Be courteous, Be legal

I'm having a great time browsing around The Big Yellow Box's site, especially the new section that gives tips on using your mobile phone camera. Check out this tip on being courteous and legal for a picture of Matt being "illegal". See if you can spot Jenny on other pages too.

What's Wrong With This Story?

I was reading this story about how New York State Unemployment Rates Have Fallen from 6.2 to 6.1 and I'm feeling a little confused. This is only because in one breath they claim all these jobs have been created and then farther down in the story, they list a bunch of counties/regions and their unemployment rates. There's only one area that has seen any improvement over the previous month, NYC at 7.8 percent from 8.3 percent the previous month. I guess that must be where the jobs were created because the other area's figures are way up in some cases (Utica-Rome, 5.2 percent compared with 4.7 the previous month). Is the economy really "rebounding" as some economists would like us to believe?

Meish.org - Born.Eat.Bomb.Die

Meg has the 2003 Mayfly Project up. Go sum up your year in 20 words or less. Otherwise, check out some people's parodies of what some famous people would write for Mayfly (click on comments).

Mine? That's coming. At some point.

It's the Quiet Ones You Have to Worry About *wink*

Quiet Girl


What kind of little girl were YOU?
brought to you by Quizilla

Just To Clear One Thing Up

Contrary to all sorts of guessing from some people. I am NOT pregnant. There. I've said it. You'll just have to learn what deferred gratification is for the meantime. I will post news when it makes sense to due to several items.

Saddam Hussein Captured

I'm sure all the warblogs and sites of related punditry are simply buzzing over the news that Saddam Hussein has been captured. Yes, it is a good thing. It still doesn't change the fact that we haven't found any weapons of mass destruction. It still doesn't change the fact that friends of Bush & Cheney are profiting enormously off our takeover of Iraq. But yes, let's bring Saddam to trial and let justice be served.

Winter Wonderland

Just in time for the Holiday Parade tonight and Jamestown's first semi-pro hockey game tomorrow night: Lake Effect Snow Warning for Chautauqua County, NY. Bring it on!

Interesting Things Afoote

I might have better news than I anticipated. I won't count my chickens before they're hatched of course. Watch this space for periodic updates on things I can't talk about just yet!

The Lights Are Shining Bright

The tree is decorated. Next year we'll need to buy a bigger tree since our current tree is sagging a little under the weight of our ornaments. In fact, since the tree is in a corner and I had hung a lot of ornaments in the front, the tree threatened to wobble over until I hung some heavier-but-necessarily-"important" ornaments in the back. I also was forced to put some heavier ornaments that could stand on their own on the mantle of our fireplace. I can't really say forced since they look nice there, but I'd like to have them all on the tree next year. I now suspect that we're one of the few couples I know that has a Winnie-the-Pooh/Death Star themed Christmas tree. There's only one Death Star ornament, but what more do you need?

Take A Ride On the WayBack Machine

In my various ramblings about the web, I found pictures to Matt's Mardi Gras party in 1999. I saved the pictures and uploaded them to Imagestation so you could also enjoy the inaugural performance of The Hunky Dories. In case you're wondering who the various performers are, we all had stage names based on where the first letter of our first names fell in the alphabet. This number was connected to past Presidents. Add the last name "Dory" and it was one big happy family. I was McKinley Dory for those who are counting. Otherwise by t-shirt/instrument: Grey shirt/dancer = John, Green shirt/tamborine= Nate, Red shirt/moraccas= Kristen, blue jean shirt/violin = Me, black shirt/guitar= Paul, and accordian/blue shirt= Glenn.

Incentive To Change

This weekend we had planned to put up all our holiday decorations, however, we decided we needed to remodel the furniture layout for our living room first. There's nothing like moving furniture and trying to make it fit in new ways in a not very large space. The dust hiding underneath our couches was obscene! The redesign stretched into the dining room and upstairs as well since we ended up with end tables or other living room items that just didn't have a spot in the new design. The best news about the new design is that our two couches now form an "L", so that all parties present can see our fireplace and the tv. It also created a very visible space to put our Christmas tree in the dining room, which was the main reason for the redesign in the first place. The downside is that the tree isn't decorated and the bulk of our decorations remain scattered across our living room n the various boxes and bags that Matt brought down from our upstairs "Christmas Closet". We hope to decorate tonight. Here's to envisioning a fire in the fireplace, Polish Christmas carols on the stereo, and hot chocolate tonight.

Oh Come ON People!

Why do people always forget the part about "being the bigger person"? Guaranteed my comments about hate mail might not have appeared as tongue in cheek as I would have liked it, but today's D&C article titled:Welcome to Toronto?, is just not called for. All cities have problems. And when you consider two of those cities are trying to work together on a tourism-related project, the last thing your news reporters should be doing is bashing the hell out of each other in a high school football rivalry way. It's about working together to be successful together people!

In related news, Jan Wong is planning a return visit to Rochester. I plead with the citizens of Monroe County to give her a pleasant welcome. It's not often you could a second chance to make a good impression.

Garbage Plate Still Sizzles

And the on-going media saga of Rochester and some Canadians against Jan Wong continues in the following article: Garbage plate still sizzles. In the wee hours following Thanksgiving Day, my friends and I enjoyed a garbage plate. It was good. And sure, there are better places to get garbage plates in Rochester, but nothing beats getting one from Nick's. Which reminds me, I wonder what it will take to get Matt to concoct one for us this weekend? Kind of defeats the exercising I'm doing, but it's better than eating out, right?

The Next Chapter

I've just been given the opportunity to decide how I want the next year of my life to be like at work. I wish I wasn't given the choice, but I'm trying to be positive and figure out what I'm going to do next. I'll fill you in more come closer to January 19th.

Need A New Person To Send Hate Mail To?

I have a huge problem with an article by Jan Wong that ran in the Globe and Mail about Rochester, NY and the fast ferry. Now my subject line about hate mail sounds strong, but this woman seriously needs to be enlightened as does the cousin-in-law she mentions in her article.

The D&C has ran two articles including this one talking about how "irked" Mayor Bill Johnson is about this. The Globe & Mail also ran their own follow-up article that cited that quite a few readers were put off by Ms. Wong's "article". Shep joined the fray and blogged about the whole deal.

I agree that the problem partially lies with the leaders of the Rochester Metro area. They not only need to open residents' eyes to the greatness that exists in Rochester, but they must also work on the areas that are lacking. No place is perfect, but Rochester is still a damn, fine place to live if you don't let yourself be turned off by the negativity that some of the close-minded residents seem to have. Believe me, I've now lived in an area for four years that has had that "no-good" self-esteem so long that they actually to sue hotels from developing downtown. Come on people!

Did I Mention How Much I Love Howard Dean?

According to Drudge, Dean wants to break up the media conglomorates. It's stuff like that that makes me all squishy and happy inside. What a day that would be when that happens!

Go Wil!

The incomparable Wil Wheaton made an epic announcement today about a book deal he signed. I say incomparable because I haven't read another celebrity blog that's come close to his.

For We Need A Little Christmas! Right This Very Minute!

Ahhh... it's like what Meg says about old ornaments. It's time to roll out the holly and nostalgia for a side-splitting repeat of: 'Tis the Season. Treat it like the 24-7 repeats of A Christmas Story, and read it over and over again.

Ok, Who Unplugged The Internet?

Yesterday, just when I had to do some news story searches for work, the Internet seemed to grind to a halt. Seeing as how our office is on a T-1 line, I couldn't figure out if it was our network or something else. Well, lucky for me and many other people, Meg gave us the heads-up that it wasn't just our office or a small section of the United States. This slowdown was World Wide, baby, or at least in a Trans-Atlantic sense.

You can read in comments various people's thoughts on what caused this. According to The Register, it was an undersea cable that's probably been broken/stretched. Do I really understand what all that means? Not really, but I feel better knowing it wasn't my fault!

When The Six Degrees of Separation Become Three in Music

Most of my friends know I'm a huge They Might Be Giants fan. So in the natural course of being a fan, I bought the new DVD, Gigantic: A Tale of Two Johns. This documentary about the Two Johns (Linnell and Flansberg) had several "Ohmygod, how cool!" factors in it including the realization that two of my current favorite bands have an intertwined relationship with TMBG.

First: Fountains of Wayne. Their new album goes way beyond "Stacy's Mom" and is quite the masterpiece. Watching Gigantic, I found out that Adam Schlesinger produced three songs on TMBG's Mink Car.

Second: Fountains of Wayne toured with OK Go and were featured in an article with them in CMJ monthly.

Third: TMBG and OK Go are both appreciated by NPR Show This American Life (see Ira Glass' bio for OK Go and this story by ABC. OK Go also lists TMBG in their liner notes of their self-titled cd. The two groups also toured together in 2002.

What does this all mean? Basically, it just means that my music taste is all connected. It's one big happy world that revolves, unwittingly in this case, around one of the greatest bands I know, They Might Be Giants.

When You Can't Sing It Yourself

I feel a meme coming on courtesy of Meg.

Here's a site that lets you plug in lyrics that you wrote and thenhas famous people sing those lyrics for you. One of the ditties I penned had everyone from Chris Isaak to New Order to The Righteous Brothers in it. Nifty thing, eh?

Pending the freezing of hell . . .

Cory Farley of The Reno Gazette-Journal wrote a great diatribe titled: Pending the freezing of hell . . .. It's hysterical. It should also make you think about what our so-called president is doing to this country. Think people!

Earthquake in Pacific Northwest to Cause Mass Destruction?

Have I mentioned that I never plan to live on the West Coast if I can possibly help it? This Wired News story about a big earthquake that could severely damage the Northwestern part of the U.S. and cause large tsunami's in Japan confirms my general thoughts that living in Western New York isn't so bad.

Warning: Anal Retentive Factor High In This Post

I am particularly pleased with myself this morning. Last night, I managed to alphabetize my entire CD collection. This is no small feat since my collection is in the hundreds. I have to count it someday to get a handle on where I stand, but I'm fairly certain I'm over 300 at this point. I know, I know... pointless materialism, but I love my music.

My ultimate dream would be to have a database of my CD collection that listed artist, album title, year of release, label, and genre. Of course the collection would have to be digitally placed on a hard drive dedicated to this purpose since I would also like to have lyrics and notes available for each CD. And because it's absolutely imperative when viewing the information for a musical group that you can be redirected to places of interested like a "see also" note for the group Electronic that that directs you to The Smiths, New Order and The The. It goes without saying that you would be able to listen on command to any song listed in the database since all CDs will have been converted into MP3 format.

The last bit is not too much of a stretch of the imagination since I had a friend who did just that and then put the hard drive in his car. He said the ability to hit shuffle on his entire music collection on road trips blew his mind.

Which Founding Father Are You?

A Quick Guide To Rochester

The UofR campus paper came up with a quick guide to Rochester for the college age student and beyond. It's a pretty good guide with some nice pictures. I'd definitely pass along this link to anyone who's coming in from out of town and was looking for some hip places to go.

A Week Until Turkey Day

It blows my mind that Thanksgiving is less than a week away when you calculate that by this time next week, my family will have consumed dinner and dessert. This year should be especially interesting since Matt's parents will be coming up to spend the holiday with my family. They're even staying overnight, which has potential disaster written all over it seeing as how my parent's house isn't exactly dust-free and Matt's mom has bad asthma. I guess that's what oxygen tanks are for. In the meantime, I have to figure out how I'm going to fit my stuff, my grandparent's stuff, and my grandparents in my little Toyota Tercel two-door car for the ride to Rochester!

Oh Hooray! The Trailer for HP3!

I finally had a chance to check out the trailer for Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban today. Visit this site to see it yourself. This is still my most favorite Harry Potter book and I'm really looking forward to the movie (June4June4June4!). On an HP-related note, Daniel Radcliffe, who plays Harry, has signed on to do HP & The Goblet of Fire. Guess he's sticking with a good thing. Let's hope he doesn't age too much to look authentic in the role. He's currently 14 years old and if I remember correctly, Harry is only 13 in Book 4. As long as they keep making these movies at break-neck speed he should be fine. And hopefully the quality doesn't suffer either.

Legal Online Music Services Do Not Meet Needs

A few weeks ago or so I wrote an optimistic post about Napster possibly being the answer to my prayers for having a source of new and popular music downloads that didn't rob me blind. I was mistaken. Sadly, the premium service that Napster has available allows you unlimited streaming and downloading, but should you want to actually burn a song to disc then you have to pay 99-cents a song or $9.95 per album. Feeling defeated, I went back to Emusic and signed up for the basic package which allows me to download 40 songs a month for $9.99 with unlimited burning. The selection is still poor in terms of popular music, but at least there's still enough there that I can take advantage of for a few months.

Microsoft has announced they're going "to give the online music service a whirl". I can hope, but I'm not as optimistic this time that they'll offer a service worth buying into. It just bothers me that Emusic is the only company that has gotten it "right" in terms of my needs.

Quick! Before It's Gone!

Please read this blog by A Marine's Girl. The content will probably disappear soon and the blog will be deleted. It's totally rediculous (why she has to take it down).

UPDATE: The blog is back up again thanks to some help from a Real Marine.

Sabres In Rochester

A quick note on the Sabres game in Rochester this past Wednesday night. It rocked! Hardcore! Even though the game ended in a tie, it certainly had some quality moments. And we won't get into who made the "kiss cam" much to his almost chagrin. Yeah, we're not into PDA's too much but I think what made it worse is that I got an email from a friend a few days later titled "tonsil hockey". We still don't know how he knew about that since we don't think he was at the game. But anyway! Game was great. It certainly was awesome to attend a sold-out game in the old hometown arena. Especially awesome to be that close to the rink (closer than the 300s at HSBC!) and see Rory play. Good stuff!

If They Gave Medals...

I certainly deserve some kind of medal. Seeing as how that phrase is sometimes ended "..for stupidity", I suppose it still applies. Thursday Matt and I drove back to Jamestown from Rochester. I don't have to tell you how crazy that was with the high winds. It was more than crazy. Realizing this I made the decision to make a pit stop for coffee on the thruway halfway through the trip so we could regain some sanity before bracing ourselves against the gusts once again. Those who know me know I never stop for coffee on a road trip. I make sure my cd collection is close at hand and I drive until I need to get gas.

I didn't know the full extent of how crazy our drive was until a day later. That's when Matt told me about a moment of panic he had while we were driving on the free section of I-90 through Buffalo. We had just passed an accident where a tractor-trailer had been flipped over the guardrail from the I-90 Westbound side onto the I-90 Eastbound side of the road by a gust of wind. I was driving along, listening to one of the morning talkshows, totally oblivious to the fact that Matt had zoomed up behind me, frantically honking his horn to try to get me to slow down. What he saw, and I didn't, was that two car lengths in front of me in the next lane over, a tractor-trailer had only one set of wheels on the road and was tipping over into my lane. Matt tells me the trailer nearly jack-knifed before the driver was able to get the truck back on all sets of wheels. Had the truck gone over, I would have had no choice but to get into an accident. Worse yet, the truck would have fallen on top of the two cars in front of me. I'm an agnostic, for sure, but I believe there were some spirits out there that day looking out for me and the other people in the cars and that truck.

On a less strenuous note, all that wind knocked out power for thousands of people down here, causing my boss to declare a state of emergency. What that meant is that, I got out of work an hour early on Thursday due to no power and I didn't go into work at all on Friday due to lack of power. Of couse we never lost power at our house, so it was all good. It was a rough go of it for everyone else unfortunately.

What's So Unusual About This?

Ok. I'm going to snob out on this one. The D&C ran an article called Seeing the sounds of the Eastman School of Music. The premise is how most people don't see the inner workings of Eastman and how hard the students work there. I brushed it off while reading, saying, "What's so unusual about that? I spent plenty of time in those halls and witnessed all that first hand while in junior high and high school." Of course, the average person doesn't take music lessons at Eastman. I was just lucky enough that my violin teacher got a job there, so I followed her to the hallowed practice halls. It also meant I was lucky enough to perform on Kilbourne and Hanson Hall stages. And since my graduating class thought I had some talent, I performed a Mozart solo for our high school graduation on the Eastman Theatre stage. It all seems rather preposterous now seeing as how I rarely play my violin anymore, but the memory of it does bring out a bit of music snob in me.

Bridal Shopping & "Forced Marches"

Back from New York City. Here's a day-by-day run down:

Saturday: Flight left at 6:15am from Rochester and we touched down 50 minutes later at JFK Int'l Airport. We checked our luggage at the hotel, had breakfast at the deli across the street, caught bits and pieces of the Toys R Us Holiday Parade, and then made our way to the Fashion District to find fabric for my wedding dress. We were quite successful since we found my fabric (rayon-polyester for the main part of the dress, double georgette for my overskirt/train, and lace applique) and a beautiful tiara. We visited various bead shops since my mom and her friend, Susan, have taken up beading along with their many other hobbies. We then made our way to Macy's where I was overwhelmed by the nine floors of merchandise. Saturday night we grabbed a quick bite to eat at the deli across from the hotel and ran off to see Forbidden Broadway (link below) which was hysterical. A note about our hotel room: I was worried that it would be tight since there were four of us and we figured on only one bathroom. Well, we were upgraded to a suite, so we had two bathrooms and lots of living space. Quite nice! The only problem we had there was when we finally checked into our room they didn't give us a key to the adjoining bedroom. This meant that we were standing in a very nice living room wondering where the beds were. A quick call to the front desk cleared that up and a maintenance man came up to let us into the other room.

Sunday: Originally this was the day we were going to go to the Guggenheim, but that changed when we saw the street fair that stretched for blocks outside the hotel. We spent a few hours browsing around and then decided to pick up tickets for the Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular. Before we did that, we took some pictures at Rockefeller Center and had a light lunch at Dean & Deluca. We also used our last half hour before the show to run through Saks Fifth Avenue and ogle the Bridal Salon dresses that started at $5,000 and went up in price. The Christmas show was awesome, but I mostly enjoyed it because I've always wanted to see the Rockettes. After the show, we met up with my Aunt Carol's friend, Margie, for dinner at Patsy's Pizzeria before I met up with old friend, Matt F. and his gf, Karyn. We had a couple drinks at Jake's Dillema before driving around to view the city at night. After some coffee and dessert, we turned in at 1am-ish.

Monday: Somehow, my mom and I reversed roles and I thoroughly enjoyed the James Rosenquist exhibit while my mom declared it the worst she's ever seen. We had lunch at a place that I can't recall but it was damn good. I'll look up the link later (riiiiiigggghhhhtttt). Then we walkedandwalkedandwalked down Madison Avenue and gawked at the various fashion designer shops. I convinced the group that we had to go into Barney's where we saw a really ugly dress that cost $9,000 and I sighed over an Armani suit and held a Prada shoe in my hand. I dare say that this trip brought out the fashionista in me. I bought nothing of course. Not even at Crate & Barrel where I would happily set up a wedding gift registry if there were stores in Western New York. After the shopping/browsing spree, we ran back to the hotel and caught a bumpy ride through rush hour traffic to JFK and made it back to Rochester by 11pm.

It was all good.

"'Cause Everyone's Your Friend In New York City!"

The next few days I'll be in Gotham getting some wedding stuff done (dress material and tiara), so no blogging until I get back. That may be as late as next Thursday or Friday since I'll also be in Rochester for a few days. In the meantime, you can take a virtual trip with me by clicking on the links below for things I plan to do and see while I'm away:

The Sheraton New York Towers & Hotel: Where We're Staying
Forbidden Broadway: The Show We're Seeing
The Guggenheim: The Museum We're Visiting
The Garment District: The Place We'll Find My Wedding Dress Material
Macy's: One of The Stores We May Shop In
Sabres in Rochester: The Game I'm Going to With Matt and My Dad

I'm Totally more 80's Than This!

Okay, I would have scored better on this one but I just didn't feel like using my whole lunch hour for an online quiz, and I didn't feel like singing out loud to really get the right lyrics!

Right. Fair Enough.

I am 72.5% British, just like
Michael Caine
Though you know your way around London you are most likely to retire to the West Coast of the USA.

Take the Brit Quiz at
www.darrenlondon.tripod.com/britquiz1.htm
Quiz written by Daz

Two Passionate Pleas For Voting

Leah graciously asked me to submit a guest blog to her on why everyone should vote. To read my lengthy diatribe and Leah's thoughts, click here.

The One About How I Interrupted the Mayor While He Was Voting

Leah convinced me to tell the whole blogworthy story about how I interrupted our mayor while he was voting in yesterday's elections.

It started late morning or early afternoon with a phone call from one of the campaign helpers who saw the mayor's opponent, let's just call him Eunuch, standing in front of a polling place and shaking hands with potential voters. Since Eunuch was less than 100 feet from a polling place, he was in violation of election law. Well, a local TV station actually did an interview with Eunuch while he stood outside one polling place, so it has been recorded on videotape that he was breaking the law. A call from an irate voter asking what we could do to have Eunuch kicked off the property of one of the polling places, led to me calling some of my media contacts to let them know what was going on.

Then we decided to contact The Mayor to tell him what was going on. The Mayor answered the phone and I asked him if I caught him at a bad time. He responded that he was in the middle of voting. I quickly got the information I needed from him and let him go. Later on that night, I asked him if I had really caught him while he was in the voting booth and he responded that he was going through his choices when his phone started buzzing. Instead of ignoring it, he chose to answer while he was voting. His wife was in the voting booth next to him and heard him answer his cell as well. After he told me that, I put my head in my hands and laughed. Fortunately, he wasn't mad about it, but he was pretty pissed about Eunuch's unethical behavior. Nothing came out of that in the media thus far, but he Mayor did get re-elected, so it all turns out fair in the end.

It's All About Soul... And Doing The Right Thing

I think I've found the perfect theme song to characterize this year's election.

"All About Soul"
by Billy Joel

She waits for me at night, she waits for me in silence
She gives me all her tenderness and takes away my pain
And so far she hasn't run, though I swear she's had her moments
She still believes in miracles while others cry in vain

It's all about soul
It's all about faith and a deeper devotion
It's all about soul
'Cause under the love is a stronger emotion
She's got to be strong
'Cause so many things getting out of control
Should drive her away
So why does she stay?
It's all about soul

She turns to me sometimes and asks me what I'm dreaming
And I realize I must have gone a million miles away
And I ask her how she knew to reach out for me that moment
And she smiles because it's understood there are no words to say

It's all about soul
It's all about knowing what someone is feeling
The woman's got soul
The power of love and the power of healing
This life isn't fair
It's gonna get dark, it's gonna get cold
You've got to be tough, but that ain't enough
It's all about soul

There are people who have lost every trace of human kindness
There are many who have fallen, there are some who still survive
She comes to me at night and she tells me her desires
And she gives me all the love I need to keep my faith alive

It's all about soul
It's all about joy that comes out of sorrow
It's all about soul
WHO'S STANDING NOW AND WHO'S STANDING TOMORROW!
You've got to be hard
Hard as the rock in that old rock 'n' roll
But that's only part, you know in your heart
IT'S ALL ABOUT SOUL!

The Good & Ugly

The Good News: Matt still has a job via his boss getting re-elected.

The Bad News: We're pretty sure we lost the majority on city council.

The Good News: We didn't lose any incumbents who were actually running in any of the city races.

The Bad News: We lost an incumbent who wasn't campaigning for reason I won't get into.

The Good News: We may still hold onto the majority in the County Legislature

The Bad News: It's going to come down to absentees.

The Ugly News: We lost at least one race Legislature-wise that we shouldn't have lost.

Some Funny News: I have the great distinction for unintentionally calling the Mayor on his cell phone while he was in the voting booth. It was a nice little laugh.

Added Note (1:55 PM): For full election results in our county GO HERE.

VOTE!!!!

If you're registered, Get Out and VOTE TODAY! Otherwise, you lose all bitching rights for at least a year.

Only A Day And Some

We're winding down the hours before Elections. Perhaps that isn't the best way to categorize it since there's still a sense of urgency. That nervousness of waiting for it to get here, to make sure people vote (VOTE DAMNIT!), and then waiting for the results. We have a general good feeling about some of the city races, but countywide we're not terribly certain what will happen. We'll see.

Now for something completely different.

The weekend wasn't too bad. I don't remember much of it because I was either cooped up inside doing various election-related work or I was out delivering literature for our city-wide lit drop on Saturday. I'm cursing the weather centers for the bad read-outs they had on this weekend. Up until Thursday, this past weekend was supposed to be gorgeous. Partly sunny and warm. Well, the warmth did exist but the dampness from the mist that hung in the air from Friday night onwards was the killer. It's supposedly real nice out right now, but this ever-present fog makes it seem quite dreary. Tomorrow they're saying 70's and partly sunny. Again. We'll see.

Medium & Large

The Buffalo News had a Halloween-themed article on the Mediums of Lily Dale. Lily Dale is located just off Route 60 in the village of Cassadaga here in Chautauqua County. I've never been to a medium for a reading before, but I have visited Lily Dale. Matt, having spent the latter half of his youth in this county, used to go into the Assembly more often with his friends. The best story he had about the place is when they mentioned to a friend that there were a lot of Mediums in Lily Dale, but could he find them a Large and then meet them at a designated spot? That friend went off searching in vain all over the Assembly for a Large, and returned quite perplexed about why he couldn't find one. Still a good laugh.

Another Halloween note: I miss out on passing out candy again this year as I have to be at Dem HQ to do phone banks. Now honestly, who wants to be making political phone calls on a night when people are trying to answer the door or are not answering the phone due to pranks? Not me! But it's part of the job. Here's to next Wednesday!

Geo-Journals

Occasionally, Better Homes & Gardens has an bit of information that really piques my interest. In the November issue it was a story on shared journals. The link for 1000journals is what grabbed my attention. Projects like this aren't unusual. In fact, my mom used to do one, called Geo-Bear, as part of her 6th grade social studies class. She put those little backpacks with a small journal and pen on the backs of stuffed animal bears, and then sent them with anyone she knew who was traveling. That person was then responsible for taking pictures of the bear in whatever exotic location they were visiting and then record some travel thoughts in the journal. The bears traveled all over Europe, one to Japan, and others within the Continental United States. She mentioned to me once that the class really enjoyed the project, even though it was one that took an entire school year to see the scope of where the bears could go. It also depended on finding people, often times grown-ups, who didn't mind bringing a little stuffed lovey on their trip with them.

Good Food Weekend

Food that makes you swoon seemed to be the theme of this past weekend. Matt took me to Olive's on Saturday night for a belated celebration of my birthday. Niether of us had been there, but had heard good things. When we sat down, we were given a little cup of marinated olives and peppers to stimulate our tastebuds. For starters, we ordered the antipasta appetizer, which included slices of three kinds of Italian meat, olives, peppers, fresh mozzarella, and toasted Italian bread. Matt and I both decided to try the Francis Coppola Rosso, a zinfadel red, and it was quite good and complimentary to the food. Our salad came in one big bowl, so you could take as much or as little as you liked. We never figured out what the dressing was but it leaned toward an oil and cheese blend. The cheese is what threw us off. It was tasty, but we couldn't figure it out. Matt ordered a chicken, mushroom, and alfredo cheese sauce over linguine. I ordered cannoli with vegetables. This basically was the Italian's version of an enchilada, but much better, with asparagus, spinach, and one other vegetable mixed in a rich cream sauce that filled the pasta shell. It was covered in a marinara and light cream sauce. Heaven!! For dessert, we both ordered cappucinos while Matt ordered the tirimisu and I ordered the creme brulee. Matt declared that he could never eat tirimisu from anywhere else. Quite a wonderful dinner.

On Sunday, we met up with my parents and grandmother and went to Ambrosia's on Elmwood Avenue in Buffalo. While we waited for a table, we saw one table receive two servings of the most decadent looking crepes we had ever seen grace a plate. We decided then that we just had to order one as an appetizer. The blueberry crepe was simply sinful. The blueberries were fresh, but a little tart. That was okay though since the sweet cream filling balanced it out. Except for Matt, we all ordered the spanikopita with the greek side salad. Matt ordered the tomato & basil soup and some potato dish. After eating, we waddled over to Pier 1 where I picked up some holiday gifts. Then it was back to my grandmother's house to relax, eat subs, and homemade pumpkin pie.

What a happy stomach weekend!

Halloween & Howard Dean

Howard Dean supporters are one wacky bunch. And it's things like these downloadable Dean-themed jack-o-lantern patterns that make me proud to be part of that group. Trust me, it's worth it just for the Devil Bush pattern.

Sound The Alarm

I think everyone should at one point experience the sheer loudness of the noon whistle going off in Mayville, New York. I had just sent a group of students on their way after touring various parts of government and turned to go back inside the building as the whistle/horn revved up to let everyone in the village know that, yes, it was noon. It's a loud, drawn out, exuberant noise. There's an excitement to it if you haven't heard it in awhile, or taken notice of it. It can also be quite startling, as I found out almost three years ago when I came up to Mayville to cover a meeting in my former life as a radio news reporter. I commented to my future boss that it sounded like we were either being warned of a bomb attack or a tornado.

What the Hell Am I Doin' Drinking In L.A. At Twenty-Six.. oh wait

Damn! Forgot to listen to that song one last time while it was relevant yesterday. *grins* Ah well. Even though today will be a bust in terms of lotsandlotsandlots of work (regular and political), this weekend should be fun. Matt is taking me out to dinner to Olive's, a new Italian restaurant (yeah, like we needed another one in this county), on Saturday and on Sunday we're meeting up with my parents in Buffalo for an early dinner somewhere. I'm torn between the Lake Effect Diner which would be pure kitsch and Ambrosia since the Greek food is soooo good there. Anyone have family-friendly suggestions for a dinner place in Buffalo? Has to be open at 1:30pm on a Sunday. In the meantime, here's to another year! Woo-hoo!

This IS A Nightmare

Courtesy of Jessica: True Halloween Terror.

No Cure For The Earworm

I'm sure many will be dismayed to find out there is no cure for when a song gets stuck in your head and you can't get it out. My earworms have included "Jenny From the Block" by Jennifer Lopez, "It's So Easy (Bartender" by Sugar Ray, that god-awful commercial for Sheer Blonde with the two girls "singing" "I Love you I love you" (see Shep's groanings about this), and countless other ditties.

Something New At Wegmans

As winter approaches, the amount of products or the type of products I use on my hair increases. It never used to be that way. I was a wash, maybe condition, blow dry but not all the way, and then minimal use of hairspray just so my hair wouldn't fall in my eyes kind of girl back in high school. Then after a bad break-up, I chopped it off. I'm talking chopping off hair that went down to my elbows to chin length. It was crazy! And layered. That meant fully drying my hair, curling it, and then massive amounts of hairspray just to get it through the morning. If I was going out at night, that meant re-curling my hair and more hairspray. This lifestyle didn't agree with me at all since I like to sleep in and I'm terribly low maintenance when it comes to my appearance in general. The phrase "pret a porter" was designed for me. Then I hit my mid-20's.

The chemistry of my hair changed so that it needed a little more attention than I was used to giving it. It's still straight, fine, long, and light-brown not including the highlights I got back in March. However, it now requires shampoo, various kinds of conditioner, a leave-in conditioner or detangler, and hairspray. So onto Wegmans I went tonight for weekly grocery shopping and the search for hair products. Oh lo and behold, Wegmans now carries an expanded selection of haircare products. I'm talking everything from Aveda, Paul Mitchell, Biolage/Matrix, and some other ones I haven't heard before but must be "good" since they're priced around $12 and above. It was a stop, jaw drops, stare, and totally block out everything going on around you moment.

What Is Punk?

Matt and I got into a little disagreement last night while we were at Applebee's. The theme music for the night was a mix of alternative and modern rock songs. Matt kept insisting it was punk night. I tried to convince him to no avail that The Verve, Morrissey, R.E.M., and Cake were not punk. I think I attracted a little attention to our table since the sound level of my voice almost reached yelling. Lesson to be learned. Don't try to challenge me on types of music. It only infuriates me if I'm right and you won't listen to me.

Post Script on that:

Punk Bands
Alternative Rock Review

Finding that Zip

Anne had an entry that really spoke to how I feel about Jamestown and traveling at times.

I enjoy living here. I like going out or going shopping and seeing people I know. Striking up quick conversations and then carrying on. It can be a burden sometimes, especially at age 26 (almost 27), when you're out having a drink or two and you don't want to seem disorderly, but overall it's comforting. You don't feel quite as alone as you might in a bigger city.

On the downside, this area just doesn't have that "zip" that Anne refers to. Maybe it comes from growing up in Rochester and knowing all the little nooks and crannies. Rochester has that zip for me. It's the zip of knowing all the places to go to find that kind of magic. That sense of synergy with your environment. I've tried to find those places here and other places I've lived like Cleveland and Buffalo. Cleveland has a few of those places. Buffalo really doesn't. Here? I get fleeting glimpses or feelings of zip during the Autumn. It comes from seeing the hillsides become washed with color. It's the double-rainbows I see after a rainstorm as I drive home from work on I-86. It's the fierce winds that blow the pine trees around in the backyard. Those are moments that make it okay. But I still miss the other material things. I miss coffee shops with that cool, funky vibe. I miss the ease of seeing independent films. I miss having every big box store, plus much cooler boutiques available for shopping when I need to find gifts. I miss having multiple Wegman's to choose from. I miss having a pier on a better Great Lake to wander on and have my hair get messed up by the wind and waves. It's still home in many ways, but it isn't. I don't have a real home there anymore other than my parent's house and most of my friends have moved away from there.

I've spent over four years making this county my home. It's still rough around the edges and I still have the sense that I won't stay here. I would miss it if I left, but that comes with any place where you spend good times.

Competing Seasons

The wind that's bursting through the area has created an interesting landscape. Last weekend we had our peak for leaf colour as far as I'm concerned. There are still trees that have yet to turn, but the majority of foliage has gone Autumnal. With the wind whipping away those leaves, it's a landscape of four seasons. The scraggily, naked trees all tucked in for winter. The trees with hints of green like buds of spring. The trees that hold fast to their glorious green of summertime and the trees that shine with bright oranges and yellows of Autumn. Depending on where you look you could be fooled into what time of year it really is. Then the wind hits you with a blast of cold and rain, reminding you that it really is October.

Disappearing Blog

One of my friends took down her blog in the past few days. As of today and this moment, it's still cached on Google, but she's hoping that will be gone soon as well. It's one of those cases where an employer or fellow employee has found a blog and maybe the stuff in it isn't too flattering to the employer or employee. I couldn't find the news articles that have been written about this, but this is nothing new. It's why I generally don't write about work on here. I know people in my local community that read this. It's an odd feeling, especially since the majority of people who read this don't leave comments, so I'm left to decipher who has been here through my sitemeter account. Not that I'm paranoid or begging for comments (they are nice though).

I think people post online without even thinking of the consequences of what might happen if their significant other, employer, family, or friends saw something potentially unflattering or very revealing. You risk so much if you post in a manner that does not protect yourself. I generally suggest LiveJournal for the people that want to tell all but at least afford themselves some protection when blogging. There's this little function that allows you to make your posts public/private/or open to people on your friend's list. I've seen it work for people I know quite well.

Republicans = Insane

I've joked about a right-wing conspiracy, but lately I'm beginning to think it's true. And then I wander over to Anarchy in the AM (courtesy of Mousepads, Shoe Leather, & Hope to read this true copy of the Texas Republican Platform of 2000. You have to wonder if it's just a handbasket that's taking some of us to hell.

Political Blogs

I see that Dubya AKA Shrub has a blog now. Let it be known that Dean did it first. And better. Dean allows comments on his blog. Does Dubya? That's almost a rhetorical question. Of course, if he did allow comments, would the Secret Service or FBI come after you if you posted something like, "You suck! Die!"? Perhaps it's a good thing they don't allow comments on his site. I would hate to become part of an investigation for simply stating I can't stand the president and we'd all be a lot better off without him. And of course I mean that in a legal, voting him out of office way. Give 'em hell Howard!

An Annual Homage to Coming Out Day

'Cause I'm a sucka for anyone who says it the way I wish I could:

Margaret Cho on gay marriage

You go girl!

The Great Traditions of Fall

As we ease into the Columbus Day holiday weekend, there are the traditional fall festivals that are set to take place in many areas around the country. Here in Chautauqua County, we add a twist to enjoying nature's splendor by hurling it through the air at high velocity. Yes sir, the annual Pumpkin Hurling Festival is scheduled for this weekend in Busti, NY. And before you think it's just a crazy idea that some bored farmers came up with down here, pumpkin hurling has its roots in Delaware. This is serious stuff! This event is at the top of my list for an Americana Award.

Hurricane Juan Photos

I've had a lot of people coming here looking for pictures of damage done by Hurricane Juan in Nova Scotia. Well, some lovely chap sent me a link which led to these photos. Excellent stuff, but mindblowing as well. That link also provides links to other pages with pictures.

Gaaahhhhrrrrrrrr... The Anticipation!

My quest for digital downloads at a reasonable price may end on October 29th. Believe it or not, the answer is: Napster. Ala Emusic, Napster will offer a monthly subscription of $9.95, that will give users unlimited access to music and downloads. Unlike Emusic, Napster will have major labels featured on their site. I left Emusic because there simply wasn't artists and labels I was interested in. Oh sure, now they have SpinArt, Beggar's Banquet, and 4AD, but it's still doesn't fit my musical taste requirements. I'm saying a little prayer that my financial situation doesn't change much going into the new year so that I can sign up for this program. I hope it's not too graphic of me to say I'm drooling in anticipation of unlimited downloads at a ridiculously low price. The guilty pleasures that will be mine!

YOU RAN OVER A SMALL CHILD AND LEFT HIM TO DIE!!!


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Effing Brilliant

Way to go Bono on his use of an infamous swear word on tv and not having his hand slapped.

What Plows?

The Troy Record along with several other upstate news agencies ran a story last week about crews plowing three inches of snow here. Yes, we got the snow, but I'm curious about who was plowing. Must be the city of Jamestown that had their plows out, and where most of the snow fell, since I know for a fact that the county did not send out our plows.

Regarding Siegfried & Roy

This may seem like an odd thing to blog, but I actually have family connections to the Siegfried & Roy Show. My cousin, Cindy, has been a dancer in the show for more than several years. Now, she, and many other people associated with the show, may be looking for work as the Siegfried & Roy Show has been canceled indefinitely. I know she was considering "retiring" at some point so she could really concentrate on starting a family with her husband, so this may be that time.

As Will I In a Month and Few Days

Lileks is in New York City. Or he was. Either way, his descriptions of the city, or the city in his mind make one say, "Yes! I want to go there! This is how I remember it too!" Then I remember, I AM going there. Next month. It's a three day trip with my mom, my Aunt Carol, and my mom's best friend Susan. The goal is to get the fabric for my wedding dress and a tiara. It could be stressful, but I'm hoping to glaze over enough to enjoy the sights and block out the pitter patter of wedding-talk. I'll need a break by then anyway since we will have just finished the election cycle. Which reminds me, I believe it is too late to register to vote, but check with your Board of Elections anyway if you need to register. Got it? Good.

Updates on Effects of Hurricane Juan

I get that sick feeling while reading reports of the damage and seemingly slow reaction by the Canadian government to deal with the aftermath of Hurricane Juan in Nova Scotia. My parents and I are both hoping our family in Sydney Mines and the people we met on our trip made out ok and are safe.

Some reports:

Hurricane Juan news update

Patience Wearing For Nova Scotians

Public Gardens in Halifax Sustain Major Damage

Sabres new 'home ice'

Although they lost in overtime, my dad tells me the Sabres' game in Rochester last night was fun. My dad was also happy to relate that "They announced Rory's (Fitzpatrick) name first in the intro's, which was kind of nice for the home town boy." Matt and I are really looking forward to the regular season game on November 12th. It will be real cool to hang with my dad and watch hockey.

Sure, It's Only October 2nd

I awoke this morning to see snow covering the ground. Wet, heavy, slushy snow. I took a picture of the campaign signs on our lawn that were coated with the white stuff. Maybe I'll put it online once I get the roll of film developed and digitized. Maybe not. Did I mention that it's only October 2nd? It has been pelting snow or some frozen version of it on and off for most of the morning and a little bit into the afternoon. No real accumulation where I work, but disheartening nonetheless.

How Well Do You Know Your Album Covers?

Meg put together a quiz to test your knowledge of album covers. The names of the bands and album titles have been photoshopped out. I only could figure out about 12 out of 60 covers. 12!! I must go hide my head in shame.

A Space Oddity?

Truly Interesting: A SPACE ODDITY? Strange Kansas City marker part of world-wide mystery

When Talk Show Hosts Get Worse

There's been a bit of hoopla, to steal a phrase, about racist comments WHAM Radio Talk Show Host Bob Lonsberry made about the Mayor of Rochester who is running for County Executive. Those comments consequently led to him being fired. Shep wrote this editorial which was to appear in the print edition of the Democrat & Chronicle this week. Unfortunately, this may not be the last we hear from Mr. Lonsberry.

Hurrican Juan Inflicts Damage on Halifax

I'm always surprised how stories that happen outside the United States get glossed over by our media. Example:
Halifax sustained major damage due to Hurricane Juan. Having visited Halifax, Nova Scotia this summer, I can tell you that this isn't just some little city in rural Canada. Maybe I missed the story on the networks, but a quick look at Yahoo! supplies nothing in terms of stories on this. So if I was to be a pessimist of a sort my line of thinking would be if it doesn't affect the U.S.A. then our media doesn't give a shirt. Unless it's an earthquake.

A Quick Change of Plans

Had you told me on Friday night that in 24 hours I would be in Cleveland, hanging out with Heidi, Kevin, Beth, and people's I would have thought you daft. But of course, that's what happened.

Around 1pm on Saturday I got the "bug." It's the kind of thing where I know I can get out of the house, need to get out of the house, and just go. Anywhere. I convinced Matt that this was a good idea and while tossing around suggestions like Rochester, Cleveland, anywherebuthere, until we finally settled on Cleveland. I reserved a room online while Matt showered, I packed and showered, he packed, and we left. I was pushing for Cleveland the whole time actually since I was hoping we could see Heidi & Kevin. Knowing, of course, that they've been busy, had company, and had no idea that we had embarked on a 2 1/2 drive out their way. For the run down of the conversation between Heidi and me when we got closer to Cleveland read Heidi's post on her blog. I should note that I was trying to be very, "I know you're busy, but if you're available.. we don't want to impose etcetcetc." I don't know if that came across!

But it was a good time. It was nice to see everyone again on this last "free" weekend before elections imprisons Matt and me at headquarters, making phone bank calls, and whatnot. I had the most delicious omelette on Sunday at The Falls Restaurant in Olmstead Falls(?). I'm a little shaky on location names since I've been away from the Cleveland area for over six years.

A True "Beverage" Connoisseur Event

I was alerted by the D&C about an almighty festival happening in Denver, CO this week. The Great American Beer Festival. Matt and I decided it sounds pretty cool and one year we may try to make it there. It's a little intimidating when you start thinking of how many styles of beer these 350 breweries will have on hand for tasting. And I admit my tolerance level would be my downfall in the quest to sample to my heart's content. It's definitely one of those times when you start drinking early, in moderation, and often.

And courtesy of Wil, a little related humour:

The leaders of the big beer companies meet for a drink. The president of Budweiser orders a Bud, the CEO of Miller gets a Miller, the head of Coors orders a Coors, and so on. Until it's Arthur Guinness's turn. He orders a soda.

"Why didn't you order a Guinness?" everyone asks.

Guinness replies, "if you guys aren't having beer, then neither will I."

Talk Like Bill O'Reilly Day

It's Talk Like Bill O'Reilly Day over on Atrios (Friday, Sept. 26, 2003). Go chortle over some of his witticisms.

Babs Hit it On the Nose (no pun intended)

Via Drudge:

The Myth of "Big Government" ...Barbra Streisand
Posted on September 25, 2003

What is "Big Government?" We've been conditioned to believe these are bad words - but when Hurricane Isabel ripped through the East Coast last week, leaving many homes and businesses significantly damaged in its wake, Bush told disaster relief workers and governors of the affected states, "If you need help, let us know." This was not Bush showing his "compassionate" side... this is what the federal government does -it helps people in need. Contrary to Republican slogans against "Big Government" or "Tax and Spend Liberals," if you look at the reality, government spending is a key part of what makes this country function and provides the services that Americans both depend on and take for granted.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the agency Bush extolled in the Southeast this week, is designed to help Americans in crises - be they victims of natural disasters, or victims of extreme poverty. Agencies such as FEMA are what make our country able to bounce back from tragedy and unforeseen events, just as schools educate our children, firefighters fight fires, police officers keep our streets orderly, a decent highway system allows us to move freely, national parks maintain our incredible natural resources, our military protects us from outside threats, the Center for Disease Control protects us from epidemics, and Social Security and Medicare programs insure that our seniors aren't thrust into poverty after so many years of hard work. These are just some of the basics of government. These are not entitlement programs. These are not excesses. These are not "special interests." This is what the government is supposed to do for you, the people.

So when Republicans, such as leading tax-cut proponent Grover Norquist, talk about reducing government to the size where they can "drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the bathtub," we need to examine what that world without government would look like. Do we want to live in a country without a legal system, without a military, without free education, without safety net programs? Is this the future most Americans actually want for their country?

We also have to understand the connection between taxes and spending. It is our taxes that pay for these services, so Bush's two big tax cuts for the wealthy will, eventually, result in a cut in the services that all Americans depend on everyday, unless the tax cuts are repealed. So far, Bush has been more or less coasting on a policy of tax cuts and spending increases, such as the additional $87 billion he now is asking Americans to shoulder for Iraq. Meanwhile, he has cut spending for state-administered programs - plunging state governments into crisis, and has created unfunded mandates with catchy titles, such as the No Child Left Behind Act. Bush is dangerously betting against the future... turning an enormous surplus into an enormous deficit that future generations will have to grapple with. Eventually, we will be forced to have a national discussion about either repealing the cuts or asking the question: What everyday government spending programs are we really ready to do without?

Their Money's Worth..

The taxpayers certainly got their money's worth from me yesterday. We're in the midst of wrapping up the proposed budget for next year, and that includes various messages and letters that need to go out or be announced. I clocked out at 10:40pm after finishing up a radio address and was back here bright and early at 9am to continue work on the press release. I figure I should get some comp time out of this, but with election season AKA silly season upon us, I highly doubt any time I can get off from work will matter in the end. And we won't even get into possible headaches this budget could cause me personally.

Wonder Who will Win the Death Pool on this One

The Pope is Ill. Who's taking bets? Anyone? Anyone?

Vatican May Limit Girls' Role in Mass

I'm, what's generally termed, a "recovering catholic," so a Washington Post article about theVatican Possibly limiting Girls' Role in Mass angers me. I'm not a religious person, but I was an altar girl for five years. If this proposal goes through it's just another reason to condemn the Catholic Church for their short-sightedness. I was lucky enough to be brought up in a liberal Catholic church, so it wasn't as horrible as some churches. It still felt stifling enough for me to leave.

Radiohead As Interpreted By Fifth Graders

Via Shep:

Fifth Graders Interpret Radiohead Through Drawings.

This was great. It left me hysterical, nodding, laughing, and generally feeling like someone really nailed it on the head. Or was nailed. Either way.

Silver Lining of a Different Kind

Last week, a little more than a month before my 27th birthday, I found a long, gray hair. It's right near the front and is almost visible when I have my hair parted down the middle. When I first saw it while looking in the mirror in the ladies' room at work, I thought my eyesight was deceiving me. I compared it to some strands of hair that had been highlighted back in March. The grim difference is that the silver went right to my root. I had one of the clerks from the Legislative offices take a look and she confirmed my fear. She admonished me not to pull it out, which I had no intention of doing since I rather have my hair grow in gray than lose it. The thought of coloring my hair when the wedding gets closer crossed my mind, but I rather like my natural highlights and don't want to lose that just to hide a few gray hairs. I'm sure many women have had that inward and outward groan of dismay when they realied the Gray Monster was stealthily making its home on their heads several years before the big 3-0.

Mushy-Gushy Over Sports

I'm not a sports fan. Sure, I enjoy hockey, but by all rites I am not a sports fan. With this in mind, it was odd to find me getting a little mushy over a television tribute to the Buffalo Auditorium that Sabres Owner Tom Golisano put together and aired on Buffalo tv stations yesterday. The tribute seemed a little contrived at times with former Sabres and current Sabres trying to have some back-and-forth talk. It wasn't completely natural, but then these guys are paid the big bucks to kick arse on ice, not to showcase their skills at happy talk. And I could have done without this wave-action effect they had going on with the cameras. It wasn't a, take a shot at person talking and switch to larger shot of both guys talking, back to shot of second guy talking. It was a bob and weevil between the two speakers and an almost drunken wobble on whoever was speaking. Regardless, it was still a nice tribute.

A Personal Hell

It's all in good fun people. Just laugh, ok?

Scientologists
Circle I Limbo

Gangs
Circle II Whirling in a Dark & Stormy Wind

Creationists
Circle III Mud, Rain, Cold, Hail & Snow

Republicans
Circle IV Rolling Weights

George Bush
Circle V Stuck in Mud, Mangled

River Styx

NAMBLA Members
Circle VI Buried for Eternity

River Phlegyas

Overzealous Religious Types, KKK
Circle VII Burning Sands

Dick Kimball
Circle IIX Immersed in Excrement

Anti-Semites
Circle IX Frozen in Ice

Design your own hell

What's the Truth, Really?

Our office follows the statistics the state gives us on unemployment figures, but tends to take them with a grain of salt. This is especially true after our economic development office was contacted by the state and asked if we could help provide any job gains/losses figures. It turned out the state apparently doesn't really have a concise way to track those figures or they just take a guess every month. We don't know. None of this adds up to us taking much stock in figures that seem to be politically manipulated depending on how it will benefit the powers that be. For a quick look into what I'm talking about, take a look at this story in the Buffalo News on the slowing of job losses in the region. Jamestown has been flat or in the positive range for most of this year for jobs and generally well ahead of the Western New York region. Now, all of a sudden, just in time for an election in the city, we've apparently had job losses and have fallen behind Buffalo for this month. If you look further down the article, there are percentages for unemployment. Our unemployment rate apparently dropped a sixth of a percent from 6.3 to 5.7 percent. Now, maybe there's some big explanation that I'm not getting here, but wouldn't it seem to you that if our unemployment rate dropped then our jobs number would have increased or stayed the same? The only arguement I can think of is that we may have lost some jobs and the people who were collecting unemployment have stopped, but still don't have jobs. It's still fishy to me.

You're Most Like The Season Autumn ...

You're warm, and the most approachable. You have
that gentle prescence about you. People can
relate to you, and find you easy company.
However it's likely you've been hurt in the
past and it has left you scarred so things can
become rather chilly with you at times. Being
the third Season in, you're mature, trustworthy
and loyal to your friends but prone to
depression and negative thinking.

Well done... You're the shy and sensitive season :)


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A Stillness Before the Howl

It was unbelievably quiet as I left work today. No birds, bugs, or any other noise aside from some traffic. I suppose all the animals got the message and are holed up and just waiting for the wind and rain to arrive. The leading edges of the storm have already started to produce some sprinklesi n the area and it's cloudy. The wind hasn't picked up yet, which just adds to eerieness of it all. I'm about to head to a Labor dinner and I assume that the rain will be in full progress by the time I get out.

In good news, our friends, Chuck & Lori, "escaped" from Washington DC since our national government has shut down in advance of the storm. I'm hoping that Matt will feel up to getting drinks with them later tonight. Ahh.. friends, storms, fall weather... it's all good.

Seasoning the Melody

I heard a snippet of blues-ey jazz following the news this morning on the radio and immediately thought of sunny, warm, Autumn Saturdays when you're bustling around the house getting chores done. Then I thought of other songs and the seasonal associations I attach to them. For instance, I can't hear anything by Tom Petty without thinking of early September. And it never truly seems like Christmas time until I've listened to Enya's Sheperd Moons. Here's a quick personal list of songs/albums/artists and seasonal, or other, associations:

Crowded House - "Recurring Dream: The Best of..": March, April
Liz Phair - Whip Smart: May, first warm spring breezes wafting through dorm room
Dire Straits - "Sultans of Swing": Summertime
U2 - Joshua Tree: Late August, warm days and cool nights crusing with the windows down
Tom Petty (all but especially) - Into The Great Wide Open: early September, Fall
They Might Be Giants - "Snail Shell": Post-Labor Day, back to school
New Order - "Regret": Mid-Fall, Homecoming
Classic Rock (as a genre): Overwhelmingly Fall, doing yardwork before snow hits
Enya - Sheperd Moons: Late November/December - Christmas
Tori Amos - Little Earthquakes: December/icy, quiet nights

Agnes v. Isabel

I'm not the only one who has wondered about whether Hurricane Isabel will be anything like Agnes. Of course, I figured out yesterday that the storms couldn't be more different path-wise. Regardless, this Buffalo News story is still good and gives some interesting accounts of the 1972 storm.

Hurricanes of Thought

I've been watching the developments of Hurricane Isabel with some interest. Mostly because some computer models show the remnants of the storm eventually passing right through the Southern Tier area between Friday and Saturday. This made me wonder if this was similar at all to what Hurricane Agnes did in 1972. Quick research shows the storms were very dissimilar. On the other hand, Drudge provides a link suggesting Isabel is more like the Hurricane of 1938. Either way, it's cause for worry. Matt's brother and family lives in Wilmington, NC while Rochester Matt has family in Amityville, NY and Providence, RI. And I won't get into the countless people I know in the Washington DC area that probably would be affected by heavy rain.

Till You Drop

I just spent a scandalous amount of money on clothes, shoes, and accessories. Let me repeat, scandalous!

Alternatives to Kazaa

I've started researching music download programs since the RIAA has been successful in spooking me with their heavy-handed tactics toward sueing people. Since I use RealOne Player for just about everything I do audio-wise on the computer, I received one of their promotion emails for the Rhapsody program. I checked it out and if I was simply interested in listening to any artist I could imagine, this may be the service for me. It's $9.99 a month with a free two-week trial period. The service also allows you to download CD quality music for $0.79 a song.

So I started doing some math. If I downloaded about 18 songs a month (about what I can fit on a CD) and was a member for a year, each CD would cost me $24. However, if I download 72 songs (the equivalent of 4 CDs) in the free two-week trial, then it would have only cost me $14.22 per CD. But a very personalized CD. I know it's sort of scamming the system, but they still get my money either way. I guess I'm looking for a service that offers great music selection (obscure and well-known), unlimited downloads, and possible streaming at a reasonable price. I had been a subscriber to Emusic for a couple years, but they simply didn't have enough well-known artists to make it worth my time and money. If you know of a legitimate service that I can try, let me know.

"The remedy is the experience. It is a dangerous liaison."

The stress levels are ever increasing at work and at home. Budget and politics. I would say it's two different things, but when you break it down, it's mostly politics. It's ugly. This election season has great potential to be one of the ugliest ones I've seen in terms of the Legislature and how they react and handle the 2004 Budget proposal(s). I could be surprised, and that would be a nice change. In the meantime, I'm planning on dealing with it by doing something that many women turn to when the stress levels increase. I'm going shopping. More specifically, I'm going shopping with Matt to Erie, PA. I feel like a traitor since I know for a fact that retail shops are suffering in this county due to the elimination of our tax-free status on clothes and the quarter-increase in sales tax put on us by the state. However, I have my own budget to consider. And I need selection. Three things I need. New shoes, a new purse, and some work clothes. I searched all summer long for a purse and I haven't seen the type of shoe selection in stores that I like. So to Erie we go. We will be hitting Target, DSW Shoe Warehouse, the Men's Wearhouse, and perhaps Steinmart and/or Marshall's. Selection and the fact that clothing is tax-free is the draw here, plus getting out of the county for a day. We all need our releases. Time to check my credit card accounts to see where I stand and how much I can really afford to spend.

The People's Blog

The Internet Gods have smiled on me and I've been able to read Lileks for the past few weeks again. For some reason, whenever I tried to pop over to his site I would get that error code. You know the one.

Anyway, I copy for you this excerpt:

Tonight we had chicken. Free-range, antibiotic free, low-stress, non GMO-grain-fed chicken. It was horrible. It was like eating chicken-flavored Silly Putty. I blame the marinade. But of course I always do; that's my easy out. What, Iran has nukes? J'accuse le marinade! Gnat ate all her chicken, and inquired: "what's for dessert, father?"; (I love that. Sometimes she calls me "Papa,"; which makes me feel like Kindly Gepetto; when she calls me "Father"; I feel like a Victorian patriarch.)

"Kosher Ice Cream,"; I said.

"Kosha izescheme?";

"Yes."; It was left over from the quasi-kosher meal I made for Medved et al a few weeks ago. I completely forgot about dessert. Since you don't mix milk and meat, and since I was serving meat, I got some kosher frozen dessert. Chocolate fudge / vanilla. Not bad at all. It was soy-based, of course. Just like the soy-based vodka I had the other day: different, and not entirely bad at all. But I have an image of this conveyor belt heaped with soybeans heading into an Archer-Daniels Midland plant; on the other side of the building are various nozzles marked VODKA and ICE CREAM and ERSATZ BURGER PATTIES, and the goop plops out into trucks that take the stuff away to the post-production facilities. At this point they could market the stuff with the people suffix - People'sCream. People'sVokda. People'sBurgers. And the ads could have a Heston impersonator complete with kerchief: People's Cream is made out of Soy!

My junior year in high school I had a group of friends that liked to joke about being part of the "People's Party". Each of my friends had titles that they came up with on a camping trip. Ben, who was the only one who brought a razor to shave with, was the People's Purveyor of Shaving Goods. Ryan, I believe, was the People's Purveyor of Pharmaceutical Goods for bringing a different kind of tobacco. Emma, Ryan's lady at the time, was called the People's Mattress. On the other hand, maybe it was Nicole. The gist was that people liked to lay on her if you know what I mean. I was given the name the People's Woman. My job was to "sit and be pretty. "Pretty chauvinistic, but it was all in good fun.

The "Planned" Road to Serfdom

As told via cartoons (link found on Newmark).

Un-censored Doonesbury

In case your paper ran an old version of Doonesbury yesterday, you can see the "contraversial" cartoon here. The D&C was one of the papers that ran old comic in this one's place. While you're looking at Sunday's comic, check out today's comic as well. It deals with two hot topics: flash mobs and Howard Dean.

Hanging Up the Clothesline

I will be making my mostly annual trip to Rochester this weekend for the Clothesline Festival on Saturday. This year will be a bit different as I will be stopping first in Brockport tonight for EagleFest '03. I'm going for the music actually, and hopefully to connect with some friends. I'm hoping that since I came into work early today (by mistake) that I will be able to leave early, thus seeing part of my friend Darren's band, Veluxe, perform at the festival. Otherwise, I'll be all around this weekend I imagine. A trip to Rochester is starting to become incomplete if I don't catch a film at The Little and coffee at Java's. The only problem is that I really want to see at least four people while I'm in town (if not more). Let's see how much I can cram into one weekend!

Back To School Envy

Even though it meant homework, projects, boring classes, and anxiety, I always looked forward to going back to school after summer vacation. Sure there were the moment where I didn't want my endless days of freedom (AKA babysitting for money) to end, but for the most part I really looked forward to school. First off, it meant new clothes. In other words, it meant that maybe if I studied that fall issue of Seventeen magazine hard enough and pleaded with my mom enough, I might just get that hot look for back to school. And maybe, just maybe, people will think I'm a little bit cooler than the year before. I was, admittingly, a bit of a geek throughout school. I liked to read and I was a music nerd. I also didn't live very close to a lot of my friends, so school meant seeing everyone after a long summer. It meant jokes around the lunch table and swooning over new crushes in the hallways. It meant gossip. I still love good gossip and news. So yesterday made me feel a little envious. I miss the start of something new in Fall. Elections don't count. It's the feeling that you can change and you can be better. That this year, it will be different. This year you will shine.

Bizarre, Tragic Happenings in Erie, PA

I first heard about this story about a pizza delivery man died after a bomb attached to him went off when Matt and I went out for drinks with our media friends. They hadn't aired the story on our local news, even though we're only 47 miles from Erie, PA. I chastised them nicely since this is a big story and Erie is kind of in our market. It's truly bizarre though. It seems to me that some third entity was involved here. I guess we'll hear more over the next couple weeks. I'll never think of Peach Street the same way. Before Thursday it was a treasure trove of big box stores like Target, Lowe's, Kohl's, Barnes & Nobles, Krispy Kremes, and the like. Today, home to unfortunate men who rob banks with bombs attached to them. I guess we all have our Nushawn's (may require registration).