The Dog's Breakfast

Amazing Animation!

2008-07-25T13:43:00.000-04:00

(Check out their others... like "Roof Sex" which is hilarious.)

Separated at Birth?

2008-07-24T07:37:00.002-04:00

Drew Peterson...

...and the Cowardly Lion.

And may I suggest to all women out there that they NOT marry anyone named "Peterson"? Especially if your name rhymes with "Stacey" or "Lacey"?

Finding Bullwinkle....NOT

2008-07-21T18:48:00.008-04:00

OK, I've been a bad blogger. Facebook has taken some of my attention away, just simply because it's like blogging for ADD people. But I've been doing other stuff, and dealing with some yet OTHER stuff, and just not writing very much at all. I kind of miss it although I have to get my inspiration back somehow.

Here's the good stuff I've been doing:

Visiting Lucas at camp...

...with my lovely daughter...

Spending the weekend with her at this cool place in the Catskills called The Roxbury Motel.

It's an old motel that someone renovated into a snazzy themed but tasteful place (think "West Elm" on crack). You can read my review on TripAdvisor (which is a great resource, btw).

A few days later I drove to The White Mountains of New Hampshire with my SO and stayed here... (I'll be writing my TripAdvisor review soon...the place is amazing and can you say "steam shower"??? They have rooms with Jacuzzi tubs too, but our steam shower was even better than that)

...looking for moose...

Not finding any moose (the photo above was taken from a brochure...fooled ya, eh?), we played golf...

...and saw some covered bridges on the way home...

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The less fun stuff that has occupied my time involves brain chemistry (mostly anxiety) but I'm working that out (hopefully) because I have a history of agoraphobia and that can really put a dent in one's social life.

I've also been working. Which is not fun. But I'll leave it at that, because at least it pays the bills.

I've still been trying to reason with the Surrogate's Court to resolve the issue of my late ex-husband's life insurance so I can actually get some help supporting our son. It's been almost five years since his untimely (but not entirely unexpected) death, and the money is still tied up.

Bullying Update: The more dangerous of the two boys who have targeted Lucas is now being charged with two adult crimes (trespassing and assaulting a 72-year-old woman) so he might finally get the help/incarceration that he so desperately needs. The other kid (who kicked a boy in the testicles the same day the child returned to school after hernia surgery) remains at large (both live in our condos).

SO....... I've got a few more posts coming.... some movie/DVD/TV reviews... and a post about Fit-Flops. Yes, Fit-Flops. I spent $60 on these so I'd better look like Stacey Keebler by the end of the summer. Or else.

Car Tunes

2008-07-05T08:06:00.002-04:00

What I'm listening to in the car these days (an hour and twenty minutes to and from work...music and audiobooks are key):

Book:

Just finished The Book Thief. If you have not read this book, get thee to a bookery ASAP. I strongly recommend the audio version, because as with The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns, the accent of the narrator adds so much to the experience.

Have a few options for my next audiobook...Interpreter of Maladies, The Tenth Circle, The Thirteenth Tale (but I started listening to that and I know I have to read it, because there are too many names and I need to SEE complex books like that), Water for Elephants, or I'd be open to suggestions.

Music:

The "Weeds" Soundtrack: I just watched Season One and I'm totally hooked. Addicted. Got a monkey on my back. You get the picture. (some of the dialogue on this show literally makes me laugh out loud. My dog is puzzled.)

You're No God -- Laura Marling

The Yard -- Trolle Siebenhaar

What Would Jay-Z Do? -- Ben Lee

some surprise -- the cake sale

Up to the Mountain -- Patty Griffin

Tiger Phone Card -- Dengue Fever

Heaven -- The Swimmers

I Wanna Take You Home -- Nada Surf (factoid: I dated the lead singer. Nice guy. Happy for him that they really did get that record deal!)

Lucky Adam -- Merz

After Hours -- We Are Scientists

All You Need Is Me -- Morrissey

All I Need -- Mat Kearney

Wish I -- Jem

So Damn Happy -- Loudon Wainwright III

All Will Be Well (Demo) -- Gabe Dixon

Whistle For The Choir -- The Fratellis

Boom Boom Ba -- Metisse

The Way I Am -- Ingrid Michaelson

Sunny Road -- Emiliana Torrini

Careless Love -- Madeline Peyroux

Mushaboom -- Feist

Young Folks -- The Kooks

Young Love -- Mystery Jets

From My Heart To Yours -- Laura Izibor

Broken -- Lifehouse

Best Friends -- The Perishers

Always a Use -- Madeleine Peyroux

You and I Both -- Jason Mraz

Where to Start -- Elin Ruth

Where I Stood -- Missy Higgins

Who's Your Daddy?

2008-06-25T08:38:00.002-04:00

Had he lived, today would have been my father's 89th birthday. Time to post this rerun.

I've written a lot so far about my mother, and a little bit about them as a couple, but not too much about my dad. That's partly because while I have a lot of pretty horrific memories of him from my childhood, I know now that much of his bad behavior was driven by my mother and maybe even by clinical depression, and I have forgiven him.

At heart, he was a very warm guy. He really liked us as babies (good thing, because my mother handled us like we were radioactive), pretty much until we got big enough to block the TV. He had a really strong Brooklyn accent, which made me laugh even as a child. He said "Oil" when he meant "Earl", and "earl" when he meant "oil". I remember pointing it out to him once, but I think he clocked me one. He was a gadget freak. We didn't have a lot of money...he was a mailman afterall. But we always had new cars, air conditioning before anyone else, more than one TV before that was the norm, and electric EVERYTHING. Electric can opener, card shuffler, back scratcher...you name it, we had it. He even bought an electric cigarette-roller. That didn't work so well. (He didn't score the first COLOR TV on the block, though. My grandparents did! )

I think because I was the third girl and he was probably hoping for a son, he taught me everything I know about baseball, boxing, engines, and of course it was Sal who taught me how to handicap racehorses (a talent I displayed to a nun for Show & Tell in 6th grade). He even brought me to the track once and let me pick his horses, but I did a little too well and he thought it better not to bring me back.

One of the best things he left me with, although unknowingly, was a collection of bawdy 78rpm records by a singer named Ruth Wallis, the queen of the double-entendre. I found the records as a teenager, hidden at the back of his collection along with the Belle Starr ones. One was called "Johnny's Little Yo-Yo" ("Johnny's got the same little yo-yo...that he had when he was a kid") and "Loretta's a Sweater Girl" ("...how does she steal away each fella's heart? She's got two outstanding reasons...she's cute and she's smart!"). I played them, memorized them, and entertained the "troops" by belting them out on High School bus trips.

While his sense of "humor" could be mean (sending my sister to the hardware store for "elbow grease") and sadistic (burying hated lima beans in my ice cream), it has also provided us with running jokes that will live on through my kids. ("Sing by the window and I'll help you out.")

So, while there are a lot of mistakes he made that will stick with me forever (I cannot listen to the 10,000 Maniacs song, "What's the Matter Here?" without blubbering), I can also say that he gave me valuable gifts...humor, a penchant for trivia, a love for sports and movies and Soupy Sales...and he made his peace with me by loving my children.

A few years before he died, I found the perfect Father's Day card for him. On the outside it said: "Dad, you know how I drove you crazy for so long?" and on the inside..."I'm almost done."

Sunday Will Never Be the Same

2008-06-13T19:58:00.003-04:00

R.I.P. Tim Russert
1950-2000

Such sad, sad news. We loved Tim.

My Favorite Political Ad

2008-06-03T19:49:00.000-04:00

Gotta love it....

Calling All Artists and Craftspeople to Help the Greyhounds!

2008-05-28T07:01:00.000-04:00

Our local adoption group, Greyhound Rescue and Rehab, is having their annual picnic in June. It's not all fun and games (well, it's SOME fun and games) but there is also an auction to raise money for the GRR medical fund.

If you can donate an item of artwork (photo, painting, sculpture) or craft (jewelry, clothing, household item or dog leashes or collars (martingale style), PLEASE email me at mvpublic at mac dot com) right away. It's a great way to do something generous for the hounds, but also a way to promote your work! There is going to be about 110 people at the picnic this year.

As for the fun and games, here's a recent picnic costume winner:

And here's a timely rerun of "Myths vs. Truths about Greyhounds"!

Myths vs. Truths about retired racing greyhounds:

MYTH: People who own racing greyhounds just keep them when their racing days are over.
TRUTH: When a racer is retired (anywhere between 18 months and 6 years of age), an adoption group will take the dog and find a home for it. No one knows the exact numbers, but in some parts of the country and at some tracks, dogs are still euthanized when they can no longer race. Thankfully more and more adoption groups are springing up every day.

MYTH: Greyhounds, since they were racers, need a lot of exercise.
TRUTH: Greyhounds, since they are retired, just want to lay on your couch. They don't need any more exercise than an average dog. During their working life they raced (for 30 seconds) every three or four days and slept in a crate for 16-20 hours a day in between. These guys were sprinters, not distance runners.

MYTH: Greyhound are high strung.
TRUTH: HAHAHAHAHAHA. Stop, yer killin' me.

MYTH: Since greyhounds are relatively large, purebred dogs, they must wind up with hip dysplasia and other genetic maladies and have relatively short lifespans.
TRUTH: Racing greyhounds are bred for health and performance, not for looks and "personality". They have a life expectancy of 12-14 years and do not suffer from the health issues that other pedigrees have. And they still have great personalities.

MYTH: Greyhounds were abused, so they must be skittish and spooky.
TRUTH: While we don't love greyhound racing, the abusers are in the minority. Practically speaking, you wouldn't abuse something that you are counting on for your livelihood. It would be more accurate to say that in racing, greyhounds are inventory. They are not pets while working, so they need to learn how to be the object of your affection. They are quick learners.

MYTH: Greyhounds cannot live with cats or other small animals.
TRUTH: This is true for some greyhounds, usually the ones who were excellent racers and have a high prey drive. However, many are retired early because they didn't care much about chasing the lure, and go on to live happily in homes with kitties and/or small dogs. Mine is not cat safe, but is fine with small dogs. The adoption group will tell you.

Other truths you may not know:
Greyhounds don't have a "dog smell".
Many dog-allergic people (like me) can live happily with greyhounds.
Because they are on a strict schedule at the track, many are very easy to housetrain.
They make great apartment dogs. They spend most of their time curled up in a little ball.
Most rarely bark. Some never bark. Mine only barks when he sees a dog who is not a greyhound. (He's a 'breedist". What can I say?)

And maybe the MOST important truth about greyhounds if you are considering adopting:

They can never, ever, EVER be trusted off-leash unless they are completely fenced in. They can see clearly up to 1/2 mile away, and if they spot something of interest (even a blowing paper bag), they will "lock on" and go for it, regardless of oncoming cars, trucks or trains. Oh, and electric fences don't work with greyhounds. If you don't believe me, put the collar on, get in your car and drive through the electric fence at 45mph. You'll be, oh, about a mile away before you feel the shock.
If you are serious about adopting, you will (or should) go through a pretty thorough screening. If the adoption doesn't work out, you don't give the dog away or bring it to a shelter...you return it to the group. So, they like to be pretty certain that the dog will be right for you.

Bottom line: If you want an incredible companion, don't have the time or energy to raise a puppy, and would like what is basically a cat in a dog costume, then a retired racing greyhound may be the ticket!

If you can't adopt but want to help (adoption groups have to pay for all medical costs when a dog leaves the track, including neutering and dental work but sometimes repair of broken bones as well) click HERE and be sure to say that panthergirl sent you!

TOP COOK!!!!

2008-05-21T22:33:00.003-04:00

In a thrilling turn of events, David Cook wins American Idol!!

He had me at "Hello"...

Why I Love "So You Think You Can Dance"

2008-05-19T16:21:00.003-04:00

Because unlike "Dancing with the Stars", which is moderately amusing, the dancing and choreography on this show are SICK... (to borrow a Shane Sparks term). The music is great (and real, as opposed to the muzak-reworkings offered up on DWTS), with a lot of indie and alternative choices that are worthy of an episode-by-episode soundtrack list.

I think it's sad that there doesn't seem to be the same opportunity for fame and fortune for these dancers (as opposed to, say, singers on American Idol). They are ridiculously talented, yet what can they really "win"? A spot in the background of a J-Lo video? (ok, sometimes you get to MARRY J-Lo as a result, but not usually). Unless they are a "triple threat" (sing/dance/act) they won't get a job beyond the chorus line of a Broadway show, but although that's steady and decent-paying work it's not "stardom".

What's with the double standard? Singers don't have to be able to dance... why are there only a handful of REALLY famous dancers who don't do anything else?

Discuss.

A Book Find AND A Blog Find!

2008-05-17T07:55:00.005-04:00

Found this through the fabulous Deni Bonet, who sent me to Marc Acito's blog, which is great in its own right. The premise of the blog is that he does something new every day and posts about it. This was actually done by his brother, so I guess the new thing was that he had never posted a video made by his brother before. ;)

Seriously, check out his blog. He's also an author and I'm heading over to Borders tomorrow to both see my daughter and to pick up a copy of his new book, The Attack of the Theater People.

Riding in Cars with Marge

2008-05-11T08:10:00.002-04:00

Happy Mother's Day to all who are mothers, have mothers, or have made someone a mother. I'm reposting one of my favorite Marge stories for your Mother's Day pleasure.

Marge, on left, and pal

My mother Marge has been a continuous (yet unintentional) "sauce of entertainment" to the sane members of my family over the year. She comes out with the most inane and ridiculous things, usually at completely inappropriate times. (A recent example of this was posted here, but long-time readers of this blog are quite familiar with this trait.)

When we were kids, she loved bragging to us about what a popular teenager she was, how many guys were after her, and how she was the first girl in her neighborhood to drive and own her own car. She'd go on ad nauseum about how many hands she had to slap from her knee while driving. (hopefully the looker to her left in this photo wasn't one of her suitors)

The love of cars and driving is something that she and my father had in common, and on my dad's mailman salary we always owned brand new vehicles ("You don't want to buy someone else's headache!") which my father would eventually plow into the trunk of a car he was tailgating. (Once, he did it on the way home from the dealership. At 10 years old, I felt very much like Ralphie in "A Christmas Story" as I cringed through the stream of obscenities that followed.)

Anyway...fast forward to about 15 years ago, my parents in their 70s, driving their gold-package Crown Victoria (or, "The Police Car" as we like to call it) in Florida, with my two nephews (15 and 13 at the time) in the back seat. Sal was driving with Marge riding shotgun. Cruising down I-4 at 85mph, they had the front windows open all the way and big band music blaring. When the wind inside the car reached gale force, my mother turned around and yelled, "HEY...ARE YOU KIDS GETTIN' A BLOW JOB BACK THERE?"

I guess we know why she was so damned popular in that car of hers!

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Hey, do me a favor and go vote for Robert Leleux's wonderful book, The Memoirs of a Beautiful Boy!

Blow Up

2008-05-04T08:01:00.004-04:00

Crappy weather weekend here, which means I'm catching up on some of my Netflix movies.

Ryan Gosling is one of my very favorite young actors. I loved him in Half Nelson and Fracture, but Lars and the Real Girl puts him right over the top for me.

If you think this is a silly film about a guy who falls in love with a blow-up doll, you couldn't be more wrong. It's a film about mental illness, compassion, and the about suspending disbelief: both for the film audience and for the characters in the movie itself.

I laughed at myself a few times as I wept for "Bianca". But the fact that I did is a testament to the wonderful cast and to the screenwriter. Don't miss this one.

The Good, The Bad and The Hilarious

2008-05-02T12:41:00.003-04:00

The Good:

The letter I wrote to my local newspaper generated several calls to me from other parents who have been dealing not only with the same issue, but with the same KIDS. Some since kindergarten. The paper wrote a followup article, ran an editorial and published a letter from another concerned parent who has taken up the bullying cause, but ultimately pulled her child from the school district.

The Bad:

Lucas is now being targeted verbally by friends of these boys ("Alec said that he and Jimmy stuck their d***s in your face.")

The article is just ok. I think the quoted expert focuses too much on school situations, when that's only half the problem. He also implies that the victim needs to find ways to cope or to avoid being targeted. That's like blaming the victim of rape for wearing a short skirt. I'm also disappointed that they did not interview a psychologist about the effects of bullying on children.

Watch this:

The school says they are taking "appropriate action" regarding these incidents (another occurred last Monday), but due to privacy laws they can't tell me what. I spent an hour with the police who basically throw their hands up and say "We can only do what the law allows. And the law doesn't consider this behavior to be assault." They described an incident where a girl gave another girl a huge black eye, but when the judge said "Does it hurt?" she said not really, and he thew the case out. When it comes to juveniles in this county, apparently a bone has to be broken in order for it to be considered assault. Yet, one of these kids HAS broken a child's arm in the past and is still not incarcerated.

So, again, anything that occurs outside the school's jurisdiction seems to have no consequence.

My next step is to take letters from the other parents, other members of my condo (they don't only target children) and go to the County Attorney to see if we can get an order of protection for my son. We are also looking into the possibility of a class action civil suit against the parents. These people have children who aren't just "bullies". They have real problems and need medical treatment. Anything less is neglect, and in the meantime the kids are a public menace.

Maybe the District would like to fund private school tuition for my son. That's sounding like a good idea to me.

OK, now to the Hilarious.

You'll need to wear these:

to see this:

Although I didn't expect much, Forgetting Sarah Marshall is the funniest movie I've seen since Team America: World Police. And I am proud to say that I was the only person in the theater who laughed at "I need to B my L on someone's T's".

License to Bully

2008-04-25T07:35:00.002-04:00

Some of you may recall this post from two years ago about bullies on the school bus. Since that time, we've been dealing with other bullies in our condo community. I've had to call the police three times this school year due to actions taken against my son, and I'm sick of it.

Yesterday, our local paper published a letter that I wrote, hopefully to get the attention of other parents in the area and to call attention to the complacence of the police.

Here it is:

Parents: You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know About Bullies

Since the beginning of this school year, I have learned something I never knew when it comes to protecting our children: Your son or daughter can be harassed and assaulted by 12 and 13 year olds, but until those kids are over 16, or until they physically injure your child, the [local] Police can do nothing more than write up a report and talk to these kids and their parents.

If the assault takes place on school grounds, the school can suspend them. If it takes place on the bus, an incident report is written up. But if it takes place when your child is walking home from the bus stop, you’ll get “I wish there was something else we could do” and that’s about it. Once you let the school know that you’ve met with an attorney, they will agree to put your child on an “overflow” bus that drops him off at your door. (What is wrong with this picture? Why isn’t it the delinquent children that get put on the “special” bus?)

The assault can include throwing your child to the ground, punching him, sitting on him, menacing and even exposing genitals to him. It can include taunting, mocking, and verbally harassing your child, even in your presence.

The parents of these kids are either of the “my kid would never..” ilk, or bullies themselves. Some are alcoholics and some of these kids clearly need psychological and/or medical help.

But in the meantime, your child can be on the receiving end of some very destructive behavior that leaves him or her in a hyper vigilant state, fearful of playing outdoors and unable to enjoy a leisurely walk home from the bus stop on a beautiful day.

We all know about Columbine, about Virginia Tech, about the recent beating of a Florida girl that wound up on You Tube. Whenever these horrific incidents occur, you hear the refrain, “The signs were always there.” People begin to recount the behaviors that had been seen an ignored for years leading up to the “big one”.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t want my child to be a victim of “the big one”. I don’t want to wait three years, and I don’t want to get the call telling me that a 12-year-old who is twice his size has broken his arm. We need to protect our children now, and hold these bullies and their parents accountable.

Wiseass 101

2008-04-15T09:06:00.003-04:00

In "honor" of the Pope's visit to the US, I just had to rerun this fan favorite:

Longtime readers of this blog know that I went to Catholic school for twelve years. Barring the "peep peep" joke from 1st grade, I was a pretty good little Catholic in elementary school. High school, not so much.

I was in trouble a good part of the time, never for anything hostile or hurtful but more for antics like collecting the dissected worms from Biology class and putting them in various appetizing places around the lunchroom. (including the Coke machine and in an unsuspecting girl's sandwich). I was sent to the principal's office for organizing poker games that sometimes ended in fistfights (hey, not me...it was those other crazy chicks!). I'd bring a giant Scotch bottle filled with pennies to school, tie ribbons around my sleeves and wear a visor for the poker events (staged on the filthy floor of the cafeteria). Remember, this was the early '70s...five card stud, not Texas Hold 'em.

When called out in Science class for who-knows-what, I enlisted two of my friends to join me in serenading our teacher, Mr. Arena (while sitting on his desk of course), in a plea to the tune of "Big Spender": "The minute you walked in the lab (boom boom)...I could see you were a man of demerits...a real five pointer..Hey, Mr. Arena! Take ....... this little demerit from me..."

For the outcome, read my 100 Things. ;)

I devised a way for us to go braless (under our white cotton uniform blouses) to drive the male teachers nuts. The nuns would actually approach us and say "Are you wearing a bra??" We'd glue little piece of bra-strap inside the shoulder area of our blouse and pull it out through the neckline and say, "Yes, Sister! Of course!"

Influenced by my still-in-the-closet best friend Andrew, I would also make decidedly inappropriate selections for book reports, like the one I did on a little missive called "Mother Camp" about transvestites and transsexuals. I still have the report, replete with all the frenetic red markings scolding me for not getting the book pre-approved. Hey, I thought it was really fascinating! A particularly juicy paragraph helped the reader (in this case, the prune-faced Sister Ruth Miriam) distinguish between the various types of "queens", including the "dinge queen, noted for having anal sex in public restrooms." That nun is probably STILL in an oxygen tent.

Anyway, I digress. What the papal visit really reminds me of was an article I wrote for the school newspaper entitled, "The Pope: Who Died and Left HIM Boss?"

Although I probably spent twenty-six thousand hours in detention, I think they secretly got a kick out of me.

That Was the Week That Was

2008-04-12T18:30:00.006-04:00

Spent last weekend at Foxwoods/Mohegan Sun... the casinos on the reservations in Connecticut. The purpose of the trip was to see Santana in concert which was A-MAZING. I had seen Santana at the Fillmore East in 1970, and this was equally exciting. The opening act was The Derek Trucks Band, worth checking out if you love you some jazzy slide guitar. You can catch Santana in concert on RAVEHD (another one of the Zoom network channels). What I loved most was Carlos' banter and the AV show which highlighted clips from Woodstock and other early appearances. And if you don't get out to see live music much, doing it makes you realize why it's so special.

We also spent time in the casino (fun except for the disgusting cigarette smoke...yeuch!). I was up by about 100% at one point but lost it all. It was ok... I had planned for it. It was just nice to have some grownup time (we stayed out until 3AM on Saturday...haven't done that IN YEARS!)

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HOLY SMOKES. Did you see Fergie on Idol Gives Back this week? She looked amazing, she sounded UNBELIEVABLE... (I actually thought Ann Wilson was still singing because I had looked away, and thought "Wow... she really kept her voice!" and then saw it was Fergie!) and I want a pair of those PVC pants. The one-handed cartwheels put the whole thing over the top for me. Just awesome. (and how funny is "Band from TV"? Almost made Teri Hatcher sound good.) Anyway, I donated and tried to submit a request for a matching gift from my company. I got an email back stating "We do not match gifts to PETA or Greenpeace. Sorry." Huh??

And speaking of Idol... I was bummed to see Michael Johns go, but he'll do alright for himself. Still, Kristie Lee and Sayesha shouldn't have outlasted him.

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And still speaking of American Idol, the AI Karaoke game for the Wii is great!! You sing and then get critiqued by Randy, Paula and Simon. Hilarious. As I've posted in the past, my little guy loves to sing but gives "tin ear" a whole new meaning. Don't quit your day job, Lucas.

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Watched The Darjeeling Limited today. Initially I thought it was just going to be a fun and quirky/odd film but it really took a turn midway through that made it so much more than that. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and Jason Schwartzman looks exactly like a boyfriend I had when I was 16.

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Step Up and Win!

2008-04-04T08:25:00.008-04:00

Update: So far, we've gotten lots of good wishes but only one VERY generous donation, from Fiona. Be a good blog buddy and go visit her! If no one donates more than $100 by this weekend, Fiona will be sporting a Dog's Breakfast t-shirt... aren't you jealous?

Over the past couple of years, I've directed you to read my cousin Mary's blog, "Upward Over the Mountain". She's smart, funny (even though she doesn't like Flight of the Conchords. Oh well, nobody's perfect!) but most of all she's an amazingly good person. She is one of the few people I know who doesn't just talk about making the world a better place...she's dedicated her life to it. She's worked with battered women, the homeless, the elderly...all the while maintaining a fabulous sense of humor (previous reference to FOTC aside).

Now, she and a friend are going to take an incredible journey and need help and support to do it. Here is an excerpt from the email I received from Mary:
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Hi friends and family,

My friend Kristen and I are setting off in July for six months of volunteer travel. We plan to do volunteer work all over the world including building affordable housing with Habitat for Humanity in Hungary, organic farming in Italy, Tsunami relief efforts in Thailand, assisting at an orphanage in Cambodia, working on a eco-farm in Costa Rica, teaching English to kids in Belize and finally, helping with Katrina relief efforts in New Orleans.

Our goal is to not only help organizations and people that need it through hands-on work and financial contributions, but to learn about the issues affecting these communities through talking to the people that live there.

We're setting out with open minds and hope this trip is the beginning of a larger purpose in expanding our knowledge about the world, other cultures and how we can come back to the US and do our best to make a positive difference in our own communities.

To the point, we need to raise over $8,000 and are asking for your support.

More details about the trip, and the organizations we're working with, can be found at Voluntourists, our blog. You can donate right there in the sidebar!
It's easy. You know the drill. I'll spare you the Sally Struthers "for the price of a cup of coffee" spiel, and just say that you can trust that whatever you can give will be very much appreciated and be used to support a great organization that needs it.

If you can't donate at this time, would you please forward this email to friends, family and strangers that may be able and willing to help? Even if you can contribute, would you forward it anyway?

Do you have a blog and/or a website? Will you post about the trip on said blog or website? We'll return the favor and link to your site on ours if you'd like.

We'll keep everyone posted on our travels through pictures, blog posts, video, interviews, and even good 'ol fashion snail mail if ya like! If you have any questions about any of this, just let me know.

Thanks so much for your support. I hope this finds you and your crew doing well.

Mary

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OK, peoples. I tell ya what I'm gonna do.

I've already donated $100 to Mary and Kristen. If someone reading this blog makes a donation, please email me at mvpublic at mac dot com to let me know (include your name and the amount of your donation, so I can cross-check with Mary). The person who donates the most will receive TWO outstanding prizes

1. A music CD mixed by moi. I promise you an outstanding and eclectic selection of supercool tunes.
2. Your very own Dog's Breakfast mug or t-shirt (long or short-sleeve, or hat or any other similarly priced promo item from Cafe Press)

If you also cross-post to your blog, I'll throw in a third "mystery" prize.

Steal Magnolias

2008-03-31T15:43:00.003-04:00

One of my favorite TV spots of all time is the one the MTV used to (still does?) use in between shows: it's a CD and the sound of a chainsaw which is what you need to open one.

When attempting to open a similarly theft-proofed package the other day, I started to mentally list everything that would be SO different (or non-existent) if people simply did not steal:

Door locks. Keys. Car alarms. Padlocks. Window gates. Department store security tags.(Ever accidentally buy something where the tag hasn't been removed? Ever have that happen when it's a birthday gift that you bought on your WAY to the birthday party? Yeah, me too.) Security guards. Bike locks. Home alarm systems. Cash registers (well, ok...you'd still need to keep track of sales). Safe-deposit boxes. Vaults. Armored cars. Fort Knox. Security scanners. "Check your bag" at the entrance stores (common in NYC). Video stores with empty boxes on display.

Think about it as you go through your day. All of the extra packaging, every extra bit of energy you have to expend in life simply because people like to take things that don't belong to them. Life would be so different if we never had to think about it.

When I was in Tortola in 1981, life was like that. People just didn't steal. You could leave your stuff on the beach, go out to lunch and everything would be untouched upon your return (and by "stuff" I mean not just books, coverups and blankets... I mean cameras). I don't know if it's still that way, but all I can tell you is that life is far more relaxed when you don't have to think about being ripped off.

See what I mean?

Panthergirl's Picks and Pans of the Week

2008-03-28T07:40:00.004-04:00

Picks:

Into the Wild (DVD): Sean Penn's beautiful film about Chris McCandless, the young idealist who leaves home after college, donates his entire $24,000 savings to charity, in a quest for ultimate freedom in the wilds of Alaska. I hadn't read the book (by Jon Krakauer) so I didn't know how the story ends. Hal Holbrook's performance is truly worthy of the Oscar nomination that he received...incredibly moving.

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The Bank Job (in theaters): A really fun ride about a bumbling group of bank robbers who don't even know the magnitude of the robbery they are committing. One of those rare "Thromedies" (Thriller/Comedy) that will leave you feeling completely entertained. And that's the point, right?

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The Tudors: I'm still finishing up Season One on DVD, but I've already decided to get Showtime before Season Two starts. Riveting and beautiful to look at.

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Monsters HD (on the Zoom Network). I hate the current horror film genre, and I'm too scared of films like The Omen (gave me nightmares for two weeks) and The Shining (still can't watch the whole thing), but Monsters HD shows classic (and not so classic) old monster movies as well . The kind that usually wound up on Mystery Science Theater. So bad that they're good. It's commercial free, except for the Monster Channel promos in between the films, which are masterpieces in and of themselves.

Pans:

Dan in Real Life (DVD). Steve Carrell plays a widower raising three daughters who goes to a family reunion weekend and falls hopelessly in love with Juliette Binoche in 5 minutes, during a chance meeting in a bookstore. As it turns out, she is actually the new girlfriend of his brother, and they spend the rest of the film trying not to let the rest of the family know that they are hot for each other. I love Steve Carrell and I love Juliette Binoche, but this film is really a piece of crap. If it deserves an award, it would be "Most Inane Monologue in Any Film, Ever" for a speech that Binoche's character gives in the bookstore at the beginning of the film. Who talks like that??

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Mildred Pierce: OK, so this isn't really a "pan". I watched this on TCM the other night. Joan Crawford won an Academy Award for her performance as a struggling working woman who is desperately trying to please her spoiled brat daughter. What struck me was the scene where her younger daughter (probably 6 years old) dies of pneumonia. She dabs a couple of tears from her eyes, and someone offers her "a nice hot cup of tea". Heck, my ex-husband cried more than that when the Knicks lost the playoffs in '94.

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Doctors: I have what appears to be the flu. Yesterday, I left messages for two doctors: my internist and my pulmonologist. I have asthma, so when I get a cold or flu I have to vigilant about my lungs or I'll wind up in some serious trouble. I left detailed messages, saying that I need an Rx for antibiotics or prednisone and neither doctor returned my call. WTF??

Take Our Daughters to Work Day

2008-03-26T07:49:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, I received a memo at work reminding me to register my kid for "Take Our Children to Work Day." I thought it was a good time to rerun my blogpost from April 2006 on this topic, which is a real ho-button issue for me:

Take Out DAUGHTERS to Work Day.

That's what it was designed to be. Our daughters. To work. Now, it appears that the Ms. Foundation has caved to pressure from people who normally despise "political correctness" and changed the day to "Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day". I'm really disappointed in them.

The day was created so that girls, traditionally not exposed to lots of career options, could see what women do in jobs outside the home. Sure, more women work now than ever before, but educating our daughters about the realities of the workplace, including inequities in salaries and the "glass ceiling" is important. Boys have always been exposed to men in the workplace. Have you ever seen a magazine called "Working Dad"? Of course not. Sounds silly, doesn't it? Then why do we need this:

I find it so interesting that the people who complained about TODTWD as being "sexist" because it excluded boys are the same people who couldn't care less about ACTUAL sexism, in the workplace or otherwise. These are the same people who complain about "Black History Month" as being "racist". No, you see...every OTHER month is "White History Month". That's the difference.

It's a shame that TODTWD has been watered down, and I intend to write to the Ms. Foundation to express my displeasure. If they wanted to add boys to to mix, they should suggest keeping boys at home with their stay-at-home moms or dads, to show them THAT option, and what's involved with it. After all, that should be a choice for boys as well.

The Talented Friends of Panthergirl

2008-03-22T12:49:00.003-04:00

As I was driving home from work the other day (did I mention that it takes me an hour and twenty minutes now? Yeah, I thought I had.) it occurred to me how many incredibly talented friends I have.

I am still reading The Memoirs of a Beautiful Boyby Robert Leleux, whom I met at the wedding of my friend Nadia. (I introduced her to my friend Rich and they got married two years ago...too cool.)

Nadia is an incredibly talented and gorgeous singer/songwriter, and if you live in or near NYC be sure and try to see her. Her gigs are always posted on her website (the site itself is great!).

Two other singer/songwriter friends of mine I met right here in the blogosphere.

Deni Bonet, whom many of you know as the Last Girl on Earth, is truly one of the coolest people I know. AND we actually got to meet a few years ago in NYC, and she was as great in real life as she is here on the web. She's an amazingly talented rock violinist (has played with Cyndy Lauper, Sara McLachlan and Corinne Bailey Rae (on SNL!) and her original songs are so much fun. (and how great is that dress??)

Bud Buckley has a brand new CD out! He's got a Dylan-esque flair, but really a style that is all his own. Check him out before he gets too famous. We can say "we knew him when." And you get two for the price of one, because Deni plays violin on Bud's CD! One of my personal Bud favorites is "Let Me Go".

My dear friend Joy Masoff, mentioned previously for her fabulous and popular book, Oh Yuck!, is working on another sequel that I'll write about when it's done!

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Kelso update:

OK, you won't believe this (I still don't) but the day after Kelso had his stitches removed he banged his right rear foot into a piece of furniture and split his nail right down the middle...the long way. OUCH. Back to the vet we went, and now he's got a big bandage and a boot on that foot. Someone suggested that I need to encase him in bubble wrap, and I think that may be the way to go.

What I Learned This Week

2008-03-14T09:06:00.005-04:00

- If you want to make it in the music business, become a prostitute. It's good practice for BEING IN the music business.

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- Marion Cotillard is a terrific actress. La Vie en Rose is not a terrific film.

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- The justice system is really screwed up. I'm still astounded by this 60 Minutes story.

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- I can get into the whole "brackets" thing without watching one basketball game. Check out Fafarazzi.

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- Driving 35 minutes to and from work is a nice commute. Driving an hour and 20 minutes to and from work is horrible.

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- When you're reading a really good book, you could finish it in one day but you don't want to.

Client 9 from Outer Space

2008-03-10T18:03:00.002-04:00

My god. I never particularly liked Eliot Spitzer, but what planet does this guy live on? How could he possibly think he could hire a prostitute and not be found out? (and it's not just the prostitute that is causing him problems...it's when you get into things like money laundering that you're TRULY fucked.)

At least our boy Bill Clinton never pretended to be an altar boy. This guy, on the other hand, was "squeaky clean" and held himself up as the arbiter of ethics. Yes, what Bill did was dumb (I've always said, why blow the president unless you can tell someone about it?) but what Spitzer did was indicative, to me, of an enormous amount of arrogance and ego that led him to believe he would never be caught.

Sheesh.

Photo Friday: Surreal

2008-03-07T10:13:00.003-05:00

OK, I didn't take the photo. But it's my grandparents, taken in their native hillside town of Calitri outside Naples, Italy. I still can't figure out how my grandmother is staying on that donkey, but if that's not surreal I don't know what is!

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Kelso update: After having torn out all five staples, he's now in the Mork from Ork hard plastic collar from hell, with SIX brand new staples.