First off, just for laughs...The Ten Worst Album Covers. Though I don't know what they're talking about. The Tino one is obviously sexy.
...
Mwahahaha
*wipes eyes*
In other news, I'm so flattered. Someone wants to buy one of my sculpy penguins and a duplicate of my Swarovski crystal bracelet. *giddy* Which reminds me of just how much I need to actually update my PhoenixFire Designs site. I have SO MUCH to show off and offer for sale and offer for design style and commission. But that's half the problem; it's so much it'll be a LOT of work to get it all set up. And I'm really frustrated with my prehistoric web design skills. Oh well. Needs doing though.
I have a few more things to rant and babble about - like some more commericals that get my goat - but, I've gotta run right now. I'll try to ramble about them later.
So we had friends over last night. I had asked one of them, Rand, on Monday to please pick up a birthday cake for me so my Love could have cake with his friends. He did and we stashed it in the fridge where we promptly forgot about it. Oops. I ended up lighting the candles and giving it to him today. Hey, if he couldn't have all his friends sing him "Happy Birthday" then we could at least have me sing it to him and get it on his birthday. While he was at work yesterday I also set up ribbons from the ceiling fan to decorate the place a bit. Turns out he really liked it. *smiles* I'm glad. So here's two b-day related pics:
He took the day off today. Slept in - something rare for him even on days he can. I couldn't sleep last night and I finally forced myself to go lay down at about 4:30am. When you're sitting there on the couch and you're actually watchingKnight Rider 2000 on SciFi, it's time to go to bed - tired or not. So I didn't end up getting out of bed until like noon. Weird. I'm drifting further and further into the nocturnal thing again lately, but it's not working out for the better for me, just the weirder.
We thought about going to see a movie, but my Love had a headache. We decided to go food shopping instead. Ended up with a lot of food which was good because this place was barren. We watched West Wing and Angel as usual. I just have to say though, Puppets?? That the fuck?! And a VAMPIRE puppet too? It was the single weirdest Angel I'd ever seen. And the weirdness didn't even work for me. It was just, well, stupid. I mean there's a demon who's summoned by Xander that makes everyone break out into musical dance and singing routines kind of weird (which worked) and then there's Angel being turned into a puppet (which didn't).
Not that anyone wants to know this but dammit, I'm 26 - will be 27 in May (oh my stars I'm getting old) - and my damned chin and shoulder are broken out. Bah. Stupid acne which is just infrequent enough not to warrent a dermatologist (not that I have insurance for it but still) but frequent enough to drive me bonkers. It's always those annoying ones that lurk under the skin and never really show themselves but they hurt so you poke at them and that just makes them hurt worse. Double Bah.
Forgot to get a book of stamps when I was at the store today. Darnit. I have a bunch of stuff I need to send out too. There's a pile just sitting, waiting for me to put stamps on it. And speaking of mail, I forgot to check it today.
Yeah, ok, at the point where I'm babbling "outloud" as it were the random things running through my head like the mail, I think it's time to call the entry a wrap. Ta for now.
From: Matt Howes, National Internet Organizer, ACLU To: ACLU Action Network Members Date: February 17, 2004
Next week, the House will be voting on a backdoor attempt by anti-choice proponents to undermine the legal underpinnings of Roe v. Wade.
This attempt—a proposed bill promoted by anti-choice legislators and their allies—would give a fetus separate rights distinct from the woman. Although its proponents claim this bill is meant to punish violence against women, they have rejected approaches that would have punished violence—including violence that causes the loss of a pregnancy—without creating new fetal rights. This unprecedented elevation of the status of a fetus in federal law erodes the very foundation of the right to choose abortion.
It is no accident that anti-choice groups have drafted and circulated similar legislation all across the country. The proponents of this bill have built their careers around banning abortion. This clearly shows that their true intent is to undermine a woman’s right to choose.
Take Action! Stop Congress from rolling back key reproductive freedoms.
The day ANYONE tells me what I can and can not do medically, ethically, emotionally, spiritually, physically or other with my own body is the day I move out of this country forever. I’m not pro-abortion, I’m pro-choice. It’s NO ONE‘S BUSINESS to decide such matters for me. It’s NO ONE‘S RIGHT to tell me how I have to live my life or what happens to MY body. If it’s true for the religion I follow or books I read or what I have to say, then it’s certainly true for my own body. If you don’t agree with it, don’t have one. But don’t you dare try to tell someone else that their choice is wrong. I agree 100% that Freedom is the right to chose – in EVERYTHING in one’s life.
America’s not easy and it’s not supposed to be. Freedom means that you have to defend the right to the person who screams at the top of their lungs that which you’ve screamed in opposition at the top of yours. If we don’t allow for personal choice – whether you as an outside party think it’s right or wrong doesn’t come into play – we destroy the very core of freedom.
Quick note. Tomorrow is my Love's birthday (Happy Birthday Sweetheart!) and tonight we're having a bunch of friends over. Therefore I'll probably be away from the pc for most of the night. That's ok though, yesterday's entry was so long that I'm sure there's still plenty to read of that one. *chuckles*
I know there was something else I wanted to say but...er....I can't remember. Oh well. If I get a chance I'll write up an entry tonight, if not, then I'll get one tomorrow. (Not like anything overly pressing needs to be shared, I got my weekend recap entry done and that's really all I've got to say at the moment anyway.)
Valentine’s Day at WDW – a Comedy of Errors So, we were dead broke but my Love sold a drawing on Friday. With money for gas and a burger at the park, we decided to get out of Dodge for the day and use our passes to WDW. The Magic Kingdom was open until 11pm, so we got off to a bit of a late start, leaving about 12:30pm. Normally, it only takes us about an hour and a half to get there, which would still leave more then enough time to spend the day together there. But, instead, we had a comedy of errors for the history books…
We take the interstate to pick up the other interstate for our trip to Orlando. Problem was that the merge lanes were completely backed up. We had no idea why. We thought perhaps there was something going on in that area so we stuck it out and inched our way through the traffic. Make our way through the worst of it, finding no explanation of what the hold up was and get going once it opens up into three lanes. Cruising along, we shrug it off and enjoy the fact that while we’re already behind schedule – it’s taken us an hour so far of our normal hour and a half trip – we’ve got open highway and shouldn’t have any more problem or delay.
Yeah. We were wrong.
The road eventually narrows back down to two lanes. What you have to realize is that there is one and only one route to take to get to Orlando and that’s I-4. It’s been under construction pretty much for as long as Florida has been a state. They worked for well over ten years to complete an expanded section of three lanes and they’ve started working on pretty much all the rest of it (to bring it up to three lanes as well). Once we got past the completed point, we hit a stoppage again. Traffic crawled to a halt. This is where we spent another two and a half hours.
Now, remember, quick drive to Orlando. 1 ½ hours. We left at 12:30pm. Should have gotten there about 2pm. Instead, we didn’t walk into the gates until 4pm. That was a grand total of three and a half hours of “driving” down an interstate who’s posted speed limit averages between 65-70mph. (In a car who’s a/c doesn’t work while it was raining the whole drive plus not moving fast enough equals inability to roll down windows without getting soaked from the rain.)
But before we even made it to the gates, we made it into the WDW property. Deciding we wanted to hit MGM for the heck of it before Magic Kingdom, we go to that parking lot. At 4pm on a day when MGM closes at 7pm, there weren’t any lot attendants directing you where to park. So we’re driving along through the lot, following the car in front of us. Passing row after row we just don’t know where to turn (all the lanes went the wrong way, leaving us to keep winding down past all the rows). The car in front of us keeps right on going and so do we – right out the exit. Drove through the whole lot and right out the other side. Dammit. So we pull out into the maze of roadways on the 47 square miles of Disney property and manage to make a U-turn. Go back through the MGM gate and just find a damned parking spot.
Of course, it’s really far away from the gates. And the tram just pulled away and there aren’t anymore in sight, let alone people wanting to ride it. So we open our umbrellas and trudge through the rain and puddles all the way up to the entrance. Go on the Animation Tour out of morbid curiosity (since Eisner is an ass and closed the Feature Animation Department in Florida, firing the creative people behind Mulan and Lilo & Stitch which were both made there and which is an entry in and of itself and I’ll get to at another time) Then realized we were starving. It was going on 5pm at this point and neither of us had eaten yet for the day.
Now, you’ve got to realize something for this next part. My Love is utterly and completely in love – and one might even say addicted – to WDW hamburgers. Don’t ask, I don’t get it. I think they’re ok, but something about them just makes his entire day. When we went the weekend before with our friend Rand, we ended up eating at the Rainforest Café and so he didn’t get a chance to have one of his burgers. Needless to say, having been teased the week before, he was dying for one right about then.
So we look on the map to check out the places which serve burgers and meander over to the ABC Commissary. He gets his burger and I order a kid’s meal of chicken nuggets. First off, his burger comes with all the toppings rather then having a toppings bar like they do at MK and Epcot. So he has to take the lettuce and such off. Then, it’s not the same burger. It’s dried out and the cheese isn’t even melted on it and he’s just miserable. Hungry, he eats it, but not happily. Meanwhile, my nuggets are scorched. They taste like coal. Dried out also, they’re just inedible. I wolf down my fries and disgruntled, we head back out into the rainy park.
We wander the “One Man’s Dream” exhibit and movie (which is about the life and times of Walt Disney), get mad that it’s narrated by Eisner again and move on. By this point, the rain’s coming down even harder. We dash into a couple shops, and he has his highlight of the night: he finds a shirt which has the Tramp from Lady and Tramp on the back. (This is one of his favorite Disney flicks.) I had stashed about half enough to pay for it so I could get him something as a surprise while we were there so I used that and a little extra so he could get it. I don’t have any money to get him a birthday present on Wednesday, so at the very least, he ended up getting something after all and something he liked.
Rounding on seven, we trudge back out through the rain and even deeper puddles to the car. We exit out and try to follow the signs to get to MK next. Turns out we miss a turn and end up driving out of the property. Come Back Real Soon! the sign says. Bah. It’s a divided road with ZERO breaks and no place to turn around. We end up driving several miles away before finally coming to a break where we can U-turn and come several miles back just to get to MK. Ugh.
We get into the MK parking lot. Problem is that it’s still raining and we end up in the wrong lane (again) and go past the turn off for the parking and instead head towards the gas station. Luckily there was circle-back right there so we got back into the parking lot without more hassle.
Park no problem (someone was actually directing). Tram ride no problem. Get to the ticketing center and there is a virtual flood of people leaving. Cool. Monorail is packed full but they all get out to leave when we’re waiting to get on. My Love and I get the car to ourselves and I snuggle against him for the couple-minute ride over to the entrance. It was the best part of the night for me. Such a nice calm after so much stress.
MK is where things FINALLY start to pick up for us and our comedy of errors finally wanes. We have a nice time, getting to do all our favorite things like Philharmagic, Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, ride the People Mover in Tomorrowland, catch the last two minutes or so of the Spectro Magic Parade, catch all of the amazingly impressive, Wishes fireworks show (which went off at 9pm – we didn’t realize until they announced it, but under our umbrellas right in front of the Castle, we got to see it anyway), and yes, we even stopped so my Love could get his long denied WDW burger. We sat at an outside table across from the Castle. The rain had stopped but no one was out there with us. I sipped my hot cocoa (it had gotten cool, but not uncomfortably slow) and he enjoyed his burger and we just sat at about 10pm and relaxed for a bit taking in the lovely view. It was the second best part of the night.
Afterwards we hit a few more rides, I traded a duplicate pin for one from a cast member of the girl from the Rhapsody in Blue segment of Fantasia 2000 (my first trade! Now I want to get some more pins I don’t care about just so I can trade them!), we nosed around a few stores and called it a night about 11:30pm.
Smooth sailing home, we got in a little after 1am.
So the day had all the elements of things gone wrong. Everything that just could have been a frustration, was. Despite the extremely irritating drive out there, the length of time it took us, the rain, my residual getting-over-my-cold runny nose, the disappointing food/rides in MGM and our continual problems with driving around the property, we actually had a pretty nice day. When it came right down to it, we still got to spend the day together and that’s what counted.
Do you believe in Miracles? Sunday we got together with our friend Rand and caught a matinee of the movie, Miracle. (The story of the gold-medal winning 1980 USA hockey team.) The theater was packed but the movie was excellent. Coming in at about 2 hours 15 minutes, I enjoyed it all. Hockey, a great true story, the pride of overcoming impossible odds – the movie had everything. Despite knowing they won, it was still very well done; you were with them, rooting and cheering and fighting through each moment of the game. I really came out of it feeling even more respect for those guys and what they managed to achieve. If you have any interest in hockey, the Olympics, teams coming together, the sad state of affairs of the world in 1980, or just underdog tales, I’d recommend it. I think just about everyone would enjoy it.
Monday, Monday, Monday… Today – well, technically since I’ve been writing this for about a half hour now it WAS Monday when I started this – I took a shower, called my mom (her computer’s working again – no clue what she did to it to make it break or work and I’m not asking too many questions!), Love’s mom (about his birthday), my friend Joolo (who I hadn’t talked to in forever because he’s busy with his new girlfriend. OooOOoh….) and I cleaned up the house. My Love’s mom came by to see him since she had the day off today (he didn’t) around 5:20pm, so I wanted the place to look nice. She also wanted to drop off his birthday gift (a gift certificate to Pearl’s). She didn’t stay long because she can’t see well to drive at night. He rested a bit, I made us some food and we watched a little tv together. Generally, just a quite – but typical – weeknight evening for us.
Tomorrow (today technically, Tuesday), a bunch of friends are coming over to hang out as a birthday party for my Love. He took his birthday off, so he can sleep in on Wednesday. Should be nice; haven’t seen several of our friends in a couple weeks.
Well. If you got through all that, my compliments. *laughs* But it was just too much of a story not to tell. Anyway, that was my weekend and my 2004 Valentine’s Day At WDW. I think this has been more then long enough so here I’ll call it a night. Ta for now.
Yeah yeah yeah...been busy. No entry so far today. Oops. Gotta give my Love some net time so maybe I'll write up a weekend recap after he goes to bed. Just checkin' in since I realized I hadn't written sqat here today.
Since my Valentine's Day recap will take awhile to write, I thought in the meantime I'd pass along two recent advertising things which I found so stupid, they were actually funny...
The first involves KFC. You all know KFC, right? Col. Sanders, the bucket-o-chicken, all that stuff? And some of you might remember back in the good old days when KFC was actually Kentucky Fried Chicken. To help refresh your memory or for those youngin's out there, here's what things used to look like:
Proudly displaying what it was they sold and what their product was.
Then, back in 1991, the company wanted to stop being associated with just "fried" foods and in an effort to remarket themselves (and, so they say, better express their expanding menu into "healthier" choices like grilled chicken and NOT as the hoax would have you believe they stopped using real chickens)) they switched to just KFC that we've grown to know.
But, they're attempting to remarket themselves again. Just recently a line of commericals is airing where they give a whole new meaning for "KFC" - Kitchen Fresh Chicken. Do they really think we don't know what it really stands for? Or that we're somehow fooled into thinking there's some nice, old, grandmotherly lady in the back making each of our orders with loving care? No, that's Joe in his hairnet and stupid paper hat making $5 an hour and he doesn't give a shit one way or another about your meal. He's probably either in High school (or recently dropped out) and since that five bucks isn't even enough for him to buy a bucket of the chicken, he sure as hell isn't making it fresh in a kitchen for your dining pleasure. It's just so absurd, it's hysterical.
The next on the list is one I just saw this evening for the first time. And it features everyone's favorite rat trap, er, fast food establishment, McDonalds. They're newest ad campagin features the unbelievably racist attempt at slang, "i'm lovin' it" (complete with lack of capitialization and abbreviated spellings)- as they attempt to somehow convince hip, urban youngsters that they're cool. Yeah so cool, we hate it...
(As a side note, McDonald's is running similar and equally offensive ads as part of its "I'm Lovin' It" campaign. These ads show that being black and dirt poor is actually fun, like when you have to choose between buying gasoline or eating at McDonald's. I love it when that happens!) -source
Now that their slogan is "i'm lovin' it," which is obviously directed toward African-Americans (hence the all lowercase letters and vernacular spelling, because everyone knows that blacks can't read or write properly), do you feel more "connected" to the McDonald's corporation? Just wondering. -source
They're touching on the 'urban youth' now with this one. In it, they have a bunch of kids with shaved heads and hot chicks in baby phat shorts all hot and bothered for the "two all-beef patties, lettuce, cheese, special sauce on a sesame seed bun." And of course, there's the obligatory scene with the two friends fighting over the food. .... And about the new slogan: "I'm lovin' it", be sure to place an emphasis on the fact that they left out the 'g' in "lovin" or else the millions of dollars invested in marketing by McDonald's will all be in vain. -source
Nothing screams 'hip' and 'cool' like a multinational corporation that specializes in mediocre food and service. Yeah, Mickey D's is the place to be.-source
The I'm lovin't thing with the rap is ridiculous. You can tell 40 somethings put that campaign together because it's a perfect example of an old guy (say someone like your 50 year old Dad) trying to be hip/cool. Everyone looks at him like he's a total idiot.-source
Girl walking down street with guy. "Thinking" to herself via voice over about how great the guy is. he's cute and charming and blah blah blah, why isn't he married yet?THEN THEY WALK INTO MCDONALDS. At this point, you're supposed to go along with the notion it's not because he's a cheapskate with shit for taste who just took his DATE into MCDONALDS for fuck's sake, but rather, the fact that he tries to order for her. Yeah, he's single because he tried to order for her. No, dumbasses, he's single because he took her to craptastic mcdonalds on a date. Please.
Wow. Guess my ranting at the commercial stupidity of both KFC - that's KENTUCKY FRIED CHICKEN and I'm not fooled - and McDonalds - NEVER appropriate food for a date with a girl over the age of eight - took a little more time then I suspected. Just been annoyed at the idiocy of these for awhile now. *chuckles* Let's not even get to the plague-rat looking Quizno's ads...*gags* New slogan for Mickey D's: As If
