to see through the bullshit and understand WHY things occur, not just HOW they happen or to buy into blatent lies about someone just because they speak differently or dress differently from you.

To see such a high profile individual make disparaging comments about Jews and women should NOT be tolerated and should be the end of his career making money off of the general public. We shouldn't elevate racist people to a position of power and influence, and we sure as hell shouldn't let them stay there.