Sunday, September 24, 2006

Right Now...

It's the perfect Sunday morning. I just finished reading through my favorite bits of the Sunday paper. Coupon clippings are neatly stacked next to my grocery list. My handmade mug from Anne is resting in the sink after its bowl was drained of hot tea. I'm joined on the couch on our porch by Buddy who is in ultra-cuddle mode. The sun scatters across the leaves of the trees on our street. The yellow, red and green leaves shaking the sun off with each gust of wind. There's patches of blue sky reflected on our glass table. The clouds are sweeping through and leaving smudges of gray. Joseph Arthur is singing "If I find my own way, how much will I find."

Thursday, September 21, 2006

Goalies Rock!

Take the quiz:
What famous hockey player are you?

Martin Brodeur
You are the rising superstar goaltender Martin Brodeur. You are young yet u have accomplished so much and on top of that you have plenty of time ahead of you to accomplish much more. Your style is stand-up and you have lightning quick reflexes and have a tendency to stop rebounds you have no business stopping.

Quizzes by myYearbook.com -- the World's Biggest Yearbook!

OK GO ON ICE!!!

Adblock

Friday, September 08, 2006

Faking It For 20 Years

This fall is the 20th anniversary of me playing the violin. I must admit I'm not the most studious violinist when it comes to practicing. I frequently joke that I've gotten as far as I have by becoming an excellent sight-reader who can fake it along with the best. Well, in honor of my 20th anniversary, I'm performing with several groups over the next few months. The schedule as of today is such:

Sunday, September 17th - 4PM: Warren Riverside Chamber Orchestra (Warren, PA) UPDATE - Concert Got Cancelled Due to Sciata thing With our Solo Violinist

Sunday, October 22 - 3:30 PM: Jamestown Community Orchestra (Jamestown, NY)

Sunday, November 19 - 4PM: Warren Civic Orchestra (Warren, PA)

Friday, December 1-Sunday, December 3rd: The Living Christmas Tree (Jamestown, NY)

I invite anyone who is interested in attending one of these performances in support of me and my fellow musicians to email me for further details.

Thursday, September 07, 2006

Jedi Stamina??

Adrienne has written the funniest thing I've read all week.

In the style of Bridget Jones, here is Queen Amidala's journal entry for today.

For previous entries of Queen Amidala's journal, go here.

Wednesday, September 06, 2006

Katie's First News Day

I dutifully watched Katie Couric's first appearance as the lead anchor for the CBS evening news. Being a woman who has some experience in the news business, I want to jump up and down on my metaphorical couch in praise of Katie, but I just can't bring myself to gush all that much.

To start with, I found the news content a little stale. I kept thinking to myself, "Wow, did anything happen in the news today?" as I watched the first, very long segment on the state of things in Afghanistan. Don't get me wrong, it was an interesting piece, but hardly lead material.

Then there was the interview Katie did with a liberal columnist who slobbered all over her. I could deal with that until Katie made a comment with the statement, "..and we're all looking forward to the fifth anniversary of 9-11..." I understand that she didn't actually mean to say that we're all eagerly anticipating the anniversary of one of the worst acts of terrorism on our country, but you'd think that for someone with all her experience she would have been able to reach for the right phrasing.

Speaking of phrasings, I found myself playing catch-up as she shot-gunned through three or four stories in a row with nary a breath. I couldn't tell you what the stories were since Katie's poor pacing left me bewildered as we went into commercial break.

The moment that sealed Katie's fate for me in terms of future viewing was the big story on the first photos of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes' new baby, Suri. We get enough of that schlock in the tabloids and I would go as far to say it has no place in a serious newscast.

I found out today that I wasn't alone in my criticisms:
Tom Shale's column in the Washington Post

I want to give Katie a chance, but I find I yell at the TV, newspaper, Internet, and radio enough when it comes to news reporting and newscasts. For that reason, I will go back to watching Charles Gibson on ABC tonight. There probably will be a good percentage of people who won't join me simply because they prefer the lighter side of evening news that Katie will present. For all my negativity and criticisms, I do want Katie to succeed. I just hope that she can find a better balance and angle than what a 17-share of the market saw last night.

Friday, September 01, 2006

Those Who Reportedly Shoot State Troopers Should Not Be Called Folk Heroes

My post title is not quite my usual style, since no one has been convicted of shooting that happened in Elmira back in June and the shootings that took place last night. Here's the script on the main story in Western New York today:
TWO STATE TROOPERS ARE IN CRITICAL CONDITION AFTER POLICE SAY THEY WERE SHOT BY ESCAPED CONVICT RALPH "BUCKY" PHILLIPS IN THE TOWN OF POMFRET. STATE POLICE SUPERINTENDENT WAYNE BENNETT SAID 32-YEAR OLD JOSEPH LONGOBARDO AND 38-YEAR OLD DONALD BAKER JR. WERE EACH SHOT ONCE WITH WHAT POLICE BELIEVE IS A HIGH POWERED RIFLE. ONE WAS SHOT IN THE BACK WITH A BULLET THAT PIERCED HIS BULLET RESISTANT VEST AND EXITED THROUGH HIS ABDOMEN. THE OTHER OFFICER WAS SHOT IN THE THIGH AND SUFFERED MASSIVE BLOOD LOSS DUE TO A SEVERED ARTERY. NEITHER TROOPER LAID EYES ON PHILLIPS BEFORE THEY WERE SHOT. LONGOBARDO WAS TRANSFERRED TO ERIE COUNTY MEDICAL CENTER, AND BAKER WAS TREATED AT HAMOT MEDICAL CENTER IN ERIE. BOTH MEN, BASED OUT OF TROOP G NORTH OF ALBANY, UNDERWENT SURGERY LATE THURSDAY. BENNETT, WHO FLEW FROM ALBANY TO THE STATE POLICE BARRACKS IN FREDONIA LATE THURSDAY, ORDERED 75 ADDITIONAL TROOPERS TO HELP WITH THE MANHUNT. SHORTLY AFTER THE SHOOTINGS, STATE POLICE CONVERGED NEAR THE RESIDENCE OF PHILLIPS' FORMER GIRLFRIEND NEAR BACHELOR HILL ROAD. POLICE NOW BELIEVE THAT PHILLIPS HAS BEEN TRAVELING BACK AND FORTH BETWEEN PHILADELPHIA AND NEW YORK STATE LINES. PENNSYLVANIA STATE POLICE WERE CHECKING VEHICLES ENTERING THE STATE FROM NEW YORK LATE THURSDAY. AND STATE TROOPERS HAD ALSO SET UP ROADBLOCKS NEAR THE TOWN OF POMFRET AND THE THRUWAY ENTRANCE.
Yes, it's easier to read on the air when it's all in caps. I got the news of this story at 9pm last night after chamber orchestra rehearsal ended. Despite my exhaustion, the adrenaline started running at light speed through my body. You can leave the news business, but the drive to get the news never leaves you. If I didn't have a paying job to worry about, I probably would have been up in Stockton or Fredonia last night with the rest of the media pool, waiting for the press conference that eventually happened at 1 AM. Fortunately, Matt stayed up to watch it on tv and then I got up at the excruciating hour of 4 AM to go in and do the news live for our favorite local pop station. Here's to hoping it all ends a lot less violently.

Cutting to the Scene with the Pixie

Ten years ago, I decided to do one of the most drastic things I had ever done to my hair. I went from a long style (below collarbone) to a p...